Iowa News from across the Country
- 1896 -

Alexandria Republican
Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota
Wednesday, January 1, 1896, page 8, col. 1.

PARKERS PRAIRIE
Quite a number attended the wedding of Miss May Algers to Francis Juber at the Baptist church Wednesday evening. Rev. M. D. Reeves performed the ceremony. The happy couple soon take there departure for Iowa, where Mr. Juber has a home prepared for his britle [sic]. Their friends join in wishing them a happy and prosperous future.

[transcribed by J.W., April 2005]

-----

Morning Times
Cripple Creek, El Paso co. Colorado
January 2, 1896

Greeley, Col., Jan. 1 - John H. Taylor was today arrested by Deputy Marshal Caut to save him from being lynched. Taylor is charged with incest, and his two daughters, aged 19 and 22 respectively, are his victims. The marshal got word that a mob was organizing to take Taylor from his home and hang him, therefore the arrest. Taylor came here from Iowa three years ago.

[transcribed by S.F., April 2005]

-----

Morning Times
Cripple Creek, El Paso co. Colorado
January 14, 1896

Local Briefs.
H.O. Corbin of Central, Iowa was here to attend the funeral of his brother William who met his death by accident on the Winzi-Tinsy last week.

[transcribed by S.F., April 2005]

-----

Alexandria Republican
Alexandria, Douglas Co, Minnesota
Wednesday, January 22, 1896, page 5, col. 6.

Rev. George E. Soper united in marriage Willis Sonnikson of Webster City, Iowa, and Miss Emma Schroeder of Lake Mary, today at the Arlington house. The bride is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Christ Schroeder.

[transcribed by J.W., April 2005]

-----

Alexandria Post News
Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota
Thursday, January 23, 1896
page 1, col. 1.

At the Arlington on Wednesday, January 22, occurred the marriage of Emma, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Christ Schroeder of Lake Mary, to Mr. Willis Sonicksen of Webster City, Ia.

[transcribed by J.W. from microfilm copy of newspaper at Minnesota History Center, St. Paul, MN]

-----

Morning Times
Cripple Creek, El Paso co. Colorado
January 24, 1896

Ex-Senator George Wallace Jones of Iowa tells a story of how when Iowa was admitted as a territory he used every effort to get John C. Calhoun not to fight it, without avail. Finally he induced his daughter to come to the
senate before the Iowa bill was brought up. Arrived there, she was, on a given signal to the senate gallery from him, to invite her father into the congressional library and keep him there until the bill had passed the
senate. She did so to the letter, and thus it was that Iowa became a territory and afterward a state. -- Raleigh News and Observer.

Personals.
O.T. Atwood of Council Bluffs, Iowa, is looking the camp over with a view of locating. He is stopping at the Wolfe.

[transcribed by S.F., April 2005]

-----

Arizona Republican
Phoenix, Arizona Territory
February 1, 1896

Word reached Phoenix yesterday of the death of Mrs. Matlock, mother of Rev. W.H. Matlock, formerly of the Christian church of this city, in Iowa, January 21. She had been a sufferer from consumption for several years, and her death was not unexpected, although her many friends in Phoenix will mourn her death, and all who knew her were her friends.

[transcribed by S.F., February 2007]

-----

Arizona Republican
Phoenix, Arizona Territory
February 18, 1896

B.T. Tillinghest, managing editor of the Daily Democrat, Davenport, Iowa, arrived yesterday over the Santa Fe, for a short visit to Phoenix of which he has heard so much, and will before leaving try to visit most of the points of interest and familiarize himself with the attractions of the locality.

[transcribed by S.F., February 2007]

-----

Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles, California
February 20, 1896

Licensed to Wed. Marriage licenses were issued at the County Clerk's office yesterday to the following persons:
-Edwin W. Evans, aged 22, a native of Iowa and a resident of Los Angeles, and Myrah F. O'Brien, aged 18, a native of California and a resident of Oakland.
-George W. Adams, aged 20 [?], a native of Wisconsin, and Ira E. Binford, aged 24, a native of Iowa; both residents of Estherville, Iowa.

