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EIGHMEY, Calvin W. 1831-1907

EIGHMEY, PENNE, MILLER, COWLES, TAGGERT, WOOD

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 9/9/2010 at 11:17:07

[Waterloo Courier, Tuesday, August 6, 1907]

C.W. EIGHMEY
PASSES AWAY

Pioneer of Black County Dies
This Morning

Calvin W. Eighmey, the first settler of Eagle Township and since 1890 a resident of Waterloo, died at his home this morning from an affliction of the heart which had been growing constantly more acute for the past year. The end came peacefully, and that man whose life had been spent in the upbuilding of his home country and benefiting all mankind rests and his friends numbered in legions mourn.

For the past year Mr. Eighmey had been for the greater part of the time able to be about and it was not until two weeks ago that the members of his family, and perhaps he himself, realized that the end was near. He fought the last fight with the indomitable will and courage that had carried him to triumph in many a contest in the long years that he struggled and toiled to gain a competence and to establish his family in the wilds of a new county.

The deceased will always be held in the highest esteem by all who knew him. His early life gave him a just temperament and he followed with keep appreciation and approval the moral and commendable commercial struggles of other that he saw around him. His every action was one of courtesy and charity. In the early years of his life and until the time of his death he was the personification of the hospitality that was taught by the necessary experience of the pioneer days of Iowa.

Mr. Eighmey was born in Saratoga County, N. Y. on October 11, 1831, and he was bout 12 years of age when he came with his parents to LaSalle County, Illinois. He remained with his parents 10 years and then commenced his experience in the lead mines near Dubuque. This was shortly after his marriage.

The early life of Mr. Eighmey is told in the following biographical sketch taken from the historical edition of the Courier on January 1, 1904.

"The first settled of Eagle Township was C. W. Eighmey who is living now at No.53 Mulberry Street, in Waterloo, having moved from the farm about thirteen years ago.

"He came with his parents to the state in 1845, settling first in Van Buren County, near the Des Moines River, between Bonaparte and Farmington. He was then about ten or eleven years of age. After living there for a short time the family moved to Dubuque in 1847. There Mr. Eighney while just a young man worked for several years in the lead mines. On April 19, 1854, he was married in LaSalle County, Illinois, to Miss Catherine Penne.

"In the early part of 1856, Mr. and Mrs. Eighmey, who had then been married about two years, who were enjoying the flush of health and anxious to secure a home of their own, set out westward from Dubuque in a wagon pulled by a yoke of oxen. They came over the well worn way along which the vehicles of pioneers had been passing for several years before them. Yet the track was not what one might call a well worn road. All streams had to be forded and the path ran up over the hills and down through the valleys in the self-same way that a deer a quarter of a century before would have had to travel had it wished to get to this part of the state.

"Arriving in Waterloo the young couple were obliged to tarry here for some time until rough lumber could be hauled out in order to afford a habitation. A modest home was built by placing the boards on end and nailing them fast to horizontal studdings. A roof was put on as good as could be, made with the material at hand. but both roof and sides were pervious to sunshine and rain alike and Mr. Eighmey never lacked for sufficient ventilation while living in that first humble house. At that time the Eagle Center road had been staked out, but there was no track and Eagle Township was as wild and unbroken as it had ever been. The same spring Owen McManus came to the southern part of the township and a woman of the name of Mitchell also came that spring and located in the township. No land had been broken and there was scarcely a house in sight. The first crop raised, of course, was wheat and although there was a mill in Waterloo, most of the flour was brought to Cedar Rapids.

"The winter of 1857 was the coldest ever known in Iowa. It was the winter of heavy snows, of intense, bitter cold and terrible blizzards. It was in this crude home with many crevices between the boards that the family passed such a winter as this. The young people were poor as most pioneers were. All they had to keep themselves warm was a small kitchen stove. It was not unusual, but rather quite a common experience, for the family to wake up in the morning and find the bed covered with a shallow bank of snow. In those days the sleepers always took the precaution to cover their heads the same as the rest of their body, of if they did not they would freeze nose, ears and the rest of their face. It makes one almost shiver to think about the experiences Mr. Eighmey tells which brought suffering that winter and the winters following on account of the intense cold. Once one of the children froze his feet while in bed. It was almost impossible to keep warm with the clothing and coverlets that the family possessed and with the scant facilities for heating the small house.

"During the winter of 1856-1857 the deep snow was incrusted with ice to such an extent that hundreds of deer lost their lives by breaking their legs while attempting to cross these snow banks. One reason for the scarcity of the deer and elk for several seasons following was the unusual crust of ice that capped the shimmering banks of white. AN elk left a crimson trail one fourth of a mile north of Mr. Eighmey's home one winter morning and by the blood the animal was tracked to Hudson where it had previously fallen to the unerring marksmanship of some of the settlers.

"Mr Eighmey says that none of the homes in that township was built of logs because the timber was so remote, it was about eight miles to the woods on the Cedar and it was more convenient to haul sawed lumber from Waterloo.

"Indians were not plentiful in this township in the early days because of its remoteness from the streams and timber, the favoring hunting grounds of the red men. Occasionally they would pass by, but when Mrs. Eighmey saw them coming she invariably locked all the doors and quite likely went and hid. On such occasions the bronzed flat face would be thrust against the window pane and peering through the savage would motion for the members of the home to give them eatables. Mrs. Eighmey was always very liberal in times like these and would give the Indians the best she had in the house in order to make them feel good and not harm her or her little ones.

"Mr. and Mrs. Eighmey, the former 72 and the latter 69, are hearty and are enjoying excellent health. Their golden wedding anniversary will be April 19th of this year. The couple have raised a family of fine children, all of them honored and useful members of society. W. F. is the oldest; Mrs. H. T. Miller, the next; F. J. cashier of the First National Bank, is third; and C. H. Eighmey is the youngest.

The mother and four of the children survive. W. F. is engaged in the implement business of Mulberry Street, F. J. is cashier of the Firs National Bank, Charles in engaged in the retail grocery business on Sycamore Street, and Mrs. Nettie Miller is at present at Danville. It is expected that the last named will arrive in the city tonight to attend the funeral. The sons were present when the last hour came to their faithful and beloved father.

Three brothers and two sisters survive. C. H. Eighmey is a resident of Dubuque and is cashier of one of the most influential banks in that city. H. B. Eighmey is a resident of Hudson and Orson Eighmey resides at Cedar Falls. One sister, Mrs. Nettie Cowles, is a resident of Ness City, Kansas, and it is though probably that she will be unable to reach this city for the funeral services. Mrs. Helen Taggert, also a sister, resides in Waterloo. A niece, Miss Jessie Wood, of Ralston, is expected in the city today.

Funeral services will be conducted Thursday afternoon at the home, 63 Mulberry Street, at 2:30 o'clock. The Reverend E. D. Hull, pastor of the Grace M. E. Church, of which organization the deceased had been a member for more than 40 years, in charge.

Friends wishing to view the remains may do so from the hours of 10 to 11 o'clock tomorrow morning.

Interment will be in Fairview Cemetery.


 

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