The Oskaloosa herald., 1905-03-16

in the tall grass.
Mr.. Macajah T. Williams built the
first frame dwelling in Oskaloosa in
1S45. doing the work with his own
hands. 1t was located on the cor
ner where the p~ostofice building
now stands. To this home in the
fall of that year he took his young
bride, Miss Virginia r. Sewers. a
sister of the late Judge ". H. See
vers.
Few anne are more closely iden-
titled with the history of Oskaloosa
than the name of Macajah T. VII.
Items. He was a graduate Of the
Ohio law school at Cincinnati and
was admitted to the par at the age
of twenty-five. He came to Mahas-
ka county in December, 1S43, and
as has been stated, was associated
with VIM, Edmundson, the first
sheriff in the organization Of the
comfy. He continued the mill the
Office of clerk of court until 1854.
when he declined to be a candidate.
In 1876 he was one Of the locating
commissioners to locate the county
seat of Polk county. One OF the
three commits sioners failed to ap.
pear, and another, q Mr.. Pinneo,
was taken sick while making the
necessary observations, and the
task Of completing the work fell
upon Mr.. Williams. When the stakes
had been driven fixing the site, Mr.
Williams said to the company of
men about him, Gentlemen, l have
not only located the county seat Of
Polk county but I have fixed upon
the site of the future capital of the
state" 1t is said that the crowd
went wild with enthusiasm and car
ried him about the village on their
shoulders. The sequel of that pro-
phecy shows how well Mr.. Williams
had studied Iowa. In the fall OF.
1854 he vas elected to the state leg
islature and again in 1861 he served
the county in the same capacity
with marked ability. Mr.. Williams
vas a friend of education. His,
name appears as a member of the
board of trustees Of Oskaloosa col
lege. The merest sketch Of his life
would require a chapter. He died
in Oskaloosa, the city which delight
ed to do him honor, on Sunday,
January Is, 1884, and ne rests in
Forest cemetery. pt..
Baxter B. Berry built the first
brick house in Oskaloosa.. It is still
standing on North First street, just
south of the Christian church. In
the year 1S4S Mr.. W. T. Smith pur-l
chased the place for four hundred
and fifty dollars. Himself and wife,
began housekeeping in 0skaloosa in
this home in 1849. Mr., Smith has
been a prominent figure in the de-
of all the enterprises of
the city and county until the year
1894, when he went to makes his
home at Des Moines. He was electl
ed prosecuting attorney Of the county
in 1S48 and the first mayor of the
city in 1853, and filed that Office a.
number of terms in after years. He
was a liberal subscriber to and one
of the chief promoters of Oskaloosa
college, as the records show; was
president two years or the Iowa Cen
trail railroad, and in all like enter
prises his name appears as al un-
selfish promoter.
So far as we have been able to
learn, the chief business houses in
OskaIoosa in about 1850 were as fol-
lows:
General stores-Street Brothers;
VIM. S. Dart; e. Perkins and Phil
lips C Moreland.
Dry Goods-H. Temple & Co.,
Jones & Young.
Tailors-M. Baldwin, James S..
Chew, R. c.. Campfeld and Currier
& Company.
., Boots and shoes-Wise & Matthews
and j. M. Whitney. .
Saddlers-W. S. Edgar and ]. D..
Fletcher.
Eagle Hotel; jewelry, Santler &
Co.; wagon maker, j. w. Rodgers;
gunsmith, T. Schriver & Co.; Stoves
and tinware, B. Goodrich; furniture,
B. ID. Perkey.
The principal lawyers were M. IT,
Williams, ]. A. l.. Crookham, VIM.
T. Smith, John r. Needham, VIM. H.
Sewers, Eastman & Skiff and A. M.
Cassidy.
The physicians were c. G. Owen,
N. Henton, A. Baker, e. w. Hyde
and w. Weatherford.
Steps were taken in December,
1851, to establish city government
Attorney e. w. Eastman, atterward
governor, presented a pc
tition from the citizens to the
court requesting a special
election at which the citizens might
be permitted to vote for or against
incorporation. The election was or
dered and held December q, 1851.
There were sixty-three ballots cast