| Title Page |
| Forward by
H. E. Downer-A picture of Mr. Downer is included |
| CHAPTER 1.
The story of the rocks. From creation days-preparation of
the earth for the abode of man by glaciation and inundation - The pre-glacial
topography - The Mississippi of ages gone - The age of the great ice - Scott
county's perfect drainage - A wealth of building stone - The carboniferous strata
which have brought wealth - Geological section of Scott
county.......................17 |
| CHAPTER II.
The Earliest Dwellers. The central attraction in the museum of
the Davenport Academy of Sciences - The elusive autochthon - The mound builder's
claims to interest - His textile skill - Cotton Mather hazards an opinion -
Mound pottery of all kinds - Effigy pipes, especially the elephants - The Bureau
of Ethnology and the Academy of Sciences - Prof. Seyffarth's
conclusions.......31 |
| CHAPTER III.
Indian Occupancy. The Illini in Scott county in early days -
Later the Sacs and Foxes possess the land - Davenport's predecessors, Oshkosh
and Morgan - Morgan or Ma-que-pra-um - The great Sac town on Rock river - Music
and dramatic art - Black Hawk's narration of Indian customs - The annual hunting
trips - Honor as the Indian understood it - The Sioux took home their
scalps......47 |
| CHAPTER IV.
The White Man Comes. Pierre Esprit Radisson, maker of paths,
philosopher and probable explorer of Iowa - Marquette, Black-Gown, and Joliet
the trader - Indian eloquence - Pewaria's location - Pike, the Intrepid, visits
this locality - Captain Many's experience with the British band - It is easy to
spell Wapsipinicon - The Harris family compelled to land.......61 |
| CHAPTER V.
Wars and Treaties. A battle of the Revolution fought in this
vicinity - A polyglot command no loot and great disappointment - First flag in
the Mississippi valley - The fight at Campbell's island - The battle of Credit
island - Official reports - Treaties made in Davenport - Col. J. H. Sullivan
writes in Indian chiefs - Black Hawk war ends Indian claims...................69 |
| CHAPTER VI and
CHAPTER VI
(cont.) The Barrows History. A history written by a pioneer
at the request of other pioneers - Received on its appearance with great
commendation - His own estimate of the gravity of his commission - Some
incidents which have been noted since the Barrows history was written -
Biography of the historian - The history itself without omission, erasure or
comment - A monumental work.........93 |
| CHAPTER VII.
The Island of Rock Island. The United States acquires the
island by treaty - The expedition to establish a fort - A duel by the way - Fort
Armstrong, an outpost in the wilderness - Efforts to secure an army and arsenal
- General Rodman's plans - Items fabricated at the arsenal - Cost of the plant -
General Crozier's estimate - Squatters' claims...................289 |
| CHAPTER VIII.
Three Bridges to the Island. A railroad on each side of the
river made a bridge necessary - Charters on injunctions - Acts of congress and
court interpretations - The Rock Island road in partnership with the government
- The first bridge to be thrown across the Mississippi - River interests aroused
- Abraham Lincoln in bridge litigation - Presidential visitors.............325 |
| CHAPTER IX.
Iowa's Earliest Living Resident. Capt. Warner L. Clark and his
varied experiences - Acquainted with many men of prominence - Has remarkable
memory - Pioneer customs - Capt. Clark's home town the first to be platted in
Scott county - Description of the pioneer cabin - Indian neighbors - Incidents
of Indian life - Why Buffalo fell behind in the race....................345 |
| CHAPTER X.
Townships and Towns. History of the townships from the close
of the Barrows history - Their record in patriotism during the days of '61 - The
prosperity that has come to the farmers of the county - Rural schools and
churches - Township officials - The many small settlements that form social
centers in the county - Bettendorf - The village of LeClaire..........361 |
| CHAPTER XI.
Davenport's First Citizen. Antoine LeClaire, prominently
identified with the city, territory and state - The owner of a half-dozen
sections of land given him by Indian friends - Generous to all - Marguerite
LeClaire, his wife who shared his pleasure in making others happy - A tribute by
Pere Pelamourgues - LeClaire and Davenport - Names inseparable..............395 |
| CHAPTER XII.
Pioneer Life. The log cabin was the palace of the pioneer -
Chinked logs, covered with clapboards - Rifle and spinning wheel - Almost
anything was a bedroom - Cooking was primitive for sharp appetites - Welcome for
the wayfarer - Prairie fires and wolf hunts - Amusements for the frontier people
were not lacking - What unremitting toil has accomplished...............407 |
| CHAPTER XIII.
