Early Dow City History
from 1851
A historical account of early settlers, places and events in and around Dow City, Iowa.
1851-1854
Early Settlers and Indian Raids
In the earliest days of Crawford County history, there were three distinct zones of settlement: at Mason's Grove, at Denison, and in Union Township. The settlement of Union Township began as an overflow from Galland's Grove in the northern part of Shelby County.
The first settler of whom we have record was Frank Rudd, who built a cabin and moved his family to a location in what was known as Lower North Grove. Soon after Mr. Rudd's coming, James M. Butler settled in Upper North Grove in March 1851 He brought his family with him, determined to make this a permanent home.
Soon after his coming, however, the settlement was raided by Indians. Mrs. McColl, the mother-in-law, attempted to defend the property of the little home, and the Indian raiders slapped her and took what they pleased. This same band of Sioux raided the cabin occupied by Stratton Thurston and a Mr. Carpenter who had settled in Lost Grove.
At Mr. Carpenter's the Indians met resistance in the shape of a closed door and an axe at the window, but twelve to two was too great odds. They gained admittance, and among the articles appropriated was a feather bed, which they proceeded to rip open and empty out the feathers, carrying off the tick.
They continued their raid into Shelby County stealing clothing and such things as they fancied; among them being a deer hide that Frank Rudd had just tanned.
This raid convinced Mr. Butler that he was too far in advance of civilization, so he moved his family back to Shelby County, where he resided for six years, returning later to the vicinity of Arion. Mr. Butler was one of the first attorneys and occupied several positions of importance in the county. He was also captain of a company of Home Guards, who defended the frontier against the Indians. He was commissioned Captain by Governor Kirkwood, and commanded the company from this vicinity which wintered in a stockade at Cherokee.
The Mr. Carpenter spoken of before must be credited with the first manufactory in the county, outside of a saw and gristmill already installed. Mr. Carpenter was an expert broom maker and established a small broom factory, run by waterpower. Both he and Mr. Thurston left soon after the Indian raid, and the little factory was a thing of the past.
To Edmund Howorth must be given the credit of having made the first permanent settlement. He came to Union Township in 1853 with wife and children Edmund,Daniel, Mary,later the wife of John Moorehead, and Sarah, who married Samuel Young.
John R. Rudd also settled in 1853, and it is claimed that Mrs. Rudd, the former Serelda Jordan, who came with him, was the first white child born in Iowa.
In 1854, William Jordan came with his family, settling on Section 9, where he lived until 1857, when he sold to a Mr. Niles. Mr. Niles never moved onto the place, but lived with Judge Bassett and Judge Dow at the Comfort home where they were snowbound for months during that desperate winter. The severe season discouraged Mr. Niles; he sold his place to Mr. Dow and took his departure.
The year 1854 also brought John Vore and his wife and three children. Mr. Vore was at one time county sheriff. With him came John Moorehead and Cyrus Whittemore. The latter was a brother of Mrs. Vore, and was accidentally killed in June 1856, his being the first death in the township.
John Moorehead stayed one year in the township, and then went West with his brother George. After a number of years he returned and settled in Union Township, later moving to the Soldier River where the present town of Moorhead, which was named for him, is situated.
Robert D. Butterworth also came to Union Township in 1854. He located at what was then called Oak Grove, bringing with him his wife and two children. During the winter of the big snow, he lived on a farm south of Arion. Later he owned and operated a sawmill in which he was associated with his son, Charles E, Butterworth, who was one of the leaders of the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints.
James Kennedy was another settler in 1854, at Three Bee Tree Grove, with his wife, four sons, and two daughters
1855
Simeon E. Dow and S. J. Comfort Arrive
In 1855 was the coming of Simeon E. Dow, who was destined to be the most prominent factor in the upbuilding of the locality, Mr. Dow was a comparatively wealthy man when he came to Crawford County. He took an extensive tract of some of the finest land and built what was for those days a most luxurious log cabin.
Mr. Dow brought with him a fine herd of cattle and in 1856, he brought to the county the first pair of thoroughbred shorthorns it had ever boasted.
In September 1855, S.J. Comfort settled on Section 5 and erected a little cabin home in which that well-known family began life in Union Township.
