The
ranks of the Old Guard, pioneers of a
great civilization which blazed the way across the prairies when Iowa
was a
wilderness, are fast giving way to Time's decree, and one by one the
members
are passing out through the gateway of common departure.
We
know the sound of the pioneer's axe
has ceased; that the war whoop of the Indian has long since become a
memory. We
know that human progress, accelerated by the greatest of civilizers,
the steel
horse, has reclaimed the empire of the Mississippi from the virgin
waste of the
aborigine; that prosperous farms, with their golden grain and
unnumbered herds,
cities vibrant with industry and the rush of commercialism, a people
contented
and ever with their faces to the goal of success, occupy the territory
where
but a few short years ago land could he had for the asking, the
requisite being
but the hardy service of the pioneer willing to face danger as a part
of his
daily life and accept hardship as his portion, without shrinking or
complaint.
It
was during the period of early
railroad building, and in connection with some of these important | |
transportation enterprises, that Peter Anthony Dey first became a
factor in the
development of the Hawkeye state. Mr. Dey was peculiarly fitted by
education,
temperament, and training for constructive railway work. When but
twenty-one
years of age, two years subsequent to his graduation from Geneva (now
Hobart)
college, Geneva, New York, he entered the employ of the New York and
Erie
Railroad Company as civil engineer, and devoted three years to
engineering
along the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers in Orange county, New York,
and in
Pike and Susquehanna counties, Pennsylvania. In 1849 he went into the
employ of
the state of New York on the Cayuga & Seneca canal, building
locks at
Seneca Falls. Following this, he was engaged in the same line of work
and for
nearly the same length of time on the Erie canal at Port Byron. In the
fall of
1850 he began work with the Michigan Southern Railroad, and remained
with this
road until it was completed to Chicago, having charge of construction
of a
division in the vicinity of La Porte, Indiana. In the fall of 1852 he
became
connected with the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad, being in
charge of
division work from Peru to Sheffield, Illinois. While making his
headquarters
at Tiskilwa, Illinois, he became acquainted with Grenville M. Dodge,
then a young
man, who afterward became famous as a general in the Civil War and
prominent in
railway construction. Mr. Dey gave General Dodge his first employment
in
railroad work. This was the beginning of a long association between
these men,
which ripened into a lasting friendship.
Mr.
Dey was engaged in various railway
construction enterprises in Illinois until 1853, when he came to Iowa
City,
bringing with him General Dodge. With that place as headquarters, he
made the
surveys for the Rock Island road from Davenport to Council Bluffs via
Iowa City
and Des Moines. After two years with the company in Chicago, in the
winter of
1856 he again came west, remaining with the Rock Island road in Iowa
until
1863. He left the employ of the road when it was completed to Kellogg.
In 1860
he was elected mayor of Iowa City.
Mr.
Dey's greatest service to the nation
was in connection with the first survey and construction work of the
Union
Pacific Railroad, the outcome of his association with this famous
enterprise establishing
his remarkable and indomitable integrity as a man and a public servant.
In
September, 1862, he was employed by Henry Farnum, a railroad
contractor, to go
over the line of the newly organized Pacific Railroad Company and make
a
reconnaissance from the Missouri River to the Salt Lake Basin, with a
view to
ascertaining a practicable route and the probable resources of the
country to
be developed. In pursuance of his great task, he went carefully over
the
country from Omaha to Salt Lake. A thorough investigation of the
proposed route
via Denver convinced him that the line was not practicable, and he so
reported.
Crossing the Black Hills at Cheyenne Pass, minute examination of the
range
satisfied him of the availability of that route, and he so recommended.
The
correctness of his judgment was afterwards affirmed by the adoption of
this
route as the line of the nation's first transcontinental railway. In
1863, in
company with John A. Kasson, Thomas C. Durant, and T. J. Carter, he
went to
Washington to ask the president to fix the eastern terminals of the
proposed
road. Mr. Dey had carefully prepared a map showing the approaches of
the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Chicago &
Northwestern, and the
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railways. From this map Mr.
Lincoln decided
that Omaha, Nebraska, was the proper terminal for the western road. The
same
year, while in the employ of Thomas C. Durant, Mr. Dey ran some
preliminary
lines of survey over the Cheyenne Pass and the Bridger Pass, also
between Omaha
and the Platte valley, and between Belleview and the Platte valley, and
at
other points. This work was finished early in the fall of 1863, and on
December
30th of that year he was appointed chief engineer of the road by the
executive
committee.
