'A CENTURY OF MEMORIES'
1880 - 1980 |
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Van Wert has seen many fine carpenters over the years. In the 1897 -
1898 Iowa Gazette, N.W. Holt and A. Ballard were listed as carpenters.
Lewis Holt was one of the leading carpenters in the early 1900s. He
built a two-story, three-room frame school building in 1895 in Van Wert.
Other carpenters over the years have been:
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| Dean Butler and Ronald Parmer owned and operated B and P Woodworking
from October, 1978 to December, 1979. It was located in the Tiedje
Garage. Dan Tuinstra, Duane Otto, Erwin (Bobby) Parmer, Scott Geer,
Herman Brown, William Turpin Construction Company are the carpenters of
today. John Spencer and Jerry Hatfield work together as carpenters and
cement workers. Earlier brick masons and cement workers are Ed. Owens, Bob Craft, Vigo Rasmussen and Leo Bosstedder. The earliest electrician was Faye Eaton. He installed the first electrical lines in town. James Harvey sold electrical supplies also. Findley Buntain was also an electrician. George Hanahan is an electrician living here now. In the 1897 - 1898 Gazette, Holt, Kunkle, and Benjamin Hall were listed as painters and paperhangers. According to an ad in the Van Wert Record on August 4, 1910, W. Branaum would repair chimneys, repair plaster and do general remodeling. Another painter and paperhanger of the early 1900s was John Miner. |
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| ELECTRICITY COMES TO VAN WERT | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The first electrical lines were put in town November,1915. The lines
were installed on the streets by Faye Eaton. He also wired the first
houses. A company by the name of Van Wert Electric Company was found registered in the 1916 - 17, 1918 -19, and 1922-23 (Iowa State Gazett). It is assumed that the Van Wert Electric Company purchased electricity from the Centerville Power and Transfer Company which was owned by George M. Bechtel. Van Wert and Weldon were supplied electricity, wholesale, by Mr. Bechtel's company. On August 1, 1921, Iowa Southern Utilities purchased the electric distribution systems from Mr. Bechtel. This also included approximately five and one-half miles of transmission lines connecting Van Wert and Weldon with the Leon district. At this time Van Wert had 113 meters. Found in the Van Wert School Board minutes, were bills paid to the Van Wert electric Company. On June 23, 1919, the amount of $840 and May 17, 1920 the amount of $100. The minutes also show that on November 15, 1923 and March 17, 1924 payment for lights was made to the Van Wert Bank. The earliest payment shown to Iowa Southern Utilities was on October 6, 1924 for the amount of $100. Clarke Electric Coop first started signing up rural residents for electricity in 1944. H.L. Redman was the first to sign up in September, 1944. The lines were built about 1946 - 1947. Seventy-five men worked to build the lines. Membership cost was $500. By 1948, rural Van Wert had electricity. |
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| AUCTIONEERS | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Auctioneers of the early 1900s were the team of Smith and Gooding.
