Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-07-03

luLlOn IN our power LOT having 30 lOuS
.pheld one of the most fatal decisions !,
hat ever took possession of the human
mind. Continued next week.
OLD SETTLERS MEETING.
Continued from lst page.
F. L. Minkler.
When member of your program
committee asked me if would talk a
little to the old settlers meeting, / asked
what should talk about, he said, 80
tell some of the Old Settler Stories,
l thought--rm only boy-I stopped
to think glanced toward my wife
/ noticed that her once brown tresses
were silvered DER with gray turned
to the mirror, beheld the burrows and
folds of my own countenance-around
me fitted and prattled olive branches
Il pondered-I wandered away back to
the old Buckeye state where was born
and fully realized that had passed the
time "when manhoods morning touch
es noon." On counting over the years l
found it was AZ years ago this month
that my parents with their small family
started out with relatives, travelling
with teams for new home in the rich
country of the west. l remember the
journey quite well, though only elk
years of age. The children walked on
the road, playing by the way. Many
incidents which occurred added inter
est to the journey. We did our cooking
by the roadside and depended on the
hospitality of settlers along the road
for shelter at night, carrying our own
bedding with US. Taverns at that time
were very scarce.
/ remember one day my little cousin
Tina Haines, now Mrs. Squires in
western Iowa, fell into deep creek.
Her mother Immediately plunged in
after her. After considerable excite
and no little difficulty both were re-
stored to dry ground in safety.
When we passed through the little
town of Chicago with its muddy dingy
roads, we little thought we were travel
ing over valuable ground. We could
not peer out into the future and see in less
than half century, the great metropo-
| lis of the west. So on we went till we
reached the rocks and hills of Du-
buque, crossing the Mississippi on q
ferryboat and on to Collins Grove, stop
ping first at Uncle Russell Minkler's
where we received hearty welcome.
Cousin Laura Minkler, whom many
will remember, was one of the little
cousins who adorned that home and
continued source of pleasure and
pride to all her relatives till twelve
years ago when she was called to join
the silent majority.
1t is with reverence that / look back
to some of those noble men and women
who inhabited that part of Delaware
county. Judge Coffin, Henry Baker,
Uncle Harvey and Hiram Minkler, A.
A r.. Sullivan, Frank Smith and others.
II All but the last named have once more
emigrated to a fairer and better land,
!, but they were all noble men. They
were among the early permanent sett-
llers of this county. 1t is said "God
) sifted fine Kingdoms to find the wheat
!, for his planting in the far east, and
Il then he sifted this wheat" And these
were indeed some of that wheat, these
sturdy men who came westward and
helped to make our county what it is
to-day. They came in time to meet
and neighbor with the red man of the
forest. But the poor red man yielded
to this brave and steadfast race
.Time has fled and on the hallowed ground
His highest pine lies low
And cities swell where forests frowned
some sixty years ago.
We have lived to see little village
called burlington grow into the now
thriving city of Manchester, with its
! busy thoroughfares, its magnificent
. court house, fine residences, elegant
!. school buildings, church editices tt
i numerous to mention where ministers
;, maui the English language into poetic
: shape, sanitariums where all the dis
: eases known to humanity can be cured
: and whose doctors can treat man a.
successfully and kill him as scientific
ally as the most learned. Innumerablt
law offices potted here and there witt
u attorneys who can relieve their clients
of their cares and cash as smoothly anc
quickly as any of the oily tongned prac
ticioners of the day.
: 1t is interesting to note the changes
q of the past half century. In the earl!
9 days of which we are speaking thu
$ settlers had to 60 to Dubuque or SOM
IS equally far distant point for mail ant
9 market. Now we have home marke
at our very door for everything from
scrap iron to stale eggs, for hay which
/ is a sure promoter of the heayes, to tn
e tuber in the scar and yellow leaf, from
y the ancient COW to the mule that neve
kicks, In fact there is everything Il
stimulate and encourage every produc
b er of salable and unstable products t,
8 stick closely to this loyal settlement. Ii
9 the olden time we went to market
s church, weddings and funerals in tn
OK cart, lumber wagon, or on horse b ok
7 now we have cushioned spring surreys
: traps and top buggies with Baily loops
IL long distance axle, spring bars, hea,
o springs and springs that don't spring
:, patent curtain fasteners, panel backs
II silver trimmings and high art decora
k tions.
l. The mode of farming has undergon
y changes. The scythe and cradle hav
y passed almost into oblivion and thei
It places are filled by the modern move
d and harvesting machines. The occupa
tions that were open TO the young maj
g of 40 or 5oyears ago were compartivel.
r few to the many and multiplied calling
q we have developed in Delaware count,
2 Since.
The telephone and telegraph, tn