We are unable to give the address of Mr. Slagle in full, as it was spoken only from memoranda; but we have gathered from his memoranda a synopsis of the address. He said:

As travelers looked upon gray old castles or ancient monuments, they wondered and asked the question who were the builders. As we pass a fine building, new or old, we are curious and interested in knowing whose it is and who built it. The man who planted a grand old tree, whose shade refreshes the generations who follow him, is gratefully remembered for his thoughtfulness; and as we pluck the luscious fruit from an overhanging bough, a part of our satisfaction in eating is that we planted the tree of which we eat, or we honor the person the result of whose labors we enjoy. And thus, friends, as we gather here to day, in this, the first re-union of the old settlers of Jefferson county, we may be enabled to perpetuate in some small degree the memory of the men and women who planted this tree, our beloved Iowa, who built this house, the "Beautiful Land," in which will be sheltered the happy families of the generations that will follow us, and we may help them answer the questions they will ask as to who laid these foundations, and perhaps we may afford to them some motive why they should preserve the structure so auspiciously commenced.

A further object of our association is to keep alive the social acquaintance that in the old days was so familiar and so pleasant--when neighbors were not so near together or the demands of business so urgent, and when the plane of society had not yet become vexed by the social distinctions engendered by large population, by wealth, by position, or by affectation. We desire also, on these occasions, to recall the memory and honor the names of those of our associates in the old settler days, who have passed away; and as we bow with reverence and uncovered heads in the mention of the names of Gilbert Loomis, James I. Murray, Wm. Pitkin, George Hannawalt, John J. Smith, John Jewett, James Gilmer, Adley Hemphill, L. W. Saunders, G. M. Fox, E. S. Gage, John Hopkirk, L. G. Bell, George W. Jenkins, John Ratliff, Adam Stever, Samuel Shuffleton, Tom M. Gray, D. M. Lyon, Dr. J. T. Moberly, Joseph Junkin, sr., Stephen Dill, Robert McElhinny, Barnet Ristine, John McComb, Parish Ellis, Caleb Baldwin, John Pheasant, J. B. Teas, A. H. Weir, William Cummings, Chas. Negus, Uncle Ben. Milligan, James G. Crocker, Col. Wm. Ross, Wm. G. Coop, John Ankrom, Alex. Pattison, Hugh Houston, Jas. Pattison, John A. Pitzer, James T. Hardin, John Reagor, Anson Ford, Cyrus Olney, John Noble, Henry Terrill, John Shields, Moses Black, Stephen B. Parker, Thomas McCullough, David Bush, John Troxel, Samuel Whitmore, Elijah Collins, David Eller, Rodham Bonnifield, Beracha S. Dunn, John Park, Ben. Chastain, H. B. Notson, James Osborn, Daniel Sears, David Bowman, Alexander Wheeler, James Chambers, Nat. Lawrence, William Winn, Bartley Travis, Mathias Grimes, Doctor Crary, Wm. Uttz, Thomas Dickey, Wm. Fitch, Dr. J. C. Ware, Samuel Peebler, B. F. Hoxie, M. C. Springer, Daniel McLean, Michael Peebler, James Cole, Wm. McLean, Deacon Hitchcock, Willis Cheek, Phillip Keenan, Peter Fisher, Grinder Wilson, Abner Wylie, John Vannostrand, Alex. Blakely, George Bartow, Archer Green, Thomas Allender, Isaac McCleary, Benjamin McCleary, James A. Cunningham, David Switzer, Jonathan Switzer, E. C. Hampson, Wesley Tandy, James Beatty, Joseph Cole, David C Brown, Daniel Clapp, ------ Frazey, Robt. Stephenson, M. D. Spurlock, Geo. Nicholson, Thos. Nicholson, Wm. A. Hendricks, Samuel Zeigler, Mathew Clark, Casper Snook, Wm. Williams, William Pritt, Wm. Hitchcock, John Hutchinson, J. D. Stark, Abram Fleenor, Lester T. Gillette, David Mowry, Lot Abraham, David Sears, Jacob L. Sears, Samuel Robb, Jacob Sears, C. Canaday, Sullivan Ross, Esq Sullivan, Johnson Gillam, Wm. Olney, John Howell, Martin Meeker, John Andrews, Wm. Moorman, R. R. Mills, Joseph Fell, Benj. R binson (sic), Sampson Smith, David Smith, James Meguire, Christopher Rodabaugh, Greenup Smith, William Duoton, John Yost, Horace Gaylord, Mungo Ramsay, Henry Knerr, Jacob Spainhower, Francis Schoppe, Silas Deeds. All these, with the good women who constituted that pioneer phalanx of the early settlement of Jefferson county, and many others whose names will be tender and dear in the memory of individuals in this audience, and whom it is to be regretted cannot just now be recalled, let us embalm them in our kindest recollections, and with whatever of faults or of virtues they may have had, let us keep fresh the facts of those early and pleasant associations.