Speaking of the early days, Mrs. M.A. Bruner, the daughter of S.J. Comfort related some everyday experiences in those early days
Deer, wolves and wild turkeys came to our very door. I well remember a herd of eleven deer that came to the door when there was no one at home but Mother and us children. Mother took the shotgun, putting the muzzle in the crack of the chinking, and fired at them. They bounded away through the tall grass, making a very pretty sight.
We children imagined everyone we saw coming was an Indian, and Mother used to fear we would get lost in the tall grass when we went for the cows, for the grass on the bottoms was higher than our heads.
In the spring of 1856, my father sowed a small patch of wheat on Robert Butterworth's land, our own land still being wild prairie, Thus we had wheat bread for the following year, the wheat we had raised in 1855 having burned in a prairie fire. Corn bread had ceased to be a luxury.
In the summer the breaking plow was kept busy, and my father set up a forge where he sharpened the lays and did what blacksmithing the neighborhood required. We raised some sod corn and pumpkins. December of 1856 brought the first blizzard of that year, and the severity of that winter is well remembered as the time when deer and elk starved to death and some were eaten alive by the wolves.
I remember that winter that Mr. Dow and my father each took a sack full of buckwheat, loaded them on a large homemade handsled and hauled it to the ridge road, where John Vore took it to the mill for them, the bottom roads being impassable for a team. In March, 1857, they took this same hand sled, put in a tongue long enough to hitch a horse to and, with a boot box for a seat, drove to Council Bluffs for groceries, as our supply was almost exhausted, Rain on forty-one out of forty-three days that spring flooded the entire Boyer River bottom with water.
1856-1866
In 1856, B.B. Bishop came with his wife, daughter, and mother, and settled on Section 19. William Wilke settled on the present site of Arion in this year. He remained a few years and then returned to his native Scotland. Samuel and David Young also came in the fall of this year.
Charles Frederick Buss first bought land in Crawford County in 1854, but he did not make this his permanent home until 1859, when he settled on his farm on Sections 7 and l8.
In 1860 James Ballentine and George Bird moved on a piece of land owned by Mr. Dow at which place they resided until 1867. In 1861, James Foster with his wife and three children came. He was a blacksmith and he setup shop and worked at his trade for several years, and then moved to Woodbine.
In 1862, Thomas Binnal came from Shelby, and he and his family settled at North Grove. In the year of 1863, Sandlandes Bell moved from Paradise Township into Union, he having resided just across the line since 1856. The log cabin that Mr. Bell built now stands in the Washington Park in Denison.
John Pett came in 1864 with his wife and eight children and his wife's mother and settled at North Grove. This year also brought John Rolls and his family to live at North Grove. C.B. Whaley came there this same year making his home with his sister, Mrs. Reuben Vore, and taught school over the line in Shelby County.
With the close of the Civil War in 1865, settlers were more plentiful. Martin Talcott came with his family as did Adam Doser and Louis Schwab with his wife and three children. J.H. Woodruff also came, leaving the schoolroom for the farm. Frank Thompson was brought by his grandfather to the home of John Rolls where he made his future home. George Rae came in the fall of 1865 with his wife.
Joseph Ahart came in 1866. As his family was small, consisting of his wife and one child, and his household goods meager, he loaded them and the baby on a wheelbarrow and wheeled them from Boone to this township, himself, and wife walking.
1866
A Year of Advances for the Region
Orville Woods came in 1866 with his family, this being the year that the Northwestern Railroad was built, he settled in the section house and boarded the section men until he moved onto his farm.
In 1866 a stagecoach line was established from the end of the railroad route to Council Bluffs; a telegraph line was built and altogether the area was coming in touch with the outside world.
1867-1869
Benjamin Wilder arrived in 1867 with his wife and three children. Frank and Solomon Gibson also came at that time and settled on a farm. Here they enjoyed all the freedom of bachelorhood for a year, at the end of which time Solomon decided it was not good for man to be alone so went back to Canada, his native place, and procured a helpmate, and returned to their farm. In 1868, Thomas Rae came with his wife and one child.
Peter Martin and his wife came In 1869, stayed at the home of Solomon Gibson for a time, and then moved to North Grove and subsequently went West. William Scott brought his wife and seven children and settled on a tract of land owned by Mr. Dow.
Randolph M. Smith and R.F. McMeans bought 160 acres of land of S.J. Comfort and moved their families here. Mr. Comfort moved to Denison. Mr. Smith was familiarly known as Budd Smith. The Grand Army of the Republic post of this place was named for him. George W. Huntington also came in 1869, bringing his wife and one child.
