Iowa Old Press

Iowa State Press
Iowa City, Johnson Co. Iowa
October 1, 1903

Ichabod R. Kimball Passes Away At Leavenworth, Kansas.
Was Veteran of Two Great Wars - End Came When he was in his Ninetieth Year - Lived in Iowa City Years Ago.
Sad news comes from Leavenworth Kas., announcing the death of a Johnson county pioneer, Ichabod R. Kimball. This good and brave hero of two wars passed away in the Military home, on Monday, Sept. 28, in his ni[n]etieth year. He was born June 19, 1814, near Kennebunk, Maine. Mr. Kimball enlisted in Company D, 37th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Oct. 13, 1861, and served through the war of the Rebellion. He was a non-commisioned officer, when honorably discharged, at the conclusion of the long struggle. Prior to that war, the veteran had served through the Mexican war with equal credit to himself and his adopted state. Mr. Kimball left Iowa City - whither he returned after the Civil war - in 1872, selling his farm northeast of Iowa City to Henry Sullivan, former member of the board of supervisors. His later home was Parsons, Kas. whence [he] went to the Military home to spend his declining days. The decedent was a brother of Frank Kimball, and an uncle of Mrs. H.H. Jones of Iowa City. His scores of old friends here among the pioneers will regret deeply to learn of the beloved veteran's demise.

[transcribed by anonymous, August 2007]

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Daily Iowa State Press
Iowa City, Johnson co. Iowa
October 6, 1903

Jessie Cherry is Dead. Her passing recalls the occasion on which she appeared here, to vegetarian applause.

A story that will have interest for a good many hundred people in this city is the following, a Cedar Rapids special of Friday to the Des Moines Capital. It is pertinent news here, because of the appearance of the famous Cherry sisters here, at the local opera house. They were greeted with the usual shower of delicate attentions from the kitchen garden, and on one occasion one of the girls came to the front and indignantly announced that if the cabbage shower did not let up the show would .

"A telegram received here from Hot Springs, Ark., tells of the death there of Jessie Cherry, the youngest member of the famous quartette of Cherry sisters. The message says death came to her after a lingering illness and that the remains will be shipped to this city for burial.

"About a dozen or 15 years ago the Cherry sisters, who were living near Cedar Rapids, became suddenly famous because of the nature of concert entertainments they began giving about the country. Without education and without any special talent, the four sisters, who were left in poor circumstances by the death of their parents, determined to raise funds to save their homestead from being taken for debt. They had appeared in country school entertainments, and boldly conceived the plan of giving to the world the value of their talents.

Their programs were so utterly unconventional and so entirely without artistic sentiment that they soon became a rage and the sisters were called to New York by a prominent vaudeville manager. There their fame grew and they followed up their financial success by a tour of the whole country. They had many exciting experiences and it became necessary for them to add to their stage accessories a large wire screen to stop the flood of bad vegetables which were nighly hurled toward the stage when they were singing. Early in their career the young women resented this influx of garden growths and at one time Effie, the oldest of the bunch, is said to have carried a shotgun which she used to intimidate her audiences. The police were many times called in for protection of the sisters, but later in their career, after the discovery of the wire screen, they viewed the animosity or frivelousness of their audiences with impunity, and seeing the attention thus given them they welcomed it.

"Jessie was the youngest of the sisters and was really a pretty little girl. Her greatest hit was appearing as the barefoot maiden in one of their songs, and many a newspaper ode has been written to her toes. She appeared also as the innocent "gentle lady" in Effie's star song, "The Gypsy's Warning".

"There was always a controversy as to whether the sisters were as awkward and unartistic as they appeared and many have believed they were smart enough to recognize the gullibility of the public and to play upon that weakness to its fullest extent. While they professed always in the most solemn manner that their work was art of the highest kind and that the action of the public towards them was only because of its utter lack of appreciation of the truly beautiful, it is evident this was but another method they had of seeking advertisement. That they made their method pay has long been known, and it is said they own valuable property near Cedar Rapids, between this city and Marion.

Of late years the sisters had not been heard of, but the death of Jessie recalls their lurid career.

Boy is Accidently Shot -- Bullet Passed Through Body Just Below the Heart
Mapleton, Oct. 5 -- Charley Whiting, the 12-year-old son of C.J. Whitting, accidentally shot himself. The boy was handling a 22-caliber rifle which was discharged in some accidental manner, the ball passing throught the body just below the heart.

Girl Killed by Lightning - She was Standing by Open Window During a Storm.
Le Mars, Oct. 5 -- Evelyn Simpson, a 13 years-old girl, was instantly killed Saturday morning by a bolt of lightening. She was standing near an open window and was just going to carry her younger sister to the breakfast table.

Advertised Letters - Oct. 5, 1903.
List of letters remaining in the postoffice at Iowa City, Iowa, Oct. 5, 1903. Persons calling for these letters will please way "advertised". by Henry Overholt, P.M.
Gents: Anderson, A.W.; Arnold, F.; Baker, J.G.; Bechtel, R.E.; Browh, J.H.; Lindegren, P.; Maurer, H.C., Mayes, E.; Perkins, Prof.; Senn, J.W.A.; Tester, W.; Wasson, W.R.; Wilets, I.R.; Wopschall, G.
Ladies: Avery, Miss O.; Bauman, I; Carteton, Mrs. N.B.; Cassigan, Miss D.; Greer, Miss M.; Klesmer, Miss E.; Kline, Mrs. S.; Krichbaum, Miss B.; Mardin, Mrs. E.; Vaughn, Mrs. ?.

Probate Notice.
State of Iowa, County of Johnson, ss District Court of Johnson County. Notice is hereby given to all persons interested, that the final report of Frank J. Vrchoticky as executor of the estate of Frank Vrchoticky, deceased, will come on for final hearing and approval in the District Cuort of Johnson County, Iowa, on the 8th day of October, 1903, at 10 o'clock a.m. at which time and place any erson interested may appear and file exceptions, and show cause why said report should not be approved. Witness my hand and seal of the district court this 28th day of September, A.D., 1903. (seal) Ed. Koser clerk of the District court in and for Johnson county.

[transcribed by S.F., April & May 2004]

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Daily Iowa State Press
Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa
October 17, 1903

KATE SHELLEY REMEMBERED
The Northwestern Railway company has given the station at Moingona in charge of Miss Kate Shelley, to whom their gratitude can never be wanting. As all the telegraph instruments have been removed from this office, her work will be entirely the sale of tickets. Many times before the Northwestern has offered her high salaried positions on their road, but as each one would necessitate her removal from the home town at Moingona, where her aged mother is enjoying the last years of her life, she refused them all. This in part shows her unselfish devotion to her parent. Now as passengers go to and from this little station, they may see from this station, they may see and grow better acquainted with the woman whose bravery "saved the train."-- Ames Intelligencer.

[submitted by C.J.L., March 2004]

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