COLUMBUS JUNCTION

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laid out by J. W. Garner, March 1, 1870, on the east half of the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 19, 75-4; afterward in 1876, Mr. Garner laid out on the same plat Garner's addition to Columbus Junction, being a part next the railroad which had not been laid out in lots before that.

The addition to Columbus Junction" laid out by B. W. Magee, Henry C. Wortham and Simeon W. True, July 17, 1872, on the west half of the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 19, and the east half of the northwest quarter of section 30, 75-4.

H. C. Wortham & Company's second addition to Columbus Junction laid out by Henry C. Wortham, Simeon W. True, B. W. Magee, Alfred Cosgrove and Benjamin Britt, May 1, 1874, in the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 30, 75-4.

True's addition to Columbus Junction laid out by Wortham, True & Magee, August 10, 1877. This addition is situated chiefly in the south half of the north half of the southwest quarter of section 19.

Crim's addition to Columbus Junction laid out by Charles M. Crim, October 19, 1892, situated on lots 1, 5 and 6, and the east 63 feet of lot 2 of F. J. Moore's subdivision of the south half of the southwest quarter of section 19, 75-4.

Todd & Baker's addition to Columbus Junction laid out by William Todd and W. L. Baker, January 31, 1871, situated in the southwest corner of the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 19, 75-4.

Wilcox & Carpenter's addition to Columbus Junction, laid out by O. P. Wilcox and C. A. Carpenter, May 18, 1899, situated on the south and west parts of the south half of the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 19. 75-4.

Pence's addition, laid out by J. W. Pence, October 21st, 1897, on the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 19, 75-4.

Britt's addition to Columbus Junction, surveyed by Peter Houtz, in December, 1876, and laid out by B. F. Britt, Harriet J. Darrow and A. Darrow on the east half of the northwest quarter of section 30, 75-4.

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McGee's addition to Columbus Junction, surveyed by Peter Houtz, April 13, 1878, laid out by B. W. McGee, Henry C. Wortham, Herman Wilmering and Francis Springer, on the southeast part of the west half of the northwest quarter, and the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section 30, 75-4.

Columbus Junction was originally known as the Sand Bank. The first train of cars on the Mississippi & Missouri River railroad ran to this town on November 17, 1857, and this was the end of the road for nearly a year. Some time prior to this the people of Wapello held meetings to organize a company to build a road from Wapello to the Sand Bank, but this project fell through. Sometime in 1858 the station at the Sand Bank was discontinued and a station was established at Clifton; but before the Clifton station was established there was considerable business done at Sand Bank. Grain and stock were bought there and the people of the north part of the county west of the Iowa river got the most of their goods at that point. After the Clifton station was established there was nothing doing at the Sand Bank until the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota railroad was located. It crossed the M. & M., now the Rock Island, at this point, and it was then that Mr. J. W. Garner, the owner of the land, determined to establish the new town of Columbus Junction. The first lot was sold to George Jamison, of Wapello, and Mr. Garner made other sales occasionally until, in 1871, he sold ninety-six lots, and five acres adjoining them to H. C. Wortham & Company, of Mattoon, Illinois. The company of this firm consisted of S. W. True and B. W. Magee. On February 7th the first train of cars on the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota railroad came to Columbus Junction, and it is said that on that day Colonel W. W. Garner bought the first ticket sold there.

One of the first men to engage in business in Columbus Junction was August Gilbert, who came from Muscatine. He had a house framed, loaded upon the cars of the M. & M. railroad, and shipped to Clifton Station, and from there had it transported to the Sand Bank and put up, and in February, 1870, commenced business, running a restaurant and keeping boarders. When Wortham & Company purchased the town site from Mr. Garner they intended to push the town. In 1872 they built the Wortham House, which was opened to the traveling public in October of that year. It covered four lots beginning with the one where Carr's clothing store .now is, and including the three lots south of it, and these were used as business houses, and the hotel part was upstairs. The Louisa County National Bank was opened in one of the store rooms of this building in July, 1872. Andrew Gamble was its first president and John W. True its first cashier. General James M. True also occupied one of the store rooms in this block and Sargent & Carter had a stock of general merchandise in another of the rooms.

The post office at Columbus Junction was opened in July, 1872, in the north store room of the W'ortham House block, with Mrs. Gentzler as postmistress At that time the fixed salary of the office was $12 a year. In April, 1874. Charles M. Fulton became postmaster and shortly after this he moved the office to a frame building on Walnut street. In September, 1886. Mr. Fulton was succeeded in the post office by George P. Neal.

For the first two years the town grew rapidly and proceedings were then taken to incorporate it. C. M. Fulton, Marvel Wheelock, S. W. True, W. F. Hall and William Todd were the commissioners appointed and on May 25th. ...

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... 1874, an election was held on the question of incorporation, at which fifty-five votes were cast "for" and seventeen "against." The first officers elected were: Mayor, C. M. Fulton; members of the council, George W. Merrill, O. E. Hobbie. Robert Foster, Theo. Crilly and A. T. Lewis; recorder, W. F. Hall. James R. Smith was appointed marshal, but declined, and Augustus Darrow was named in his place. R. H. Hanna was the first town attorney. The present officers are as follows: Mayor, D. S. Buffington; clerk, M. D. Hanft; marshall, J. M. Green; assessor, J. D. Darrow; councilmen, J. B. Johnson, J. J. Stapp, T. J. Bolenbeck, R. J. Reaney, and O. M. Cavin.