Jefferson county, as it is seen to-day, with its continuous lanes and covered over with enclosed farms, and beautiful homes and well-filled barns, would scarcely be recognized as the Jefferson county of thirty years ago, and the young people of to-day cannot readily appreciate the change as seen by those who saw it then, and as we recall the condition of society at that time, we have exemplified the fact of what has been accomplished by the individual efforts of the early comers to Iowa.-- But few persons came here in that day with any capital but good muscle and strong will; the man who had one hundred dollars in his pocket was the exception rather than the rule, and even being in debt for his little stock of worldly goods was rather the order of the day. But determined and intelligent effort, and severe discipline in the management of domestic affairs, and an honest and faithful respect for each others rights, soon placed the settlers in positions of comfort and independence, and what they have accomplished may well be pointed to as self-made.

This association has adopted 1850 as the date of old settlership in Jefferson county, and this is, perhaps, a fair date from which to be regarded as having taken a part in laying the foundation of the history of the state of Iowa. Forty years is fairly the outside limit of the territory, now within the state of Iowa, within the pale of civilization. In 1836 Wisconsin was organized out of Michigan, and in all the territory now Iowa, were two counties, "Demoine" and Dubuque, with a popluation of 10,531(.) In 1838, Iowa was organized, and commenced her career with sixteen counties, hugging the Mississippi river, and had a population of 22,859. In 1840, our own, Jefferson county, is found in the enumerated list, Delaware and Jefferson having gone in together, and there is a total population in the territory of 43,114. In 1846, the population was 97,588 in twenty seven counties--Appanoose, Monroe, Marion and Polk then being the frontier line of population on the west, and in this year we became the state of Iowa(.) The school system of our state had legal existence prior to 1850, but it can hardly be claimed that it had actual vitality until after the commencement of the decade of 1850, and here, too, we find the beginning of the establishment of our state institutions of charity, and the upbuilding of that grand sentiment in the minds of the people, having a tender care for the afflicted and the unfortunate in our midst. May the day never come when for the paltry consideration of dollars, we shall let our civilization, so auspiciously commenced, go back upon itself in the care of those who are unfortunate in mind or body and unable to care for themselves. In ten years following the commencement of our career as a state, in 1846, from 97,588 persons we had increased to a population of 519,055. From the eighteen counties of 1840, we have now advanced to 99 organized counties in our state, with all their busy machinery of civil government operating for the welfare of society, and making possible the upbuilding of happy homes in every portion of our territory, and who will not say it is a privilege to have taken part in a result so magnificent.

There are in our state 55,045 square miles--an area of 35,228,800 acres of land, no portion of which is unsusceptible to the influence of that best of civilizers, the plow. At the date of the last census taken, in 1875, the valuation of our real estate was $294,313,368; of real and personal estate, $395,423,140; there were acres of improved land, 12,658,495; there were 221,568 dwellings; there were 249,624 families; there were 116,292 farms. These figures have, of course, been largely increased since 1875, but they are the last date by which we are enabled to speak from the book. In 1875, there was a population of 1,350,544 in the state. By the school report of 1877, there had been an increase of 1875 of 71,388 children between the ages of five and twenty-one years, which indicates a very large increase over the aggregate population of 1875, and it may be safely estimated from this data, that a census of our state taken in 1879 would show a population of one million six hundred thousand. There are 1,455 post offices in Iowa; of these 98 are salaried offices, paying salaries of from $1,200 to $3,000. Ohio has but 110 offices of the same grade; Pennsylvania has 130; Massachusetts, 108; Michigan, 81; Indiana, 71; North Carlina, 13; Tennessee, 16; Kentucky, 28; Missouri, 49; Alabama, 22; Georgia, 23. There are 287 money-order offices in Iowa, and probably 800 of the offices not salaried pay salaries of from $500 to $1 000 per annum. No better fact than of the post office can be adduced to illustrate the character of a people who make necessary by their intellectual and commercial habits this bountiful provision of the general government in the one item of postal facilities. There are 441 newspapers in the state, all of which are partisan in political matters, except 21 which are religious, literary, &c. Regarding the political aspects as composed mainly of but two sides, the partisan character of the press of the state may be divided about equally. There are 25 daily papers, and 390 weeklies, the others of the whole being published at various intervals. This also, as of the postoffice, in view of the fact that the printer is not ordinarily an object of charity with his patrons, is suggestive of the character of the people who demand this immense supply of their intellectual and social wants.