Perhaps
the best way to close this
momentous experience in the professional career of this remarkable man
will be
to quote from the History of Iowa, by B. F. Gue, Vol. iv, pages 72-73:
"It
was while in the line of his
profession that a supreme test of the character of the man [Peter Dey]
was
made. The notorious 'Credit Mobilier of America' had been organized by
Thomas
C. Durant, Oliver Ames, Oakes Ames, and other capitalists for the
purpose of
constructing the Pacific Railroad. The government subsidies granted for
the
construction of the road amounted to the enormous sum of $64,000 a mile
for a
part, and $96,000 a mile for the remainder. Peter A. Dey vas the chief
engineer
of the construction, and, having made a survey of the first hundred
miles,
reported that it could be constructed for $30,000 per mile. The
government was
offering $32,000 and an enormous land grant in addition for this
portion of the
road. An article in Scribner's Monthly for March, 1874, tells the story
of how
the Credit Mobilier made a profit of $5,000,000 in building 246 miles
of the
road. The following illustrates the stern integrity of the Iowa man who
was the
chief engineer:
"When
his estimate was made to the
directors, it was returned to him with orders to retouch it with higher
colors,
to put embankments on paper where none existed oh earth, to make the
old
embankments heavier, to increase the expenses generally, and he was
requested
to send in his estimate that it would cost $50,000 per mile. When Mr.
Dey was
informed that this part of the road was let to ________
__________, at $50,000 per mile, which he
knew could he done for $30,000, this difference amounting to $5,000,000
on the
two hundred and forty-six miles, he resigned his position as chief
engineer in
a noble letter to the president of the road. He closed that letter with
this
statement: "My views of the Pacific Road are perhaps peculiar. I look
upon
its managers as trustees of the bounty of
Congress ..... You are doubtless informed how
disproportionate the
amount to be paid is to the work contracted for. I need not expatiate
on the
sincerity of my course, when you reflect upon the fact that I have
resigned the
best position in my profession this country has offered to any man." "This
fidelity to public interest is
the one bright spot in that disgraceful era of corruption which reached
into
Congress and blackened the reputation of scores of public officials. It
is not
strange that Peter A. Dey, whose stern integrity was thus tested,
should have
been chosen as the democratic member of the commission which built the
(Iowa)
State House, a work which for all time will stand as a monument to the
ability
and integrity of Robert S. Finkbine, Peter A. Dey, and John G. Foote."
Following
his resignation as chief
engineer of the Pacific Railroad, Mr. Dey returned to Iowa City, and
from that
point was engaged in making surveys for a north and south road, until
the close
of 1868, when he severed his connection with the Rock Island Company.
In 1869
he was elected president of the First National Bank of Iowa City, which
office
he held until 1878, when he was appointed railway commissioner for the
state of
Iowa by Governor Gear. He was re-appointed to this office by Governors
Gear,
Sherman, and Larrabee respectively. In 1888 the office became elective,
and he
was three times elected to the position, suffering one defeat, in an
overwhelming republican year, his tenure of service bringing him up to
the year
1895. In 1872 he was appointed by the legislature as one of the
commissioners
to build the new capitol of Iowa at Des Moines, remaining on the
commission
until 1884, when the building was completed. Declining being again a
candidate
for railway commissioner, in 1895 he succeeded Mr. Parsons as president
of the
First National Bank of Iowa City, which office he held until his death.
In all,
during his two terms, he served twenty-six years as president of that
bank. He
was a member of the Iowa State Historical Society for twenty four
years, and
was its president for twelve years.
On
the 23d day of October, 1856, Peter Anthony Dey and Miss Catherine
Thompson,
youngest daughter of Harry and Myra (Hull) Thompson, natives of
Connecticut,
were united in marriage at Trinity church in Buffalo, New York, the
Rev.
William Shelton, D. D., LL.D., F. R. S., officiating. On the 11th day
of
September, 1857, the young couple moved into the house on North Clinton
street,
Iowa City, which has been the family home since that time. Mr. Dey
selected and
purchased the beautiful site for this home when it was covered with
hazel brush
and a very slight growth of small trees. Today it contains numbers of
great
oaks, elms, and hickories, and is famous as one of the scenic
beauty-spots of
the University City. In this home, on July 11, 1911, this venerable and
respected citizen passed away, after a brief illness. He was in full
possession
of his mental faculties to the last, and sat at the table with the
family at
meals until the last day. Time funeral took place from the home on July
13th,
and the service was the simple ritual of the Episcopal church, of which
he had
been a member from childhood. A great lover of scientific thought, he
was much
in the company of the master minds of history, literature, and science.
His
private library was large and carefully selected, and he spent much
time in the
perusal of his books. It has been said of him that he "not only read
his
books, but he knew them," and frequently verified his memory in
verbatim
quotations therefrom. One of his last tasks during the winter of
1910-11 was to
write his name in every volume of his library.
His
beloved wife preceded him to the
Great Beyond by about twelve years, having died in the family home June
12,
1899.
Six
children were born to Peter Anthony
Dey and Catherine Thompson, as follows: Harry Thompson, died in 1873,
aged
sixteen years; Anthony, died July 4, 1864, at Omaha, Nebraska, aged
four years;
Marvin Hull, married to Harriet Adaline Martin of Red Hook, N. Y.,
residing in
Iowa City; Myra Thompson, now Mrs. Craig T. Wright, of Des Moines,
Iowa; Curtis
Thompson, married to Urania Susan Coldren, residing at Iowa City; Ann
Hull, now
Mrs. Clarence W. Eastman, of Amherst, Massachusetts.
