"The History of Decatur County, Iowa: 1839 - 1970"

by Himena V. Hoffman
Published by Decatur County Historical Society, Leon IA, 1970
 
Courthouse, Graceland College, Schools & Churches, Page 116
Transcription by Carmelita
 
It will not be necessary to tell of the most important county building as the court house, completed in 1876 has already been described. The other county buildings were the brick jail built in 1884 and still in use over eighty years later and the county home, adapted from the residence on the Gammon farm purchased in 1866 to house paupers, feeble minded and the insane.

As to school houses each town had a new building during this period or in a few instances brick buildings replaced the log rural school houses. Some were built on land donated by a prosperous farmer and given his name, as the Foland School. The schools in some districts were particularly connected with one family as for instance the Liberty school as Jacob Flora was its treasurer for forty-five years and his son followed him in that office.

Of course a most important school building was the Graceland College building at Lamoni.

Of the North School in Leon, Frank Garber wrote

"Thomas Martin rang the school bell
Till it sounded far and near."

The bell purchased before the Civil War had been used during the war by both the school and the Methodists. It hung in the belfry of the schoolhouse built in 1876.

Not only Mr. Martin but other men served as janitors of town schools. One of those in Leon, Johnny Sowers, not only rang the bell and swept the floors, but also taught history at recess by telling stories of his experiences as a soldier in the Civil War, stories that each year became more dramatic.

Many new churches were built during this period both in the towns and in the country. Most of these were frame buildings but a few were of brick. The Brick Church built by John Clark has already been mentioned. The largest church building was the one at Lamoni built by the R. L. D. S. and described as having "a ceiling twenty five feet high in the center, a fine walnut pulpit donated by the architect, Thomas Jacobs, and seating one thousand." The Methodist church in Leon was named Loving Chapel in recognition of the building contribution of William and Elizabeth Loving. It's beautiful windows included one given by the traveling men who came to Leon to sell goods to local merchants. James Penniwell was in charge of the construction of Loving Chapel. The Prebyterians in Leon were proud of their quaint and dignified church, as were the members of the Christian Church of their place of worship built on land donated by John Gardner. Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Mullen, Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Daughton, Mr. and Mrs. William Grogan, Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Mullen and Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Grogan gave the land for the Catholic church in Woodland township.

The construction of store buildings during this period indicated that money could be made in business even though many failed and only a few were really successful. S. W. Hurst had the first brick store building but by the end of the period the business blocks in Leon and in other towns had few frame buildings and except for Leon and Lamoni there were far more places of business than there were after World War II.

Several types of buildings in each town indicated economic conditions particularly the bank buildings. Though the Panic of 1873 and that of 1893 closed some banks, the number of banks continued to increase and each town had one or more bank buildings. The first bank was established in Leon in 1869 and reorganized as the Farmers and Traders Bank in 1874. John Clark had an important part in the establishment of the first bank, and after 1874 the banking association headed by the Stearnses had control of much of the banking business in the county until it was not able to survive the Panic of 1893. In 1895 the major stockholders in the Farmers and Traders Bank were John W. Harvey and Thomas Teale. S. W. Hurst established the Exchange Bank in Leon in 1885. Patrick Griffin opened a bank in Grand River. Two banks in Lamoni were opened in 1898. The Farmers State Bank had as its president Fred Teale and the States Savings Bank with W. A. Hopkins as President had Anna Dancer as vice president. Mrs. Dancer was not however the county's first woman banker as Helen DeKalb, later Mrs. L. P. VanWerden, was placed in charge of a small bank owned by her father several years before 1898.

Though these banks were so important in the years after the Civil War, their assets varied. In 1899 the Farmers and Traders Bank had total assets of over two hundred thousand dollars but at the same time J. N. Gates private bank at Davis City had only two thousand dollars in assets. The Citizens Bank of Decatur of which William Woodard was president with Clabe Brazelton, Josiah Hamilton, F. A. and F. S. Gardner and E. W. Townsend as major stockholders owned twenty-four hundred acres of land and had assets of a hundred thousand.

Many of these bank buildings can not now be located but in Garden Grove an empty brick building is marked Tiffin Bank but few remember in 1970 when it was a center of financial interests in the county.

As to the houses built during this period a large Victorian type house was a status symbol. The best example of such a house was the one built in Garden Grove by Squire Stearns. In Lamoni, David Dancer has a large house as did President Smith of the R. L. D. S. church. In Leon the largest house was built by George T. Young and called by some Young's Folly. Its grounds included an entire block, enclosed by a fence as were most yards in this period. John Clark built brick houses in Davis City. S. W. Hurst had a large house with walnut woodwork and several fireplaces. James Penniwell also of Leon had a house with a tower and parquet floor in the parlor.

There were large houses built by well to do farmers. Among those were the three story house of Dr. DeKalb, the brick houses built on the farms of Stephen and David Scott, brick house built by John Gardner beside his log cabin, which was left standing as long as owned by the Gardners, and the house of Wood Binning with its two stories of bay windows.
 
 
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