SOME REMINISCENCES OF THE EARLY SETTLEMENT
OF SIOUX CENTER.
By REV. JAMES DE PREE.
To dwell on reminiscences of former day life and experiences is something we all
love to do; the veteran soldier loves to recall, and relate the many thrilling
adventures of battles in which he took part, and the striking incidents of camp
life. The old time sailor can interest and amuse a whole company with an account
of his many remarkable experiences on the deep. The traveler, or explorer
delights to rehearse what he met with in his journey through several parts of
the world. The student also has no greater delight than in amusing you, and
relating in detail the adventures of school life. And so, early colonists also
take a special delight in dwelling upon the various difficulties and
privations connected with pioneer life, as well as upon the many pleasant
experiences that are met with.
The early settlement by the Hollanders of Sioux County in general. and of West
Branch township in particular, was of such a nature, and attended with such
striking incidents also, that one will find it a no less pleasant task to dwell
awhile upon the reminiscences of those primitive clays. The writer, having been
requested to compile some of those reminiscences of those primitive days for
this atlas, realizes that a more competent person might have been chosen for
this purpose, as he is not one of the earliest settlers and did not arrive upon
the scene until many of the most remarkable difficulties and struggles connected
with the settlement of this particular colony had become a thing of the past, is
mostly from accounts received from others, given indeed when they were still
fresh in the memories of those who related them; but at best, they must be
regarded chiefly as second hand statements. If therefore, some incorrect
statements should be made or some incidents should be related somewhat varying
from the actual occurrences, or lacking in all the particulars, it will please
be kindly pardoned.
We may divide the reminiscences of these days into different classes; for
instance, mention can be made of some that have a more direct bearing upon the
religious life of the early settlers, and of others in connection with their
temporal circumstances; some may be given that. are of a sad and pathetic
nature, while others have a tendency to amuse and create merriment. To begin
with such incidents as were more particularly in connection with the religious
advantages of those early colonists, we know of nothing that was more frequently
referred to, and rehearsed with the most intense delight, and is even to this
day often mentioned with feelings of deepest appreciation, than the fortnightly
midweek preaching services, rendered in schoolhouses by the faithful and
zealous pastor of the Orange City Church, Rev. S. Bolks. No matter how cold or
stormy it might be, or how rough or muddy the roads, or how deep the water in
the sloughs, he was always at his post; his prompt presence and his earnest
efforts for the spiritual welfare of the people could always be depended upon.
His words of wise council, of kind admonition, and of encouragement and good
cheer in the days of severe struggle and afflictions are ever remembered with
gratitude and sincere regard; in many, many instances he was used as an
instrument in God's hand not merely for encouraging and helping on these
pioneers with sound words of comfort and advice in their struggles for temporal
existence, but especially also to bring sinners to a sense of their lost
condition, and from that to a saving knowledge of Christ; and also to strengthen
the faith of God's people, and aid them in their spiritual struggles and
development.
To mention another incident in this particular line, we might refer to the
lack of sufficient accommodation and room that had to be contended with, as long
as the services were held in the building that was first erected to serve as a
house of worship. Its length, and breadth, and height were in accordance with
the financial capacity of their purses, and in a very short time its seating
capacity was taken in, and with the weakest effort the voice of the speaker
could fill the whole space. No up-to-date architect had been consulted in its
construction, nor an accomplished carpenter engaged in its erection; the seats
too were not of the cushioned and easy backed kind, nor symmetrically arranged,
and the aisle at the center could only be passed through in something like a
serpentine motion, on account of the different length of the seats. None of
these were fastened to the floor and they were not immovable or firm, and the
writer can call to mind one instance, when he had his catechumens gathered in
the seats, by some quick turn of one of the pupils in the front seat, it fell
backward with all its occupants, and it overturned the next one, and that
again the third one, until all my pupils were on the floor. It goes without
saying, that this occurrence for awhile did not tend to make the minds of the
children more receptive for the instruction of the hour. At the regular Sabbath
services, in the summer time, the people, to make up for lack of
accommodations would bring the spring seats of their lumber wagons, which were
the only means of conveyance to church at that time, and place them on available
floor space inside the building, or, they wheeled their wagons near the open
windows outside, increasing the seating capacity of the Church, and be as
attentive listeners to, and as quiet partakers in the solemn worship as the
occasion allowed. This method was all right and satisfactory while the balmy
days of summer lasted; but when autumn came, and the cold, raw winds drove the
pew holders on the outside of the building to seek shelter within its walls, the
strength of the seats, and the capacity of the building were taxed to the
utmost. Every Sabbath afternoon, after the writer and his family, who always
brought their chairs with them, had been crowded into the church, every inch of floor spa., and even of the speakers platform was
taken in. Every Monday morning, hammer and nails were brought to use in
repairing seats that had given way under the loads and pressure of the previous
day.
