A. P. Beck

BECK, JENSEN, KEIR

Posted By: Kelli Wilslef (email)
Date: 5/31/2011 at 14:13:08

A.P. Beck Born in Log Cabin
Jackson Sentinel
Friday, December 5, 1958

A.P. Beck, veteran Maquoketa insurance man, is one of few current Jackson county residents who can claim birth in a log cabin. And furthermore, he has the accompanying picture to prove it.

Shown from left to right, in front of the cabin, are Mr. Beck (then 20 years old), Lawrence Keir (who later operated Keir’s Dairy in Maquoketa), Anna Jensen (sister of the late Gene Jensen of Maquoketa and a nurse in California during later years), Jacob P. Beck (A.P. Beck’s father) and Maria Beck (A.P. Beck’s mother).

The picture was taken in about 1900, about five years before the cabin was torn down and replaced by a house. A.P. Beck still owns the farm, located on the “Dark Hollow” road. It is reached by crossing the Maquoketa river at the new Bridgeport bridge on Highway No. 62 and taking the second road to the right after crossing. The Beck buildings are located about one-third of a mile up this “Dark Hollow” road on the left hand side after leaving Highway No. 62.

“Dark Hollow” got its name because the road wound through steep hills and valleys covered with heavy timber that shaded the road and entire area when the foliage was in season. There is still considerable timber in the region.

With regard to the “conveniences” of a log cabin, Beck related as a boy slept up in the loft, with the snow sifting in on his covers during a winter storm.

The rough boards and hewn shingles hardly made for an airtight roof and Beck often found his breath frozen to the covers on cold nights. However, the straw ticks and feather bed provided plenty of insulation once he was in bed. The hardest part, according to Beck, was getting out of bed on a below-zero morning to go downstairs and light the cold pot-bellied stove that “heated” the cabin.

Beck related, “If we wanted to go to a dance, we walked four or five miles or rode horseback. Most of our entertainment came from neighborhood parties. At fair-time I would go with 50c and come home with a quarter.”

His first job off the farm, Beck recalled, was at the large Cave department store in Maquoketa. He served as cashier and wrapper for some 17 clerks, getting the magnificent stipend of $5 per week for long hours then prevalent. With only about six years of formal school, he found his duties in the retail business provided him with additional education.

The cabin in the photo, Beck estimates, was built around 1850 when Bridgeport was more of a metropolis than Maquoketa. Prior to the Beck’s residence, it was once occupied by a minister and later by a shoemaker.