History of Linn County Iowa Part 77

E. Witwer, H. Hale, Geo. Ha.s.se, John Bryan, Walter L. Clark, L. L.

Cone, Chas. L. Morehead, A. S. Mershon, Ely E. Weare, James Snyder, John Shearer, Baxter McQuinn, W. J. Wood, Richard Moorhead, Don Harris, Lowell Bressler, N. Rudolph, Ira Taft, and twenty-seven others.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MONTROSE HOTEL, CEDAR RAPIDS]

Early in April a hook and ladder company was organized and on April 16, 1869, was confirmed by the council as a part of the fire department of Cedar Rapids. The officers of the company were as follows:

Foreman--S. D. Fleck.

First a.s.sistant--J. S. d.i.c.kinson.

Secretary--Geo. A. Gault.

Recorder and Treasurer--J. G. Krebs.

Samuel A. Lilly. H. C. Morehead, James Fowler, P. C. Garrett, J. C.

Adams, Samuel Spalding, J. A. Hart, Joseph Lilly, J. M. Chambers, T.

Snook, J. J. Calder, G. M. Howlett, C. D. Pettibone and six others const.i.tuted the active members.h.i.+p of this organization.

The official life of Chief Engineer Lusk was very brief and was marked by continued strife and dissension among the members of the department.

He became _persona non grata_ to the council and charges were preferred against him. July 13, 1869, Alderman Hill introduced a resolution reciting that while the chief engineer could not be declared guilty of intentional fraud he was indiscreet in many things and his influence for good in the department had been so impaired that his resignation was demanded. This did the business, and on July 23 he resigned. W. B.

Leach was appointed chief engineer for the remainder of the term, and peace and good feeling prevailed in the department.

In March, 1870, after the inauguration of the new council of which W.

B. Leach was mayor, a pet.i.tion of the fire department was presented in which they asked the council to appoint Geo. A. Lincoln as chief engineer of the department. Another pet.i.tion was also presented, signed by many citizens, asking that W. D. Watrous be appointed chief engineer of the department. On the 25th of March, a ballot being ordered, Geo.

A. Lincoln received three votes and W. D. Watrous three votes, whereupon the mayor voted for Lincoln and declared him elected to the position of chief engineer, and on the 26th day of March he was duly qualified and took the oath of office.

Shortly after Mr. Lincoln a.s.sumed the authority vested in the office of chief engineer of the fire department, an element of discord arose in the council and an effort was made to secure by legislation and diplomacy what they had failed to accomplish when the vote was taken in March.

It was thought the original ordinance pa.s.sed in January, 1869, was faulty and should be amended and the ordinance committee was directed to make such amendments as were necessary or to prepare an entirely new ordinance.

During the summer of 1870 the committee had prepared an ordinance which was practically the same as the old one. The only radical change was in the manner of electing a chief engineer. The new ordinance placed the election of the officer with the electors after the year 1870 and a new section was added which read as follows:

"No person shall be eligible to the office of chief engineer unless he be a resident of said city at least one year and shall have attained the age of twenty-five years."

To understand the force of this last clause in the ordinance it will be necessary to remark that at this time Mr. Lincoln was only twenty-three years old. This ordinance, the records say, was pa.s.sed July 29, 1870, but it was found necessary to amend it and it was not until ordinance No. 98 was pa.s.sed on September 30, 1870, that the council felt safe in electing a new chief engineer to take the place of the one so skilfully legislated out of office. On the 15th of October, 1870, A. R. West became the chief engineer of the fire department by the vote of the council. After the election of Mr. Lincoln during the spring and summer of 1870 it was uncertain whether the city of Cedar Rapids had a fire department or not, and it was also a question as to the authority possessed by the chief. There was much discord and bitterness among some of the members of the fire organizations. The city council was far from being harmonious and rarely acted in unison in legislating for the well being of the fire department. The citizens who had labored long and earnestly in this work of procuring fire apparatus felt that they had a right to demand that this bickering and personal contention between the organized fire department and the duly elected city council should be ended, but the strife continued. Early in the administration of Mr. Lincoln as chief of the department a communication was presented to the city council in which the pet.i.tioners, after recounting their many grievances, made the claim that the election of Mr. Lincoln was unparliamentary, unfair and contrary to the wishes of the department and to a great majority of the property holders, and that while the pet.i.tioners were willing to obey all ordinances of the city and the ruling of any legally appointed officer as chief of the fire department, they did not consider themselves lawfully bound to give any heed or attention to the said Geo. A. Lincoln. That they as members of the fire department would pay no attention to the said unlawfully elected chief engineer nor to any order coming from him. This pet.i.tion was signed by Sam Neidig, C. W. Eaton, G. M. Howlett, Sam Lilly, Chas.

