Postville Review
Postville, Allamakee, Iowa
January 13, 1894

POSTVILLE.
It has been a number of years since we have given a "write up" of Postville, except local notes from week to week. In order to give our many readers outside a comprehensive idea of who are doing business here, as well as of the general make-up of the town, we have thought proper to write this article. All concede that the past year has been the most disastrous one in the history of the country, and amidst the wreck that is daily noted by the papers we are proud as well as glad to say that there has been no failures of any kind in Postville, or so far as we know in this section of our grand state. In the brief write-up that follows we have tried to be entirely impartial, the object being mainly to give a list of all doing business here.

DRY GOODS & GROCERIES.
--The firm LUHMAN & SANDERS is now the oldest firm doing business here. Starting in business here in 1881, it is but justice to say they made a pronounced success from the start. They are among our most solid firms.
--The firm of CROSBY & Son succeeded F.W. ROBERTS, Jan. 1st, 1890, and May 1st, 1891, John CROSBY, the present proprietor, assumed the sole ownership. He has seen his business grow constantly, until he now has a fine business.
--Feb. 6th, 1891, SKELTON & TANGEMAN succeeded the old firm of SKELTON & McEWEN. They have a line of customers that have always stood by the old store, and many new ones have been added. They may be set down as one of our most substantial and prosperous firms.
--The fourth and last dry goods store was the last to engage in this line of business. In the fall of 1892 BIXBY & WILLIAMS purchased the stock and business owned by H.J. WARFIELD, formerly J.W. WARD & Co. Late in the fall of the same year W.C. McNEIL erected for them the elegant store room on the corner of Lawler and Green streets. Neither of the partners ever came here to reside and their business seems not to have been satisfactory, as they are advertising to close out. C.H. MEIER was their efficient manager.

READY MADE CLOTHING.
--Carl HOLTER, succeeded the old firm of ARMSTRONG & HOLTER, two years ago. For nine years before he was the resident partner and manager of the business, so in reality he may be said to have been engaged in the business for 11 years. He enjoys a good trade all the time.
--J.H. GRAY has been in the clothing trade here for a little less than 7 years, having bought the business from F.W. ROBERTS, April 1st, 1887. Mr. GRAY keeps a nice stock of goods.

HARDWARE.
--WATERS & NICOLAY are the "descendants" of the oldest firm, dating back to BEUCHER & SPOO. They carry a full stock of goods. John REITH, assisted by Mr. NICOLAY, does the work.
--HOY & McNEIL succeeded MOTT & McADAM, Jan. 1st., 1890. They also have a fine stock of goods and an elegant store room. Mr. HOY does the tin work and Louis SCHROEDER attends to customers. Mr. McNEIL being engaged in other business much of the time.

FURNITURE.
--MEIER & EATON succeeded Walter CHRISS in the furniture trade a year ago. They maintain the largest stock in this part of the state.
--A few months ago E. STOCKMAN put a stock of furniture into the old clothing store on Green street. His stock is not large, but is select.

DRUGS.
--R.N. DOUGLASS and A. STAADT & Son are our old druggists. Both stores are well supplied.
--A few months ago John M. THOMA leased the brick store formerly occupied by J.W. WARD & Co. and fitted it up for drugs and groceries. From the start he has done a good and increasing business.

BANKS.
--Postville has two good banks, the Postville State Bank and the Citizens State Bank. The past year has been a disastrous one for banks all over the country, but our banks have stood the storm royally, without the thought of a "run" or the loss of confidence on the part of the public.

JEWELRY.
--Sept. 1st, 1891, W.J. HANKS opened the most extensive jewelry store Postville had ever had. He has built up a fine trade and is the only practical jeweler here having a large line of repairing.
--Last May, Mr. H. CUNNINGHAM opened a fine stock of jewelry in the MOTT building. As he has no watchmaker, his specialty is new work.

SHOE STORE.
--About a year ago MEIER Bros. (John H. and A.L.) opened an exclusive shoe store. They put in a good stock and have kept it in good shape.

HOTELS.
--The Commerical Hotel, by A.E. CORNELL is the leading hostlery, though the Postville House, by H.S. HUMPHREYS, and the Park Hotel, by W.W. MOTT are both good and popular hotels. Besides these Ed. SHEEHY and Wm. THOMA attend to the wants of the traveling public.

GROCERIES.
--Our only exclusive grocer is H.H. LIEN, who has been in the business for a number of years. He carries a large stock of choice goods.

RESTAURANTS.
--W.S. CARBEE [transcribers note: name is possibly Carhee] has conducted the resturant and bakery for a year.
--John THOMA continues the restaurant and light grocery trade.
--John MOIR keeps a full stock of confectionery, fancy goods, cigars, fruits, etc.

