'A CENTURY OF MEMORIES'
OF VAN WERT, DECATUR COUNTY, IOWA

1880 - 1980

RESTAURANTS
 
Cafe business, as the grocery business, changed hands and moved locations frequently. The names of a few of the early restaurants were J.R. Harlow in 1884 - 85; N. Craig and E.S. Elliott in 1897 - 98; and S.J. Wilson in 1899.

In 1906, R.T. Downey operated a restaurant and sold it to I.E. Downey in 1908. The Iowa Gazetteer shows I.E. Downey in business in 1912. The latter part of 1912, Mr. Downey sold the business to C.E. Rushing. In 1914 - 15, J.E. Fielder and Co. and W.R. Fuller were also in the restaurant business.

Reproduction of advertisement:

In 1916 - 17, R.D. Avery, W.H. Fletcher, I.E. Foland, C.O. Wood, and W.R. Fuller were in the restaurant business, with Mr. Fuller staying in business until 1923. Other cafes during this period would have been "Ma" Rinard, Tiedje, and Hastings. Len Scadden and Frank Rush operated Cafes, also serving beer, in the 1930s.

In the 1940s and 1950s there were Ralph and Beulah Munyon operating cafes. In 1946 Robert Fry operated a cafe and was contracted to feed the train crews. Hoyle and Ruth Simmerman rented the building where the present tavern is now and opened a cafe in December of 1947. In the spring of 1950 they moved a building in across the street, to the present day Enterprise Store parking lot, and opened a cafe in connection with their Skelly Station. Hoyle and Ruth operated these businesses until the first day of May of 1954, when they sold to Gretchen and Floyd McDowell.

Elmer and Dean Houck had a restaurant where the Drug Store was located and a Mr. Erlewine also operated a cafe in the 40s and 50s. During the 1950s, Pearl Stiles also operated a cafe with it being where the tavern is now located.

Marie Lamoree, Lela Flummer, Connie Grim, Marsha and Butch Stiles and Wayne DeVore operated cafes during the 1960s. Edna Anderson operated her cafe in a house that was located south of what is now Tiedje's Station. "Kastler's Kove Kafe" was located, on the south end of Main Street where Dean Houck presently has an apartment. Howard and Colleen Kastler operated their cafe in the early 1970s. Along with the help of Colleen's parents, Zell and Marie Boles, they employed Thelma Parmer, Christie Mallatt, Arlin Houck, Mary Van Syoc, Cindy McDowell, Diane DeVore, Pat Parmer, Betty Houck, Rhonda Parmer and Sandy Holmes, during the time they were in business.

Wanda and Layton Schuldt operated the "School House Cafe" in the early 1970s. It was the first restaurant to be opened in the old school building. Wanda was known for the fish fries every Thursday evening. In June of 1974, the Schuldts sold their business to Judy Gunter. Judy Gunter operated it for a short time, selling to Clifford Jones and he in turn sold to Dennis Brown. As of 1980, the "School House Cafe" is closed.
 
TAVERNS
Prohibition - a form of legislation which attempts to abolish the manufacture and sales of alcoholic liquors. In the United States one of the earliest forms of prohibition forbade the sale of liquor to Indians. A prohibition amendment adopted in Iowa in 1882 was promptly declared unconstitutional by the courts. A new prohibition law went into effect in 1884 and for some years proved fairly adequate.

The Iowa Gazette of 1884 - 85 showed a saloon in Van Wert owned by a gentleman named Benefield. This would have been located south of the present Post Office two blocks.

With the start of World War I, Congress passed a resolution for national prohibition. The adoption of nationwide prohibition was followed almost at once by widespread violation of the federal laws.

The following was taken from a newspaper clipping dated October 3, 1918:

"Tuesday forenoon, a big Cadillac touring car stopped at a garage at Van Wert for gasoline, and Arthur Price noticed it looked like it was loaded with booze, so the driver was placed under arrest and Sheriff Fulton notified. The car and occupants, a man and woman, were brought to Leon and it was found the car was loaded with about 600 pints of whiskey. Court was in session and the driver who gave his name as J.L. Foster of Des Moines, entered a plea of guilty, and Judge Fuller fined him $200 and costs and the woman who gave her name as Mrs. J.L. Foster, also entered a plea of guilty and was fined $50 and costs. Foster paid the costs in both cases, and left that evening for Des Moines to get money to pay fines, the Cadillac being held by the officers until the fine was paid in full."

