DAVENPORT PAST AND PRESENT

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CHAPTER XXXII

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MUSICAL.

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A picture is included with this chapter.  METROPOLIANBLOCK-DAVENPORT, IOWA-ERECTED BY HILL, ALLEN & CO. BANKERS 1857.  Toview this picture please go to the Picture Index for this book.

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Davenport, among its other excellencies, possesses its quota ofmusical talent-albeit its development is not particularly marked, as a generalthing, among our Church choirs.  In fact, save a few sopranos like Mrs.Davie, Misses Sylvester and Scarborough, and in Basso and Tenorethe brothers Davis, and Mr. Davie, and a few others of all classes, the bulk ofmusical ability, both vocal and instrumental, rests with our German population. Strausser, as a violinist, and Braeunlich and Schlegel, as pianists, takea front rank among amateur musicians.  In the department of vocal music wehave the Philharmonic Society, formed 5th of August, 1856, and its fristmeeting, for the practice of vocal music, held 12th of August, 1856.

Its object is the improvement of the members (male and female)in the culture of vocal music.

During the first winter of its existence it gave sixperformances.  During the present winter ('57 and '58,) it will probablygive four or five; one of which will be Handel's Otatorio of the"Messiah," with orchestral accompaniments, the vocal parts given byabout fifty voices; the instrumental parts by a band of seventeen performers.

The Society's reuglar meetings are held every Tuesday evening,during the winter, at the old St. Lucke's Church, Brady street, at 7 o'clock. When necessary, rehearsals are also held on Friday evenings.

The number of performing members is about forty, and isincreasing.  There is also a body of subscribing or non-performing members.

The officers elected 2d March, 1858, are -

President, General Geo. B. Sargent; Vice President, S. W.Barber; Treasurer, J. C. Wallace; Secretary, J. J. Ingalls; Finance Committee,S. W. Barber; Wm. Morehouse, S. M. Harley; Musical Director, Chas. H. Davie.

GERMAN MAENNER CHOR.

This Society was organized June, 1851, under the followingofficers:  A. F. Mast, President; G. Schiegel, Secretary; Aug. Smallfield,Cashier, and G. Wiehle, Musical Director.

In June, 1854, a flag was presented to the Society by the Ladiesof Davenport, as a compliment to their efforts and success.  At the"Western Singing Festival," held at Chicago in June, 1857, the MaennerChor took the second prize, and we believe intend Da Capo in futurecases.  It now has music and instruments worth one thousand dollars, andhas at present twenty-two active and thirty-four honorary members.  Thefollowing are its officers:

A. Miedke, President; A. Bruns, Vice President; T. Holm,Recording Secretary; R. Krouse, Corresponding Secretary; A. G. Smallfield,Cashier; G. G. Schiegel, Musical Director.

GESANG-CHOR DER TURNGEMEINDE.

Twenty members.  Riepe, Director.  This is a branch ofthe "Turner Society."  Practice twice a week.

DAVENPORT MUSICAL INSTITUTE.

Founded March 9th, 1858.  Asa Hull, President; Chas. Burr,Secretary.

This Society numbers some twenty-five members, and is a sort ofsuccession of a Society formerly under the charge of Mr. Hull.  Itpossesses the elements of a good Musical Institution, which time will developeinto no, second-rate character.

DEUTSCHER SAENGER-BUND.

Glee Club-twenty-five members.  Practice two nights in eachweek.  Jacob Strassor, Director.

GRUETLI VEREIN.

Swiss Glee Club meets once each week.  Twenty members. Albert Snhnyder, Leader.

INSTRUMEMTAL.

"Majo's String Band." - First and Second Violins, BassViol, Cornet a Piston and Picolo.

"German Rifle Band." - Storm, Leader.  ThreeAltos, Tenor Horn, Baritone, Tuber, and two Drums.

"White's Cotillion Band." - First and Second Violins,Clarionet, Flute, Cornet, First and Second Trumpet, First and Second FrenchHorns, First Baritone and Contra Bass.