[transcribed by S.F., February 2007]

-----

Morning Times
Cripple Creek, El Paso co. Colorado
February 21, 1896

The following is a letter received by the town marshal yesterday. It shows that he is not only expected to do police duty, but is considered an advisor for people wishing to locate here:
To the Marshal, Cripple Creek, Colo.
Dear Sir -- As I hear a great deal said concerning your part of the country I just thought I would drop you a few lines feeling in my mind that you would give me an honest reply. My husband is broken down in health and we want to make a change for it. Now do you think we could make it pay to come there and keep cows and chickens. We have a farm here that we can sell and what it would cost to get few acres of land. We would rather live out of town if we could do something like that and try the climate. Do they garden any there? Please give me an honest reply. We don not expect to come to dig for gold but to work for it.
Yours, with respect,
Mrs. S.W. Irwin, Lakeport P.O., Woodbury Co. Iowa

The letter was answered by the marshal saying he would give no advice under the circumstances.

[transcribed by S.F., April 2005]

-----

Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles, California
February 21, 1896

Licensed to Wed. Marriage licenses were issued at the County Clerk's office yesterday to the following persons:
Alex A. Duncan, aged 32, a native of Iowa, and Ollie Davidson, aged 21, a native of California; both residents of Calabasas.

[transcribed by S.F., February 2007]

-----

Steven's Point Daily Journal
Steven's Point, Wisconsin.
March 12, 1896

Broke His Neck.
Dubuque, Ia., March 12- Joseph Olberding, of Dyersville, while amusing himself swinging on a rope, by some means got it about his neck. In making a leap he broke his neck.

[transcribed by C.J.L.; Sept. 2003]

-----

Davis County Clipper
Bountiful, Davis County, Utah
April 17, 1896

He Was Too Lazy to Live
One of the laziest men Iowa has yet produced died recently in the Fort Madison penitentiary as a result of his attempt to escape labor. A convict, named Allport, several months ago cut off one of his fingers to keep from working, but the injury soon healed and he had to resume work again. Of late he has worked but little, always being done before noon, but he concluded he would not work at all, and to keep from it he inflicted an injury upon himself which had a result more fatal to him than he probably anticipated. Recently to escape work he poured a quantity of very strong lye on his arm, and the result was a sore as big as a man's hand. But the lye was so strong that it ate its way into the flesh and destroyed the blood vessels. The result was lockjaw, from which he died.--- Fort Madison Democrat.

[transcribed by C.J.L., Oct. 2004]

-----

Stockton Democrat
Stockton, Rooks County, Kansas
Thursday, May 21, 1896

The Western News
RUSH TOWNSHIP
James Davey is now a full fledged Rooks county farmer. He sold his farm in Iowa and is located upon his fine Lost creek farm. We welcome all such men as he. When he got ready to leave Warren county, Iowa, about 75 of his old neighbors gave him a pleasant surprise party. They came with well filled baskets and had a big time. They presented him with a fine watch to remember them by.

[transcribed by G.L., Nov. 2004]

-----

New York Times
New York, New York
May 26, 1896

Four Killed at Mingo. Houses Blown Down Before the Occupants Could Escape.
Oelwein, Iowa, May 25 - A cyclone, half a mile in width, passed through Mingo about 12:30 o'clock this morning, killing Mrs. Martha Dickey, Mrs. L. Whitney, Mrs. Schell, and a young child of D. Aiken.

S. Dickey and one child, and D. Aiken and wife and one child were badly injured. The Aiken and Dickey houses and outbuildings were destroyed. J.M. Osborne, wife, and child were badly injured, and their house and outbuildings and stock were all blown away.

F. Leaveler's house was blown down, and Leaveler injured. Alexander Trammell's house and outbuildings were destroyed, and several persons injured. The cyclone tore up trees and destroyed everyting in its path. Considerable damage was done to the Great Western Railway, which lost several bridges and miles of telegraph wires and poles.