There were, in 1875, 3,765 miles of railroad, while in 1854 there was not a mile of railway in the state. There are now completed, and in the course of construction ready for the iron, nearly 4,500 miles of railroad and about 900 railway stations.

There are seventy public libraries in the state; it is to be regretted there have been gathered no statistics of the number of volumes in these libraries, but each and all are doing their noble work on the character of our people, and may be commended to all who are interested in the welfare of the youth of our state, for so long as employment is a demand of our nature, idleness will be vice, and as the activity of youthful minds must in some way be supplied, the libraries should make the antagonizers of the many other methods of employment of time so persistently pressed upon the attention of society, and so often to its hurt.

There were in 1870, which is the last opportunity for general statistics on the subject, 2,763 church edifices, having sittings for 431,709 persons, and a valuation of church property of $5,730,352(.) There was a membership of 200,000. These figures have, of course, been largely increased at the present time, for the religious interests of the people have kept abreast with all other progress of society.

There were in 1877 of children between the ages of 5 and 21 years, 567,859; there were enrolled in the public schools 421,163, and there was in that year an average attendance in the schools of 251,372.-- There were 10,296 school houses, of which only 89 were of that primitive character so familiar in the memory of the children of the old settler, "the old log school house;" and while the old log house, or the education obtained there, may not be disparaged, the children of to-day are subjects of congratulation that so soon have passed away the slab seat and backless bench of the olden time, and they may well thank the progressive old settler for their rapid transit to the better from the worse of school house comfort. The value of school-houses in 1877 was $9,044,973; they had apparatus valued at $159,216; they had 17,329 volumes in their libraries. There were 10,424 public schools; there were 19,866 teachers, of whom 7,348 were males and 12,518 females. There was paid for teachers salaries in 1877 the amount of $2,953,645, and a total expenditure for school purposes of $5,197,428. The permanent school fund of the state is $3,462,000; it yielded an interest, which was applied toward the school expenses, of $276,960.

There are in the state twenty-one institutions of the grade of the college, thus supplementing the public school system with the higher education of the college, and the degrees ordinarily incident to the college, as evidence of scholarship.-- There are 127 private schools, with 741 teachers and 12,383 scholars.-- This is the magnificent record of our people, even at this early day, on the subject of education, and this the highway they have chosen to travel on their march for civilization. The money expended for schools may seem a large sum, and the number of teachers may seem an army being subsisted at public expense, but there is no interest so important for the public welfare, no enterprise so pregnant with momentous results, as the educational interest of our country. It is possible that with the best of educational facilities and attainments the highest desirable social condition of the people may not be obtained, nor the best freedom and individual liberty of the citizens secured, nor an enduring government established, but it is quite certain that without the opportunities and advantages of educated citizenship, our social system will be a failure, our theory of government a reproach. In the advocacy of a liberal support of the schools, there is not involved an extravagant expenditure of public money, nor of waste for mere display; on the contrary a wise management will secure the purchase power of every dollar expended, and as the highest use of money is that where it obtains the best results, our schools must be commended as an important factor in the growth and progress of our state.

Iowa furnished in the war for the suppression of the rebellion, 78,059 soldiers. The general government credits her with 75,839; some men who were drafted and some who had enlisted in other states were claimed by Iowa in its quota, hence the difference of 2,220. Of Iowa men there were killed and died of wounds and disease, 12,368; there were discharged for disability and other causes, 12,440; there were wounded, 8,848; captured, 4,730; there were total casualties, 32,715. Add to this the work of the women of the state and the voluntary contributions through the aid societies, &c., and there may be seen the work of our state for the maintenance of a Union of which she had become a part, and she thus manifested the patriotism of her people and their desire for one country, one destiny, and freedom alike to all.

The public institutions of the state are one university, one agricultural college, one college for the blind, one for the deaf and dumb, one orphan's home, one state historical society, two hospitals for the insane, two reform schools for children, two penitentiaries. At the last record of the occupation of the people, 210,263 were engaged in agriculture; 58,484 were in professional and personal service; 28,210 in trade and transportation; 47,319 in manufacturing and mining industries.

Of the cities and villages of the state over one hundred contain each a population numbering more than one thousand persons.