"Waite's Brass Band" - First and Second E6, First andSecond B6, two Tenors, two Baritones, First and Second Bass, two Altos, and twoDrums.

"Independent Brass Band." - Ten Sax Horns, and twoDrums.

ARTISTIC

Hanging high upon the wall of a city parlor, is a living memoryof the village of Davenport, just as it is limned and lined and colored in therecollections of "old settlers."  It is a paint and canvassmemory, and though the hand that thus in form and color faithfully reflectedwhat the eye saw, has ong since mouldered in the dust, yet its writing on thewall is as a memory to all who peruse it, of the surpassing village grace andloveliness which in olden times distinguished Davenport.  It is well thathe whose skill has left us this undying memory of our village life, should havea page in this book as a momoir of himself.  When the tongues which maytell us of the olden times are silenced forever, and the man who lived in thosedays have passed away, it may be that from some wall, browned with age, shallcreep the mouldy forms and colorings of a far-back memory, brushing away thedust and cobwebs of intervening space, and revealing grass-robed plains andtree-covered bluffs, clustering white houses on the river's graveled beach, graycliffs rising from the dark flowing waters and up-bearing the old fort ruins,and the thousand physical details of what was once literal life and reality. And it may be, that a yellow and faded leaf from this book, shall thensummon a phantom memory of one whose eye saw all this, even as we now trust itgazes upon scenes of celestial beauty, and the cunning of whose hand in faithfulshades and shadows mirrored the vision upon canvass.

When we recollect how distinguished was Davenport in its villagedays for remarkable loveliness, and the number of strangers who summer aftersummer came here to revel among its surrounding beauties, its seems strange thatbut this single painting, and a few lithograph copies of it, are all we have asa record of the physical appearance of this place before its hundreds of peoplebecame thousands, and the village had swelled into a city.  We may wellimagine that the skill of amateur artists was often tasked to delineate uponpaper or canvass the glowing scenery and beautiful towns which at this pointfound intimate connection with historical associations.  But whatever theirtrials and their success, only a single painting and its copies now exist, tothe knowledge of the writer, by which the stranger in the new city may form acorrect idea of the long time past appearance of Davenport, and assuming whichis data he may judge of our subsequent progress. Probably it is from this fact,that we set a higher value upon the artist to whom we feel a debt of gratitudefor this painting.

Among the strangers from St. Louis who visited Davenport in theSpring of 1845, was John Casper Wild, a gentleman of considerable reputation asa landscape and portrait painter, and lithographist.  He was a tall spareman of about forty years, with long raven black hair, whiskers and moustache,and restless brown eyes.  He had, at times, a worn haggard look, theresult, doubtless, of ill health, and life-long battle with the world for thebare means of subsistence.  He was uncommunicative as to his own life, butit is an impression of the writer's that he was born in poverty, reared amongthe trials of indigence, from which, unaided, he sought to emerge, and in hismaturity, a good artist, but poor financier, so that his history was a continuedstruggle.  It is but little wonder then, that through the clouds which soconstantly surrounded him, he could see but little sunshine.  On hisarrival here, he was totally dependent on his talent.  He soon commencedwork, and produced this painting of Davenport and Rock Island, as one picture. From this a limited number of beautifully colored lithograph copies weretaken, for those who would buy.  Alas!  poor Wild - the pictures whichnow would bring their weight in gold, had then a dull and weary sale.  Thisview was not only faithful in its details, and beautiful as a picture, but itproved Mr. Wild an artist of high talent.

It is worthy of mention, that the artist lithographed his ownpicture in stone, and made and colored the impressions himself.  It hasbeen remarked, that so fine a specimen of lithographing cannot now be done inthe metropolis of the country.

