Marion County

Souvenir History of Pella, Iowa [1847-1922]
Pella: Booster Press, [1922]

T

G. G. Thomassen – page 189

Was one of Pella’s oldest merchants. He was born in Gelderland December 23, 1840, and came to this country with his parents with the first Holland colony in 1847. He received his education here and at the age of sixteen years he commenced buying and selling stock for his brother, and followed that until he entered the mercantile business for himself. In 1874 he started a meat market and in 1877 branched out into general merchandise, in which business he engaged until his death, which occurred December 24, 1919. Few if any merchants of Pella have a record of longer continuous application in business. He was a man of exemplary character, great industry, and was universally esteemed in the community. He was a member of the First Reformed Church at the time of his death. He was married to Miss Maggie van Wyngarden in March, 1864. She died leaving five children: Dina, Janie, Minnie, Johannes and John. Lost two. In 1876 he married Miss Elizabeth Den Berger. She was born on the 19th of April, 1857. By this marriage were eight children: Margaret, Josephine, Herman, May, Cora, Edward, Lewis, Paul and Harold.

Mother Todd – page 30

Todd, Mrs. Jacob – Mary E. Nossaman was born a short distance south of Fairfield, Iowa, the 13th day of February, 1843. When only three months old she came to Marion county with her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Wellington Nossaman who settled on a farm a few miles southeast of Pella. She was married to Jacob W. Todd on the 14th day of November, 1867; the wedding took place about five miles south of Pella, Rev. E. H. Scarff officiating.

Mrs. Todd as well as other members of the Nossaman family were true pioneers and took a prominent part in the early struggle to change the wilderness into a civilized land. Mrs. Todd and her cousin, Mrs. Mark Butts, were among the early school teachers in Marion county. The account of a trip to Knoxville made by these young women in the early days was one of the many interesting reminiscences told the writer by Mrs. Todd, who at the advanced age of nearly eighty years, is still in the best of health and full of interest in all that pertains to the early history of Pella and vicinity. We are also indebted to Mrs. Todd for a detailed description of the first log school house in Lake Prairie township, if not in Marion county.

Mrs. Todd received her education in the crude country schools of that period and later, when “Central” was built, she was among the first students to enroll. Before “Central’s” foundation walls were laid, when the school was held in the old brick building on Washington street, known as the De Booy home, Mrs. Todd became a student and continued until 1862, when financial need compelled her to take up teaching in order to help in the support of a large family. She first taught in the Porterville neighborhood, about four miles southeast of Pella, and received the munificent salary of $8.00 per month, with the privilege of boarding around in the homes of the pupils.

Mother Todd is one of the few, typical pioneer women of the old school; she delights in telling of the joys and sorrows, the hopes and disappointments of those early days, and it is a pleasure to hear her tell the many interesting incidents of which he has a personal knowledge. In compiling this work we have been greatly indebted to her for many facts pertaining to the early pioneer days; no one in the community has done as much to help us gather the material out of which we have built up this account of the development and growth of Pella and the surrounding territory.

Thomas Tuttle – page 17

The First Band Concert in the Garden Square

The first settler in what is now Pella was Thomas Tuttle, who came to the state in 1838, and settled in Jefferson county the year following. On the 13th day of May, 1843, he came to the present site of Pella. Not having any children or other help, Mrs. Tuttle assisted him to build a cabin in the edge of the timber where north Pella is now located. Soon after they made a claim of part of the plat of Pella and put up a claim pen, or log cabin, in what is now the Garden Square, a little west of the center.

When this pioneer couple took up their residence here they were not aware of the existence of any other family of white people with a radius of twenty miles. After living here a month or so it was found necessary to replenish their stock of breadstuff which was running very low; so it was decided to go to Ft. Madison for a supply. Mrs. Tuttle had to choose between going with her husband on the hard and hazardous trip, through forests and prairies, with no trails, roads or bridges, or of spending the lonesome days and still more lonesome nights, with no company other than a big cat, and seeing no human beings except Indians as they passed and repassed, occasionally entering the house without first announcing their presence or uttering any kind of salutation. With true pioneer courage Mrs. Tuttle chose to remain in the little cabin home. For nine days and nights, that must have seemed like so many months, she was alone. It is beyond the power of our imagination to conceive what such an experience much have been for this lonely woman, or to draw a mental picture of her surroundings, familiar though we are with the location now.

Think of that lonely little cabin, built of logs chinked with mud, the only evidence of the presence and handiwork of man, set there on the native prairie, surrounded on all sides by the vast, dim solitude of the primeval forest. Think of the long nights with the solemn, brooding silence broken only by the wild howl of the wolves, the blood-curdling scream of the panther, or the death cry of a stricken deer, the first band concert ever heard by a white person in the Garden Square. What a contrast with the present. Where then the cold stars of heaven were the only illumination, is now a blaze of electricity. The lone cabin is replaced by a beautiful and ornate band stand, the deer trails by wide, winding cement walks, and where the wild crab tree bloomed in fragrance, now a magnificent fountain reflects the multitude of electric lights. The shadowy forests have given way to the palatial homes of our fair city; and where one poor, lonely woman kept her vigil almost four score years ago, now thousands of happy, prosperous citizens gather to meet their friends in the magnificent park, and enjoy the strains of music rendered by our excellent band.

Teunis Albert Tysseling – page 186

Born in Ede, Province of Gelderland, in the Netherlands, November 30, 1845; he came to Pella with his parents April 7, 1861. In 1868 he started farming three and a half miles east of Pella, where he lived until the year 1901. Was married to Miss Egje De Jong, daughter of Peter De Jong, April 7, 1868. There are four children living: Mrs. Brandt Ver Meer, Mrs. Stephen S. De Cook, Peter and Herman Tysseling. Four children died. Since 1901 Mr. and Mrs. Tysseling have made their home in Pella. He is a prominent member of the First Reformed Church. Mr. Tysseling has three brothers living: Teunis of Knoxville, Iowa; William of Elkton, Minn., and Arie, living in Pella, and one sister, Mrs. Aart van der Waal, living in Erskine, Minn.