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1915 History

CHAPTER XVIII.

TOWNS AND VILLAGES.

From History of Audubon Co., Iowa (1915)
by H. F. Andrews

EXIRA.

Exira is the oldest town that has survived in the county. It was laid out on lot 16 and the south one-fourth of lot 9, in section 4, Exira township, comprising fifty acres of clean prairie. Its location was all that could have been desired, being situated on a beautiful elevated bench, half a mile east from the fork of David's creek, with the Nishua Botna river, with groves up to the very borders of the town. It was surveyed and platted by Peoria I. Whitted, under direction of David Edgerton and Judge Daniel M. Harris, on the land of Mr. Edgerton, who owned a large tract of the adjoining premises. Judge Harris is entitled to credit for founding the town and was owner of the unrecorded, undivided half of the enterprise. It was first intended that its name should be Viola, after a daughter of Mr. Edgerton, but Judge John Eckman, from Ohio, a kinsman of the Cranes, being here at the time, proposed to buy a lot if the proprietors would name the town after his daughter, Miss Exira Eckman, which was accordingly done. The name is of Spanish origin. One cause for the foundation of the town was that the Dodge route for the railroad was surveyed through the town site. It proved an ignis fatuus, which lured many people, first and last, to settle in the vicinity, and the influence continued down to the time of building the railroad, 1878.

The town had an auspicious opening by a sale of its lots at public auction. Mr. Harris cried the sale, and the process for the first day aggregated one thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars. It was easily the leading town in the county from its start, and held its prestige against all comers until the town of Audubon succeeded to the honor in 1879. Mr. Edgerton reserved all of block 4 for his homestead, and Judge Harris reserved bock 8 for a like purpose for himself and erected thereon his dwelling house, the first in town. This was quickly succeeded by the erection of dwellings the same year by John R. Thacker, Franklin Hobbs, A. B. Houston and David Edgerton. During the succeeding year a commodious school house was erected (see sketch of Hon. Daniel M. Harris). A hotel was built by Palmer Rodgers, and other residences were erected by Charles Chapin, Zel Edgerton, Asa Haskins, William Nelson and Urbane Herrick. A workshop was also built by Mr. Harris, but was soon converted into an office.

In 1859 other residences were erected by Harriet McGinnis, William Pangburn, William Bush, Doctor Ham, and perhaps others. Deacon Lyman Bush came here in 1857 and purchased the residence built by his son-in-law, Franklin Hobbs. He was the shoemaker. Daniel Crane and his sons, David L. Anderson, Bryant Milliman and Levi B. Montgomery lived near the town. Crane and Anderson were blacksmiths. Palmer Rodgers came in 1856 and built the hotel the following year, on the south side of block 2, which he sold to Franklin Burnham, and moved away. Burnham sold to Stillman H. Perry and moved away; Perry kept the hotel until about 1872, and was succeeded by Mrs. Mattie I. Luccock until 1874. About 1875, it was occupied by William P. Hamlin. The old house and barn were torn down as early as 1879.

POSTMASTERS.

David L. Anderson was the first postmaster of Exira, before the town was laid out. The subsequent postmasters have been: Daniel M. Harris, Franklin Burnham, Carlos E. Frost, John D. Bush, Benjamin F. Thacker, Caleb Bundy, George Hardenbrook, W. A. Mills, William Millerman, David Workman, Hugh W. Copeland, John B. Connrardy, Ernest D. Powell and B. F. Kreamer.

EARLY PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS MEN.

Judge Harris was the first lawyer in the county, as well as in Exira, and was county judge from 1856 to 1861, inclusive. See sketch and mention of him in other parts of this work.

Peoria L Whitted settled at Exira when the town was started, and lived there the remainder of his life. He was county surveyor many years; surveyed several of the towns and additions thereto; also, many of the county roads; retraced the lines of the original surveys and subdivided large areas of the lands in the county and in adjoining counties. No surveyor of Audubon county ever did more of such kind of work. (17)

Darius Barlow kept merchandise for sale in his dwelling house (the old Pangburn house), on the northwest corner of block 11. He was a boisterous character, but a stout Union man, who refused to sell ammunition to Southern sympathizers in war times.

Carlos E. Frost was county treasurer and lived in Exira in 1864-5. William P. Hamlin came to Exira in i860 and bought the residence of Judge Harris. (See personal sketch of him elsewhere in this work).

