Tipton-1859

SWETLAND, SCHMUCKER, HECHT, FRIEND, RAY, WEAVER, EISENHART, WATE, MYER, SMITH, DEAN, BAGLEY, REIGART, MCNAMARA, BAGLEY, BROWN, STOUT, CURTIS, DANIELS, TUTTLE, SMITH, PIATT, HUBER, MAYNARD, STAFFORD

Posted By: Anne Hermann (email)
Date: 10/2/2008 at 23:35:49

Gleanings From The Notebook of the Itinerating Editor

Dubuque Weekly Times
June 2, 1859

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Tipton, May 24, 1859

Through meadows rank with tall grass and fragrant flowers; through a lovely grove, full roved in its spring attire; between broad wheat fields, luxuriant and highly promising; ever a section of country as fertile as any we have recently seen – we have found our way from Mechanicsville to the shire-town of Cedar county. We noticed on the way, two or three miles north of Tipton, a line strip of Osage fence. With the aid of a few stakes, driven down here and there, it serves as a good protection from cattle. This kind of fence, however, we believe is not much cultivated in Cedar county.

Tipton is a prairie town of 1150 inhabitants, twenty-five miles north of Muscatine, and forty north-west of Davenport. It was laid out in March 1840, immediately after the County seat was located here. It has remained here ever since, and the best Court House in the interior of Northern Iowa is nearly completed. It stands on the Public Square, in the center of the village, directly west of the old frame Court House. It is built of brick, with cut stone corners, and galvanized window embellishments. Its cost will exceed forty thousand dollars. It was contracted for two years ago, in the flush times of the West; hence its costly adornments.

The principal business houses of Tipton are, C. Swetland, Schmucker & Co., Hecht & Friend, and J. L. Ray & Co., general variety dealers; J. Weaver & Son, J. S. Eisenhart, and W. Wate & Son, grocers; J. & C. A. Myer, and Smith Brothers, hardware and hollow-ware dealers; J. & C. A. Myer, dealers in agricultural tools; F. P. & W. Dean, shoe dealers, George Bagley and Reigart & McNamara, druggists; and W. Bagley and H. D. Brown, furniture dealers.

There are a plenty of harness makers, shoe makers and other mechanics common to towns of the size of Tipton. It has four hotels – at least one or two more than seem to be needed. Mr. O. H. Stout has a steam flouring mill.

The Cedar Democrat, C. Curtis, Publisher, and the Tipton Advertiser, S. S. Daniels, Publisher, are the newspapers of the county – both being published here.

Tipton has a flourishing Union school, and a spacious two story brick school house, highly creditable to the place. The Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Methodists, and Presbyterians, have societies and church edifices. The Lutherans are building a house, and the Universalists have an organization. Most of these societies are supplied with a pastor. The place has four physicians, and nine lawyers.

Tipton is the residence of Hon. William H. Tuttle, late Judge of the Eight Judicial Districts – an ornament, first of the Bar, and then of the Bench of Iowa.

Cedar county has sixteen organized and the same number of Congressional townships. It began to be settled in 1836. Of its 360,000 acres of land, only 98,000 are improved. – Yet it is producing, in a poor year for grain, 226,000 bushels of spring wheat, 800 bushels of winter wheat, 34,000 bushels of oats, and 600,000 bushels of corn. It also produces 27,000 bushels of potatoes, 6,000 gallons of sorghum molasses, 11,000 tons of common hay, and 575 tons of Hungarian grass. The total valuation of property is $3,181,400. – The population is 12,175; the number of voters 2,648.

The county is watered by the Cedar and Wapsepinicon rivers, and Rock, Mud, Clear, Nicholson, Wapeanonoch, Yankee Run, and other creeks.

The Cedar is heavily timbered, and there is more or less woodland on all the creeks. – The Wapsepinicon touches only the northeast township. There are several groves in the county, such as Red Oak, Linn, Onion, Pioneer, and Yankee. Timber is pretty well distributed over the county – though the supply is not so large as it is in Linn and several other counties through which the Cedar runs.

The officers of Cedar county are, George Smith, Judge; H. C. Piatt, Treasurer and Recorder; Geo. Huber, Sheriff; Joshua Maynard, Superintendent of Public Instruction; S. W. Stafford, Clerk; M. G. Miller, Surveyor, and C. A. Pound, Coroner.