MEAT MARKETS.
--Henry POESCH conducts the meat market at the old stand where meats have been dispensed for 20 years.
--John VanVELZER purchased and fitted up the old postoffice building last season and has a line of meats of all kinds.

MARBLE.
--E.H. PRIOR opened the marble business here April 20th, 1891. His business has been immense. He practically does the marble and granite business for a large section of country bounded by the four northeastern counties.

PHOTOGRAPHY.
--F.N. BEEDY has the field in this line and he merits the large business he does.

HARNESS.
--Will KLUSS conducts the pioneer harness shop. His work is of the best and his prices are right.
--Last fall Hugh SHEPHERD started a harness shop in a small way in his house on Lawler street. He is a splendid workman and already has a good trade.

FARM MACHINERY.
--W.J. HOLAHAN is the machinery king of this section of the state. Wm. THOMA sells a few McCormick binders and SHAFFER, BURHANS & Son sold a few Planos last season, but we have but the one regular machinery depot.

INSURANCE.
--W.S. WEBSTER is the only man here who makes a specialty of fire insurance.
--Wm. SHEPHERD and J.I. SHEPHERD have agencies in connection with their law business.
--E.J. BAKER is the representative of the New York Life.
--A.R. PRESCOTT, F.W. TULLER and J.M. HARRIS also have a line of companies.

ATTORNEYS.
--F.S. BURLING, Wm. SHEPHERD and J.I. SHEPHERD do the legal business for those who fall into the clutches of the law.

MILLINERY.
--Misses KLEIN & LUKENBILL and Mesdames MEYER & THIESE attend to the wants of the ladies in this section.

LUMBER.
--S.F. CLINTON continues at the head of the old yard and is doing well.
--Jas. GREGG is of the new yard and is also doing well.

MILL.
--E.D. STILES runs the steam saw and roller feed mill and is kept busy.

PHYSICIANS.
--Drs. SHEPHERD, GREEN, BECKER and FLYNN look after the sick and the afflicted.

CHURCHES.
--Methodist, Rev. B.D. SMITH, pastor.
--Congregational, Rev. L.S. HAND, pastor.
--German Lutheran, Rev. J. GASS, pastor. We believe he is about to retire.
--Catholic, no resident priest.

SHOPS.
--Jacob MEYER, Robert HECKER, Thos. SHORTREED and H.C. HONN are our blacksmiths. All but Mr. SHORTREED manufacture wagons and sleighs.
--Ernst SCHMITZ has a harness repair shop.
--A. STOCKMAN has the only shoe shop in town.

CREAMERIES.
--The Farmers Co-operative Creamery has been in successful operation for 3 years.
--The old Union creamery is still running. It is owned by a Boston firm, DOUGLAS & HUMPHREY.

DENTIST.
--Dr. Will COLE is our only resident dentist.

SCHOOL.
--Our graded school is and long has been, the pride of all our people. Under the judicious management of Prof. HUNT, assisted by an able corps of teachers, the school is in a prosperous condition.

NEWSPAPERS.
--Two years ago the Graphic was established by E.F. MEDARY. On the death of his father he was compelled to return to Waukon and sold the plant to W.J. WALLIS & Son of McGregor, who are now conducting it. It is democratic in politics.
--A year ago Rev. J. GASS established a paper here in the German language, the Iowa Volksblatt. It is democratic in politics.
--The Review is now almost twenty-one years old, having been established in March, 1873, and it has been under the present proprietorship for nearly 19 years. It is republican in politics.

LIVERIES.
--E.R. MARSH is proprietor of the Commerical livery stable and WATERS Bros. of the Park House stables.

STOCK BUYERS.
--Hall ROBERTS is the pioneer stock buyer of this part of the state, having shipped stock from this station for more than a quarter of a century.
--WATERS Bros. engaged in the business a few years ago and are getting their share of stock.

ELEVATOR.
--Hall ROBERTS is the only grain buyer we have and operates one of the largest elevators on this line of road.

BARBERS.
--We have two good barber shops, the old one operated by John T. PARKER and the other by Jas. A. PARKER.

OPERA HOUSE.
--Turner Hall is our only public hall and is fitted up with scenery and furnished with chairs sufficient to accommodate almost any crowd.

DRAY LINES.
--P.J. BEUCHER and Frank ERVIN are running the two dray lines and have all they can handle.

LODGES.
--The Masonic lodge is the oldest established lodge working here.
--The Good Templars have a large lodge and a hall.
--The insurance organizations in the form of co-operative lodges are numerous, but only one, the Loyal Workmen, holds meetings.
--The State Workmen, Modern Woodman, Legion of Honor and V.A. all have a membership here.

TAILORING.
--D.A. JERALD is our only tailor and he has his hands full.

RAILROADS.
--The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern comprise our railroad facilities. The Adams express on the former and the United States, with the latter, make ample express facilities. No more accommodating and genial agents ever "held down" stations than D.N. TURNER and J.E. PERRY.