Territorial Days. William B. Conway made first territorial
secretary of Iowa - Comes to Davenport and meets Antoine LeClaire and George
Davenport - He is governor of Iowa and Davenport is its capital city - A caustic
letter to the state council - The indignant reply of the committee - Conway's
untimely death and burial in this city - A valuable citizen.............419 |
| CHAPTER XIV.
The Great River. The glory and majesty of the father of
waters - Description of the keelboat - An early trip from Cairo to Galena - A
list of the early steam craft that breasted the currents of the upper river -
Bringing down the logs - The ferries which have brought people into Scott county
- The long-awaited Hennepin canal..............429 |
| CHAPTER XV.
Life on the Frontier. The reminiscences of the Pioneer, Judge
John W. Spencer - Life among the Sacs and Foxes - When friendship changed to
distrust and enmity - neighbor Black Hawk - Indian agriculture and hunting trips
- The wars of 1831-33 - Stillman's defeat and the flag of truce - The merciless
Sioux - A neighbor who drew the long bow......................447 |
| CHAPTER XVI.
Looking Backward. J. M. D. Burrows, merchant, miller, packer,
handler of produce, looks back over his busy life and tells some incidents -
Davenport a hamlet of 15 houses - A remarkable career - Hummer and his bell -
Rev. John O. Foster tells of boyhood days in Rockingham - The view from the
Decker home - A relic of Credit island battle..........475 |
| CHAPTER XVII.
The Medical Profession. The pioneer physicians of Scott
county - Their hardships and self reliance - Many of them practical men of great
force of character - Reminiscences of Dr. E. S. Burrows - Scott County Medical
Society - Minutes of the bygone meetings - The society has taken advanced ground
while conservative in character - Dr. Preston writes...............495 |
| CHAPTER XVIII.
The Scott County Bar. The bench and bar of Scott county -
Early lawyers, many of them men of great ability - The earlier courts - Supreme
court sessions in Davenport - The district, circuit and county courts - Members
of the bar of 25 years ago - The present bar - Diverting incidents of the legal
record since courts were established - Judge Grant's toothpick.............517 |
| CHAPTER XIX.
Administration of the County. The conduct of the county's
business affairs - The county commissioners' court and its work of organization
- Road districts and voting places - County judges - Board of supervisors -
Officials from earliest times to the present - A record for reference - Growth
of the county in wealth and population..........547 |
| CHAPTER XX.
Churches and Parishes. Davenport the city of the diocese of
Iowa and the diocese of Davenport - The handsome cathedrals and other
sanctuaries of the city - Sketches of the bishops who have directed church work
from Davenport - Sketches supplemental to those appearing in the Barnes history -
Davenport a city of spires.................571 |
| CHAPTER XXI.
The Civil War. Dred Scott in Davenport - John Brown and
Coppoc the refugee - The call for troops - Iowa's response - Local enthusiasm -
Scott county soldiers in many regiments - proved themselves the bravest of the
brave - Iowa drum beat heard in every portion of the south - The honored dead -
Unappreciated eloquence -Littler's firemen - Some clothes...........619 |
| CHAPTER XXII.
Patriotic Davenport. Military headquarters - Camps where
soldiers were trained - Minnesota Sioux - Many Confederate prisoners at Rock
island prison - The routine of prison life - The soldiers' monument - Oration of
General J. B. Leake - Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home - First exercises at Oakdale
- Company B goes to fight Spain - The roll of honor - Company roster in days of
Spanish-American war....................669 |
| CHAPTER XXIII.
City of Davenport. Always noted for striking beauty of
situation - The mayors of the city from the beginning to the 1910 election - The
police and fire departments - A splendid street car service - Water service of
equal merit - The parks of the city - What the city owes and owns - A few
dollars each way for each man, woman and child...........685 |
| CHAPTER XXIV.
A Good Place to Live. Every opportunity to grow in culture and
usefulness in Davenport - Public buildings provided for all lines of interest -
A fine line of helpful institutions - Places of instruction and amusement -
Hotels, hospitals - Somewhere for everybody to stay - A great array of
organizations for those who believe in banding together.............711 |
| CHAPTER XXV.
The Commercial side. Cheap fuel, transmissibility of electrical
power and fine shipping facilities have made Davenport a great manufacturing
center - The thrift of the people of Scott county have made it a great banking
center - The growth of manufacturing interests and the widening of the field
supplied - Country banks springing up, everywhere............753 |
| CHAPTER XXVI.