The first public school taught in Columbus Junction was in a small house built for that purpose a couple of years after the town was started. Before that, however, Miss Kitty Truesdell had taught a select school. Among the early school teachers were Miss Sarah White, Mr. Slater and A. W. Hall. At one time the building owned by Asa Merrill was used for school purposes. This was in 1874. Afterward the building which was erected for a court house was used for a few years for school purposes and in the fall of 1882 a fine school building was erected on Front street. Professor Edwards was the first principal in the new building and afterwards Professor J. K. Pickett was principal, next Professor G. H. Mullen, who has been one of the noted educators of the state, but is now retired. The present superintendent of the Columbus Junction schools is Professor G. W. Weber and the schools use both the building once erected for a court house and the school building.

Beginning about 1872 there was considerable agitation in the north end of the county for a removal of the county seat from Wapello to Columbus Junction. A petition was finally circulated for an election and at the same time the citizens of the north end of the county subscribed a fund of about $25,000 and erected a fine two-story brick building suitable for a court house and placed the title in five trustees, namely: Francis Springer, N. M. Letts and F. A. Duncan, W. W. Garner and O. E. Hobbie.

A long and bitter contest ensued between Columbus Junction and Wapello, and much ill feeling was generated and many harsh and uncalled for things were said by people on each side about people on the other, but it would serve no useful purpose to recite them here.

A number of elections were had, at various times. Some were authorized by law and some turned out not to be legal. Much litigation was indulged in on both sides. The election held on October 12th, 1875, was a lively one in every sense of the word; it was attended by every legal voter in the county, and possibly a few more. Wapello was victorious at the election by twenty majority, which showed that the people of the county were pretty evenly divided. It was freely charged that the Columbus Junction folks had imported a lot of illegal voters especially for this election, but in view of the vote polled at the ensuing election, in 1876, impartial history must refute the charge. It appears that the total vote cast in Columbus City township at the county seat election in 1875 was 717, and the total vote there in the following year was 704. Had there been a very large illegal vote in 1875 the "shrinkage" in 1876 would have been much more than thirteen. Following is the vote by townships on the county seat question in 1875, also the total vote of that year, and the total vote of each township at the presidential election in 1876:

	Wapello	Columbus Junction	Total vote	Total vote, 1876
Columbus City township	18	699	717	704
Concord township	5	172	177	173
Elliott township	82	…	82	77
Elm Grove township	10	137	147	115
Grandview township	158	185	343	330
Jefferson township	209	…	209	158
Marshall township	133	62	195	195
Morning Sun township	322	41	363	387
Oakland township	3	126	129	120
Port Louisa township	158	10	168	145
Union township	…	137	137	146
Wapello township	506	13	519	416
	1604	1584	3188	2966

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Columbus City Lodge No. 107, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, was instituted under a dispensation of the Iowa Grand Lodge February 24. 1857. with W. D. Trebilcock, W. M.; J. F. Reiner, S. W.; William S. Allen. J. W. Meetings were first held in the hall over the store of Harrison & Barrett, in Columbus City. It next met in the second story of the drug store building of Clark & Coleman, and afterwards was established in the third story of the brick building erected by Harrison & Barrett. In 1876 at was removed to Columbus Junction, and secured a hall over the store then kept by Easton & Brown, where it has held its meetings ever since. Since its removal to Columbus Junction the lodge has grown in numbers and strength and is recognized as one of the strongest Masonic institutions of the county.

Columbus Junction has a Woodman Lodge, an Odd Fellows Lodge, and a K. of P. Lodge, but we have not the particulars as to their organization or officers. The K. of P. Lodge is named Liberty Lodge, No. 22, and was first organized at Columbus City. It was reorganized at Columbus Junction in 1880 One of the members of this lodge—Hon. F. M. Molsberry—was Grand Chancellor of the state a few years ago.

The newspapers now published at the Junction are the Safeguard and the Gazette; the former was started by R. H. Moore at Columbus City, but later removed to the Junction. Paul Maclean and J. B. Hungerford, both prominent newspaper men of Iowa today, were at one time connected with the Safeguard The Gazette was started by O. I. Jamison, and it was in this office that Hon. W D. Jamison, now of the Shenandoah World, began his career as a journalist.

Some years ago the Columbus Junction Herald was published there. Samuel Crocker, J. G. Sehorn, and, we believe, W. S. Jarboe, were connected with it.

Columbus Junction also has its full share of churches, the Methodist, Presbyterian and Evangelical being the best represented there.

One of the institutions in which the people of Columbus Junction and the surrounding country take great pride, is the Columbus Junction Chautauqua.

Photos of Columbus Junction Views: Rock Island Bridge, Looking North on Main Street, High School, Methodist Episcopal Church, Bilbert House & Rock Island Bridge.

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This is one of the pioneers in this line of work in southeastern Iowa, and has been a marked success, both as a source of entertainment, and as a means of promoting the moral and intellectual development of the community. The association owns a beautiful grove covering some twenty acres, which is recognized as an ideal location.

The population of Columbus Junction, as shown by recent enumerations, has been as follows: 1885—965; 1890—953; 1895—1,048; 1900—1,099; 1905— 1,127.

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