OLD SETTLERS REUNION.
Many gatherings of old settlers, in small groups and neighborhoods and
townships, took place along through the early years.
But
probably the first full-grown, county-wide reunion on a large scale
of old settlers took
place at Primghar on August 31, 1889. The old homesteaders were
practically all yet alive, and actually there. Hannibal House
Waterman and Hannah H. Waterman, his wife, were the honored guests.
The writer was
present. He must pronounce it beyond question the grandest public function ever held in the county, even up to this 1914. It was
representative of the idea that brought the great crowd of eight to ten thousand
people together. It was not simply from one section of the county.
Every township and town was largely there. It occurred only eighteen
years distant from the first large incoming of the real citizen homesteader in
1871. While this same class of a reunion was repeated in 1894, 1899, 1904
and
1909, none of the later reunions reached in size or detail its equal. It
was democratic. It was
pioneer. The people were in fact there. The real
homesteader was there;
they were all there with their children. They were
close enough in time to reach back to the real grasshopper and hay twister,
to understand its true meaning, and yet it had struck into the high tide of the
better
prosperities. The trees in the court house park had reached a sufficient
size to
really make a shade. It was one of the greatest, as it was probably
the last occasion when the real old settler and all of them were so universally present. At the succeeding reunions, many were dead. The later and
lesser in numbers
compared with the increasing numbers of new settlers
began in the later reunions at intervals of five years to swallow the old homesteader
up in the swim, as it were. On this occasion, August 31, 1889, the
old homesteader had reached his climax. The
bright day had dawned. The
railroad at Primghar had been built but two years, the new buildings had
been
completed, and its new people were on hand in dress parade to bid
welcome. As this was one of the
great occasions in the county that rises to
the
dignity of a county-wide historic occasion, and inasmuch as its details will
include a weaving among those details much of the early situations, customs
170 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
and people, we will give the full account of same as published in the O'Brien County Bell the following week.
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 171
rather arches, or cross arch from corner to corner, really a double arch,
seventy feet square at the base and forty feet high, which was decorated with
prairie flowers, wild thistles, corn and small grain, together with two hundred
yards of bunting. At the foot of each arch was a shock of either corn
or grain of some kind. An arch at the southwest corner was a duplicate of
above. At the southeast corner of the
square was an arch crossing the entire
square seventy feet from corner to opposite corner, timbers from each corner
rising to the center, pyramid shape, forty feet. The frame work was so constructed as to leave a
large square, twenty feet high, in which were placed
humorous
paintings by Primghar's very clever artist, M. P. Messenger. One
was represented as follows: Numerous grasshoppers were stripping stalks
of
green corn same as sugar cane stalks are stripped, with another large
hopper starting out on a journey, apparently captain of this band of hoppers,
bearing in his mouth a banner, "More to conquer." At the lower right hand
corner of the
picture was a long, lean, lank hog, poorer than Job's turkey.
On his back was
perched a large hopper, and on the ribs of the hog painted
the words, "Spare rib," "Corn all gone." Another of Mr. Messenger's
paintings represented the "Old Log Court House," with six county officers
in view, with "Old Dutch Fred" standing at a distance, smoking his long
pipe, as he was making that well-known remark, "I am de beeples, you fellows
am de officers." As
everybody knew, Dutch Fred was the only man in the
county who was not an officer, there being only seven residents at that time.
Still another
painting represented a large grasshopper painted in colors bearing a mower sickle and reaper reel in his mouth. "O'Brien County Combined
Reaper and Mower, 1876."
We next come to the
imposing arch at the northeast corner of the
square. It was indeed a surprise. George R. Slocum and George W. Schee
each had a bank across from each other at this time at this northeast corner
of the
square, and they had challenged each other for the best donations and
decorations. It was asserted at the time that this arch as a whole
actually
cost over three hundred dollars. This arch was
forty feet square at the base
and
seventy feet high, two stories, with full stairway to ascend, and held
several hundred
people. The long procession passed under each of the four
arches, but here the officers and committees reviewed the procession. This
arch was pyramid in shape, built of heavy timbers, bolted together and self supporting in the center to hold up the audience expected, the other arches
being supported only at the corners. During the day the bands dispensed
music from the
top of this arch, and hundreds of people ascended the stairs
to take a view of the crowds and
country. High in the air, at this arch, was
172 BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA.
suspended "Welcomes," made of kernels of corn. The entire structure was
completely covered with grain of every description and design, mixed in with
hundreds of
yards of bunting. George R. Slocum had constructed a map of
O'Brien
county about six feet square, made up of every possible combination
of ears of corn and the
grains of all kinds of corn imaginable. It was
claimed that had value of time been considered, one hundred and
fifty dollars
would not have done the work. It was taken to Sioux
City to the Corn
Palace for exhibition and later to the state
capitol, so many wanting to see
it. The four arches cost about five hundred dollars. When we state that the
town raised more than one thousand dollars, exclusive of individual
expense
for the
day. we can see the scale on which it was carried out.
The sidewalk from the front entrance to the court house was decorated
in like elaborate
style. Frank N. Derby was then county treasurer and
Charles H. Winterble
county auditor, and they vied with each other as to
which could
suggest the most original idea. This sidewalk of about eighty
feet was one
long, high arch, covered roof like; Japanese style. In size it
was eight by twelve, and thirteen feet high. The roof was thatched with
oats and
grains, Japanese shape, all decorated very elaborately with the grains,
ears of corn and its
grains as appearance demanded. The north side, near
the entrance, was finished with grain and corn stalks trimmed, being placed
in such a manner as to leave a
large diamond, three feet square, in the center,
and in which
appeared steel engravings of all the Presidents of the United
States to Grover Cleveland, inclusive. This diamond was beautifully draped
with the Stars and
Stripes. The south side was dressed with grains of all
kinds, together with grasses in the center, to correspond with the diamond
on the north side, its three-foot diamond being worked in kernels of corn.