Captain J.J. Gooding was from Kellerton and J.A. Smith was from Van
Wert. Another auctioneer at this time was Guy Smith from Van Wert. In
the August 10, 1911 issue of the Van Wert Record, E.O. Wills had this
ad: "Auctioneer - If you want an auctioneer who is up-to-date and alive,
we're one who will work for your sale. See me or leave dates at the
Record Office in Van Wert, Iowa." From the sale bill for the T.J. Wolfe farm sale February 1, 1909, the terms of payment were: "9 months time will be given on all sums over $5.00, purchaser giving note with approved security, without interest if paid when due. If not paid, to draw 8% interest from date. All sums of $5.00 and under, cash 5% discount per annum for cash". These were the terms for other sales around 1909 - 10. Other auctioneers from the Van Wert area have been Orville Parmer, Melvin Shell, Willard Parmer, Darrell Perry and Earl (Butch) Stiles. |
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| GARAGES AND GAS STATIONS | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In the early 1900s a new machine made its appearance, the
automobile. As those gasoline powered machines became popular and the
numbers grew, a new business was needed to supply the oil products and
keep up maintenance for the automobiles and trucks. By 1903, F.L. Collins had a small bulk plant on a siding just west of the depot. The first fuels, coal-oil or kerosene, and gasoline were shipped by rail in fifty-five gallon drums. O.C. (Johnny) Fuller was this area's first oil man, hauling these drums to the places of business where it was dispensed by quarts and gallons. By 1908 the Van Wert Record reported "Messrs. E.O. Stearns and J. Stearns have purchased a new Mason touring car very similar in style to the one owned by R.C. Scheffler. The demonstrator of the company was in town a few days giving them lessons in the art of operating the machine." As far as can be ascertained, this was the first car in Van Wert. Maxine Morris had commented that her dad, Ben Grimm, sold his horse and buggy. He and Jack Thompson then went to Des Moines and bought one of the early cars in Van Wert. It was a four door Ford and, of course, the women bought riding caps with veils so they could ride. Between 1898 and 1908, 150,000 motor vehicles had been put into use in the United States. Production by 1909 meant one vehicle for every thousand people. There was a total of 253 auto manufacturers with 125 being makers of motor cars that were recognized as practical and of standard grade. Other early auto owners of our area were Harry Tuttle, Bud Owens, Frank Rush and Dr. Tallman. In 1911, Lew Thompson, Loren Reed and Jim Downey had purchased a "Tin Lizzie" Model T-Ford. E.O. Stearns had a Hudson. With more automobiles, Decatur County began to boast of 155 1/4 miles of roads. These roads were maintained ones, however, they were still dirt roads. 1912 saw Van Wert near the crossroads of "Interstate Trail", a major dirt road running north and south across the state and the "Corn Belt Highway" now replaced by State Road 258 through town. Gasoline was sold by A.L. Belding at this time. Jim Smith and Fred Ramsey had a garage on the east side, near the north end of Main Street. This building has long since been removed. In 1914, C.J. Price and Mote were selling Overland cars. It was at this time a young man just out of Sweeney Automobile School, William Tiedje, and his brother, Herman, purchased the garage formerly owned by Smith and Ramsey and opened the Van Wert Garage. In 1917, Willy and Delbert Ramsey operated a garage near the present Phillips "66" location. Since 1917 and 1918 were both war years, Van Wert sacrificed both men and machines, but did continue to grow. The west side of town, north of the tracks had burned in 1915. By 1919, Will Tiedje had built a new single span garage on the north side. With more automobiles, trucks and tractors in the area, Standard Oil saw the need to expand its Van Wert Plant. In late 1919, they contracted with John Randolph to operate the Leon plant. Wray Randolph, John's son, fresh out of auto mechanics school, helped his father until the Van Wert opening was available. Early in 1920, Wray signed with Standard Oil to form the Van Wert Oil Agency. Wray served the north half of Decatur County with its major petroleum needs. Most fuel was bucketed off the tan wagon in five gallon measured buckets. The work was hard and the roads were bad, especially in the rainy season, but Wray was determined to build the Van Wert Oil Agency into one of the best. With the help of his wife, Ethel, he did just that. By1923, more new cars found owners in the Van Wert area. The Durant and Studebaker were common makes. The Tiedje brothers were selling "STAR" cars at this time. Hank Reed, father of Russell Reed, remodeled the former Van Wert Garage in 1927 and began his business on the east side of Main Street. The first gas pumps were in barrels which had to be hand pumped. Then came the pumps with a five gallon glass reservoir on top. This was pumped full by hand