Hubbard, J. C. Adams, Thos. Snook, and fifteen others.

Some time later the chief engineer made a report to the city council as the ordinance directed he should do, giving the necessary information in regard to the efficiency of the department and its probable needs for the future, but the council refused to accept it as the report of the chief engineer, making the broad claim that there was no fire department or a legally elected chief engineer and this was backed up by the opinion of the city attorney. Mr. Lincoln, not to be thwarted by the city council in refusing to listen to his report, was obliged to have it published in the city papers and some extracts are made here, showing the friendly feeling existing between him and some members of the city council. He reported that the steam engine was in good shape excepting that the grate had burned out and the committee on the fire department had refused to get it repaired. The hose was poor and not in condition to stand the pressure necessary in case of a large fire. This was owing to the committee on fire refusing to have the tower on the city hall arranged so the hose could be hung up to dry after having been used. Many small bills for supplies used by the department, and which were necessary for the running of the steamer, were hung up and not allowed, and in speaking of the cistern which the city had built he reports that one of the aldermen had the keys of the same and refused to turn them over to him and as to the amount of water in same he could make no report.

After the election of Mr. A. R. West to the position of chief engineer, the old original No. 1 Fire Engine Company, or a large proportion of its members, at one of its meetings pa.s.sed the following resolution:

"Whereas, The city council has seen proper to persecute and finally to declare us not an organized fire company, and

"Whereas, We who compose the Fire Engine Company No. 1 have since organization labored faithfully to make the department as efficient as possible and have in all cases discharged our duties as firemen, therefore

"Resolved, That we turn over to the city council all the fire apparatus in our possession. That we refuse to offer our services as firemen so long as any member of the city council who has been persistent in our persecution shall remain in said council.

"Resolved, That we condemn the city council in thus deliberately and intentionally using their power to cripple and destroy the efficiency of the fire department.

"Resolved, That we preserve our company organization and that each and every one refuse to touch, use or handle any of the fire apparatus belonging to the city of Cedar Rapids."

This old, original company, No. 1, was then a fire company to all intents and purposes, acting under the original organization, with most of the original members belonging, but they had no apparatus, no engines, nothing to use in case of fire. But this did not long remain.

A subscription was started among the members of the company, and they with the aid of their friends and citizens soon had subscribed a sum sufficient to buy a substantial hand engine of a late pattern, together with 5,000 feet of new hose, a new hose cart, and also to put up a comfortable and neat engine house in which to hold their meetings and to shelter their engine and the other necessary equipment.

This engine was purchased of Josiah Gates & Son, Lowell, Ma.s.s., and cost the sum of $800, which amount was paid in cash from the proceeds of the many subscriptions. It was called the E. S. Hill Independent Fire Company, in honor of E. S. Hill who was the patron saint in all their contentions with the city council, being an alderman from the First ward, and also one of the most liberal subscribers to the fund to procure the engine, he having led the subscription list with $200.00.

The hose cart was procured from Quincy, Ill., where it had been previously used by that city, and cost $300.00 all complete. The hose to the amount of 500 feet cost the sum of $500.00. The material for the building of the engine house was obtained free from the local dealers and the construction was almost all done by the members of the company.

After this company had procured their apparatus and were domiciled in their new building they developed into a very aggressive company of fire fighters, and it was the boast of some of its members that they could get out to a fire, extinguish the flames and be ready to return home before the steam engine company could get to the fire and be ready to work.