The interior of the whole
long archway was finished with all kinds of grasses
interwoven in a multitude of forms.
The inside of the court house was
similarly decorated, as likewise the
entrances to and the inside of the offices themselves. Near to the
stairway
leading to the court room was a beautiful arch constructed with flags. Isaac
Clements, who was then county recorder, and John W. Walters, clerk of the
courts and whose offices were on the west side, made
archway decorations
on an equal scale.
O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 173
shapes. They were smaller then, the first limbs being then just about as high
as one's shoulders, the right height for decoration. The invincible F. M.
(Pomp) McCormack, of the Bell, made this work his special feature. He
had enthusiastically gotten every merchant and business man in town to take
it upon himself to decorate one tree. For instance, one tree for the "Press"
was decorated by all sorts of hangings relating to the newspapers of the
county and their editors.
The
speaker's stand, twetny (sic)feet by sixty, four feet above ground, with a
back wall eighteen feet high, was literally covered with flags and bunting.
In front of the stand, nicely arranged, was a rope of flowers twenty feet
long, and very beautiful, the work of Mrs. L. D. Wooster. Directly in front
of the
speaker's stand was a mammoth floral anchor, the work of Mrs. Frank
N. Derbv. At the noon hour sixteen
long tables were constructed, one for
each township and each eighty feet long, or a total of twelve hundred and
eighty feet, the whole loaded, as was humorously remarked that day, containing enough provisions to have lasted the entire population of the county
in i860
(seven voters) from that time until the grasshoppers came. The old
homesteader
up to that date made all his bows and comparisons to the grasshopper.
At the northwest corner of the
park, and clear across the corner, was
erected a soldiers' monument, fourteen by fourteen feet at base and seventy
feet high, which was headquarters all day for the old soldier homesteaders,
and one hundred and
forty old soldiers registered, though all did not get
their names recorded. This monument was
nicely and appropriately decorated in keeping with the other decorations of the day. Many of the business
buildings were likewise elaborately decorated in various designs in corn and
the
grains. This subject can best be summed up by saying that everything
and
everybody in Primghar was decorated, and the streets were a sea of flags.
174 O"BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
was lined with teams as far as the eye could reach, some processions actually being two and three miles in length. At ten the excursion train from Sheldon arrived, every car packed with people, bringing their fine Sheldon Band. This delegation was likewise met with Primghar committees. Next came the Sanborn and Franklin township delegation, headed by the Sanborn band. With the Paullina and Union and Caledonia township delegations came the Caledonia Brass Band, making in all six bands, including the Sheldon Drum Corps and Charley West's unique drum corps, composed entirely of members of his family. It seemed that every citizen of the county was there. Assistant marshals went out to meet the delegations from each township as they arrived.
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 175
tears, for they knew too well what it meant; the days when prayers were
offered to take from them the
grasshopper plague came fresh to their memories. The mother recalled to her mind those
days of distress: that little boy
or
girl she could see again, with nothing scarcely to eat and less to wear; she
beheld them
clustering around on the boxes used for chairs endeavoring to
keep warm by the old hay stove; she saw the labor of herself and husband
vanish in a
day before this unconquerable foe, the hopper, and in this affliction
the
parents' affection for their little ones became stronger and the child's for
the
parent, as they entwined themselves in actual embrace around papa or
mama, even as the delicate tendrils of the ivy wound around the protecting
and
sheltering limbs of the sturdy oak. Those were indeed days of trial
and desolation, and now, this August 31, 1889, the panorama was passing by
‐yes, mother and father beheld it in all its meaning. The plague was here,
the earth was parched, distress was inevitable, the clouds of misery were
enveloping them with its wrapper in stern reality; courage must hold out, and
to withstand the storm was the only hope. What gave them hope? We will
tell
you. As the dew of early morning most refreshes and benefits the summer blossoms, so the sweet, trusting confidence and sublime simplicity of
these children keep fresh the flowers of affection, and prevent the father's
heart from becoming like a parched and sandy desert. But victory came at
last.
Charles Slack, one of the oldest settlers from Grant, carried in the procession a beautiful fruit banner, upon which were many different kinds of
fruit, all from his farm. Nothing "slack" about that. The Omega township delegation had a beautiful banner made entirely from the grasses and
wild
prairie flowers. As the procession passed sixteen guns were fired, one
for each township. Gust Kirchner, the first settler in Clay county, was in
the
procession, and also Mr. Phipps, though not the first, one of the first from
Cherokee
county. The procession was one hour and thirty minutes passing
a given point. It was claimed that the procession was between five and six
miles
long, besides which hundreds of teams did not get into it at all. It was
said by many here from the other counties that no parade ever held in northwestern Iowa
equaled it. At the stand two other banners found a place.
"We came to see the father and mother of the county," and "We want to see
the Old Folks, Pap and Mam." Prof. W. S. Wilson, for so many years head
of the
public schools at Sheldon, was chairman of the day. The address of
welcome was
deliverey by J.L.E. Peck. D.A.W. Perkins was scheduled
to deliver the main address, but failed to arrive, sending a letter instead
which was read.
176 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.