CHAPTER V
Most
people who settled in Osceola County in 1871,
did not, in starting out, make directly for
the county, but started for government land
in Northwest Iowa. In the spring of 1871,
Frank R. Coe left Clayton County, Iowa,
as sort of an advance guard for several of
his neighbors who had the western fever. He
arrived in Osceola County and filed that same
spring on the northwest quarter of Section
22, Township 99, RAnge 41, now East Holman,
and then returned to his friends, for whom
also he had picked out claims. Among these
was J. S. Reynolds, present County
Auditor. 
Coe and Reynolds came up in
September, 1871, and Reynolds filed on the
northeast quarter of Section 22, the same
section with Coe. They made the usual
improvements required for a government settler,
and returned again to Clayton County, where
they wintered. In the spring of 1872, they
returned to their claims. Reynolds
drove through with two yoke of oxen, and had
with him his son Samuel, then about
twelve years old. Coe had a span of
horses and a wagon heavily loaded with the
requirements of a settler. They got to Milford
between the first and the middle of March,
and after they had reached Milford there was
a heavy fall of snow, and to push through
this and run the risk of blizzards was a task
they hesitated to undertake. The last shack
for them to pass after leaving Milford was
about ten miles out, and they would pass no
other between that and the Ocheyedan. They
started from Milford, Reynolds going
ahead with his oxen to break the road, and
Coe following behind. After they had
passed the last shack about a mile, its occupant
came after them and insisted upon their return,
as it would be dangerous with threatening
weather to go on. They did return and remained
with this settler several days. They started
out again when a change in the weather came
on, and again they returned and tarried several
days more, when they started again. This time
they reached the Buchman dug-out, but
everything seemed to be covered with snow.
This was about March 18th, and they reached
this stopping place in the evening. The went
to work and about two hours had the snow cleared
-40-
away from the stable so they
could get their teams in, which they did,
and also themselves stayed there all night.
In the morning they shoveled the snow from
the dug-out so they could get into that, and
there they remained about two weeks with bad
weather and occasional blizzards. They had
heard of the death of Fred Nagg, lost
in a blizzard, and knew the danger of being
caught in one of them on the open prairie,
and they were wise in their apprenhensions.
At the end of about two weeks the weather
and travel became such that they pushed on
and soon after got to their claims. When once
there they commenced improvements. Their stable
was made out of a few boards they borrowed
from some other settler, and with these and
the wagon covers they constructed a shelter
for the stock and built it across the line
between the claims so that both owned the
stable jointly. They then drove to Worthington
and bought lumber for shacks, and bought it
of Levi Shell, who was then in the lumber
business at that point. Reynolds put
up the usual 8x8 shack, and Coe one
that was 8x12. Coe's family soon followed,
but Reynold's family did not come until
in September following. This left Reynolds
to wrestle with the pots and kettles, and
no doubt his batching was like all the rest,
with the washing of dishes repeatedly deferred,
and most meals consisting of a chunkof bread
and a slice of fresh pork, and perhaps an
occasional luxury of black molasses. His family
met with a misfortune after his leaving by
the burning of the house in which they lived
with all its contents. They arrived safely
in September in Osceola County, and the family
was again united and are still here with the
grown children having families of their own.
Coe left here several years ago.
In the summer of 1871,
Will Thomas, present Clerk of Court,
left Wisconsin with a covered wagon, containing
himself and three sisters. There was also
with him in another covered wagon, James
G. Miller an dhis wife, who was also a
sister to Mr. Thomas. They started
for Nebraska, but came across some parties
bound for Northwestern Iowa, upon which Thomas
and Miller also concluded to go in
the same direction, which they did, and landed
in Osceola County in June of that year. They
were about one month on the road, and finally
located on Section 22, in what is now Wilson
Township. Thomas took the northeast
quarter, Miller the northwest, and
the girls claims adjoining. When about a mile
from the section where the claims were taken
they camped for the night, using the wagon
with its covering for a sleeping place
-42-
and a shelter. During the night
a storm came up which was very severe, and
the wind, hail and rain with frequent flashes
of lightning were terrible. Will Thomas
and his companions got out of the wagon, and
soon a gust of wind tipped the wagon over,
the horses got loose and run away, but returned
after being gone about three hours. W.
