Iowa Old Press

Dubuque Weekly Times
Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa
February 10, 1859

GLEANINGS.
From the Note Book of the Itinerating Editor.
                    St. Charles, January 27th.
    We are back again from Floyd village to the county seat - the gem of the towns on the Cedar - and are at home among a cordial and refined people. We are under obligations to several persons here for many kindnesses, and among them are Mr. Hildreth of the Intelligencer, Rev. Mr. Parmelee, Dr. Silas Card, W.G. Ferguson, Mr. Wright, and others, whose names do not occur to us at the moment. In no town of its size, with the exception of Webster City, have we found so many live and thrifty Yankees, as in St. Charles. The settlers here are not only quick to act, but they are harmonious. Each man not only goes for himself, but for his adopted house. All, in short, are aiming to build up St. Charles; and they will do it. It will not become as large as Cedar Rapids or Cedar Falls, but like Waverly on the same stream, will be sure to rise to some eminence.
    At St. Charles we find a flourishing Lyseum; like everything else in this place, there is life in it. Its President, Mr. James Jackson, is a mechanic - a self-made man of fine talents and of no inconsiderable mental culture. He is surrounded by a band of earnest young men, who give the Lyceum a warm support. This organization is doing much to develop the talent of the young man of the place and to improve the taste of the community. The ladies are members of the Lyceum, and are regular in its attendance. To this circumstance is no doubt owing, to a considerable extent, the thrift of the society.
    The Masonic order has a large body here, and one of the best halls in the interior of the State. An order of Good Templars has been formed here to-day by the aid of S.A. Daniel, of Hardin county. He is a traveling Deputy Grand Worthy Chief Templer. There is no work to do in St. Charles. Nothing is so likely to curse the town as distilled spirits.
    Mr. E.P. Harrington, one of the Constables of St. Charles, and the Coroner of the county, is the gentleman who dived one hundred and seventy feet to the wreck of the Atlantic in Lake Erie, in June, 1856, and rescued the safe of the American Express Co., which contained $46,000! He made eighteen descents to the wreck, and was on the boat in all, one hour and thirty-nine minutes. The longest he was down at any one time, was eleven minutes. He could see nothing, it being tenfold darker than midnight,  a hundred feet from the surface.
    Mr. Harrington was raised in Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York - though he is a native of Otsego county. His father is a farmer in Westfield. Seven persons had made the attempt to rescue the safe from the Atlantic before Mr. Harrington.
    We find, on inquiry among the people of Floyd county, that they are highly pleased with the course of Mr. Hildreth, in the State Board of Education. His position on the Bible question has won him many friends. We knew Mr. Hildreth in 1840 and '41, when he was editor of the Literary Souvenir in Lowell, Mass. He has risen some since then.
    We have met here in St. Charles, Mr. Joe Hewitt, who traded with the Winnebagoes at Fort Atkinson eight years, and who moved to Cerro Gordo county in the summer of 1850, when there was no settlement west of Bradford, in Chickasaw county. He was seven weeks in getting to his new home, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles. He carried a boat with him, and had to ferry his effects across almost every stream, the water being very high. He has killed many buffaloes, bears, elks, deer, otters, &c., &c. He now lives in Kossuth county, which is quite new. People are settling around him so fast that he is getting uneasy, and says he shall probably go to Decotah; and shall stay there if he sees a chance for a "ten strike." He says he once run for the Legislature against David S. Wilson, of Dubuque, and should have beaten "Dave" - if he could.
    Mr. Hewitt is an old trapper, and loves pioneer life. He says he was never so happy as when his nearest neighbor was forty miles off. People, he thinks, are apt to become aristocratic as soon as they begin to "thicken up."

                        Nashua, January 2?th.
    The pleasant little village of Nashua, scarcely three years old, yet having a population of between ? and three hundred, is destined to become a point of considerable importance. It is situated on the Cedar river, in the southwest corner of Chickasaw county, and has as good water power as we have seen on this stream above Cedar Falls. It is already improved to some extent. Messrs. Sample and Woodbridge, two of the original proprietors of the village site, have built a grist mill, and a cabinet shop attached. The water has a fall of twelve feet.
    Charles A. Greeley has a also a steam saw mill, run by an excellent engine of thirty horse power. With his mill is connected a lath, plaining and shingle factory. Henry Scales & Son have a fanning mill manufactory.
    There are three general variety stores in Nashua, kept by E.F. Greeley, Trott & Green and Osgood Gowin. There is one hotel, the Montgomery House, James H. Curtis, proprietor, also two chair makers, one boot and shoe maker, and one milliner. No churches have been organized. There is one public school in the place having about fifty pupils. Dr. J. Noyes is the physician; H.A. Scales the Justice of the Peace. John Coler, a worthy mechanic, formerly of Western New York, is one of the proprietors of the village.
    Nashua has a Literary Association, formed about a year ago, that is doing considerable to draw out the talent of the citizens. We understand its meetings are well attended - a good sign.
    The Cedar Falls and Minnesota Railroad, we are told, is to pass through Nashua. Considering its hydraulic advantages, its excellent stone and inexhaustible timber, we see nothing to prevent the place from one day becoming a fine city, like St. Charles and Waverly.
    Aside from Nashua and Bradford, of which latter place we shall have occasion to speak tomorrow - there are several smaller places in Chickasaw county worthy of brief mention. Chickasaw, on the Little Cedar, has a population of about three hundred; three church organizations, a good public school, two hospitals, a grist mill and a saw mill carried by water, and a steam saw mill.
    Jacksonville, a prairie town on the main traveled road from McGregor to Osage has a population of about two hundred.
    Forest City, the county seat, in the southern part, has a steam saw mill, a post office and store, but no county buildings. The Grant House, kept by E.C. Johnson, has a good reputation.
    New Hampton, in the centre of the county, is a prairie town, having nearly two hundred inhabitants, two stores, a hotel, &c.
    Fredricksburg, near the "Wapsey" and on the stage road from Bradford to West Union, Fayette county, has nearly three hundred inhabitants; two church organizations, and one edifice belonging to the Freewill Baptists; a steam saw mill belonging to Dorn & Zwick; one store; a wagon shop, and two hotels. One of them is called the "Julien House," and though not quite equal to the Dubuque house of the same name, one can get a good dinner there.

