Durant is located on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, twenty miles west of Davenport, in Farmington Township, in the southeastern corner of Cedar County, on the south half of Section 36, in the midst of a gently undulating, fertile prairie.
The earliest civilized inhabitants of this vicinity were David and George Walton, with their father, David W., who has since died there. They settled about three miles west of Durant, in May, 1836, and still reside on their farms, being the oldest settlers of Cedar County. Harrison Gray (1838), George, Paul and John Hanson, and their father, were early settlers across the county line, three miles south, in Muscatine County; while about 1853, Matthew Brown, James Young, John Burr and J. H. Pingrey settled about one miles south. Mr. Young and Mr. Pingrey still reside there, the latter having 1,000 acres in Muscatine County and 3,000 in Iowa.
George Wetherholdt settled in 1854, one and a half miles northeast, in Scott County.
March 11, 1853, Joseph Weaver, having formed a dislike for his profession (law), came West and entered a portion of his present farm; commenced improving in May, 1854, and moved there April 3, 1855. Mr. Weaver says: “There were then no people on the east side of the township, and only a few families on the west, namely, those of George Herr, David Walton, George Walton and Peter Daum, all of whom lived in the timber at the southwest corner of the township.”
In October, 1855, Mr. Weaver shipped the first wheat (600 bushels) from Durant, on a construction train. This he sold at Davenport for $1 per bushel.
P. M. Christ settled near Mr. Weaver about the same time. He died in 1875.
When the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad was surveyed through the southeast corner of the county Benjamin Brayton, with a Mr. Taylor as silent partner, both civil engineers on the railroad, entered the south half of Section 36, and in 1854 laid out and platted the village. But when others decided to establish a village at Fulton, they sold this land, and it was soon . . .
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. . . after repurchased by Mr. Brayton, in company with Ebenezer Cook and Geo. B. Sargent. One-third interest was disposed of to Gen. John A. Dix, and another one-third interest to Thomas C. Durant, of Union Pacific Railroad fame. The village was named after the latter gentleman. They owned a large portion of the village, through Hiram Price, trustee, until in 1877, when their last interest of about one hundred lots, was sold. The lots are 64x150 feet. A fractional block was given to each, the Episcopal Church and the school district.
Durant was recorded June 27, 1855, under the proprietorship of George B. Sargent; and again, with modifications, September 10, 1855. The first building in Durant was a shanty erected in 1854, on the site of the large yellow warehouse in the western part of the town, on Lot 10, Block 12, by Mr. Thompson, the contractor of two miles of railroad through Durant, as a boarding house for his workmen.
The first settlers were from New Haven, Conn. The second building was erected in August, 1855, by Clark M. Loomis, on Lot No. 1, in Block No. 15, one story high. He occupied it but a short time, when, his wife being out of health and homesick, he returned to New Haven, where he is now engaged in the publication of a musical monthly magazine. The building was afterward used as a cabinet maker’s shop by I. N. Gilbert, beer saloon and for various other purposes, and then moved to Lot 5, Block 2, and is now occupied as a dwelling house.
The next building was erected the following month, by Dr. E. B. Bills, for an office, on Lot 6, Block 2; and, although it was only 12x16, as soon as it was sided and roofed it was occupied by Mr. Asa Cunningham and family, which consisted of a wife and two children, and at once, much against his will, Mr. C. found himself running the only hotel in town, and having to provide for some fourteen to sixteen boarders. This house is still standing as the granary of Dr. Bills.
Mr. Cunningham now resides in a large house of his own, in the western part of the town, where he has more elbow room than a 12x16 shanty.
The next buildings put up were the depot and hotel. The depot was the first building erected expressly for that purpose in the State; it was quite a large building and did service for a number of years, after which, it was taken down and removed to the city of Muscatine, where it does service as a depot at this time. Commodious depot grounds, 1,200x300 feet in size, were laid off.
The hotel was built by the proprietors of the town, Messrs. Cook & Sargent, of Davenport, and was occupied by H. S. Downs, of Boston, Mass., who was also the first Station Agent at this place.
Mr. Downs was a brother-in-law of Mr. Clark Loomis, and was instrumental in inducing the settlers from Connecticut to locate there.
In the Fall of 1855, the Western Stage company opened a stage route from this point to Tipton, the county seat, and continued it for three months, for which they received $500 from the proprietors of the town. The stables of the company were on the lot now occupied by the house of H. C. Loomis.
The next season, Lafayette Parker, an old settler living near, in company with a Mr. Thorpe, began the manufacture of brick, just at the south line of the town; but after a while, the railroad company refusing to deliver wood, their operations were brought to a close.
The railroad tract was laid through Durant in the fall of 1855, and several other buildings were erected, and more settlers coming in, Durant, in the Spring following, began to present the activity and bustle of an incipient Western town.
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In the Spring of 1856, the post office, which was located at the west end of Center Grove, on the old Hanson place, was removed there, and John E. Whittlesey, a son of Rev. John S. Whittlesey, was the first Postmaster. He occupied what is now known as the old Ritterfield building.