A. R. West, who had been duly elected chief engineer of the fire department, together with John T. Hamilton, who was appointed a.s.sistant fire engineer, succeeded after much labor in bringing order out of the chaos that had so long existed in the affairs of the fire department.

The steam engine, together with the hook and ladder equipment, was put into the hands of a newly organized company, most of the members of which had not been identified with any of the previous unpleasantness between the council and the fire department.

For the next five years Cedar Rapids had two fire departments, the one belonging to the city and under munic.i.p.al control, and the other denominated the "Independent," owning their own equipment and subject to no official orders from the city.

This continued until the advent of the Cedar Rapids Water Co., who put in their system of waterworks and established hydrants in all parts of the city.

MRS. ROCK'S REMINISCENCES

Mrs. R. C. Rock, one of the earliest of the pioneers, is still living in a serene and vigorous old age. She is a relative of Judge Greene, and came west to Dubuque in 1849 at his request to a.s.sist him in getting out his first volume of Iowa Reports, which was printed in New York. She later came to Cedar Rapids with the judge and a.s.sisted materially in getting ready for the press and in proof reading the matter for the other volumes of his Reports. The members of the supreme court would frequently gather in Cedar Rapids in chambers to prepare their opinions and to O. K. them for publication. Mrs. Rock did much of the law copying for these judges. Their decisions were turned over to her to record and to edit for publication. She says Judge Williams was flowery in his language and it became necessary to do a good deal of tr.i.m.m.i.n.g of his decisions so as to condense them properly before publication, as attorneys were not so much interested in the language of the court as they were in getting quickly at the meat of the decisions. Mrs. Rock did not hesitate to do a great amount of pruning, with the result that Judge Greene received many compliments over the improvements noted in his second volume as compared with the matter that appeared in the first publication.

For a time Mrs. Rock did editorial work on the _Progressive Era_, which was published from the Greene Bros. building. J. O. Stewart was then "devil" in the office, and many a time brought to her the proofs of her contributions. The files of this early Linn county newspaper were burned in a fire which destroyed the publication office, so that now there are in existence but a few scattered issues. An early one was given a few years ago to the Masonic Library by Mrs. Rock who found it by accident among some of her effects.

Mrs. Rock came west by boat from Buffalo to Milwaukee, and then by stage to Dubuque in 1849. The next year she removed to Cedar Rapids, coming here by stage over the Old State Road laid out from Iowa City to Dubuque by Engineer Barney of Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C. This road was a very crooked one. His son, W. J. Barney, on being twitted about its many windings replied that he believed his father was entirely sober when he staked out the route, and that its numerous windings were necessary to avoid the sloughs and swamps.

Mrs. Rock well remembers some of the trips she made on the old stage from Dubuque to Cedar Rapids. It was customary to make 25 miles of the journey the first day. On one trip on arriving at the usual stopping place it was found impossible to obtain any hay for the weary horses.

After a further drive of five miles a stop was made at a farm cabin, it being customary for the settlers at any place to provide entertainment for travellers. Here they found feed for the horses, but they were told there was no bread or flour in the house, the man not having returned from the distant mill with his grist. There was some milk, and at last a little flour or meal was discovered. The two were mixed and put in a pan on the stove to cook. Unfortunately it was so badly burned that it could not be eaten, and the travelers were compelled to go to bed supperless. During the night the man returned with his grist, and Mrs.

Rock and party had a fairly good breakfast of saleratus biscuits and pork.

One day while living in Cedar Rapids Mrs. Rock learned of the Spirit Lake ma.s.sacre. She states the people here for a time had a genuine Indian scare, but nothing came of it.

Mrs. Rock has distinct recollections of prairie fires here. She says they were beautiful but terrible to behold. They were especially prevalent every fall on the west side, and many a time has she seen the bright flames cover the hills that are now incorporated in the city of Cedar Rapids. Judge Greene had early planted a large orchard at Mound Farm, and once after it had borne fruit for a number of years it was threatened with destruction from a prairie fire. All Cedar Rapids went out to help fight the flames. They saved the orchard at this time, but later the trees were killed by an unusually severe winter.

The ladies of Cedar Rapids were very patriotic during the war years.