At the Court House. The handsome place of justice - Tablets
whereon the Pioneer Settlers' Association have inscribed those coming to Scott
county before 1846 - Full list of names - The county jail - The Scott County
Agricultural Society - Description of the first fair - Baseball when the pitcher
over stayed his time in the box and gentlemen caught fly balls........769 |
| CHAPTER XXVII.
Public Libraries, Old and New. In 1839 the citizens moved for a
collection of books - Library progress from that date to this has been along a
devious path of hardship and discouragement - Ladies managed the library for
years - Mr. Watkins tells of years of devotion to the ideal of a public library
- Andrew Carnegie, a life member, sends by Mrs. Maria Purdy Peck, president of
the Davenport Historical Association, money for a new building.......783 |
| CHAPTER
XXVIII. Some Old Houses. Some remain and others have given
way to better ones - The first frame house in Iowa - The first house in
Davenport - Dr. John Emerson's brick residence - Many old residences of strong
historic interest - Structures that incite reminiscence - A beautifully written
sketch of the hospitable homes of other days.......801 |
| CHAPTER XXIX.
The German Impress. The influence of German immigrants upon
the social, financial, patriotic, commercial and artistic life of the United
States - From the general to the particular - What German-Americans have done
for the prosperity, material and spiritual, of Davenport and Scott county - A
trip cross-country and what it shows - German organizations. By Adolph
Petersen, Editor of "Iowa Reform.".......813 |
| CHAPTER XXX.
A Forceful Influence. The Germans of Davenport and the Chicago
Convention of 1860 - The part those who opposed known nothingism played in the
party preliminaries leading up to the republican nomination of Abraham Lincoln -
The Davenport resolutions of March, 1860 - German strength recognized throughout
the land - With Bates out of the race Abraham Lincoln the strongest Compromise
candidate..............839
By F. I. Herriott.
Professor of Economics, Political and Social Science, Drake
University. |
| CHAPTER XXXI.
Davenport's Baptism. Could Rock Island be Davenport? - Would
Davenport have been Rock Island? - For whom was Davenport named? - There seems
to be no doubt that Colonel George Davenport was so honored - A life which ranks
with the heroes of romance in variety and thrilling incident - One of the
founders of the city that bears his name - An Indian ceremony...........849 |
| CHAPTER XXXII.
Climatological Conditions. Being an article based upon weather
bureau observations covering a period from 1871 to 1909 - The location of office
and instruments - A climatological summary - Unusual weather phenomena - Warm
and cold periods - Length of growing seasons - Unusual amounts of rainfall -
Notable river stages - Remarkable flood stage.................877
By J. M. Sherier,
Local Forecaster, Weather Bureau. |
| CHAPTER
XXXIII. The Press. The Archimedean lever that moves the
world in this part of the world the present press which ably serves Davenport
and Scott county - English and German, political and religious - Papers of
bygone days which did not fill a wide felt want - The papers of long ago and
their news service - The Tri-City Press Club........885
By Ralph W. Cram,
President of the Tri-City Press Club. |
| CHAPTER XXXIV.
The Railroads. Strenuous efforts to build railroads in Scott
county's early years - Agitation to the eastward and westward - The first
railroad west of the great river - A. C. Fulton, a man ahead of his times -
Hiram Price as promoter - The M. & M., C. & R. I., D. & St. L., C.
R. I. & P., C. B. & Q., C. M. & St. P., also the I. & I. - Fifty
years an engineer..........899 |
| CHAPTER XXXV.
Education. The foundation laid by early statesmen - A look ahead
- the beginnings of schools in Iowa - Those who taught school in Davenport in
the thirties - Many years of private schools - Arrival of the public school in
the fifties - Latter day schools - Magnificent high school - the special
branches - Schools of higher education - Biography of J. B. Young....919 |
| CHAPTER XXXVI.
The Salad Course. In this chapter may be found almost everything
aside from the item the reader is searching for - There are some things that
will prove of interest to somebody - Other things that everybody knows - Some
incidents are unusual and others just so-so - There seemed to be a necessity for
this sort of chapter............963 |
| CHAPTER XXXVII. Chronology. This is something of a
record of the years in Scott county from 1832 to 1910 - Other things have
happened but these appear notable, as the list is scanned for items that look
worthy of type - It is a collection of short stories somewhat lacking in
description but good what there is of them....979 |