About 1864 A. B. Houston brought a good line of merchandise and kept store in a shanty on the site of the Millie Hash residence in block 12, and continued the business with some changes until 1870, his son, Henry, and John R. Thacker being associated in the business part of the time. During the period from 1866 to 1869, inclusive, Mr. Houston was county treasurer; county judge during 1862-3; deputy clerk of court, 1865. From 1856 to about 1866 he was associated with Nathaniel Hamlin a portion of the time in the real estate agency. He did the largest business in the county from 1865 to 1870, and was agent for a large amount of lands, including the business of the American Emigrant Company, who had many sheep let out in Audubon, Cass and Shelby counties. He had by far the best business opportunities of any man in Exira up to his time, but was not equal to the demand, and let it slip through his fingers. He lost heavily by extending credit in his business. In 1870 he built the Houston house, on the site of the present Park hotel, conducted it for several years, and sold out. It burned down and on the same spot a new hotel was erected, which is now standing. Several men engaged in the blacksmith business in a small way for a dozen years. In i869, Abram Campbell came here from Wisconsin and started a good blacksmith shop; and in connection with it, a wagon and repair shop, conducted for several years by John Cannon and Luke Knapp. Campbell was succeeded, about 1879, by John Hicks. Many others have since engaged in the business.

In 1865 John D. Bush, who was a Massachusetts Yankee, kept goods for sale in a rented house used as a residence. In 1866 he put up a good-sized store building, with residence attached, on the northeast corner of block 6, where he kept the best and largest assorted stock of merchandise in the county up to that time. His boots and shoes and codfish were unexcelled, and he was postmaster. He hauled his goods mostly from Des Moines by teams, and Charley Van Gorder was his clerk and was the drawing card in the concern. He sold out in 1873-4 to Harris Brothers, and they sold, in 1875, to Stotts & Houston, who moved to West Exira in 1879. The old store burned down in 1899, and the present building was erected by James P. McAninch.

About 1858 a one-story building, about sixteen feet square, was built by Judge Harris for a shop, on block 8, and used by him for an office a short time. It was sold to the county and moved to the east side of the public square, where it was used for the county offices, and where the county records were kept until 1874. The county then owned no other building, and the courts were held in the school house.

On September 1, 1873, A. B. Hanston, John A. Hallock, A. Campbell, Charley Van Gorder, John D. Bush and P. I. Whitted executed a bond to Audubon county in the sum of five thousand dollars binding themselves to furnish a building for courts and county offices free, so long as the county seat should remain at Exira. Early the next year the Exira Hall Company was incorporated, and sold its stock sufficient to erect a building to be used for court house and county offices, which was built on the southwest corner of block 1, at the cost of over two thousand two hundred dollars. The same building is now owned and occupied by the Knights of Pythias lodge. It was occupied by the county until the county seat was removed to Audubon in 1879.

PROPOSED COURT HOUSE.

On September 1, 1871, the board of supervision appropriated six thousand nine hundred and forty-eight dollars for the erection of a court house at Exira, and a tax of four mills was levied for that purpose. Plans were gotten out and brick were bought from Van Gorder and heaped up in big piles on the public square preparatory for erecting the building. Then a court house fight began. The supervisors were enjoined from building the house, and on January 18, 1873, the case was settled, the injunction acquiesced in. and the court house tax refunded, all of which involved several law suits, and which ended the building of a court house at Exira.

H. F. Andrews, in 1873, built the first brick building erected in Audubon county. It was built for an office and was eighteen by forty feet in size, and was located on block 6.

In 1876 the trees were planted in the public park, being donated by Alfred E. Bartlett and Thomas Walker. The plan was laid out by H. F. Andrews and Samuel D. Harn.

John A. Hallock was admitted to the bar in 1863, but never practiced. In 1868 John W. Scott, a lawyer, came here from Bloomfield, Iowa, and, in connection with the office of clerk of the district court, to which he was elected in 1868, practiced his profession. In 1871-2 he was in charge of the Hamlin Town Company, and put up a vigorous fight to change the county seat to Hamlin, but met with signal defeat. In 1869 Daniel W. Scribner and John M. Griggs were admitted to the bar in Exira and formed a partnership with H. F. Andrews in the law and real estate business. Scribner withdrew from the firm the same year. In 1870 H. F. Andrews was admitted to the bar and a law partnership formed by Andrews & Griggs, which continued until October, 1873; during which period they established a lucrative business and had an extensive acquaintance.

