The History of
The land
here is highly cultivated and the homes of the husbandmen are of the best. The
same may be said of all improvements, that go to make the surroundings
comfortable and a happy, contented people. The land is traversed by the
Maquoketa, its tributaries and Plum Creek, which afford ample drainage and
water. This section of the county is well adapted to general farming and
stock-raising.
The first
settler, John W. Penn, came as early as the spring of 1838. He was a Virginian
by birth, and in 1833, left the Old Dominion for the almost unknown west,
stopping at
John Corbin and wife came from
William H.
Baker was a native of
Rheinard Kahmer left his adopted state of
Charles W. Hobbs was one of the early and
chief factors in the settlement and organization of
Benjamin F. Moffatt
settled on Plum Creek, east of
George and John Cutler built their cabins on
land located between Moffatt's and Penn's Grove, and
near them Moses Pennock settled at this time, which
was the year 1840.
The Lindsay family, formerly
of Eads' Grove, also located in this community at this period.
In 1841 Simeon Phillips and his son, Fayette
Phillips, settled near the lake.
George Pease, with his family, consisting of
wife, two sons and two daughters, came to
Charles F. Fleming was an early settler here.
He was a native of
Leonard Norris was among the earliest of the
hardy land-seekers who came to this county in 1843, when but few white people
had ventured into what was thought a wild and cheerless Eldorado.
With his young wife he settled on section 14, entering the land and building a
cabin thereon. This was his home for many years.
Isaac Smith
moved from
H. 0.
Jeremiah B.
Boggs came to
Samuel
Allison, Sr., who lived for many years on section 26, came to this township
from
Ethan S.
Cowles was born in
Andrew
Stone, one of the early settlers of this township, immigrated
from the State of
Benjamin
Thorpe, Sr., was a native of
J. B. Swinburne was horn in
One of the
pioneers of
Elisha M.
White, a New Yorker by birth, settled in this township in 1856. The following
year he married Betsy Tubbs, daughter of George Tubbs.
The
acquisition of the land on which Delhi stands was by entry from the Government
by the county, details of which have been given in a former chapter, together
with a relation of the difficulties encountered by the Commissioners' Court in
raising' sufficient funds to pay the price of the land & the sum of $200.
However, after
As will be
seen elsewhere in this volume, the first building erected in
One of the
most active leaders in time affairs of Delaware County for over a half century
was F. B. Doolittle, a native of New York State, who left the scenes of his
boyhood for the forests of Michigan. In the fall of 1849 he set out and came to
One of the
first industries established in
Daniel
Baker built the old Iowa House in 1851, on a lot donated for the purpose by
Frederick B. Doolittle, who had, in connection with William Price, helped to
hew the timber for the log courthouse and taken his pay in town lots at $5
each.
The
"Blue Stone" was opened by Thomas Hehn, on
a lot donated by F. B. Doolittle, and several other buildings were erected that
year, even though some of the lots had advanced to the high (?) price of $25.. For several years there after the town grew and by 1856
it was an active, thriving, industrious trading point In the meantime, in 1853,
the new courthouse had been completed. The Harding Hotel was also built that
year and for two years thereafter a steady advance was in evidence on every
hand. G. W. Ashburn became land lord of the Harding House, and he had all that
he could do to provide a place to sleep for his many guests. But the swerving
of the Dubuque & Pacific Illinois Central) Railroad three miles north from
town and the financial distress of 1857 dealt such serious blows to the
prosperity of Delhi, that it never recovered from the results, although it
secured railroad facilities in the building of the Davenport & St. Paul
Railroad through the place in 1872. But the effect thereof was of no lasting
benefit.
Upon
petition of a number of the citizens of Delhi, Judge Benson, of the County
Court, in December, 1854, ordered that an election be held January 15, 1855, to
decide the question as to whether or not the town should be incorporated, and
appointed William F. Tanner, William Phillips and George Sheldon judges; C. W.
Hobbs and S. F. Parker, clerks of the election. Thirty-seven votes were cast
for the measure and none against. The court then appointed
CHARTER FOR
INCORPORPORATING THE TOWN OF
''Sec. 1st
- Be it ordained and established by the People of the Town of Delhi Delaware County
State of Iowa with the sanction of the majority of the votes of a public
Election held in said Town for that purpose. ''That the South East quarter of
section seventeen in Township 88, North of Range four West of fifth pr. mr. in Delaware Co. State of Iowa, be, and the same is
hereby declared a Town Corporate by the name and style of the Town of Delhi.