                    Bradford, January 29th.
    Bradford, formerly the seat of justice of Chickasaw county, is charmingly located in an [ink blot] on the Little Cedar. The trees are [ink blot], just enough being left standing to ornament the village. It must be a delightful place in the rosy month of June, but little inferior in beauty to St. Charles. "Green wood" the southern outcropping of the village, is a lovely spot, and has a small collection of neat framed houses, painted white, the color of most of the buildings in Bradford.
    This place was settled in 1851 - though there were two or three hundred families near this point a year or two earlier. It now has a population of about eight hundred, and a "Union" public school of one hundred and twenty children, taught by Rev. J.C. Strong, (pastor of the Congregational Church) and his estimable lady. Both are well educated, and are popular as teachers.
    Bradford was, several years ago, an Indian trading post - the residence of Mr. Rice, now United States Senator from Minnesota.
    Bradford has four general variety stores, the proprietors being L. Hubbell & Co, J.A.J. Bird, Geo Crawford, and Isaac Mereness. Hubbell & Co have a very large assortment of dry goods, groceries, &c., one of the best filled stores we have lately seen. Mr. Hubbell is an intelligent and very pleasant man - a good representative of old Connecticut. R. Emerson, who is temporarily absent, has a heavy stock of hardware, hollow and tin ware, agricultural implements, &c., and is making preparations to get a good assortment of Manny's Reapers from Rockford, Ill. The superintendent of his store, A.D. Kinne, has good business tact and is just the man for the place.
    There is one drug store here, Dr. S.C. Haynes, proprietor; one merchant tailor; one shoemaker; one soap maker; two blacksmiths; two wagon makers; and two cabinet shops. One of the last named establishments is quite extensive. The proprietor is W.W. Foster. He has also a water mill, his location being "Greenwood." Half a mile above him, Mr. L. Kingsley has a stream saw mill.
    Bradford has three churches, but no houses of worship. The organizations are Congressional, Methodist and Freewill Baptist. A Lutheran minister preaches here occasionally.
    The Bronson House is the only hotel now open. Its proprietor, W.F. Wright, is a Rhode Island man, and a model landlord - attentive, agile and apt to please. He sets an inviting table, and keeps an orderly and cleanly house. He also keeps a tame wolf which plays with the dog, and would be allowed the freedom of the town were he less mischievous.
    Mr. L. Corey has nearly completed a public house, which will be opened in the spring. Mr. Corey has the best span of ponies behind which we have ridden this winter.
    Bradford is well supplied with legal talent, her Attorneys being G.W. Howard, A.J. Felt, D.A. Babcock, A.G. Case, W.E. Andrews and F.D. Hall. The physicians are S.C. Hayes, J.E. Smith, and Z. Bryant.
    Bradford is one of the great thoroughfares leading westward from the Mississippi. The McGregor Railroad will have a station here, and also the Railroad running up the Cedar or Little Cedar Valley, forming a junction it is thought at this point.
    In the western part of this village, as well as at "Greenwood" is good water power, which will be improved some day, and will tend to "lengthen the cords" of Bradford.
    The place, like the towns in this section on the (Big or Red) Cedar, is very healthy - perilously so to the pockets of the medical fraternity. Dr. Sangrado must look elsewhere for subjects to bleed and dose with warm water.
    Since we have been here, Messrs. Thomas, Kingsley and Horton have returned from a fishing excursion to the Wapsipinicon, catching two or three hundred pickerel.
    CHICKASAW COUNTY is about one hundred miles northwest of Dubuque, and lies in the second tier of counties from Minnesota. Most of the streams in the county run in a southeastern direction, and the principal ones are nearly parallel with each other, and well distributed. The Cedar touches the southeastern corner; the Little Cedar traverses two-thirds of the western part of the county; the Western and Middle branches of the Wapsipinicon enter the county on the north side and unite in the southern; the East branch flows entirely through the central part of the county; Crane Creek and Little Turkey cross the northeastern townships. The several branches of the "Wapsey," as they pass through the county receive contributions from the influx of small creeks. All the streams mentioned have some timber, and most of them are broadly belted with it. The "Upper Big Woods" are mostly in Chickasaw county. - They commence at a point one mile below Bradford at the junction of the two Cedars.
    The water power, at several points in the county is excellent. That as Nashua, as before mentioned, is second to none on the upper waters of the Cedar. There are twelve saw mills in the county, one-third of them being carried by water.
    Immense quantities of limestone are found in Chickasaw county, and also a species of sandstone. There is no lack of building material, either of wood or stone.
    The soil in the Valley of the Little Cedar, like that of the "Big," is very fertile, well adopted to the growth of wheat, barley, oats and corn; and we see no reason why rye would not do well here. The soil, in all the valleys of the county is strong, and but little inferior in richness to that of the two Cedars.
    The officers of Chickasaw county are, Lorenzo Bailey, Judge; F.D. Bostworth, Treasurer and Recorder; O.O. Case, Clerk of the District Court; William Tucker, Drainage Commissioner; A.W. Billings, Surveyor; J.C. Strong, Superintendent of Public Instruction, C.E. Zwick, Sheriff.
    (The notes of West Union, Fayette, &c., will appear in the Weekly of February 17.)