Having recalled some of the incidents of the early church life, we will next
take a look at, and into the homes that afforded shelter and comfort to the
pioneers of the seventies; they were of course far inferior to the large and
commodious dwellings of the present day, but happiness and contentment reigned
within them to no smaller degree. Nearly all of the first settlers dwelt in
dugouts for some time; these were very ingeniously built into the east or south
side mostly of a slope, to secure protection from the northwest blasts. One
night be walking down a slope, and very unexpectedly, without having seen it
from a distance, land right down on one of these abodes for the pioneer s. Or
they made mud huts, constructed of the sods of the broken prairie, forming of
them thick, substantial walls, to close out both the icy cold breezes of winter,
and the burning heat of summer; generally these sod houses had one opening for a
window, and one for a door: one man told the writer of having constructed such a
sod house after an outlay of only $1.28, for the door and window. In most cases
these homes consisted of but one apartment, that serving as parlor, living room,
dining room, bedroom, kitchen, cellar and all. The more elaborate ones had one
room partitioned off by a sod wall, which did service as a bedroom, where berths
were arranged against the wall, sometimes two or three, above another, according
to the number of occupants that had to be accommodated. The furniture of these
homes was also very simple and limited, a drygoods box placed in the center of
the room was often used as a wardrobe, a cupboard and a dining-table; the walls
were so dug out that a seat all the way around, about the height of an ordinary
chair was left, this obviating the necessity of buying chairs. The fuel of these
clays consisted of slough grass, very ingeniously and tightly twisted, in order
to last longer in the fire.
THE CENTRAL REFORMED CHURCH, SIOUX CENTER.
The stables and sheltering places for cattle were no more adequate or
pretentious than the dwelling places for man, and one can hardly understand how
in but a little more than a quarter of a century such immense changes could have
come about, both
as to the fine, handsome homes than can now everywhere be found, and as to the
huge barns and extensive stables with all the modern equipments, that have taken
the place of mere hovels of former years.
The most exciting and thrilling stories can be related concerning combats with
prairie wolves, and fierce prairie fires that would sweep across the country and
lick up everything in their path; and of fearful blizzards that in these days
would break very suddenly upon the early settlers in winter time. Many narrow
escapes from death could be placed on record, and many happy reunions after
hours and even days of anxiety on account of husbands or sons that on their way
were overtaken by such violent storms, when they were brought back in safety to
the dear ones at home. In winter time a line was generally stretched from the
door of the dwelling place to the door of the stable, to prevent any one going
from one to the other from loosing his way in these blinding snowstorms; or the
good housewife would stand in the door of the house, while her husband or son
went to feed the cattle, and call out loudly from time to time so as to let him
know the direction he must take through the storm to find his home, just as the
fog whistle on the pier guides the vessel to the harbor in a heavy mist. While
these fierce snowstorms have been the occasion of loss of cattle in a number of
instances, the writer has no remembrance of any human life that was lost thereby
in this community, and we may well note the protecting hand of Providence.
One of the sad reminiscences of these days is the drowning of two men, Gerrit
Vleuvers and D. J. Wesselink in the Rock River. As was very often done by the
early settlers, these men had gone to the Rock River to hew some trees from its
banks, to be used either for fuel, or for some building purpose; in crossing
the stream, they must have been caught on some whirlpool that abound in some
parts of this river, and lost their lives. The former left a wife and three
daughters almost grown up, to mourn his untimely death; the latter a wife and
several small children to battle alone now with the great proposition of pioneer
life.