And its Inhabitants are hereby created a body corporate and politic by said name, and by that name shall have perpetual succession and
shall have and use a common seat which they may alter and change at pleasure.
"Sec.
2nd - When any tract of land adjoining the Town of Delhi shall have
been, or shall hereafter be laid out into town lots and duly recorded, the same
may by a majority of the Votes cast at any regularly notified meeting be
annexed to said town and form a part of it.
''Sec. 3rd - Said
Charter shall take effect and time said Town shall become duly incorporated on
the first day of March A. D. 1855.
''Sec. 4th
- The inhabitants of said town by time name and stile aforesaid shall have
power to sue and be sued, plead and he impleaded,
answer and be answered and to defend and be defended in all courts in law and
equity and in all actions whatsoever, to purchase receive and hold property
Real Personal & Mixed for the use of said town and to sell lease improve
and protect the same
''Sec. 5th
- There shall be a local Legislature or board of Trustees to consist of a
President and Five Trustees who shall he elected on the second Monday of March
1855 and each year there after who shall hold their office, for one year and
until their successors are duly Elected & qualified "There shall be
elected at the same time and place One Treasurer One Recorder and One Assessor
who shall hold their office for the term of one year' 'and until their
successors are Elected and qualified. The Treasurer shall give bonds to be
approved by the president. And all Officers herein specified before entering
upon the duties of his station shall qualify by giving bonds (when required so
to do). And taking the usual Oath of Office
''Sec. 6th
- If at any time the board of trustees shall think it necessary to change this
Charter, they shall give public Notice of said proposed alteration, then said
alteration shall become a part of this charter. Alterations to this charter may
also be submitted to the people, upon the petition of one half of the Voters in
the town and the concurance of three of the trustees,
and decided as above specified
''Sec. 7th - The board of trustees
is hereby invested with power to divide said town into wards, and change the
same from time to time as they may deam advisable And
fix the number of trustees to which each ward shall be' entitled to
"Sec. 8th - A majority of the board
shall constitute a quoram. And said board shall be
the Judge of the Election & qualifications of its member determine the rules
of its proceedings and cause a record to be kept & preserved of the Same
"Sec.
9th - The President shall preside at all meeting of the Board of
trustees, when present and shall have no Vote except when there is a tie, when
he shall have the Casting Vote, in the absence or inability of the President to
act the Board shall appoint one of their number President pro tem, who shall
discharge the duties & exercise the powers of the president during the
Absence or inability of that Officer to act. it shall be the duties of time
President to see that the laws & ordinances are faithfully Executed Sign
all Warrants for time collection of taxes draw all orders on the Treasurer,
Certify all necessary proceding under the Seal of
said town of which he shall be the keeper
''Sec. 10th
- The board shall hold a meeting within ten days after their election at which
time when so conveimied they may appoint such other
officers as they shall deam necessary, prescribe by
Ordinance their duties, terms of office and Compensation and require from them
the proper bonds to approved by the president
Sec. 11th
- Ordinances passed by the board shall be signed by the presiding officer &
attested by the recorder and shall be posted up in three or more public places
in the town or published Once in some News paper,. published in said town at least 10 days prior to taking
effect. they shall also be recorded in a book kept for
that purpose and attested by the Presiding officers & recorder
''Sec. 12th - It is the duty of the
Recorder to keep a true record of all the official procedings
of the board, which record shall he at all times subject to the inspection of
the public and shall perform all such duties as may be required of him by
Ordinance
''Sec. 13th
- It is the duty of the Treasurer to receive all Moneys payable to the
Corporation, and to disburse the same on Orders drawn by the President sealed
with his seal, and Attested by the Recorder and to keep a true account of All
receipts and disbursements and hold the same at all times ready for the
inspection of the Board. And shall make a statement of the
finances of the corporation in the Month of February each year, which shall be
placed on Record. And a copy of the same posted in three public places
in sad Corporation at least one week prior to the Annul Election. And perform
all other duties that may be required of him by Ordinance.
"Sec.