Four Lives Lost at McGregor - Fifteen Missing - Six Bodies Are Recovered
McGregor, Iowa, May 25 -- The storm here deluged the valley. The flood swept everything before it. Fifteen people are missing, whose names are as follows: Mr. and Mrs. John Maloney, Michael Maloney, Mrs. Patrick Burke and son, Mrs. Lawrence Meyers and five children, Mike Havick, John Lavac, and John Katlec.

Of the missing, the bodies of six have been recovered, namely:
Burke, Mrs. and son
Maloney, Michael
Meyer, and five-year-old son
Maloney, John

Some of the victims are supposed to have been carried out into the Mississippi River, into which the Bloody Run empties at North McGregor. About ten miles of track of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad were washed away. A large number of freight cars were standing on the tracks in the west yards. They are piled in shapeless masses along the valley, some of them being carried down into the river. The loss to the railroad company will reach $100,000. The station at Beulah, about nine miles west, was washed away, and the agent and his family barely escaped with their lives. Wingen & Sons' lumber mill was damaged and over 100,000 feet of lumber was swept away. The valley for twelve miles is one vast wreck, and the damage to mills, houses, and farms cannot be estimated.

A Mother Loses Her Family - Terrible Experience of a Woman at Durango, Iowa
Dubuque, Iowa, May 25 - A thunderstorm struck Dubuque shortly after 9 o'clock last night. In the midst of the storm Mrs. Clark, station agent of the Chicago and Great Western Railroad, at Durango, eight miles northwest of Dubuque, was called from her residence to the station nearby to get orders for a train which had just arrived. She took her four children with her, and was at work when the flood, sweeping down the Moonoketa Valley, carried away the bridge, then the residence, and finally the station, which was borne down stream a mile and a half. The four children were drowned, but Mrs. Clark clung to the roof and was saved by the trainmen. All railroads leading into Dubuque were washed out and telegraphic communication was completely destroyed. Bridges on all the roads were washed out, the Illinois Central losing thirty between Dubuque and Lemare.

It was when Mrs. Clark went to the station with her children - two girls, eight and six years old, and twin girls, three and one-half years old. The station men also repaired with their families to the station. The water surrounded it about midnight and the streams, which forked at the bridge, poured their floods into the valley until it was filled from bluff to bluff, a distance of 150 yards. The station went out about 2 o'clock, and, after going fifty yards, struck a tree and careened. Tom Griffith, a brakeman, seized the oldest Clark child and jumped. Both are missing. Two section men, James Dillon and Peter Moss, caught the limbs of an overhanging tree and were rescued when the flood subsided. The station lodged against a tree, and this morning the body of one of the Clark twins was found some yards below the lodging place. Those who remained in the station were rescued soon after it lodged.

Twelve persons are reported killed by a flood on the Bloody Run, a stream along the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, emptying into the Mississippi River at North McGregor.

One man was drowned at Dyersville, Dubuque County, and two were kiled at Manchester, in Delaware County.

[transcribed by S.F., October 2007]

-----

Brooklyn Eagle
Brooklyn, NY
May 25, 1896

Many Killed in a Cyclone - Valeria, Bondurant and Mingo, Iowa, Devastated by Winds
Loss Of Life Not Yet Known
Conflicting Reports from the Neighboring Cities Make the Death List From Twenty to Thirty-eight
Communication is Difficult Because of the Storm - Chicago and Indianapolis Flooded

Des Moines, Ia., May 25 - Twenty-three people are reported dead as the result of the cyclone which swept the northern part of Polk county last night at 11 o'clock. The towns afflicted are Bondurant, Valeria, Santiago and Ira. No telephonic or telegraphic communication can be established except with Bondurant, which reports four deaths there in the Bailey family, with five in the same family seriously injured. Three in the Phalen family are killed at Valeria. At Santiago the list is three killed in the Bolenbaugh family. Between Valeria and Ira the death list is nine. Mrs. Schell was killed at the former place. Special trains have been started from Des Moines with physicians on board. The storm is said to have swept along the line of the Great Western from Bondurant to Marshalltown.