M. Bull was camping near by, with his
wagon cover for a tent, and the bows stuck
into the ground. W. P. Underwood also
was near with his wagon box and its cover
set off on the ground. There was considerable
stirring around among these campers, for the
night was fearful and frightening. The Miss
Thomas' sought shelter in the Underwood
camp, and they all managed to worry through
until morning. Of the three young ladies who
experienced this midnight adventure, one of
them is now the wife of Dr. Lawrence,
another the wife of John P. Hawxshurst,
and the other at home with her mother and
Will Thomas, who constitute the family.
Mr. Miller still lives in the County
at Sibley.
CHAPTER VI
Referring
to the incoming Messrs. Brooks, McCausland,
Webb and Campbell who settled on
section 8 in the spring of 1871; they went
to work and made continued improvements on
their claims. While they were visiting with
each other one day during the summer, they
saw a covered wagon approaching and heard
the sound of a voice singing "One Day's
Journey Nearer Home." When the wagon
had got up and stopped, it was found to contain
John Cronk, _____ Coy and James
Hankins, this last mentioned being a Methodist
Preacher, and it was he who was singing a
Methodist hymn. The following day Hankins
preached in Brook's house, to an audience
of about twelve, and these were the first
religious exercises held in the County, according
to Webb's account of it. During the
preaching Mrs. Brooks kept on with
her bread making, for they couldn't live on
faith alone, and this is told int he following
article, written by John F. Glover,
on the death of Mrs. Brooks which occurred
at Denver in 1884.
DEATH OF A PIONEER WOMAN
In the summer and fall of 1871, the
wives of C. M. Brooks, M. J. Campbell,
W. W. Webb and D. L. McCausland,
entered on pioneer life with their
husbands, all four families having
claims on Section 8, Range 99, Township
41, the section on which are now the
farms of Deacon Herbert and
Mr. Deitz. The settlements
were made on Section 8 before there
was a single sould on Section 13,
Range 99, Township 42, where is now
the flouishing town of Sibley. Mr.
Brooks was in the land locating
business and his house was a home
that summer for several of the women.
Mrs. Brooks was the daughter
of Rev. John Webb, a Methodist
minister of Fayette, Iowa, later a
pioneer settler and minister in Osceola
County, still later a pioneer Presiding
Elder in Dakota Territory, and now
residing in Des Moines. She was very
attractive in person, possessed of
a good mind, and had a sensible way
of doing the best that circumstances
would permit, for the comfort of her
household, and doing the best she
could to be content. The following
anecdote will illustrate her faithful
performance of household duties: The
greater than usual number of new comers
at Mr. Brooks' made it necessary
to
-46-
bake bread on the Lord's
Day, and while the baking was going
on, the little pioneer congregation
gathered in the room to listen to
a preacher—one of the new comers.
In the same room were the baker and
the preacher, and as the minister
went forward with his discourse, so
did "Mel," as Melvina
Brooks was called by her relatives
and near friends, go on with her baking.
She realized that on her depended
the feeling [feeding?] of hungry men,
with appetites such as only pioneering
brings to the table. Mrs. Brooks was
the Martha of that little company.
While others had nothing to do but
listen, she had work to do for the
listeners. She could both hear and
work, and right down before the minister
she baked bread of earth while he
spoke the bread of Heaven, and she
did her work as well and as honestly
as the preacher did his. It was thus
she went forward doing the things
most necessary to be done, and though
possessed of a not very bad robust
constitution did her full measure
of work—having less in mind her
own strength than the comfort of those
around her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