The phrase "home brew" became very common. Liquor raids and seizures by enforcement agents were daily occurrences. Liquor sold in "Speakeasies" and by bootleggers came from other sources, mainly foreign countries.

About 1924, liquor made from diverted industrial alcohol assumed the place of chief importance.

Although alcohol released for industrial purposes was poisoned, bootleggers were able to extract most of the poisons. Repeal of prohibition started in l925, and Congress voted to submit the repeal amendment in February 1933. The State of Iowa has the exclusive right for all forms of alcohol liquor or beer in the State. In 1933 and1934 the State established State Liquor Stores and Taverns were allowed only to sell beer with a permit from the State.

Taverns in Van Wert during this period were Frank Rush and Len Scadden. In 1963, the legislature legalized liquor by the drink in the taverns. Counties had the option of this and following counties decided to stay dry: Lucas, Lyon, Madison, Sioux, Ringgold, Wayne, Mahaska, Davis and Decatur County. Decatur County was a dry county until the citizens voted later to change this. Van Wert for many years did not have a tavern.

Elmer Houck purchased the Jones Drug Store in 1958 and in 1963, had a closing out sale and re-opened as a tavern in 1964, and had to close in 1973 due to poor health. Elmer was born in Allerton, Iowa, in 1911 and moved to Van Wert in 1912. He attended Drake University and was a teacher before and after World War II. In 1929 Elmer married Ruth Jennings and to this union ten children were born. Elmer's youngest son, Dale, returned to Van Wert from teaching school in northern Iowa and opened a Recreation Center in 1976.

The Center was one door north of Elmer's. Beer and a cafe were also included in the center. Dale closed in l977 to return to teaching school. Other taverns during the past few years have had numerous owners. A tavern was opened by Lyman Schuldt and Roger McCauley, two doors north of Elmer's. They sold the tavern to Boyd Schuldt. Boyd sold equipment to Ken Riley, step-son of Harry Mallatt. Mrs. Harry Mallatt operated the tavern for her son. Arvid Woolums purchased the equipment and also purchased the building from Boyd Schuldt. Terry Hainline and parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cliff Hainline, operated the tavern for Mr. Woolums, Larry Hainline purchased the equipment from Mr. Woolums and moved the tavern to a building owned by Boyd Schuldt (first building south of Tiedje Garage). Mr. and Mrs. Cliff Hainline operated the tavern until Larry sold it to Jackie and Bill Griffith. After purchasing the equipment from Larry Hainline and buying the building from Boyd Schuldt, Jackie and Bill remodeled and built on and was the first tavern in Van Wert to have liquor by the drink.

In September of 1972, they applied and received a combination liquor and beer permit. "Griffs" sold the tavern to Odean Spencer in 1973. Odean Spencer operated the tavern and later sold to Jorita Gorman. Having to take the tavern back, Odean then leased it to Sandy Martin.

The tavern was closed for a while and Mrs. Spencer reopened it. H.B. "Bud" Parmer purchased the tavern from Odean Spencer in 1977 and was in business until he sold to the present owner, Carol Gildea, in April of 1979.
 
MEAT MARKETS
Through the years there were several Meat Markets or Lockers operating in Van Wert. During the year 1909, there was a Van Wert Meat Market open for business on July 1. Also W.F. Briner's Meat Market and Guy Sutton's Meat Market were opened on September 15.

W. Brannaum operated the "Red Front Butcher Shop" with it being located on the east side of Main Street, first door south of the Palace Hotel. G.W. Johnson was in charge of this market being under the tutorship of E.S. Elliott.

In 1910, many of the Meat Markets or Lockers changed hands several times with some of the following persons being new owners or operators: Allen and Thompson were opened for business on September 1. Don Hacker and Bill Ransom opened a market in June of 1910, but sold their business in November of the same year. E.E. Delk and Son opened their business on June 23. Allen and Black in August, 1910, and Ben Conn on October 20th.

In 1921, John Hawkins operated a Meat Market north of where the Post Office was located that year. I.S. Corsbie and father also had a meat market.

In April of 1944, Shannon and Opha Edwards bought the former Tuttle building from Carl Bloom and remodeled it into the "Edwards Locker". Together they operated the locker until the summer of 1955.