Dr. Bills soon became Postmaster, followed by the father of Joseph Weaver, then H. C. Loomis and the present Postmaster, D. Pingrey.
Mr. H. S. Downs, who was also Cook & Sargent’s agent there, kept the first store, in a small house put up by him on Lot 6, Block 9. Cone & Loomis succeeded him, and opened the first regular store.
In 1857, Allen & Williams established a lumber yard in Durant, with Joseph Lane as Manager; and in the same year, that firm built the yellow “Butterfield building”.
The first carpenters were Willard & Wemott, who built the Episcopal Church, and continued to reside there as carpenters.
The first butcher was Henry Allard, who lived in Durant until his death in December, 1877, at the age of 84 years.
The first physician was Dr. E. B. Bills, who came in September, 1855. He is a graduate of Yale College, and has continued in the medical practice in Durant for eighteen years. April 1, 1857, Dr. Bills was elected Justice of the Peace. A Justice had been elected before him, but on account of some informality in the election, he never tried a case. Dr. Bills still has his first docket. As the village is situated in the corner of the county, trouble was experienced by culprits seeking refuge in either Scott or Muscatine County.
The first birth in the town is a matter of some controversy; some think it to have been a child of Patrick Kilcoin, which afterward died, but the sketch of Durant, written by Dr. Bills, which has been used liberally in this article, says that the first birth occurred December 12, 1857—a daughter of Isaac N. Gilbert; of course, she was named Mary Durant, and received from the proprietors of the town, according to promise, a warranty deed of Lot 5 in Block 10. The building in which this child was born was purchased and taken down by Mr. T. C. Prescott a few years since, and from this lumber a coal house was constructed, and now remains upon his premises. Mr. Gilbert removed to the city of New York, where he now resides. Mr. Bills received, several years ago, a photograph of Miss Gilbert, now a young lady.
In 1859, Jacob Weaver put up, on the west end of the depot ground, a flouring and grist-mill which he ran for a few months, but the machinery being of a new pattern it proved to be inferior, and was removed and the building sold to Messrs. Loomis & Orcutt, who moved it to the eastern end of the depot grade, and remodeled it into a grain elevator; the well, at the western side of the railroad grounds, is a memento of the old mill. Mr. Loomis of the firm above mentioned, has served one term as Representative in the State Legislature, and is one of Durant’s solid citizens.
In 1867, a spacious elevator, with all the modern improvements, operated by steam, of a capacity of 50,000 bushels, was put up by Messrs. Henry Orcutt and J. H. Pingrey, and is now owned and operated by A. D. Crooks. It is the largest elevator between Davenport and Des Moines, and Durant is consequently a great shipping point. The following statistics are furnished by Mr. B. W. Brown, who has been station agent and telegraph operator during the past fifteen years. Mr. Brown came to Durant in 1854, and farmed for several years.
The firm of O. Cone & H. C. Loomis was succeeded by Clinton Orcutt and H. C. Loomis; this firm built a new store which was set on fire and blown up . . .
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. . . by powder. The store was then rebuilt and continued for some time, when the business was transferred to Crooks & Furst, then to A. D. Crooks, and is now under the proprietorship of Schroeder & Bohstedt.
In 1868, the hotel having passed into the hands of Mr. Allen Nesbitt, he remodeled and made large additions to it, and, now surrounded by the shady maple, it presents a very home-like appearance, and has become the resort of many a time-honored bachelor in which they seek to while away “the Winter of their discontent.” Mr. Nesbitt died in January, 1874; he was highly esteemed by Durant’s citizens, and his loss was regretted by all. The hotel is now continued by R. Riddle.
T. C. Prescott came to Cedar County, from New Hampshire in March, 1865, and, with Rufus Clark, opened a general store in Durant, September, 1867, at their present location. The firm was Prescott & Foss, in 1868; T. C. Prescott, in 1869, and Prescott & Pingrey since 1870. Mr. Prescott is now Clerk District and Circuit Courts. W. C. Butterfield was in business there in 1865. Mr. Beuthien has been in business since about 1869. Ross & Latshaw established the drug business there, and were succeeded by the present druggist, Dr. H. T. Emeis.
The present business interests are represented by the following firms: General Merchandise—Prescott & Pingrey (including lumber), M. Beuthien (including grain), Schroeder & Rohstedt, C. Blunck; Hardware—J. G. Braugh & Bro.; Druggist—H. T. Emeis, M.D.; Physician—E. B. Bills, M. D.; Sash, Blinds, Paints and Oils—Boldt Bros.; Harness Shop—P. Stoltenburg; Blacksmiths—J. Rohlfs, W. Wulf; Wagon Shops—J. H. Horst, Wm. Bierkamp; Coal, Flour and Feed—B. W. Brown; Hotel—R. Riddle; Real Estate Dealer—C. Orcutt; Grain Dealers—Boatwright & Fernald.