Dubuque, Ia., May 25 - A terrific electric storm, accompanied by a deluge of rain swept over this section at midnight, doing immense damage to railroad property. The rainfall was 2.8 inches, and it came as suddenly and in such volume as if the waterspout had burst upon the place. The Mississippi rose one and three-tenths feet in the past eight hours and is still rising rapidly. Not a train has come into Dubuque from any direction since Sunday afternoon. It is reported that on the Illinois Central, between Dubuque and Sioux City, eighteen bridges were washed away and another at Bellevue has gone. North the road is badly washed out. On the Great Western, east of Dubuque, one bridge is reported down, but on the same road west the work of the storm was most disastrous. Lost bridges and washouts and wires down are reported all along.

At Durange, eight miles west, the flood that swept down the valley struck the station in which were Mrs. Clark, the agent, and her four children beside Tom Griffin, a brakeman. They were all on the depot platform when the water struck it and swept it away. It is reported that the four children were drowned and Brakeman Griffin is missing. Joe Griffin saved himself by grappling telegraph wires and going with the flood until he lodged in a tree. How the others were saved is not stated. In Dubuque the damage to streets and sewers is considerable. A relief train has been sent to Durango.

It is reported here that twelve persons were drowned at North McGregor. Strenuous efforts are being made to obtain particulars.

Oelwein, Ia., May 25 - A cyclone passed through Valeria, Jasper county, this state, at 2 o'clock this morning, killing fourteen persons. The storm killed two people at Mingo, a small town a few miles east of Valeria.

Marshalltown, Ia., May 25 - It is reported here that as a result of the cyclone at Valeria and Mingo twenty people are dead.

Newton, Ia., May 25 - Valeria, a mining village about fifteen miles west of Newton, was nearly wiped out of existence by a cyclone last night. Fourteen people are reported killed.

Marshalltown, Ia., May 25 - The cyclone last night along the Chicago and Western railroad in Jasper county killed probably 25 persons. It injured more than that number. The property loss is over $100,000. Several miles of railroad track were practically destroyed.

[transcribed by S.F., Sept. 2005]

-----

Daily Republican
Decatur, Illinois
May 26, 1896

FOUR CHILDREN DROWNED And Carried Away by a Sudden Flood in the Maquoketa.
DUBUQUE, Ia., May 26- A terrific thunder and lightning storm struck Dubuque shortly after nine o'clock Sunday night after a very warm and oppressive day. In the midst of the storm Mrs. Clark, station agent of the Chicago & Great Western railroad at Durango, eight miles northwest of Dubuque, was called from her residence to the depot near by to get orders for a train, which had just arrived. She took her four children with her, and was at work when the flood, sweeping down the Maquoketa valley, carried away the bridge, then the residence, and finally the depot, which was borne down stream a mile and a half. The four children were drowned, but Mrs. Clark clung to the roof and was saved by the trainmen. All railroads leading into Dubuque were washed out, and telegraphic communication completely destroyed. Bridges on all roads were washed out, the Illinois Central losing 30 between Dubuque and Lamars. The depot at Durango went about two o'clock, and after going 50 yards struck a tree and careened. Tom Griffith, a brakeman, seized the oldest Clark child and jumped. Both are missing. A section man, James Dillon, and Peter Moss caught the limbs of an overhanging tree and were rescued when the flood subsided. The depot lodged against a tree, and the body of one of the twins was found some yards below the lodging place. Hundreds are prosecuting the search for the bodies. Twelve person were killed by a flood on the Bloody Run, a stream along the Chicago, Milwaukee, & St. Paul right of way, emptying into the Mississippi river at North McGregor. One man was drowned at Dyersville, Dubuque county, and two were killed at Manchester, Delaware county.

ELEVEN PERSONS KILLED In the Ruins Wrought by a Destructive Cyclone in Iowa.
MITCHELVILLE, Ia., May 16. At 10:25 o'clock Sunday night a strip of country half a mile wide extending from the edge of Bondurant southeast through Santiago and Valeria, was devastated by a cyclone. It caught up the house of Peter Bolenbaugh north of Santiago, and no vestige of it has yet been found. Mr. and Mrs. Bolenbaugh were found, entirely nude, and dead. A little nephew who was living with them was found yet further away, crushed almost to a pulp. At Valeria Charles Whalen's farmhouse was demolished, and himself and wife and three children killed. Others, swelling the number to 11, were killed, but names are not obtainable.