A first hand description of the area in 1867
Mr. Thomas Rae writes us a description of the neighborhood when he first saw it in the spring of 1867. Mr. Rae says,
Between my home and Denison was the Butler farm and the Corbin farm at the sawmill site near Denison. There were few bridges, but many good fords. Where the creeks could not be forded, travelers were forced to go around to the head of the dream onto the ridge, thus beginning the ridge roads for which the county is famous, The only feasible route from Denison to Council Bluffs was by following the Divide, making a long road. These roads were but paths, or trails, leading in the most direct way between different homes.
The scenery in the valley was very beautifu1. Vegetation was luxurious, and the rolling prairie made a pretty sight, Outside of the few houses in the Paradise valley, there was nothing to be seen but open prairie, north, west and east, as far as the eye could reach.
Across the valley to the south were the homes of several settlers, One of the first houses to break this sweep of unbroken prairie was that erected by a colored man named Grant, who erected a small cabin on the Upper Willow.
On my first trip to Denison, continues Mr. Rae, in order to make a few purchases and mail some letters. I found only a few straggling houses in the village. Mr. Laub had a little store building, with his family living in the back room. The most prominent man in Denison at that time after Mr. Laub was A.D. Molony.
Mr. Rae gives us a list of the families living in southwest Crawford County in 1867:
Beginning with Mr. Corbin, who lived near the sawmill by the bridge near Denison, there followed Isaac Seabury, James Butler, Joseph Ahart, Uncle Bell, S. J. Comfort, James Welsh, Charles F. Buss, Hiram Ernest, Samuel E. Wright, and the Dunham family. Coming up on the south side of the river, Cornelius Dunham, John and Reuben Vore, Samuel Young, Daniel Howorth, William Jordan, Ben Bishop, Harry Bishop, William Henderson, Cyrus Whittenmore, John Pett, Simeon E. Dow, John Rudd, Franklin Rudd, Reuben Strong, G.W. Jordan, who came from Maine in 1866, Joseph Woodruff, and Charles Whaley.
Joseph Hallowell arrived in the summer of l867 from McGregor, Iowa. The timbers for Mr. Hallowell's house were hauled from the Missouri bottoms from a sawmill at the mouth of the Soldier River. James Ballentine was a renter on Mr. Dow's farm. Philetus Haverland and Al Marshall came from Illinois in 1867, and camped by the river until their houses were built. This list contains every family residing within this territory, beginning at the gravel pit near Denison and extending down the rivet almost to Dunlap.
Another character which should be added to the list is William Wallace, who came in the spring of 1867 and lived until 1881 on an 80-acre farm where Belltown was once located. He was a man of more than average ability.
Messrs. Dow, Comfort, Buss and Butler may be named as the foremost settlers prior to the Civil War. Samuel Young was a mechanic as well as a farmer and was the builder of the three frame schoolhouses put up in western Crawford County.
Young's barn was one of the largest in its day, framed and floored entirely of native black walnut, The Bells were also strong factors in the early settlement and held a very warm place in the hearts of the community. James, the oldest son, built some of the first bridges in the county, cutting the logs, hewing the timbers for bents and mortising them, hewing upper sides of logs for strings and, until the saw mill was started in Galland's Grove, splitting the logs for plank for the bridge floors.
Firsts in Union Township
The first school in the township was taught in the summer of 1858, in a log house standing in Section 9. The teacher was Miss Elizabeth Kennedy, the daughter of Charles Kennedy. This school was taught in the spring, and in June, there was a great freshet. The only bridge in the vicinity was swept away. The teacher and one scholar were on one side of the river and the other eight students on the opposite bank.
Mrs. Bruner recalls that time: We were used to hardships, however, and my father soon had a boat built. The scholars all came to our house and father rowed us over the river night and morning until another crossing could be built.
The first sermon was preached in 1857 by William Black at the home of S.J. Comfort. The first bridge over the Boyer River, in Union Township, was built in February and March 1856 by Mr. Comfort and Mr. Dow with the assistance of a few days' work by some of the neighbors. It was swept away in the freshet of June 1858.
