Mower County transcript., 1903-10-21

wv EN- NOON11s m1NNE0UlAs.V w
Tis from these files. with here and
there 4 agleaning from some old settlers
story. thatI am indebted for the memo
randa that l shall present, muc h curtail-I
ed by the limits Of this occasion. s.s 5
IF ollowing the salutatory in the first
! number Of the Courier" dated Dec. 9Th,
1860, the editor Il quote the language in
substance) makes known to that portion
of the outer world hitherto in darkness,
that il the southwest. corner Of Mover
County there is avigorous, thriving town,
yclept Austin, and says, five years ago
there was5not a framed house upon the
spot where to-day we look from our
:sanctum Son four crowded. business
streets quarter of a mile long and
rapidly pushing each extremity along
the 6ne high bottom Of the Cedar Rven
1T now numbers between. FIVE and SIX
Ehundredsihhabitants. SevenSgoodsstores,
we'll stocked, five lawyers, two good
doctors; one watch and jeWely establish
ment, one good hotel, one grist' and two
saw-mills,, two cabinet shops, ytwowagon
shops, three tanning -milf Stops, two
blacksmith shops. one tanner, one drug
store, three shoe -fshops and host Of
dherS institutions which pH space will
/ NOT admit Of nientioning.'" r@1 IN
i Now regarding the population. I'M
doubtedly considerable allowance should
be maderfor the editor's sexuberantfanc
AS fact given in the Register in Sep-
ltember,-1S66s the population ofAustih
Village at that time was but 5777.SBut
with these enumerated evidences zof
growth,sdoes .itnot seemza strange con
! dition that at this time and later With
this people mo distinct provision Of place
had been made for.the burial of lis deada
The patriash Abraham stood before ths
sons Of Heth and said: II am a stranger
and ssojourner with you. Give md
possession of a burying place with you,#
that may bury my dead out of my sight
From our stand point does this apparent
neglect in the early days of this conlss
munity seem to set at naught a senti--Hs
1 ment inherent and prevailing in every
civilized community? Does it indicate
indifference to a Custom that in the
strongest manner appeals to one of the
finest instincts of human kind? And yet,
my friends that was kindly people,
! abounding in good impulses and alive to
all the humanities that claim PUBLIC
sympathy and support. This l have
learned while scanning the happenings
among them andhas increased my respect
for the generation. of whom so few re.
main this side of the great river. .
I Let US read a. record of November
1861, "Died Nov. 1st, Mrs. Puma Yates
| wife of Mr.. J. B. Yates of this village
4 aged p years. Where will she be bur
: led? Where. is your burying ground?'
} asked the>new conner. Henry Jacobs, o1
Mrs. J. L. Davidson, part of whose
store room he occupied, on the, site o
what is now: Mr.. Waldecker's building
II cannot say" was the reply. 1--WE have
no burying ground" Strange?-Ne
longer strange to me; for from those
musty records understand the stress
and pressure under which those mer
and women labored on the foundations
of fabric, the glorious cap-stone ol
which children's children are yet to see
Twas the genesis of new homes and new
hopes; a composite structure into which
at the hands of the laborers each mater.
;: ial must bide its time and take its proper
place.
Of course in these carly years there
were deaths in the community, but the
ones mentioned as occurring during the
period covered by the first volume OF
the Courier seem incredibly few, and
this fact itself is a striking commentary
on the vigor of men and women who
}learned to endure and who had become
hardened for every task before them.
That the necessity, emphasized as Mr..
L. N. Griffith has told me by the circum.
stances of Mrs. Yates death, for public
burial place had become fully realized
is evidenced. by an item in the same pa
per under date of March 10th, 1862. "The
cemetery meeting on Saturday last was
very we'll attended and our promin en1
citizens manifested a disposition to aid
the enterprise and do all in their power
to secure place for burial of the dead
!. And what transpired at that meeting
in its final action>is supplied by the copy
i of the certificate Of incorporation, writ
ten out on the opening pages Of the
Book Of Records kindly loaned me by
DR.. w. L. Hollister Of the Board Of
2 Trustees. .s:sz ~ 23
The following named persons organ.
4 izing themselves into an association
under the name of the Austin Cemetery
4 Association,-L n. Griffith, Solomon