From a Rivulet to a Raging Torrent.
MARSHALLTOWN, Ia., May 26- Linn creek, which flows through this city, rose in an hour yesterday morning from a rivulet to a raging torrent half a mile wide as a result of a cloud-burst between LaMoulle and State Center. One mile of the Northwestern railroad's roadbed was washed out and bridges and roadbed near
LaMoulle were severely damaged. Crops in that region were destroyed and much live stock drowned. Dwellings on the lowlands were flooded, and some of the residents in this city were rescued in boats after narrow escapes from death. Railroad traffic will not be resumed for a day or two. The Iowa river is on the
biggest rampage in 15 years.

A Scene of Destruction in Historic Bloody Run.
McGREGOR, Ia., May 26- Words are inadequate to fittingly describe the scene of desolation caused by Sunday night's terrible cloud-burst in the historic "Bloody Run." For ten miles west of this place everything is in ruins. All the afternoon threatening clouds were gathering and about one o'clock the storm burst in its fury soon deluging the valley. It swept all before it. Of the 15 people missing six bodies have been recovered.

Almost a Lake
ELMA, Ia., May 25- This town is almost a lake to-day, and much property is in ruins on account of a storm of wind and rain which came last night and lasted an hour. The people took refuge in cellars and escaped injury. The fronts of business houses were blown in, telegraph wires demolished and buildings unroofed. One man was killed and two children hurt badly at Alta Vista.

Destroyed a Church.
BURLINGTON, Ia., May 25- This city was struck by a wild storm last night, rain and hail being the predominating elements. The wind destroyed a church, part of the Atlas mill and many smokestacks, South of the town a cyclone developed, tearing up trees and destroying crops.

Seven Miles of Devastation.
MANCHESTER, Ia., May 26- A cyclone struck this city late Sunday night, devastating property seven miles in length. Mrs Ira Howland and William Murray were seriously injured.

[transcribed by C.J.L., Sept. 2003]

-----

Silverton Standard
Silverton, San Juan co. Colorado
May 30, 1896

Terrible loss of Life
Dubuque, Iowa. May 26 -- Passengers on a train from the North last night say that from twenty-five to thirty persons have been drowned at North McGregor. Among the dead are a man named Maloney, his wife, child and grandchild, and families named Burke and Myers were wiped out leaving no trace. Eighteeen are said to have been drowned to these three families alone. A number of tramps are also known to have been lost. Other names could not be had. Two small streams unite at Bula and flow from that point to the Mississippi. The flood of the two united and swept everything, lumber yards, houses and cars between Bula and North McGregor into the Mississippi. Previous estimates of loss of life placed the number of drowned at twelve.

[transcribed by S.F., July 2005]

-----

Alexandria Post News
Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota
Thursday, July 2, 1896, page 8, col. 4.

Mr. Moses Robinson Alexandria town, received a telegram today that his brother, whose home was in Humbolt, Ia., was dead.

[transcribed by J.W. from microfilm copy of newspaper at Minnesota History Center, St. Paul, MN]

-----

Chicago Daily Inter Ocean
Chicago, Illinois
July 14, 1896

WANTED FOR FALSE PRETENSES
Police Seek Frank Godfrey, Formerly Michigan State Printer.
Grand Rapids, Mich. July 13. Special Telegram: Frank G. Godfrey is wanted for securing money under false pretenses. He was once State Printer and Publisher of the Lansing Republican and one of the best known newspapermen in the state and later was publisher of a financial and banking paper in Chicago. He is alleged to have secured $25 on a fraudulent check drawn of a Chicago Bank by Frank Bonnell, and skipped leaving many creditors. He said he was planning to start an evening Republican paper here in August.