The prices have increased over the years to process meat. In April of 1955 it cost from $2.50 to butcher port, to $3.00 to butcher beef. It was $.03 for processing and $.02 for grinding. Now days it will cost a person $10.00 to butcher beef and $5.00 to butcher pork. the processing and grinding have also gone up to $.14 and $.05 respectively.
 
TRUCKING
The first form of transportation was the dray line. The dray line was the means of transporting all freight and express from the depot to the business and individuals in downtown Van Wert. In this early day, everything was shipped by railroad and incoming freight was hauled by the dray man. The dray line had a large assortment of items to haul. There was gasoline to haul to the stations. This was in fifty gallon barrels, which were emptied into the underground tanks.

The produce stations bought cream, eggs, and poultry from the farmers. These were picked up by the dray lines and hauled to the depot. In a few days, the cans which the cream was in and the poultry coops were shipped back. These were to be hauled back to the produce station by the dray line. All grocery items came by rail at this time. Most items came in large wooden boxes, vinegar and oil came by the barrel. Bread came daily from Ottumwa, Iowa, in large wooden bread boxes which were 3 feet by 4 feet. The bread was unwrapped and layered with a sheet of paper between each layer. It was not uncommon for the bread to be warm when it arrived. The dray man hauled this daily from the depot. On his return trip, the empty bread boxes were hauled to the depot.

All salesmen traveled by train and would call on the merchants in order to sell his product. The dry goods salesman carried a large sample of his goods. The samples would consist of four to five large trunks, which the dray man hauled from the train to the store. After the salesman spent the day showing his products and taking orders, he moved to the next store down the street. The dray man would then load the trunks and follow him to the next store. When the salesman finished in town, the dray man hauled the trunks back to the depot and they were shipped to another town by rail.

The dray was horse drawn and all streets were dirt. In the rainy season and winter it was a slow process as the ruts were axle deep and the loads were heavy. The dray man's work was heavy and with no enclosures to protect him, there was the weather element to overcome.

Oren C. Fuller (Johnnie) ran the dray line many years. He was not a large man, so he had to know his trade in order to load his heavy loads. There were no fork lifts or easy ways, just man power. Other known dray men were Fred Gould, A.A. Hox, and Frank Rush.

In later years, he purchased a truck. It was a chain drive with hard solid tires on the back. This he used in fair weather, but kept his team and dray wagon for the muddy times to keep the freight moving from rail station to downtown.

Time and progress brought larger trucks. For the dray line, more trucks meant less freight to haul and the dray line faded out.

After the railroad was discontinued in our town, the farmers and business became dependent on the truckers for transporting their products to market, for hauling coal to the community, and other things needed.

Some of the first pioneers in trucking were John Fuller, Delbert Ramsey and Frank Rush. Harry Mallatt Trucking was a familiar sign to see in the Van Wert area in the 1940s and 1950s. Another very familiar name to the trucking operation in our area has been that of Eddie Reed (William E. Reed, Jr.). He first began his business in 1945 when he and Earl Fry went together and bought a 13 1/2 ft. truck box on a 1945 Chevy. They were known as Reed & Fry Trucking. They hauled coal from the strip mines at Centerville, IA, sand and lumber for Charlie Richards' lumberyard in Weldon and livestock and grain for farmers.

In 1946, Eddie bought out Earl Fry and continued doing business for himself as Eddie Reed Trucking. Around 1947, he traded trucks and put on an 18 ft. box. With his new equipment, he was able to haul livestock to the major markets in the area such as St. Joseph, MO.; Omaha, NE.; and Ottumwa, IA.

In the late 1940s, Eddie started hauling feed to Harry and Roland Redman's feed lots. Here he loaded fat cattle to be taken to meat packing plants in Des Moines.

Through the years of being in business for himself, in 1972 he sold his truck, but continued driving for Warren Ready Mix.

Shelby and Gretchen Hagen moved to the Van Wert corner in 1949. He built his garage and started his own trucking operation. His first truck was a 1946 Chevy in which he began hauling lime and rock. Later he did transport grain as well.

For a short time, approximately 1963 and 1964, both Gretchen and Shelby drove trucks hauling gravel for Interstate 35 near New Virginia. About 1977, Gretchen hauled corn for Cox's but has since retired from truck driving. Shelby now hauls, for the most part, water in a 1500 gallon tank on his truck. He not only furnishes water to many households, but also transports water for Rick Jackson's spraying operation each spring. In the fall, he hauls grain for the farmers. Ike Jackson and his family came to Van Wert in 1952. His trucking business, at this time, consisted of hauling road rock and lime. In 1955, he expanded his business by going into partners with Dwayne Mallatt on a corn sheller and hauling grain. He bought Dwayne's half of the business in 1956 and continued on his own. In 1958, he started trucking in conjunction with farming. Ike still operates his business today.

