Item – No one seems to know when the Brazelton hotel was built by Samuel Brazelton, nor when the Harlan hotel was built by Senator Harlan. The Senator, however, did build the “residential section” for his private family use, and personally superintended its construction. Later it was turned into a hotel and the three successive additions built on by Mr. Harlan.

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Item – In the winter of 1872-73 the farmers of Henry county were burning corn in their stoves, it being cheaper, pound for pound, than coal. A bushel of corn and a bushel of coal were the same price. The hauling to market of the corn, and the return load of coal, threw the economic weight in favor of corn for fuel.

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Item – Senator Harlan owned the three buildings opposite the Harlan House and the two now owned and occupied by R. K. Crane, was known locally as the “Harlan Block”. The corner building owned by Glenn Shannon, was for a long time occupied by a furniture factory operated by William Daugherty. Before joining the Leedhams in the Henry Street planing mill, L. G. Baugh was foreman of the furniture factory.

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Kammerers Brewery – Valentine Kammerer built a brewery in Mt. Pleasant in 1864. It stood at the south end of Jefferson street, and adjacent to the still preserved grade of a railroad which was to run north through the heart of the town. The brewery was three stories high and a deep cellar. It was 60x64 feet in width and breadth and a beer cellar 18x64, cooled by an ice house directly over it. Steam was used for power and manufacture. In 1874, the brewery turned out 1,450 barrels. The retail sale by bottle or drink was prohibited. For many years after the concern was overcome by financial troubles, the building was used as a residence. A few years ago, Mr. Ed Rokey tore down the building and from the salvage built the comfortable residence adjacent. The old beer cellar remains intact and is one of the points of interest of the town.

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The first Agricultural association organized in this county was at Salem in 1851, and the first county fair was also held in Salem Oct. 13, that year. The fair was held annually, either at Salem or Mt. Pleasant, until the outbreak of the Civil War. In the spring of 1865, the society was re-organized and continued to the present time.

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In 1876, William H. Schliep, one of the worthy and really important men of this community, built a residence on North Adams, now owned and occupied by his daughter, Miss Ida. The residence is two story and 32x44. Mention is made of its building in the papers of the day, and described as one of the fine homes of the town, and interior finish throughout of hard wood.

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Item – “Free Press”, June 1, 1876. “Pressley Saunders is experimenting with cement sidewalks. He says that they are quite common down in the south, where he has travelled, and are considered as durable.”

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Item –“Journal” of June 1, 1876. “W. J. and J. S. Rogers of the Merrimac Mills, have failed.” These mills were of great importance in their day. Little is left of them. The property is now owned by Art Salzman. Of particular interest is the fact that Ardivan Rogers, one of the founders of Phi Delta Theta, college Greek letter fraternity, was a brother of the owners of the Merrimac Mills, and is buried at Brighton. He was not a relative of this writer, although by marriage he was related to the writer’s wife, and because of this the only known Phi Delt pin, owned by one of the founders of a fraternity, is the property of this writer.

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The Old College Bell –“Journal”, April 29, 1875: “The old college bell still hangs motionless in the belfry with a great crack running its entire length. And the dinner bell still tinkles in the halls below. We understand the bell will soon be taken down and sent away for repairs.”

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The New College Bell –“Journal”, Sept. 23, 1875: “Iowa Wesleyan college has purchased a new bell weighing over one thousand pounds. The tone is very fine. It was placed in the belfry by Col. Greusel Wednesday last. The bell cast here by Royce & Hooper, was impaired in tone by the quality of sand used in the moulding (sic), not being adapted to such metal. The old bell was accepted, however, as part payment on the new bell.

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Corn and Cabbage – “Free Press”, May 13, 1875: “What a pity it is that the German College campus can’t be planted in something else besides corn. This summer we will have the rural spectacle of a college in a corn field, when it would look better to have it put in cabbage, and furnish a supply of sauerkraut for our friends up there this fall.”

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“Journal” of May 27, 1875: “Mrs. Lincoln has been pronounced insane by a tribunal summoned at Chicago to pass upon the facts. The application was made by her son, Robert T. Lincoln, by certificate from Mrs. Lincoln’s physicians.
Later – Mrs. Lincoln is at the private retreat for the insane at Batavia, Ill., which belongs to Dr. Patterson, who was the first superintendent of the Mt. Pleasant State Hospital for the Insane”.

(“The Mount Pleasant News”, Monday, December 15th, 1941, page 2)

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Resource provided by Henry County Heritage Trust, Mount Pleasant, Iowa; transcription done by Nicholas Hohenbrink, University of Northern Iowa Public History Field Experience Class, Spring 2025; proofreading done by Mary Anne Bainbridge.

Contributed to Henry County IAGenWeb, March 2025.