14th - The board of trustees is here-by invested with authority to
make and establish such by laws and Ordinances as are necessary and proper for
the' good regulations Safety health & cleanliness of the town and the
citizens thereof' to leavy and collect taxes on all
property within the limits of the corporation which by the laws of the state is
not for all purposes exempt from taxation, which tax must not exceed One pr
cent per annum on the assessed Valuation thereof And its collection of State
& County taxes, to establish a grade and regulate and improve the side
walks Alleys & Streets, to change the grade, Make compensation to any
person injured thereby, to 'provide drains sewers public Wells and such other
hydraulic aparatus as they may deam
necessary for the convenience of the town, and keep the same in repair to
regulate Markets, but not in such a maner as to
prevent any person from selling the produce of his own farm in such a manner
and quantity as he may deem proper, to licence and
regulate or prohibit All shows or public exhibitions (if the laws of the state
are thereby not interfeared with) To provide against
fires breaches. of the peace gambling disorderly And
indecent houses and conduct, and to make any other Ordinance, suitable and
proper police regulations
"Sec.
15th - The said hoard of trustees are further authorized And am
powered to require the property holders of any street or part of a street to
pave the same or side walks thereof Each in front of his own property when the
owners of two thirds of the lots in such street or part of a street petition
the board there for.
"Sec.
16th - No money shall be drawn from the treasurey
except by Order of the board of trustees, Signed by the President sealed with
the seal of his office and attested by the Recorder
"Sec.
17th - The board of Directors shall hold their first regular Meeting
on the third Monday of March A D 1855, and every three months there after to
wit the 3 Monday of June, September and December in each year. And may Hold special Meeting whenever a majority of the Board
may deem it necessary "We the Cornt. Elected to prepair a charter or Articles of Incorporation for the Town
of
On the
second Monday in March following, was the day set for the election of municipal
officers, but there is nothing definite recorded as to the names of the members
selected on that occasion. From traditionary sources
it appears that A. K. Eaton was elected mayor. But from the returns now a part
of the archives of the Corporation of Delhi of an election held in
A short
return to the early business interests of
A farmers'
club was organized in 1866, by Washington Graham, Samuel Allison, Jr., William
Ball, Daniel Smith, John Porter and others, and those named were the officers.
Also in 1871, a literary and library association came into being, the leading
spirits of which were Dr. Albert Boomer, Mrs. J. H. Peters, Thomas A. Twiss, J. NI. Noble and Mrs. D. Louise Ingalls. Quite a sum of money was raised for books,
but none purchased.
The main
purpose in the first instance in having the town incorporated was to afford the
citizens authority to make such laws as to protect them from the running at
large of stock, which had become a nuisance and a menace to property. This
object was attained but its benefits soon were lost sight of and there is no
record, under the powers of the decree of incorporation, of another election
having been held, so that Delhi drifted back into its former state and remained
under the jurisdiction of the township until the year 1909, when a petition
signed by thirty-three electors, was filed in the District Court, asking that
Delhi be made an incorporated town. The prayer of the petition was granted and
the court appointed F. E. Stimson, E. R. Stone,
Thomas Simmons, E. B.
Porter and A. Sherman commissioners to declare a time and place for
holding an election, to determine the sense of the electorate as to whether or
not they desired incorporation. The election for the purpose was held on the 2d day of
March, 1909, at which time sixty-nine votes were cast for the purpose, and only
six against. The action of time commissioners was approved by the court and
they were ordered to call an election for town officers, to be held on April 5,
1909, at which time J. W. Swinburne was elected mayor;
E. B. Porter, clerk; F. E. Stimson, assessor; and D.
F. Jones, F. A. Doolittle, A. Sherman, C. C. White and C. H. Furman,
councilmen. About the year 1900
POSTOFFICE
The first postoffice in
SCHOOLS
The first
school in
The first schoolhouse, built in 1852, was kept
in use for its original purpose until 1868, when it was sold to the Methodist
Society for $250 and converted into a church. A new brick school building was
then put up, at a cost of $4,000, in which school opened in the fall of 1868
with George S. Bidwell, principal, and Emily Bidwell, his wife, assistant Two large wings were added to
the structure in 1873 and cost about seven thousand dollars, making at the time
one of the largest and best buildings in the county for educational purposes;
there were six rooms. The original part was three stories and had an ornamental
cupola; the wings had two stories. On the 10th day of August, 1914, this fine
property caught fire and nothing was left standing but the bare walls. The loss
was $15,000; insurance about eleven thousand dollars. While waiting for the
electorate to vote upon the proposition of issuing $15,000 in bonds to build a
new schoolhouse, the children are being taught in various halls and rooms in
the village.
FINANCIAL
The first
attempt at banking at Delhi was when the Delhi Savings Bank was incorporated,
January 24, 1899. The men who invested their capital in stock and gave the
splendid financial standing were Thomas Simons, A. E. House, E. R. Stone, G. W.
