Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1869-01-05
MARENGO-IOWA COUNTY

MARENGO-IOWA COUNTY
An Old T0wn-1nterestin
History. Growth, Busi-
ness. Location and
improvements.
seuthssn Psrtisn Of the city, the 6sst il.
pesssiea ofshe 0traoese, - hs weeds hio
way tewasds the busiasss part Of the place.
ere uofavessbls. Situated % the leW Ast,
''shslf," Or bsttem. Of the IsNs river the
tewn il ssasens sf high water eecssieaally
receives . feeding, and Il 10 rslassl BY enc
water. r.beund traveller thai, in the sprine, ,she
''prineipal amuse0ens Of the people 10 ts
see In their windows and 2sh in their irent
door yards." This, however, is Z bit d
sarcasm more ill.natursd than truthful.-
In the summer it 10 enc sf the nest delight.
ful little towns in Central Iswa, and IN the
winter il vastly more pleasant than il
appears 70 The casual observer. Like all
eur country towns it was Hrss laid cut o.
the four sides Of . square. The streets
Immediately adjoining are mostly occupied
BY business houses. Mere important than
many Of ito nsighbsrs, the public square
hes never yst bssa aderrsd with . Court
Hsuss, sectional Jealousy in the county
having thus far prevented the srestion Of .
temple Of justice Do 70 b used even - .
livery stable. The ground originally
dssigasd for publis buiIdisgs hes bssa
planned with ehade trees aad 10 new ooeu.
pied BY - pleasant grove - enc wsuld
sars % sss. Ia the heated season this
wsald b dslightful ssseet for The swsl.
tsring eemnunity did net the Tswp Csua.
ell, aesuatsd with the most luiisseus idsss
Of ssensmy. rent IL 70 the highest bidder
feor the cake Of the gfass crep and thus
deprive the cieissns q the right Of entry.
Tla DA1LY niesoaY
Of Narsnss 10 somswhas obseursd By The
dust ef time. That reliable old eestlemsn,
"ths eldest iahabisant," having lsfs The
country, the few items - are able 70 pre-.
sent Of iss early settlement and career are
gathered maialy ffen sraditisn, prevssbi.
ally opt TO b unreliable. II 10 esid, = 90.
count fer the leeatien ef the tewn In The
"botts0," that he eommissieaese appeint
ID to sslsst the site for the county capital
len Iewa City il these early days Of eeed
fellowship and rye whisky with but lin
tied supply sf the laatss article % hand
Arriving at this psiat, The eeanisasiat
failed sssirslv. and. hastily naming their
camp - the fatuss ssas Of peWss, The ShirDty
smcsrs put baek to the State capital and
ssplsniehsd bottles. The bsttss cpinien 10
that The then prevalent idea - u tho asvi.
gability sf the Iowa river 10 the real eauss
Of the sslsstisa. That strean was sriei.
sally declared savigabls BY stsam - lss up
- Kssta-a hamlet ssms half dszsn miles
west Of Asrsngs. and " are informed the
0rst settlers built here with the sxpectation
that their little settlement in time would
expand into eennsreial city se the 6rss
class. 4 liberal tract Of laad markso
Nv harf and Stsamboas Landing" On the
ofIeiaal plat s.iiy sastains THE idea. Rail.
road bridges and faelery dsus Gee. %, a
quistus . these expectations, and the seuad
Of whistle or plash Of paddle wheels have
asvsS delighted the ears Of nan il Iowa
county, and, indeed, beating On the Isws
eou'd never have been either profitable o.
pleasant, unless The craft dssignsd for its
waters had been built with wheels 90 that
when bend 10 its crooked stream prohib.
tied them from following their native ole.
msnt they eeuld master the situation By
taking . shorter cut across the souptry.
OF the hrst settlers in this section We
have, - we say above, no authentic infer
nation. That they were . reckless and
law dsfying class Of the wsrst type Of
frsntisrsmsn, the histsry sf their acts and
eutrages leave little doubt At enc time
they claimed, BY the right Of prs-emption,
oil the land aleng the river from JehnsoD
county up to the borders Of Tams county,
and woe bstids the unfortunate emigrsut
who settled within these limits without
6rst aeceding TO their demands. He was
"warnsd" TO leave, and If hs refused t.
obey the polite invitation he vas tslessbly
csrtsin to awake few nights after to End
bic cabin and barns In flames. For several
years these .'barp burnsrs'' carried thines
with high hand, but At last tine "Stsr Of
Empire" proved toe much for them, and
be advent Of class fully % determined
o sustain their own rights % the "barr
burners" we're 70 infringe upon them, after
several fierce battles broke their power and
drove many Of them rom the country.
Mr.. Wm. Downard in 1s46 brought .
stock Of goods from Isws City, and erect.
ing himself log cabin, opened the Hrst
store On the ground on which Marenee
now stands. At that time the village con.
tained three Or four cabins, one Of which
was hstel, and . population Of twssty-
eve or thirty souls. The opening Of the
6rst business house was an event in the
country, and the pisassrs cams from forty
Or fifty miles north and west 70 trade
Their parshasss, however, ~ ass tsld By
Ar. Dewnard, were quite in kespisg with
the simple wants Of the country and famil-
ice from away up 10 Marshall asd Story
counties wsald journey down to Massngs,
buy . lev yards Of calico and 'acetteu, }" and
return seain with their treasures to their
far distant hemes. The searest market
fes grain Was xuecatine, and I'VE We,ke
were consumed 10 making The reund tip.
Wheat was worth but twenty or thirty
cents bushsl. and corn was . drug 10
trade, Of which the pvrs man swnsd Ne
Verse be wss eoosidsssd - - in . peeu.
sisry view.
AZ the esustry filled up, The tswa grew
With Il. 4 line Of stages esnmsnesd rsn.
ning iron leWa City TO fest Des Meiues,
% the cid military read asrsss the State.
This sntsrpriss placed hafssgo il daily
eemmunicatien With the rest q he weeld.
30 slaAsd we're ~ people With sbis advan.
tsso that real estate, tswn lets, etc, Cd
vansed more than 6fty per cent 10 valus,
and the futuss Of Aa.sogs vas felt y b
secure. Il was not until The eailseed sooeh.
this peiat that say WY greet strides we're
made towards the feundisg Of city. Thea
~ lsng - il was ,he terminus ef Ne line, II
saridly decreased iAs siss, bsoineoo ed
pepulatiea. Az ths road oevsd en aaoth.
y season eftribelstlos svstt,ek the pes>
pie, and "hard timss" sostlel evee the
os0nusity like the darkness ever Egypt.
The tswn had grown ahead Of the country,
and like other aobitio1s villages wss cem.
psllsd 70 await the settlement Of the rich
prsirie lasds before . ssvival Of tssde eeal
be expected. New ferns ere new betse
opened, The wild cell 10 undergoing tha
prsrsrstery process ef the brssking plew,
Did trails and roads that ran - li1itwsl
over svsrybedy's laad are being fssssd up,
With the impcevsOeot Of The country, the
tswo 10 alss springisg up rspidly. New
hcusos make their appearance In every
direction asd eu oil sides ere - 10 net the
sure iodisstisas Of wealth aad prosperity.
TN sowH ~ - y
has population sf two theussaA ishabi.
tants. sixty o. seventy stores aud sheps, .
1ne sehoei heuoe. three OhusoASo. Oovso d
Il a a u n a = ~