Mr. Wild afterwards commenced a second painting of Davenport,viewed from another point, but it was never finished.  The same summer hemade paintings, from which lithographed copies were taken, of Dubuque, Galena,Muscatine and Moline.  All these sketches were distinguished for theircorrectness and beauty.  He worked rapidly but well, and a practicalknowledge of lithography was useful  in securing correct copies of hisworks.  The writer of this accompanied Mr. Wild on a trip to the Falls ofSt. Anthony, in 1846, in which excursion he made a number of small sketches, butthey never were reproduced on canvass.  The painting of Davenport and RockIsland truly represents the young cities as the slept in 1845, upon the greenbanks of the great river, before the rushing winds and waves of progress hadbroken their slumbers.  There are but a few copies of this painting now inthe possession of our citizens, and it is needless to say that the lapse oftime, and the intervening wonderful changes in the aspect of our city, renderthese pictures invaluable to their owners.  

In 1846, Mr. Wild, who continued residing in Davenport, painteda fancy sketch, of which it may be right to make a particular note, as it wasthe nearest approach to an artistical smile of which  Mr. Wild was everknown to be guilty.  He had neither humor of his own, nor an appreciationof humor in others.  He looked tragedy, thought tragedy, and hisconversation outside of business and art, was never much more cheerful thantragedy.  This little oil sketch represented three notable characters ofthe village, each of whom, at that time, was personally known to almost everyman, woman and child in the place.  They were collected at thewell-remembered ferry-house, and near the equally well-remembered old bell-post. The bell there suspended was then furiously jingled, and often withdisagreeable pertinacity, by those who wished to call the old ferryman, Mr. JohnWilson, from the opposite side.  The ringer was generally considered underpersonal obligation to stand to his most some time, in company with his horseand vehicle, if he had any to cross over, so that the ferryman might with properdiliberation determine whether the skiff or horse-ferry-boat were required bythe nature of the cargo.  The large person of Mr. LeClaire sits in a buggy,to which is attached the notable old white horse that used to drag his masterabout the place.  Close by stands Mr. Gilbert McKown, whose store was onFront street, a few steps distance, but whose burly figure and good humoredface, seen on any street, seemed a part and parcel of the town, and directlyidentified with its corporate existence.  The third figure is Sam Fisher,as he was familiarly called by every acquaintance.  He then lived in thehouse now owned and occupied by Mr. Geo. L. Davenport, at the corner of Bradyand Third streets.  Sam Fisher was the best fisher in the town, a goodstory-teller, and had a most marvelious memory of past times and incidents, offacts and dates, which united to some peculiar eccentricities of character,exclusively and honestly his own, made him a conspicuous character.  One ofhis smaller eccentricities is shown in the picture.  He is standing withhis pants drawn up to the top of one boot, and down to the sole of the other -using a favorite gesture, and evidently doing the talking, of course. These three persons are now alive, and two of them continue residents ofDavenport.  The picture is in the possession of Hon. G. C. R. Mitchell,who, by the way, ought to have figured in the painting.

Mr. Wild was a native of Zurich, Switzerland.  He went toParis when young, where he resided fifteen years, and then emigrated to theUnited States.  He lived several years in Philadelphia, where he finishedsome views for Atkinson's Casket, a panorama of Philadelphia, and a view ofNapoleon's Marshals on horse-back.  In the Spring of 1841, he went to St.Louis, and remained there till he removed here.  At. St. Louis, hecommenced a periodical called "The Valley of the MississippiIllustrated" - edited by Louis Faulk Thomas, the views by Mr. Wild. Only ten numbers were issued.  Mr. Wild died in Davenport, in theyear 1846.  When sick, he was kindly taken to the residence of Mrs. Webb,now occupied by Mr. Henry, where he received the attentions of a son during thelong illness which preceded his death.  While thus lying on his death-bed,the home of his boyhood seemed a beautiful picture before his eyes, and heexpressed a longing desire to die at Zurich.  This was not granted him, butkind hands softened the last shadowy pencilings of his life, and laid him gentlyamong the Summer flowers.

Mr. R. Wright has been spoken of heretofore.  In additionto him we have Mrs. Codding, whose principal work is a painting of Davenport,which, for fidelity, is scarcely excelled.