Peter
Anthony Dey lacked only sixteen
days of being eighty-six and one-half years old at his death. His
advanced age,
in view of the vigor and strength of mind and memory which reached back
across
the years, was hardly conceivable to those who were intimate with this
valiant
member of the Old Guard. Eighty-six years battling with men and the
world, he
lived during a period of time that marks the greatest progress in the
world's
history; he witnessed the entire growth and development of Iowa as a
state and
of Johnson county from a small pioneer settlement to a teeming,
prosperous
community; he saw the expanse of broad prairies, where houses were
forty miles
apart, covered with cities and homes, with fields of golden grain and
herds of
cattle; he saw the locomotives climb chamois-like over cliffs and to
the very
crest of the Rocky Mountains, and a web of steel spread over the
wilderness by
the great spiders of commerce; he saw the Indian's camping grounds
covered with
churches and beautiful homes and abounding with commerce and education.
Today a
line of steel marks the first invasion into a new country, and the
pioneer
seeking an unsettled region may ride there in a palace car. But the old
clays
of the stage coach, of the ox team and the covered wagon, should not be
forgotten. Their memories are and shall be precious to men.
GENEALOGY
Peter
Anthony Dey was a member of the
seventh generation of the Dey family in America. The founder was
Richard (Dirck
Jansen) Dey, who came from Amsterdam at an early date and settled in
New
Amsterdam (New York City), where he married, December 2, 1641, Jannetje
Theunis, also of Amsterdam. From Richard Dey (first generation) the
line of
direct descent is as follows:
Second
generation — Theunis Dircksen Dey,
of Staten Island, New York, baptized September 24, 1656.
Third
generation — Dirck Theunis Dey, of
Bergen county, New Jersey, baptized March 27, 1687.
Fourth
generation — Colonel Theunis Dey,
born 1725 near Preakness, New Jersey.
Fifth
generation — Dr. Philip Dey, born
July, 1754, at Preakness, New Jersey.
Sixth
generation — Anthony Dey, of
Geneva, New York, born February 6, 1781.
Seventh
generation — Peter Anthony Dey,
born January 27, 1825, at Romulus, Seneca county, New York, one mile
east of
Seneca Lake.
The
first ancestor of the Dey family of
whom we have any knowledge, was Count Isarn de Die, Grand Maitre De
L'Ordre
Teutonique Seigneurs, in France, Premiere Croisade, 1096, whose
descendants
left France, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and settled
in
Scotland, England, and Holland.
Richard
Dey, the founder of the family in
America, owned property in New Amsterdam (New York City) and
established a mill
and ferry at the foot of what is now Dey street, running from Broadway
west to
the Hudson river. He resided on Broadway, at a point which is now the
head of
Dey street.
Theunis
Dircksen Dey, son of Richard,
"owned at his death the fee of a lot of land lying without the City
land
gate, on the west side of the highway (now Broadway, New York City),
having to
the north the farm of His Royal Highness, afterwards called the King's
Farm,
mid to the south the land of Olof Stevenson (Van Courtlandt)" —
containing
five and one-half acres, 309 feet front on Broadway and 800 feet deep
to the
Hudson river. In 1750 Dey street was laid out through these premises.
Dirck
Theunis Dey succeeded to the
estate. He conveyed, March 25, 1758, to Trinity church, a lot of land
lying
west of Broadway, near the present Canal street. In this deed he is
styled,
"Richard Dey, Gentleman, grandson and heir-at-law of Richard Dey."
His residence was in Bergen county, New Jersey.
Colonel
Theunis Dey was a colonel of the
Bergen County Regiment, 1776. He built some years before the Dey House
at
Preakness, New Jersey, which house was, for three months during 1780,
the
headquarters of General Washington. According to de Chastellux,
Washington
occupied four rooms in the Dey house. It is said he had them papered at
his own
expense, and that the paper then put on remained until about twenty
years ago.
The Dey estate at Preakness originally consisted of 600 acres, but this
has
gradually been reduced in size during the past 140 years, until hardly
anything
is left of the wide acres of field and wood which the family once held.
But the
old house still stands in as good condition (seemingly) as when it was
built,
and is pointed to with pride by the antiquarians of the neighborhood as
the
house which was for months Washington's headquarters. Colonel Theunis
Dey died
in 1787.
Dr.
Philip Dey, Peter Dey's grandfather,
was a physician, and practiced in the region west of Paterson, Now
Jersey, for
many years. He died August 2, 1810, at Little Falls.
Anthony
Dey, father of Peter A., was a
tanner by trade, and died November 14, 1851, at Seneca Falls, New York.
He
resided formerly at Geneva, New York. On January 14, 1816, he married
Hannah
Dey, who was born June 12, 1787. She died March 17, 1841. Their
children were:
Eleanor,
born October 30, 1816:
unmarried; died August 22, 1861, Iowa City.
Philip,
born October 9, 1818; died
December 21, 1822.
Jane,
born June 5, 1820; died January 11,
1837.
Mary,
born April 30, 1822; died August
10, 1837.
Peter
Anthony, born January 27, 1825;
died July 11, 1911.
Source: Leading Events in Johnson County,
Iowa, History (1913); Volume: 2; Aurner, Clarence Ray; Cedar Rapids, IA: Western Historical Press
|