before releasing gas to the vehicle. The cost was figured by the marked gauge on the glass reservoir since there were no meters on the pumps to tell exactly the number of gallons or parts of gallons or how much it was down to the cent. Times change and so do engines and machines. The Van Wert Oil Agency had grown, but Wray Randolph felt he could better serve his customers with Sinclair. In 1928 he signed a contract with the Sinclair Oil Company and expanded his business even more to include rural service in the northern half of the county and stations in Van Wert, Weldon, LeRoy, Garden Grove, DeKalb, Grand River and along Highway 69 at Fairview and Derr's corner. The first all weather roads in this area were seen in 1928 and 1929. U.S. Highway 69 was paved just one mile east of Van Wert city limits. The 1930s was the start of better roads in our area and people were traveling more often with less effort. Charlie Mallatt sold Shell gasoline. Orville Foland built a gas station south of Main Street on the west side. Elmer Hampton had gasoline on the southeast side of Main Street, about midway of the block. Davey Jones sold Sinclair on the east side at the north end. Will Tiedje's Sinclair Station was located across the street west of Jones's. In 1935, Bill Fry purchased the former Foland Station. Robert Fry built a Deep Rock Station in 1939 at the north end of Main Street, and the Tiedje Garage changed to Phillips products. On April 6, 1915, Mrs. Bertha Tiedje started to work in the garage owned by her husband, the late William Tiedje, and his brother. For fifty years she was affiliated with this establishment. In her last years she ran the station and garage with her sons, William and Malcolm. The garage on the north end of Main Street was built in 1919. In honor of her 50th anniversary at the garage, the entire community of Van Wert and friends from afar were present to wish her well, eat a piece of cake, drink a cup of coffee and just plain talk. Mrs. Tiedje said, "This is a wonderful community to live in. We don't get rich, but we have a good place to live, plenty of good food and clothes to keep us warm and above all, the finest friends anywhere." Bertha's life was full of experiences, so many one couldn't mention them all. In talking about the early days of the garage business, she told how they had the agency for the Durant and Star cars, "both mighty fine automobiles in those days. We sold a lot of them although cars were not very premium when we started in the garage business. Soon there were enough around that we had night storage in the garage. It took a lot of pushing of cars in those days to let someone in the back of the garage get his car out early. I expect I have pushed cars far enough to reach to Leon and back in the years I have been in the garage business." Bertha and Davy Jones, both gone now, at one time worked for Mr. Tiedje. While reminiscing together, this story evolved -- Several of the fellows from Van Wert were in camp at Camp Dodge in Des Moines. They rode the rail to Osceola on Sunday morning, then came by car to Van Wert. They had to be back that night. A heavy rain set in and the then mud roads were almost impassable. Since they had to catch the train in Osceola, they called on Bertha and she took off in her car with the young men for Osceola. The mud was so deep and when they came up on a car stalled in the middle of the road, the follows would jump out and practically slide the car around. Finally, the trip ended in time for the fellows to catch the train. She made it home with the help of a fellow who was traveling in her direction. Bertha Tiedje was indeed a treasure to all who knew and loved her, a multitude which included every age. Her pleasant mannerisms and jolly disposition made life a little brighter for all who came in contact with her. The "Big War" of 1942 to 1946 brought gas rationing, an average of three gallons a week on the A Books. The speed limit was 35 miles per hour. No new cars were sold, not even a new tire could be purchased unless extremely necessary. Conservation was indeed a forced way of life. In the fall of 1946, a young and ambitious man, just out of the Navy, signed a contract with the Phillips Petroleum Oil Company. G.W. "Sport" Wade, always looking forward, built the "Sport Wade Oil Company" into an organization serving most of Decatur and surrounding counties with petroleum and similar products. The company was built with many long hours and lots of hard work. Sport's wife, the former Helen Gil, contributed greatly to the sacrifices and success of their company. After the death of Sport in 1979, the company still remains intact as "Sport Wade, Inc." with his oldest son, Jeff, as president. The years after 1946 have seen many very capable mechanics and service station operators. The ones that come to mind are as follows: |
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| Pages 117 - 122 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Century of Memories Index *** History Index *** Decatur County IAGenWeb |