In 1872, J. M. Rendleman, M. D., came here from Atlanta, Ga., and at once established an extensive practice. He still resides here, but lived several years in Audubon. Charles H. Andrews, M. D., a popular physician, settled here in 1875. He died in 1896, regretted by a wide acquaintance. John Riley, M. D., came in 1880, and John C. Newlon, M. D., in 1893. Both live here at present, in regular practice. Charles Van Gorder, Esq., is deserving of more than passing notice. (See sketch of him elsewhere in this work and in the chapter on political parties.) He came here by way of Missouri, in red hot abolition times, during the Kansas-Nebraska troubles. He was an utter stranger and some speculation was indulged as to his business in coming here. "Uncle Natty" Hamlin was suspicious and did not fancy him, and volunteered the opinion: "I can tell what he is; he is a ganned nigger stealer, sir!" But Charley was clear of any such imputation. He found employment with "Billy" Nelson in the brick yard at Exira.

AN UNAPPRECIATED JOKE.

John A. Hallock was admitted to the bar in 1863, but never practiced. In 1868 John W. Scott, a lawyer, came here from Bloomfield, Iowa, and. in connection with the office of clerk of the district court, to which he was Perk Smith tells of a good incident which happened at that time. Nelson was burning a brick kiln, and some of the boys met there one evening, John R. Thacker among them. It was suggested that the fires in the kiln offered a fine opportunity to roast chickens. Thacker was in for it, and suggested that Deacon Bush had some chickens which would be just the thing. He proposed that some of the boys should procure the chickens and that he and Van Gorder would prepare the mud for roasting them. The process consists in covering the chicken, feathers and all, with a casing of soft clay, and placing the mass in a hot fire until cooked. It is then removed from the fire, the crust of clay, feathers and skin removed, leaving a toothsome morsel, which can hardly be excelled by any other style of the culinary art. The boys returned with a sackful of chickens, which were cooked a la proper, and the feast was enjoyed. Thacker was merry over it, and wondered what the deacon would say in the morning upon missing his chickens. But the event never happened. When Thacker went to his own chicken house it was empty! He considered himself the victim of a dirty, unpardonable trick, and treated his late companions with unmitigated scorn and contempt. He failed to see the beauty of the joke.

In 1862 Van Gorder enlisted in the Thirty-ninth Iowa Infantry as a private, and served in the Western Army. He participated in the battle of Altoona Pass, under the gallant General Corse, where he was wounded. He filled all offices up to captain in his company, was discharged at the close of the war, and returned to Exira in 1865. In 1866 he made a freighting trip to Denver with ox teams and returned. Afterwards he was a brickmaker in Exira on his own account. During 1867 to 1869, inclusive, he was clerk in the store of John D. Bush, at Exira.

After serving four years as county treasurer, 1870-3, he organized the Audubon County Bank at Exira, the first banking house in the county, and has continued in the business to the present time.

MUNICIPAL ITEMS.

Exira was incorporated on December 13, 1880. These have been mayors of the town: John R. Ridge, 1881; David L. Anderson, 1881; Erwin Watson, 1881; Richard W. Griggs, 1882; John B. Connrardy, 1883-4; A. B. Houston, 1885; Joseph E. Toft, 1886-9; Charles T. Wilcutt, 1890-1; James P. Lair, 1892; Isaac L. Statzell, 1893-4; Van B. Hellyer, 1895; Charles T. Breniman, 1896-8; C. A. Marlin, 1900-1; George F. Kapp, 1902-3; Leroy J. Oldaker, 1903; H. F. Andrews, 1904-5; Charles E. Nichols, 1905; John O. Howard, 1906-7; Nels Hansen, 1908-9; John H. Rendleman, 1910-11; T. M. Rassmussen, 1912-15.

Houston's addition was laid out by A. B. Houston on September 2, 1878, on lot 15, section 4, Exira township.

West Exira was laid out by H. F. Andrews, William F. Stotts, Henry B. Houston, John M. Griggs and L. C. Van Hook, on March 29, 1879, and is situated on lots 5, 6, 11 and 12, in section 4, Exira township.

Exira Heights was laid out by U. S. Herrick, James F. McAnnich and Edwin Delahoyde, on March 13, 1894, on lot 12, section 3, and lot 9, section 4, Exira township.

Gates' addition was laid out by J. E. and J. G. Gates on July 9, 1894, on lot 13, section 3, Exira township.

On May 11, 1887, a big fire destroyed the buildings on the south side of block 3, Exira, the main business street, which was rebuilt with remarkable rapidity and replaced by brick business houses.



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Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, November, 2018, from History of Audubon Co., Iowa (1915), by H. F. Andrews, page 256-262.