The saddest and most pathetic reminiscence is the death of a little girl by
prairie fire, which occurred on a spot very near to where now the residence of
John Mouw is located in the town of Sioux Center. It was the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Jacob Koster, (Mrs. Koster is still one of Sioux Center's inhabitants) who
lived but a few rods east from the spot, on the other side of the road. When the
heartrending cries of the child were heard, and the parents flew to its rescue,
the flames had already done their horrible work, and the child died shortly
afterwards. This child was the first to be interred in what afterwards became
the cemetery of Sioux Center. Often have we heard the mother relate with
aching heart and streaming eyes the terrible pangs of this awful tragedy, the
saddest of all the early accidents in this settlement. We have however, also
been permitted to note in this very instance the allsufficiency of God's
sustaining grace; not only for herself did the mother taste of this, but she was
after this sad experience enabled to convey consolation and encouragement to
others also in times of sorrow and bereavement. The writer and his wife can
speak of this by experience; when, arriving here perhaps about two years after
this sad incident, we were led through a way of mourning and grief, her frequent
visits with us, and her words of solid truth and comfort were a balm to our
aching hearts, and they will ever be remembered with profound appreciation and
gratitude. And now it cannot be amiss further to name one or two instances that
will give evidence of the genuine good-will and kindly feeling that was
generally experienced by the early colonists toward one another, and the
disposition to bear each other's burdens. When any one was in distress, or in
need of aid, all hands were joined together; and while most of them were about
equally penniless, and unable to open their empty purses in rendering
assistance, they all found some way of serving one another. They helped build
each other's houses and stalls; they watered each other's cattle; they took
charge of each other's children; they dug each other's graves, and assisted in
every kind of work and way, so that no one need to run into debt for these
common necessities of life. In that way the hearts were brought into close union
with each other, and general peace and harmony prevailed in these days of common
privation. To relate one instance; Mr. H. J. Teesselink's house was, one cold
wintry night, destroyed by fire, and the occupants barely escaped with their
lives; soon all opened their scant purses, and extended willing hands to obtain
the necessary material for a new dwelling, and everyone applied saw and hammer,
and built the same in a remarkably short time. Another instance was when a man
with very limited means expressed a desire to start a general store over the
Branch, this bringing articles of merchandise nearer to the people having
settled here, all hands helped again to procure the material, erect the
building, and haul the stock; and so he was aided in the enterprise, and the
people were accommodated. That building, by the way, being the first dwelling
to be raised on what was later platted into the town of Sioux Center, had but
two apartments, and an attic; for a long time it served as a residence, store,
hotel and post-office.
GRASSHOPPER TIMES.--We have not yet mentioned the grasshoppers, which for
some years were sent annually by a wise Providence to prove the people, and to
reap for them their richly promising fields of grain, and to disappoint all
their expectations and plans for paying off incurred debts for necessary
implements they had purchased, or for improving their homes and their stables.
It is safe to say that even under these circumstances there was more real
contentment and gratitude in the hearts, and more heartfelt appreciation of the
corn bread meal, than is now manifested with all the abundance and luxury that
is possessed. The grasshoppers were indeed a scourge, a means of robbing the
pioneers of a vast amount of the transitory and perishable things of this world;
but they have also been used by Providence to create in many hearts a thirst
after, and an earnest `seeking for the meat which perisheth not. Many of the
pioneers here date the time of their new birth to these years of affliction and
sore bereavements.
Allow me now in conclusion to name a few items which will give evidence of the
extreme privations to which the settlers were subjected on the one hand, but
which also very amusingly show on the other hand how cheerfully they adapted
themselves to their circumstances. In one instance we know of a family who, as
has already been stated, had mud seats for the children fixed against the wall
in their hut, and the parents had appropriated for their own use as seats the
luxury of two huge pumpkins raised in their field. On one occasion the family
received a friendly visit from two elders of the Orange City church to look
after their spiritual needs; the father and mother now denied themselves the use
of the pumpkins, and offered them to their visitors with the same cheerfulness
and grace wherewith the luxurious easy chairs are now called to service for
visiting friends. This man now is a retired farmer, has a comfortable home in
the town of Sioux Center, and owns several quarter sections of Sioux County
land.
Another family had for the second time been robbed of their sodhouse by fire and
had succeeded in procuring now a small frame building, consisting of one room
and an attic, the attic was to serve as a sleeping room for the half dozen boys,
of whom some were fast approaching manhood, now there was an opening in the
ceiling to the attic, but there was no stairway or ladder to climb up to it, as
much on account of lack of space for it in the room, as on account of saving
additional expense. The mother, a very tall, strong woman, weighing about two
hundred and sixty pounds, was prepared for the emergency, and she would serve as
the stairway; every evening at bedtime she arose and. . .
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