Donald J. Butler, born in 1851 to James M. and Catherine Butler, was the first white child born in Union Township. The first election held in the township was in a log house in Section 32, owned by Reuben Vore. The first wedding took place on December 25, 1859, when Mary Comfort married Morris McHenry. This romance was begun all because Mary sewed a button on Morris's coat.
The first criminal was also tried after being pursued by John Vore, James Butler, Robert D. Butterworth, and Sheriff Jordan.
On July 21, 1868, the first Post Office was established in Crawford (Dow City), Simeon E. Dow was made the postmaster and the Post Office was established on his homestead. Jack Bell delivered mail on horseback three times every two weeks from Denison to this area as an act of friendship.
1869-1876
The New Town of Dowville
The coming of the railroad revolutionized this part of the country as it did all of the West, A station was put in at a point about ten miles southwest of Denison and this was called Crawford, the town lots being laid out in October, 1869. Crawford was one of the earliest towns to be settled in Crawford County, Iowa. The new town was soon re-christened Dowville, in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Simeon E. Dow. Section 10 of Union Township was the basis for the town.
A station for the Northwestern Railroad was erected along the tracks a little west of Franklin Street and it rapidly drew other enterprises. Dowville became a lively little village. In August 1871, there is record or a district meeting at which 300 people were present. In September, the schoolhouse was built. In November, the population of Union Township is given as ninety-eight males and eighty-seven females. It must be remembered, however, that Union was the second township formed in Crawford County and that it comprised what are now Union, Washington, Nishnabotna, and Iowa Townships.
The Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints was a strong factor in this section from its earliest days. In 1872, the church had forty-eight members at Dowville, with George Montagne presiding.
The name of the post office was not changed from Crawford to Dowville until April 1872, at which time Lewis E. Hardy was appointed postmaster and Judge Dow resigned.
The railroad business at Dowville for 1871 averaged $355.00 per month. It was noted on May 22, 1872, that Judge Dow is to build a brick mansion and that Wood Brothers are to commence manufacturing brick for him this week.
The Dowville Cheese Factory
In 1873, Dowville started a movement for a cheese factory, the building for which was erected in that year. Sponsored by Dow and H. McHenry, the cheese factory advertised that all men, women, and children owning more than one cow each, and who lived within seven miles of Dowville were to meet on Saturday, March 15, l873, for the purpose of organizing a cheese factory to begin the following spring. As a result of the meeting a Dairymen's Association was formed. Two hundred shares of stock were sold at $5.00 a share. The plan was to incorporate. Heffelfinger in Denison manufactured milk cans for the Dowville cheese factory. He made twenty-seven ten-gallon cans, seven fifteen-gallon cans, and ten five-gallon cans. Joseph Craig was in charge of the Dowville cheese factory. The factory had to close when weather conditions made the supply of grass and grain inadequate. The grasshopper plagues and hail did not help the situation.
More Dowville Businesses
Among the other improvements for 1873, it was noted that "another store is to be opened up immediately, that the school house is in process of graining, that Mr. Jordan has established a livery stable, that Mr. Hardy expects to build a store, and that Drs. Satterlee and Patterson contemplate building a large drug store". The presence of Dr. Middleton is also noted. The new firm of Cook and Lewis, general merchants, entered business. There were seven houses in Dowville in 1873.
During 1874, there was much excitement as to the discovery of coal. This did not amount to anything, but the ravages of the grasshoppers were very real. The year 1874 was also memorable because of a most violent hailstorm that occurred. The width of the storm was about one and a half miles, and hailstones, or, more correctly, ice, chunks, fell in every conceivable shape and size.
The number of business places along main street grew with those managed by the Dow and Graves partnership standing out in importance. For many years, this was the leading business firm in western Crawford County. Their bank was in the building which was formerly occupied by Lucille's Café and which now is a residence. Their long corncribs extended from the railroad tracks almost to the flourmill near the river.
The flourmill was built over the mill race fed from the mill dam on the Boyer River. The dam structure also served as a road across the river wide enough for wagons with careful driving and docile teams. A horizontal water wheel under the water flowing in the millrace powered the mill machinery with a large vertical shaft up through the floor.
An elevator was erected by Dow and Graves; a millinery store was built for Talcott and Hammond; and a drug store was constructed for Boyd and Manning of Dunlap. Another business house spoken of is a harness shop, owned by E.B. Guard and there was one hotel, the Boyer Valley House.
