Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-03-10

| FROM.-We received a letter few days
ago from Semiahmoo 1.-THE reader can pro.
nounce it to suit himself, Whatcomc Co.,
Washington Territory, written by Rufus
Sylvester Clark, who claims to be the first
white child born in Buchanan county,
Our correspondent is son of Rufus B.
Clark, the first settler upon the spot which
Is now the city of Independence, and a
prominent figure in the early annals of
our county. Clark was true type of the
pioneer. He was hunter and trapper,
always on the wing, impatient at the re-
straints of civilation With others he
procured the laying out of the town, and
his wife, the mother of our correspondent,
had the honor of naming it. The COM
missoners, stopping at Clarks cabin, and
the question of the name of the new town
beng under discussion, Mrs. Clark sug-
gested: eve are all an independent set
out here, why not name it Independence"
and so it was.
In 1S43 our correspondent was born,
and is now 33 years of age. Shortly after
his birth his mother died, and her remains
at this moment lies buried in the midst of
our city. When his boy was three years
of age, Clark set out on his travels again.
first going to Greenwood, thence to ST.
Charles (now Charles City,, thence to Min
nesota, and SO on, away across the con-
tlnent to Washington Territory, where he
died few years since, at the age of Ga.
His son, since his departure, 30 years ago,
has never looked upon the place of his
nativity, but feeling that yearning natural
to all men toward the place of his birth,
he wrote US to send him a copy of the
BULLETIN that he might get some idea of
how the place had developed In further
arce of his desire for information, we
made up package of back numbers, in
Guiding the issue after the great fire, and
the subsequent Improvements, and sent
them to him. We expect to hear from
Mr.. Clark again, and as he appears to be
an intelligent man, his letters concerning
his far away home will be interesting.
Since the above was written, we have
consulted d.. Brewer, who informs US that
Clark is not the first white child born in
the county, that honor belonging to Chas
Kessler, now deceased, who was born in
May, 1912. The Doctor is quite sure of
this, as he assisted professionally in bring
ing both Kesslcra and Clark into this world
of care and sin The latter is undoubted-
ly Buchanan county's second son.
AN UNCIRCUMCIsED VANDAL. "A lady
who lives upon one of our pleasantest
streets, has or had-growing in front of
her house broad-spreading beautiful oak
tree, which had come to be regarded
with pride and affection oy all her house
hold, as well for its leafy beauty as for its
protecting shade in the heats of sum-
mer Growing thriftily, its far-reaching
branches had encroachcd somewhat upon
the front of the house, and the lady en-
ployed man to trim it up and clip off
superlluous shoots Surprising that she
had fully explained to him her wishes,
she left him to his work, which he per
formed, as the sequel shows, with an
industry, productive of unwelcome results.
At the end of an hour he summoned the
lady to inspect his work, when there broke
upon her vision a sight that took away
her breath with surprise and vexation -
Before her stood her favorite tree, the
pride of her heart and the delight of her
children, stripped of every vestigc of
its branches, an unslghtly, crooked pole
Her feelings may be family imagined, but
what made the situation more aggravating
was the demeanor of the cause of this de-
vastation. There he stood, solid as
clod, with countenance devoid of scnti-
ment, oblivious of the wreck he had made,
his broad face bearing upon the lady in
anticipation Of her approval Of his work.
We draw the curtain upon what passed
thereafter, but we apprehend that, what
ever his experience before, that man has
had new revelation of woman's wrath
when aroused, and has had injected into
his matter of-fact consciousness a new but
slight appreciation of the beauties of ma
ture.