In 1936, Elmer Gilbert started his trucking business by trading his farm tractor for a truck. One of his first jobs was hauling the W.P.A. workers, who worked on the county roads. In the early 1940s, Elmer started his general trucking business. He hauled livestock, corn and other grain. At the same time Elmer started buying hogs for Swift and Co. and Armour Pack. The hogs were hauled in trucks to St Joseph, Omaha, Kansas City and St. Louis. Elmer, also, helped with the trucking when the railroad lines were taken up. In the middle of the 1940s, Elmer started hauling lime and gravel.

Elmer Gilbert employed many drivers over the years of trucking He relates that someone told him that he ran an apprentice school for drivers! Most young men in the community, turning 17, usually tried their hand at driving a truck for Elmer.

Elmer stopped buying hogs in 1971 after 26 years in business. Since then his son Glen has taken over the business of hauling lime and gravel in the community.

Davey and Lillian Jones started in the trucking business with an old Model "T" car remodeled into a truck. They also had an old Dodge car fixed into a truck. One of these was called "Old Haldy". The Jones family remembers more than one broken arm resulted from cranking these vehicles. Later in his trucking business Davey owned a 1933 Chevrolet truck, a new 1935 Chevy with mechanical brakes, and two new 1936 Chevys with hydraulic brakes. Davey's last truck was a 1940 with a hand two-speed axle.

The Jones Trucking handled grain, straw, hay, commercial feed, binder twine, seed corn, ice and coal. The ice was hauled from Des Moines to ice houses in and around this area. Grain, straw, and hay were hauled in from up north because southern Iowa had been in a drought. Jones made many trips to St. Joseph, Missouri, with cattle and hogs. Davey also worked hauling the ties from the railroad from Decatur to Van Wert.

When Van Wert was hit with chinch bugs, Davey hauled a lot of needed creosote to the area.

Other men known to have operated trucking businesses in our community are:
Neal Kelly, Don Robins, Hoyle Anderson,
Paul Stiles, Willie Fry, Orval Foland,
Boyd Schuldt, Warren Jones, Walter Jones,
Lyman Schuldt, Dean Grimm, Levi Cochran,
Bernard Adams and George South.
New marketing concepts and eighteen wheelers brought an end to an era of small town truckers. At present Van Wert still has truck drivers who commute to work and drive eighteen wheelers (semi-trucks) for large companies. Some of these drivers are Dean Grimm, Larry Hainline, Ted Hainline, Garry Hainline, Chet Reed and Dorman Reed.
 
ICE HOUSE
In the early days of electricity and those days before this energy was invented, folks used caves and ice boxes to keep their milk and perishables in. A square foot block of ice could keep the ice box cool for as long as four to seven days depending on the temperature of the day and the insulation of the particular box.

Ice was purchased from several different ice houses through the years. One was located near the old railroad depot northeast of town. Still another was located downtown behind what was Fred Hall's Jewelry Store. It is a fairly large building and was there around 1921 and after.

Horse and wagons brought ice from the reservoir to be unloaded at the dock. The Van Wert Meat Market also sold ice starting the latter part of 1909.
 
LUMBER YARD
Naturally, the early days were filled with times of building. For that reason, lumberyards were also among the booming busineses of our early community. The railroad made lumber easily obtained but before the iron horse delivered the product, horse and wagon transferred it from place to place. Even after the railroad came through it was often necessary to transport lumber by team and wagon since the tracks could not possibly cover all necessary area needing the product.

W.H. Fridley started the first known lumberyard in 1884 and 1885. Two known businesses sold lumber in 1895 and 1896. They were Ruffcorn, McCartney and Co., General Store and Lumber and Steer and Thompson (William Steer and M.L. Thompson), hardware and lumber. Later in 1897 or 1898, Thompson ran a lumber and grain business by himself.

Possibly the most successful lumberyard in Van Wert was the large Halstead and Crawford business which began in 1897 or 1898. The yard was located southwest of our present Community Building near the tracks. Halstead and Crawford kept their machinery used for transporting and delivering lumber in the stucco building south of Tiedje's new station.


Pages 111 - 117
 
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