In 1876, Dowville had one fine schoolhouse, one hotel, one flouring mill, one elevator, an agricultural warehouse, a cheese factory, a lumberyard,three dry goods stores, a drugstore, a harness shop and many fine residences. Among the latter was the splendid brick residence of Simeon E. and Chloe Dow.
1879
Dowville Becomes Dow City
The first Town Council meeting was held in Dowville in 1876 and many new ordinances were passed. In 1879, the name of the town was changed from Dowville to Dow City, and the town continued to grow. The Blair Town Lot Company and S.E. Dow made a contract that a certain tract of land be used for the purpose of a park in 1881. Sidewalls were built in 1882, and in 1883, an ordinance was passed to keep cattle and horses out of the park.
A special election was called in 1884 to vote on a $2500 bond issue for a city waterworks, which also would include a windmill. The first newspaper was edited in Dow City in 1888. It was called the Boyer Valley Clipper. Three street lamps were ordered for Dow City in 1892, and M.H. Blending was appointed as the lamplighter. His salary was $5.00 a month and forthis, he was to keep the lamps in good repair and furnish the matches.
When the Manilla-Sioux City branch of the Milwaukee Railroad was being surveyed in the 1880's, it was thought that it would cross the Boyer River close to Dow City. However, the civil engineers decided to reach the Paradise valley with a shorter track by climbing the grade past the Thomas and George Rae farms. Arion sprang into being and became a competitor of Dow City with comparable businesses such as stores, elevators, stockyards, hotels, a lumber, and coal yard, a livery stable and a saloon.
Dow City Newspapers
A paper known as the Criterion was published in Dow City, having been established in 1878 by F. Bangs. The life of this newspaper was about one year, Before this, Dow City enjoyed newspaper privileges through the medium of a written paper that was read at Lyceum Readings.
Ten years after the Criterion, the Boyer Valley Clipper came into being with E.E. Nichols, the superintendent of schools, as the editor. Mr. Nichols continued the publication of the Clipper until February 1891, when it was purchased by A.H. Rudd, who continued to publish it by that name until May of the same year, when the title was changed to The Enterprise.
Mr. Rudd continued as editor until April 1895, when the paper was leased to A.E. Pelton, who presided over its destinies until January 1, 1896. Then T.J. Wayne became its editor and continued until July 1, 1896, when the owner, A.H, Rudd, resumed charge.
When the paper was purchased by Mr. Rudd, the consideration was only $200.00, but he added to it from time to time until it was equipped with large and modern power presses, gasoline engine and all the other necessary machinery and type for a large and complete office. The enterprise started in a small rented room and grew into a building of its own. It yielded excellent returns to the capable and well-known editor.
Records show many editors and changes of the paper's name. In 1930, R.D. Shepard had the Dow City Star. Before him, the paper was called The Informer and edited by a Mr. Hatch. Up until 1960, A.V. Bently published the paper again under the name of Enterprise. For a number of years, the Dow City Herald was printed through the Manilla Times. At this time, the Herald is incorporated with the times weekly.
Difficulties at the turn of the century
There was some talk of moving Dow City to Arion, as the latter appeared to boom. But Dow City was too well established and had too much invested for this to be done. The establishment of Arion prevented the growth of Dow City just at the time when the other towns of the county were forging to the front.
The firm of Dow and Graves was the all important one during the first decades of Dow City's history and the financial embarrassment of this firm brought with it distress to many others and was a blow to the prosperity of the entire western portion of the county. The deterioration of the firm's holdings came on gradually, and we find no record of the exact date the firm ceased to function, but deduce that this occurred about 1890.
Dow City recovered from this blow only to sustain others. In June 1891, a fire destroyed the flour house of the Dow City mills and caused severe property loss. In January, 1895, fire destroyed the furniture store owned by James U. Wise, and hardly had he removed his damaged stock to another building when a second conflagration swept away his store, together with the hotel and several other business houses. Arson was thought to be the cause. During the same year, Mr. W.C. Hillas, then the prominent merchant of the town, committed suicide while in a state of despondency caused by ill health. This was another blow to the business of the city.
The greatest reverse the plucky little town had to meet came in 1904, with the failure of the Exchange Bank owned by H.S. Green. This was an old established institution. It had weathered the financial storms of the nineties, and its proprietor was well liked and had the confidence of all. The news of the failure was almost unbelievable among the people who had trusted so implicitly in the institution, and when the rumor was verified, it brought consternation and despair to many hearts.
