The Razing of the Leggett Hotel, 1966

LEGGETT, SIMMONS, WAVNER, PEEBLER, WILLIAMS, SPRINGER, BROWN, WAGGONER, WAGNER, JACKS, SEARS

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 3/13/2011 at 16:08:46

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Friday, February 25, 1966
Pages 1 and 5

LEGGETT HOTEL TO BE RAZED -- CITY LANDMARK COMING DOWN... (Photos)

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"The Fairfield Ledger"
Wednesday, March 9, 1966

HOTEL RAZING RECALLS FAMILY STORY -- TRAGIC ENDING TO EARLY-DAY WEDDING.

As work begins in tearing down the old Leggett Hotel building, many can remember stories which originated when the building was the social center of the community. Weddings were held in its parlor, and dinners and banquets were held in its dining room.

Mrs. Russell SIMMONS, 406 E. Washington, has record of a wedding that took place in the parlor at the old hotel back in the days of the Gold Rush. Her maternal grandmother, Augusta WAVNER, had an older sister, Susan. Their maiden name was PEEBLER. At the age of 16, Susan was married to a young man in the Parlor at the original inn erected at that location. It was the Clay House operated by William WILLIAMS. It became the Leggett Hotel when it was purchased in 1855 by Richard C. LEGGETT. It has been the Leggett Hotel since, a period of well over a century.

The wedding took place early in the day. After the ceremony the wedding party drove to the home of the bride's parents one mile east and 2½ miles south of Batavia where a dinner was held. That afternoon the young bridegroom, with a few other men, left by horseback for California to take part in the Gold Rush. The young bride climbed to the attic in the farm home and waved a dish towel from a window as long as she could see her new husband riding away over the prairie.

After spending some time in California, he started back to Iowa with a group of 24 men. In the mountains of Colorado they experienced a violent rain and wind storm. They pitched their big tent early as the black clouds rolled in. They placed their gear around the edge of the tent and tucked the canvas under it. As they huddled together in the center of the tent to keep dry, lightning struck the pole and killed several men, the young groom included. Months later one of the survivors located Susan and informed her of her husband's death.

A few years later she was married to Michael SPRINGER in the same parlor in the same hotel building. They moved to Leon, Iowa, where their descendants still reside. While a young girl residing in Jefferson County, nearby Indians called her "Sukey Blueskin Cracker." No one could guess where they got "Cracker" since it in no way resembled PEEBLER. However, the name stuck with her all her life.

*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I am not related to the person(s) mentioned.

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From "Jefferson County Records", Vol. 5, Pg. 22:

Notes: From Jefferson County Marriage Records, D. W. BROWN and Susan F. PEEBLER were married 19 Nov. 1857 by J. C. Fetter, J.P. From a history of the PEEBLER family in "The Fairfield Ledger" Sept. 19 1938, Susan SPRINGER and Augusta WAGGONER (WAGNER?) were daughters of Michael PEEBLER Jr. (born Ky. May 6 1809) and his wife Frances (Fanny) (JACKS) (b. Ky. June 19 1816); both bur. Dunkard Cemetery, Sec. 4, Des Moines Township, Jefferson County, Iowa. Michael PEEBLER Sr. was a brother of Samuel PEEBLER Sr. who with his wife is buried in the Fairfield (City) Cemetery.....

[Ed. note: This family has several people with similar names. For clarification, Michael Sr. was born about 1768 in VA and married to Esther SEARS, also born about 1768 in NC. The Samuel Sr. mentioned here is one of Michael & Esther's sons, born 1798 and died 1842; Samuel married Darthy FOUTCH, born 1811 and died 1842. Samuel and Darthy are buried in Old Fairfield City Cemetery. -JS]

From the 1850 Census of Liberty Township, Jefferson County, Iowa, Michael PEEBLER, then age 82 y., was born in Virginia; his wife Esther (SEARS, dau. Christian SEARS) was also 82, born in North Carolina. Michael PEEBLER Sr. is bur. Fell Cemetery.