They made all the uniforms for the boys of Col. T. Z. Cook's company, and supplied them with generous quant.i.ties of bandages and lint. It happened that after the severe engagement at Wilson's Creek those bandages were the only ones available on the field. Mrs. Rock's brother, then 18 years old, enlisted under Colonel Cook. After the hundred days for which the company had entered the service he re-enlisted under Captain Stibbs, being wounded at Ft. Donelson. He then again entered the army under Captain Coulter, father of Ed.

Coulter now living in Cedar Rapids, and was later killed in the south.

Captain Coulter's company was known as the "Brindle Brigade," because it was made up of men from so many regiments that had disbanded.

There were some lawless people among the earliest settlers, says Mrs.

Rock, and they occasionally appropriated a horse or two, necessitating some corrective action by the community. On one occasion N. B. Brown borrowed a horse from a man whose discipline was decreed and went to Westport to secure tar for the purpose. At dusk the horse was returned to the barn. C. C. Cook seized the individual, a.s.sisted by Gainor and others. His legs were tied and he was taken to the side hill on B avenue where his clothes were removed and he was treated to a coat of tar and feathers. The following day he appeared among his fellows, and my relator states there was "not even a smell of tar about him," but the treatment proved effectual.

One of the early settlers, Joe Leverich, had a fine library, was a great reader, a shrewd observer of human character, and his descendants are people of intelligence and high morality. Among those who came later were Dr. J. F. Ely and Dr. S. D. Carpenter in 1849, Judge Greene in 1850. They were men of education and attainment. Soon followed Miss Legare of Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., the Bryans, and Stoneys from Charleston, S. C., A. S. Belt, a lawyer, son of Commodore Belt, of Maryland, the Taylors from Virginia, and many others whose character and culture gave moral and mental tone to the growing community. In religious intercourse a broad and kindly feeling characterized all, and now in 1910, the same feeling prevails. The Daniels brothers erected a store, three stories, where the Masonic Temple now stands. In 1849 the Green Brothers erected a three-story brick building diagonally across, the first floor being used for merchandizing, the second for Judge Greene's office and ware rooms. In one large room in this building Miss Calder, from New York, opened a school for girls in the fall of 1850. In a hall on the third floor, a Masonic lodge was organized the same year. Miss Calder [Mrs. Rock] drew designs for the emblems and attended to making the ap.r.o.ns.

The first district school house was built several years previous on the lot on Second avenue and Fifth street. The Cedar Rapids Business College is now located on this site. This was used also for religious services on Sunday. Squire Abbe's daughter taught the first school, and Miss Louisa Roberts, daughter of the Congregational minister, the second. Squire Abbe was a member of the Territorial Legislature.

Miss Calder's school prospered; and two other teachers were secured; one from New York for the piano, and another, Miss Parkhurst, to a.s.sist in the English branches. She was a recent graduate from Miss Sill's seminary at Rockford, Illinois. Miss Calder herself continued with some of the English grades, also with French and Drawing. Pupils were attracted from neighboring towns, Marion, Vinton, Dubuque, Muscatine, Burlington, Fairfield, etc., but after a few years, failing health caused her to relinquish it to two young ladies from Ohio, and within two years it ceased to exist. The following year Miss Calder married R.

C. Rock, a hardware merchant. About the same date the Rev. Williston Jones, Presbyterian minister, opened a school for boys in his private residence, and after a few months turned it over to Mr. Blakeley, when it was transferred to the "Little Muddy" church. Mr. Blakeley's public examination was the occasion of a lampoon by Dr. S. D. Carpenter, but he was a fine man and a good teacher. Geo. E. W. Leonard was financial agent for this school.

These efforts resulted in Rev. Mr. Jones securing from Daniel Coe, of Green county, New York, a gift of $1,000.00 with which was purchased eighty acres of land adjoining the town, a part of which is now occupied by Coe College and from which numerous lots were sold to aid in establis.h.i.+ng this school. The first college building was erected by subscription of the citizens. The only surviving incorporator of the inst.i.tution is Dr. Seymour D. Carpenter, now residing in Chicago, aged about eighty-four.