These statistics may not be fitly closed without reference to the industrial character of the people who have made the record in other respects so satisfactory, and here, as everywhere, industry goes hand in hand with virtue and intelligence.-- In 1875 the harvests of the state yielded 44,131,707 bushels of wheat; 146,993,570 bushels of corn; 29,213,891 bushels of oats; 1,451,037 bushels of apples; 9,400,885 pounds of grapes; 7,289,953 bushels of potatoes; 37,862,540 pounds of butter. There were farm products in that year of the value of $180,963,496.-- There were 372 coal mines opened, and 3,203 manufacturing establishments, yielding a value of manufactured goods of $39,263,319; verily the fatness of the land is the heritage of its people.

This is the building, old settlers and friends, whose foundation you helped lay, this is the structure you helped in building, this the tree you planted whose fruits are to be eaten through generations of the future. May you not be contratulated on the character of your work? It would be invidious to claim that the settlers of 1850, and preceding that time, were the only architects of this social, civil and political structure, the state of Iowa, for the new comers in each year of its history, from old states of the Union, have faithfully and earnestly joined hands in the progress that has been obtained. They have been welcomed in each year of their coming, and herein is the lesson of true citizenship, that recognizes the equal and exact rights of all citizens of a common country, and are ready and willing to make homogenous the people of all nations and climes who will be law abiding in our midst.

There is not probably on the face of the earth a contiguous territory of the dimensions of the state of Iowa, presenting in its climatic conditions and reproductive resources, opportunities so favorable to the needs and wants of mankind. Nature has made no waste places in Iowa, and has endowed here in the variety of her conditions most abundantly for the enterprise and industries of the people. Will the old settlers and the new of our state maintain the beginning they have made? The history of the world gives no great encouragement that any form of civilization will be permanently maintained, for the coming and going of nations with their peculiar civilizations have been a startling panorama. But nevertheless, we must work, and the man or woman who folds his or her hands in the idea of having no influence, has failed to comprehend their own importance in society. It is true, on the aggregate of society, one man's influence may seem infinitesimal, but no life has been in vain that has shed a ray of comfort, or exerted an influence for good on any human pathway, and as each in his place shall contribute to a happy home, or lend an influence that makes a mark for good upon his neighborhood, he may not say his life has been a failure. The man who makes a good road is a public benefactor, not less, perhaps, than he who fights a battle(.) There must be individual character before there is public character, and according as the underlying strata of society is sustained, so the aggregated whole will be weak or strong. The future of our state is to be no question of chance. It will be what we shall make it. By the accident of position we are on the highway of the nations of the world. Already five great lines of railway are crossing our state; two great rivers are on either side, and probably fifty millions of people will some day be subsisted within our borders. Let us do our work each in his place, and as there came to us a goodly heritage in our form of government, and as our lines have been cast in pleasant places, so let us bequeath the advantages we have enjoyed in both quantity and quality, and may the young of our state build better than we knew, and may the problem of what is the best social condition of mankind and what the most enduring form of government, find in our nations its solution, and may it be said of us in Iowa, and Jefferson county, they acted well their part.

"The Fairfield Tribune"
Thursday, September 20, 1883
Page 3, Column 3
(Added to this page 2 Apr 2023)

The Old Settlers of this county are celebrating to-day in the beautiful grove east of town known as the Slagle & Acheson grove. The day has been a lovely one for such a gathering, and the sturdy men and women who came in an early day have enjoyed themselves in a most pleasant exchange of reminescences. A procession formed this morning about ten o'clock and headed by the band proceeded to the grove. It was a large procession and was made up of people from every part of the county. A basket dinner was partaken of at noon and a splended address listened to with close attention from the eloquent and able D. F. Miller, Sr., of Lee county.

"The Fairfield Daily Journal"
Wednesday, September 27, 1916
Page 3, Columns 1, 2, and 3
(Added to this page 2 Apr 2023)

THURSDAY IS GREAT DAY OF CELEBRATION
ALL THE PARADES OCCUR TOMORROW
Five Bands in First Industrial Parade--Educational Parades Two Miles Long is Separate.

While the rain this morning has prevented the full program for the first day of the Old Settlers' celebration, and kept many people from the city who were expecting to spend both days here, it practially assures Fairfield one of the biggest crowds ever here, tomorrow.

Burlington will be here in force, a special train of five coaches from that city to Fairfield having been arranged for the by the Commercial Exchange there. The following letter of instructions gives the schedule of the train:

Mr. W. L. Barnes, Supt. of Transporation, Chicago, Ill.

Dear Sir:--

On account of the Old Settlers Celebration at Fairfield, September 28th, please make the following arrangements:

Special train of five coaches, Burlington to Fairfield and return, September 28th.