Scores of people found the savings of a lifetime wiped away; farmers who thought their mortgages had been paid, found that their agent had not made the payment and that the debt still hung over them, The loss to depositors was $60,000, and in the final settlement they were repaid but thirteen cents on the dollar. The loss sustained through trust funds, etc., was even greater, and it is estimated that the people of Dow City and vicinity lost more than $100,000 in addition to the loss to the depositors. Later, some of the poorer depositors received small amounts in repayment, and in 1910, Mr. Green returned to the county and voluntarily gave himself up to the authorities.
After the failure of the Exchange Bank, the Bank of Dow City was established by the McHenry family, owners of the First National Bank of Denison. The bank was located in the old library building with W.E. Fishel in charge. It did very much to help the people of Dow City weather the storm consequent to their great losses, and it had the entire confidence of the community.
The First Automobile in Dow City
The first automobile in Dow City was purchased in 1908. Bought in partnership by the Howorth and Chamberlain families, it was the main attraction and moneymaker at the Fourth of July celebration that year. All day it loaded to more than capacity at the west side of the park for one trip around the park for a dime per person. Dan Howorth ran the auto with much rubber-bulb horn tooting, while Frank Howorth sold space for the next quick trip. The car was a used, two-seated touring Buick with a two-cylinder engine under the front seat that was started by a side crank just above the running board. The dual ownership of the car was dissolved when another Buick was located and each family had one. One of the cars was later sold to John Ahart.
The 1910 Bank Robbery
In December 1910, the safe of this bank was blown open by burglars and nearly $5,000 was stolen from the vault. The bank association's Book of Proceedings noted that this job was done by Shorty Gray, Texas Whitey, and Big Mitch. Other names that cropped up included Indiana Frank, Dynamite Bill, and Illinois Slim. Such were the resources of the bank, however, that no concern was felt as to its solvency, and the business was continued the following day without interruption.
The Boyer River Channel
To get relief from the damages of periodic floods, 8 number of landowners on the Boyer flood plain petitioned in 1909 to have the river channel straightened from a mile east of Arion to the county line north of Dunlap. A drainage district was established and a commission appointed to assess and allow damages. Morris McHenry was the supervising engineer, and the contract was awarded in 1910 to the Hamilton Construction Company of Chicago for 6.47 cents per cubic yard of excavation.
The original river bed length of forty-four miles was cut to eleven miles by the ditch. The waterfall was thus multiplied by four and the stronger current soon scoured out a wide ditch to take in all the waste banks of both sides. The ditch is now almost 200 feet wide in places and it did away with the devastating floods. During the very dry years of the mid 1930's there were a number of citizens who blamed the total crop failure on the big ditch.
After the channel was cut past Dow City, the Paradise Creek was straightened to it from the Link Riddle farm, John Ahart had this contract and did the work with teams and scrapers at the cost of 16 cents per cubic yard. Link Riddle had dammed the Paradise Creek near his farmstead for a pond large enough to supply ice in season for all the icehouses in the community.
Fires Take Their Toll After 1900
At least six major fires have struck the business district of Dow City since 1900. The R.A. Slocumb Hotel, located where the LaVerne Leinen home is now, burned; the group of business places on the west side of Franklin (Main) street in the middle of the block burned; the Bremser Grocery Store and the lodge ball building burned; the Dwine Grain Elevator burned; the Daniels Produce Plant burned; and the large two-story hall and first story business building, where the Defiance State Bank is now located, burned. Most of these buildings have been replaced with brick structures.
Summing It Up
Dow City grew steadily from 1910 to 1940, at which time the census reported a population of 642. The size of the town held steady then, with a 1980 census population of 616. The 1990 census report showed that Dow City is home to 439 men, women, and children.
Dow City and all its people have had their ups and downs for over one hundred and twenty-five years. This is called living. Through it all, however, Dow City still has that small town atmosphere, one where a person can drive throughout the community without stopping for a red light, where people look after each other's children, watch the neighbor's house when they are away, and lend a helping hand whenever tragedy occurs, The town is small enough for almost everyone to know the governing body of the town, the ministers of the churches, and the teachers of the school and call them by their first names.
Source: 125 Years of Dow City - Arion History 1869 - 1994
We thank Cindi Simon for submitting this material.