EGGS.
--Jas L. HUMPHREY, Jr. has established an egg depot here. He has build a large ice house and contemplates putting up a store room in which to receive and ship eggs.
--J.W. WARD still continues in the refrigerator business, filling it every spring with eggs and shipping in the winter.

MISCELLANEOUS.
--John LEITHOLD sells pianos and organs.
--C.A. HARDWICK sells sewing machines.
--W.S. WEBSTER sells buggies and cutters.
--We have two well drillers who delve down into the earth in quest of water. A.W. LANGE and Ed CLOUGH are the proprietors. When there are no wells to drill they put in the time sawing wood. They use both steam and horse power.
--P.J. BEUCHER has a wholesale beer depot, as agent for Pabst Brewing Co., and has a large cold storage capacity.
--James PERRY still holds the postoffice.
--We have about a dozen carpenters, a number of dressmakers and several painters.
--We have several "wet goods" dispensatories who we presume would as soon not be written up.
--

Postville Review
Postville, Allamakee Co. Iowa
January 20, 1894

Mrs. BURDICK went to Cresco on Wednesday.
A good shotgun to trade for wood. Second-hand watches and clocks to trade for wood. W.J. HANKS.

Moss ABEL is here visiting his father and brother.

W.C. McNEIL went to Chicago last Saturday evening.

Mrs. Henry KLUSS is reported very sick with typhoid fever.

Born, to Mr. and Mrs. E. HUGHES, on Tuesday, a daughter.

District court at Waukon this week with Judge HOYT on the bench.

R.N. DOUGLASS' fire loss was adjusted at $236.08.

A.W. COURSON was here a short time last Saturday. Our last report from him was that he was not quite so well.

Sam. LUDEKING has retired from Carl HOLTER's clothing store and Chas. WEBER has taken his place.

Ed. PRIOR and Fred WELZEL were at the hub the first of the week.

34 acres of good timber for sale, inquire of F.S. BURLING. H. WEBB.

For rent, the Dress Making Shop in rear of postoffice. W.S. WEBSTER.

Mr. and Mrs. H.L. HOLMES were down from Minn. a few days, visiting at the D.N. TURNER residence. Mr. HOLMES is father of Mrs. TURNER.

Fred H. SCHULTZ advertises his celebrated Red Polled cattle today.

C.A. HARRIS has purchased of Dr. CLEMMER, of Cresco, a full blood black Polled Angus bull, coming two years old in the spring. He weighs 1020 lbs. and is a beauty.

R.N. DOUGLASS is having his house rapidly repaired and will soon be "at home" again.

Pianos tuned and cleaned at reasonable prices. D.E. HARRINGTON.

Dr. M.A. HUMPHREY, who will be pleasantly remembered as a former dentist here, in Dr. COLE's office, writes us that his business is splendid down at Logan, where he located last year.

For sale. My farm (57 1/2 acres) is for sale, situated 5 1/2 miles northeast of Postville. Good buildings, well, cistern and running water. For terms, etc. apply on the premises. N. McWILLIAMS.

Martin C. MURPHY sends us down some cheering words, together with his subscription, from Carrington, N.D.

Roll of honor:
C. WELZEL, Darius ORR, Mrs. W. EATON, O.C. HINMAN, Mrs. E. ROBERTS, N. McWILLIAMS, A.W. COURSON, Frank ERVIN, Asael EATON, John KLUSS, Ben SHARP, Fred KRUMME, C.F. MEIER, Dr. HUMPHREY, C.A. HARRIS, C.H. BLANCHAINE, M.E. MURPHY, Miss Effie SELLEG, Dr. COLDREN & J.W. PATTERSON.

COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS. Meeting of Jan. 5, 1891:
--Contract for town well let to A. LANGE for 70 cents per foot.
Bills allowed:
--Ed. MAROONEY, service as deputy marshall Jan. 1st., $2.00
--Jas. GREGG, lumber, $5.89
--John SCHULTZ, labor on streets, $6.25
--R.N. DOUGLASS, sulphur, $40.
--John SCHULTZ, 3 months salary as marshall, $18.75
--John PIXLER, labor on streets, $1.88
--WATERS & NICOLAY, hardware, $23.13
--W.C. McNEIL, attorney fee in case against Van VELZER, $5.09.

DEATHS.
--W. OLESON, who clerked for BIXBY & WILLIAMS until last spring, died of consumption last Sunday, at his home near Waterville. He was a member of the Loyal Workmen lodge here, and so leaves $2,000 to his family.

--Mr. DODGE, Mrs. John S. MOTT's aged father, died at his home at Newton, Iowa, on Tuesday. Mrs. MOTT went down on Monday. Mr. DODGE has visited here often and is quite well known to many of our citizens. We believe he was about 90 years old. Like a shock of corn fully ripe he has been gathered to his reward.