West Liberty History 1838-1938

Source: One Hundred Years of History
* Commemorating a Century of Progress in the West Liberty Community * WEST LIBERTY, IOWA
REMINISCENCES

When I was a small boy and had just commenced to go to town on errands, I sometimes got a ride with our neighbor William A. Clark. He had a buggy without a top and a black pony he called Coalie. On one of these trips he told me of the first sack of wheat flour that ever came into his part of the country. After he had been " batching" in his cabin for some time he got very tired of corn meal and wanting to find out something from the land office at Dubuque, he set out and walked there and back. Coming back he determined to bring back some wheat flour, so he secured a sack and filled each end of it , probably to the amount of 20 or 25 pounds and carried it home. Of the first flour to come into the Wapsinonoc settlement he said if it had been salt, in fording the river it might have got wet and all leaked out, but being flour it would make a paste on the inside of the sack and scarcely got wet at all.

Solomon PhiLLips once told me that soon after they came to Iowa, in 1839, the Indians had a winter camp just north of Salisbury's bridge and on the lower bench of land along the river, below where the road now curves around on the upper bank. There were about 200 of them and they spent the winters there.

by E. L. WEBB

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In the fall of 1864 I met Z. N. King at Carthage, Illinois. Mr. King's father lived in West Liberty and he wanted to come to West Liberty to start a drug store and induced me to come with him. We went to West Liberty and purchased the grocery store operated by Mr. Burris and located about where the Star Drug store now is and started up in the drug business.

I roomed at the Bowlsby House owned and operated by Lew Bowlsby and wife. It was the common boarding place of Vincent Morris, John Hudson, Albert and Abe Keith, and Reece Lewis. Lew Bowlsby's daughter Abbie became my wife in 1867.

I well remember my wife telling me of Skilman Alger coming home one evening and dumping a bunch of gold from a pouch, onto the table, around which a number of children were playing. He said "This is the money from the farm. I sold it for the town site." The glitter of gold was very attractive, especially to the children, and Mr. Alger gave to each of the children a piece of gold. Mr wife, who was seven years old at the time, received a one dollar gold piece which she retained until her death a few years ago.

I also remember Lew Bowlsby telling of the first train from Davenport to Iowa City in the year 1855. It was called the Antoine LeClaire and he and his daughter Abbie rode the train from Davenport to Iowa City.

by CHARLES REGNIER

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