[Transcribers note: Frank G Godfrey was the husband of Mary Elizabeth Trout of Maquoketa, Jackson, Iowa. He was the publisher of Banks and Bankers a financial and banking publication in Chicago. Transcribed by M.J.M., April 2009]

-----

Steven's Point Gazette
Steven's Point, Wis
July 15, 1896

Ida Foote and her brother Henry were arrested at Dyersville, Iowa, while posting notices threatening to burn the town. They are simple-minded and wanted revenge on the people whom they believed in sympathy with their enemy.

[transcribed by C.J.L., Sept. 2003]

-----

Hawaiian Gazette
Honolulu, Hawaii Territory
Friday, August 7, 1896

Summer School Begins Today - Biographical Sketch of Inspector-General Townsend.
(From Wednesday's Daily) -- At 9 o'clock this morning, the Summer School for which inspector H.S. Townsend has worked so arduously for a long time will begin its first session in the High School building on Emma street. The opening exercises will be an address by Inspector-General Townsend and one by Prof. M.M. Scott after which the various classes will be organized. At 1 p.m. there will be a "round table" which Mr. Townsend will conduct, the subject being "Literature in our Elementary Schools."

Inspector-General H.S. Townsend, the director of the summer schools was born in 1856 on a frontier farm, twenty miles southeast of Des Moines, Iowa. He learned what hard work is very early in life. It was largely in the country schools that he fitted himself for the University of Des Moines from which he graduated in 1880, receiving the degree of A.M. in 1883. After teaching a short time in San Francisco, he came to the Hawaiian Islands. His experience here as a teacher has been varied. After working with all grades in the public schools, he was elected vice-principal of the Kamehameha Manual in 1888. Remaining two years he was the elected principal of Lahainaluna seminary which position he retained until he was appointed Inspector-General on the resignation of Mr. Atkinson.

[transcribed by S.F., May 2009]

-----

Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles, California
October 15, 1896

Licensed to Wed.
-Elton R. Wolcott, a native of Ohio and resident of Glidden, Iowa, aged 60, and Mrs. Lottie M. Hedges, a native of New York and resident of Los Angeles, aged 52.
-Edward L. Wade, a native of Iowa, aged 30, and Mamie E. King, a native of Dakota, aged 20; both of The Palms.
-Lee A. Stanchfield, a native of California, aged 23, and Stella M. Perry, a native of Iowa, aged 20; both of Spadra.
-Allan R. Kidd, a native of Wisconsin, aged 24, and Lillian M. Hollenback, a native of Iowa, aged 24; both of Los Angeles.

[transcribed by S.F., August 2012]

-----

New York Times
New York, New York
October 30, 1896

Iowa Cattleman Kills Himself in Denver
Denver, Oct 29 - J.B. Long, a cattleman of Pleasantville, Iowa, arrived here yesterday, and after transacting some business at the stock yards, returned to the hotel shortly after and went to his room. After writing two telegrams - one to the National Bank of the Republic, Chicago, and another to the Citizens' National Bank of Pleasantville, stopping payment on three drafts for $1,000 each, drawn on the National Bank of the Republic - Long wrote a letter stating he had been robbed of the drafts and directing that his body be shipped to Monroe, Iowa, care of the Masonic Lodge of that town. He then shot himself in the mouth with a revolver and died instantly. Two drafts for a thousand dollars each and $45 cash were found in Long's pockets. Long gave no reason in the letter for killing himself, and the supposition is that he became despondent over the loss of his money.

[transcribed by S.F., November 2008]

-----

Rolla New Era
Rolla, Missouri
December 5, 1896

Local & Personal
-Mr. and Mrs. G.F. Robinston, of Eagle Grove, Iowa, arrived in Rolla on Monday last. Mr. R. expects to invest in real estate here if he finds anything to suit him.

[transcribed by S.F., December 2005]

-----

Davis County Clipper
Bountiful, Davis County, Utah
December 25, 1896

A Crack Shot Murdered
Oskaloosa, Ia., Dec. 20 - George Golightly, the crack live pigeon shooter of Iowa, was murdered in a saloon brawl last night. No arrests have been made.

[transcribed by C.J.L., Oct. 2004]



News from elsewhere index

Iowa Old Press Home