Kiockentager, J. W. Swinburne,
R. H. Bowman, U. 0. White, E.C. Perkins, 0. A. Holdridge, J. W. Hartman, John Porter, ArthurA.
House, E. H. Blanchard, W. H. Baker, Curtis Miller, Peter Lux,
David F. Jones, L. Sehnittjer, James M. Phillips, G.
B. Davis, G. H. Fuller, A. Bowman, Allen L. Boomer and John R. White, Jr.
The
capitalization was $10,000, and the first officials: Thomas Simons, president E. R. Stone, vice president; and U. W. Klockentager, cashier. The institution began doing business
temporarily in a little frame building, now occupied by C. L. Jackson's harness
establishment. Within a few months it moved into a new, one-story brick
structure, which was built for the purpose and stands on the main thoroughfare
of the village. A. E. House succeeded to the presidency in 1900 and remained in
that position two years, when E. R. laid August 18th of that year, but the
dedicatory services did not take place until in June, 1873, upon which occasion
the Rev. J. Y. Johnston delivered the sermon. This building cost about
thirty-five hundred dollars.
Believers
in the tenets and precepts of the Catholic faith enjoyed the observances of
mass in the early '60s at this place. The first building occupied by the
members of
FRATERNAL SOCIETIES
J. M. Holbrook Post, No. 342, Grand Army of
the Republic, was organized at Delhi, July 18, 1884, by Erastus
Smith, Thomas Simons, Ward White, George A. Fuller, S. M. Nutting,
J. C. Crawford, P. B. Littlejohn, John W. Snell, William Thompson, A. E. Carter,
Willian Biddle, A. J. Lett,
John Wood, C. M. Griffin, U. W. Ellison, William Lutes, H. L. Doxsee, Peter L. Wragg, Horace
Dutton, Matthew Long, William Haigh, George D. Smith,
John Napur and 0. A. Wilson.
For some
time the headquarters was in Odd Fellows Hall, until the building was destroyed
by fire, when the veterans about a year afterwards were comfortably installed
in permanent headquarters in the old courthouse donated them by the board of
supervisors. Only five members of the old post now remain in good standing.
These are Thomas Simons, J. W. Corbin, Peter Wragg,
Ward White, and Peter Jakelin. For the past ten years
Thomas' Simons has been the post commander.
The Woman's
Relief Corps, a faithful, loyal amid helpful auxiliary, now has a membership of
about forty-five. Mrs. Barnes is the president. This society is known as J. M.
Holbrook W. B, C., No 101, organized
Delhi Camp,
No. 27, Sons of Veterans, was established
SOLDIERS' MONUMENT
In 1911
Thomas Simons and his patriotic wife, Marian A., presented to the post and
Evergreen Cemetery Association, a soldiers' monument, which cost about nine
hundred dollars. It is of
In 1877 the
lodge finished a two-story building for its purposes and also as a business
place, which cost its members about three thousand dollars. Silver Lake Lodge,
No. 214, Daughters of Rebekah, was organized October
19, 1893, by Ward White, Mrs. E. M. Griffin, J. J. King, E. B. King, E. R.
Stone, J. B. Smith, Christina Smith, Mrs. M. A. Simons, A. Jamison, L. M.
Jamison, A. J. and Lydia I. Lett, E. B. and Cora N.
Porter, L. S. and Alzina Stone, R. D. Barker, C. M.
White, Thomas Simons, Louise White, Mrs. Eliza Burton and Mrs. James B. Clark.
The
organization of Delhi Camp, No. 7709, Modern Woodmen of America, took place
The lodge
building was destroyed by fire about 1889, when another building, a two-story
frame, was built by the lodge. This is the third structure for lodge purposes
erected by the local body of Odd Fellows.
Delhi
Lodge, No. 94, Modern Brotherhood of America, was organized
HARTWICK
This is one
of the forgotten villages of
A
blacksmith shop was started in Hartwick by John
Whitman, in 1855, who located in that year, and a couple of years later a shoe
cobbler opened a little shop; his name is lost to local history.
Samuel Stansbury started a brickyard about 1857 and Jacob Williams
had a paint shop about this time, all of which indicates Hartwick
as being a busy point and of some importance. By the year 1858, however, Hartwick had reached the zenith of its career. The founder,. John W. Clark, met business
reverses and left the county. Whitman also packed his belongings and forsook
the place for one of a more promising future. Others soon followed. The
Becky
Teubner, Contributor
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