The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1903-12-24
OLD oskALoosA.

Editors Herald The presentation
of Mr.. Dukes picture of the east
side of the public square to the libra
ry reminded me of my first sight of
Oskaloosa in 1857. Mt. Pleasant was
then the terminus of the old B. & M.
r. R., and the Methodist Conference
that fall met in Des Moines, in the
upholstered basement of the old
Fifth street church. Having Just
come to the state, and finding several
others wanting to go to the seat Of
the conference, some six of us hired
covered spring wagon, very much
like a prairie schooner" and drove
across the country on our way to the
capital. 1t was near the close Of
August, and we reached Oskaloosa in
the evening, and put up at the Madi-
son House. The day had been rainy,
and the roads and streets were quite
muddy. That summer the democrats
had nominated Ben Samuels, of Du-
buque, for governor. He was rather
an attractive young man, and quite
talented, and was in Oskaloosa, book
ed for speech that night. He made
the Madison his headquarters, and a
crowd Of his party and others had
called on him, and they had so ef-
fectually tramped mud into the of
flee Of the old hostelry that it was as
dirty as the street. 1t Is not my
recollection that there was then any
continuous sidewalk along the streets
about the square; but in places there
were two oak planks laid along, may.
be foot apart. The pictures shown
by Mr.. Duke and Mr.. McCurdy pre-
sent the view Of the buildings on the
east side just as recall them. Only
the central part of the old First
church was built at that time, and
the bell was hung on frame outside
of the church. The Methodist preach.
er, Rev. F.. M. Slusser, with whom
had been acquainted in the east lived
in small parsonage on what is now
A street. It is the second building
south from G avenue ON the west side
of A street. At that time very few
buildings stood outside of the old
plat.
Down as late as 1862, west of the
square, Roop's residence, ,mfil and fac
tory stood by themselves, and the Os
kaloosa college building was clear in
the country. East, w. r. Smiths
brick house, at the corner Of High
avenue and Seventh street, was about
the outpost, and the Macon house
still standing at the corner of Eighth
street and G avenue, was in the fields
The Forest cemetery was partly laid
| out, but Ninth street was not opened
and it had to be reached either by
| going across the commons, from the
| foot of Third street, or around by the
Carbonate road and. then west. The
roll of land on the south, north o.
the South Spring mill, was open; ant
there, in 1861, the boys of the frs
company sent from Mahaska county
to the war, were gathered for theil
final start, while crowds met to bic
them adieu, and each one received
a testament and other gifts to carry
with him on the march. North, the
whole tract of the Mehallen land lay
open from the west side of 'Marke
street as far east as the west line o
Forest cemetery; while north anC
west Of the cemetery, along the un
fenced hills and hollows, there was ;
dense tangle Of timber and under
brush, with here and there a littl'
oasis of grass. Some time before
that the Methodist ladies. had pur
chased a scrub COW, more useful thar
handsome. for parsonage COW. Ant
one time in the summer of 1861, she
failed to report in the evening fol
two or three days. So sailed forth