Iowa
Old Press
Sioux City Journal
Sioux City, Woodbury co. Iowa
March 17, 1927
Long Covered-Wagon Journey Was Made by Pioneer Woman of
Sibley
Mrs. Evaline Shapley Has Celebrated Her 86th Birthday
by Glenn W. Jones, Special Correspondent of the Journal
Sibley, Ia., March 16 -- From Ohio to Clayton county, Ia., then
to Osceola county, Ia., a journey of 800 miles in a covered
wagon, was the experience of Mrs. Eveline Shapley, of Sibley, who
has just celebrated her 86th birthday anniversary. She is one of
Osceola county's earliest settlers.
The first leg of the long trip was made in 1851, when she was 10
years old. At that time she left Nashville, O., her birthplace,
and with her parents drove through to Monona, Ia., being four
weeks on the road. She grew to womanhood there and was married to
Abram Shapley, the village blacksmith, in 1859, at Prairie du
Chien, Wis. She lived near Monona 20 years, where three of her
children were born. It was a prairie country and one of her
recollections is of the rattlesnakes which were so numerous no
woman thought of going down cellar to skim milk without carrying
a sharp hoe.
Mr. Shapley enlisted in the union army in 1862, serving three
years. In 1872 Mrs. Shapley with her husband and several others
drove through to Osceola county, making the trip in 17 days. She
says it rained almost continuously and what with wading sloughs
and fording streams the hardships of the trip were beyond
description. One night they camped on a knoll near a slough,
placing the wagons in a circle with the horses in the center.
That night the knoll settled and in the morning the horses stood
knee deep in water.
In Osceola county Mr. Shapley filed on a homestead orthwest of
Sibley. He built a sod barn and hauled lumber 25 miles from
Worthington, Minn., to build a shanty. The family lived in the
shack one winter then started to build a house. It was not
completed by winter so they spent that winter in the cellar.
Mrs. Shapley remembers particularly the winter of 1872-73, when
the settlers suffered severely. An incident of that winter
portrays the hard conditions under which they lived. "Mr.
Shapley shot some ducks late in 1872 and hung them outside to
freeze," she said. "During the blizzard I took them in
to cook. Our only fuel was green wood and I couldn't thaw them
out, much less cook them. We gave it up as a bad job and finally
had to go to bed to keep from freezing.
The sod houses were comfortable enough but the frame dwellings
were cold and, besides, few people were adequately clothed. Her
husband, who was ingenious, supplemented his other clothing with
a pair of moccasins and a hood which he had fashioned out of a
buffalo robe.
The Shapleys moved to Sibley 35 years ago, where Mr. Shapley died
in 1902. Mrs. Shapley has lived in the same house all the time.
She is in excellent health and is the most active woman of her
age in Sibley. She enjoys attending the Rebekah lodge and the
Women's Relief corps, of which she has been a member over 40
years, and she gets a tremendous "kick" out of a movie.
Her children are: Mrs. Clara M. Upton, Sibley; David Shapley,
Foxhome, Minn.; W.H. Shapley, Sibley; L.E. Shapley, Hickley,
Minn.; and Mrs. Flora Smith, Amboy, Wash.
--
Missing Man is Found
Cherokee, Ia., March 16. Special: R.P. Wills, former Marcus
newspaper man, who has been missing for some time from his home,
was located at Pittsburgh, Pa., where he was recognized by a
friend. Mr. Wills had suffered from lapse of memory and was found
in a hospital.
Re-elected to School Board
Sac City, Ia., March 16. Special: Mrs. Grace Griffith and L.E.
Havens, present members of the board of education, were returned
to office by good majorities in the school election here this
week. Willard Jennett was the defeated candidate.
Large School Vote Cast.
Vail, Ia., March 16. Special: In the 5-man race for the two
vacancies on the board of education, Ken Dobler, farmer, and
George Whiting, merchant, were high men, receiving 175 and 155
votes, respectively. A large vote was cast.
School Election Hot One.
Missouri Valley, Ia. Special: Ray Beckley and H.M. Cramer were
re-elected to the school board here in a hotly contested election
in which there were three candidates. Dr. H.C. Fitch ran third.
Hand Hurt in Wringer.
Storm Lake, Ia. March 16. Special: Mrs. W.C. Edson, of this city,
injured her right hand quite severely yesterday morning when she
caught it in the electric wringer and wrung it almost through
before she could reverse the wringer. It was necessary to take
several stitches in the hand.
[transcribed by S.F., October 2006]