Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-08-22

a. N. Cain Washington. y
- y = + y y i & u s. y = + y =
Wednesdays celebration at Agency
was truly an old settlers gathering IN
every sense of the word and one in
which tremendous amount of senti-
ment prevailed. Friends who had not
met for many years clasped hands
and recalled old scenes of boyhood
days when they trod the streets of
Agency and roamed the hills and
fields of Wapello county together.
Some there were who had not visited
the old haunts since the days of the
war of the rebellion Others left
when the country was in it's infancy
to make their homes in other states,
and all met yesterday either on the
train enroute to the annual picnic or
later at the spacious grove at Agency,
where the outing was successfully
carried out without hitch and in
manner most gratifying to all who
participated.
Afternoon Program.
The afternoon program opened
with music by the Agency band which
played for the entertainment of the
throng of old settlers, their wives
and friends throughout the day. w.
H. Fetzer, the newly elected secre-
tary of the association, read the roll
of departed old settlers.
Following the reading Of the me-
mortal roll the Agency double quartcS
rendered lullaby which was greatly
appreciated.
The Chairman, Jacob Lowenberg
fhnn irfr Nf hn
day. William McNett who reviewed
the history of the state in the early
days and told much Of young Nap-
clio county and the life of Ottumwa
in the time of the Indian. He said
In part
History in Making.
"Old settlers, young settlers and
everybody, | am pleased to be with
you today and gratified to have the
honor Of addressing you on such an
occasion as this when SO many of
those who have been identified with
the history and the very making OF
Wapello country are here. This ie no
time for airing ones individual views
and the theme must necessarily sug-
gest itself to one when talking TO an
audinence of old settlers on an ac-
casion of their annual outing. 1t is
pre-eminently time when the review
ing of old times and scenes with
which you'll old settlers are familiar. a
time when we meet the pioneers and
the early settlers of the county who
came here before the woods burned
and the red man folded his tent and
began his march toward the setting
I,-,,,, nh
fife corps, which was engaged in
rounding up crowd for the wild west
moving picture show whose tent was
pitched behind the speakers rosuum
some fifty feet, began bedlam OF
noise in opposition to which the
speaker finally gave up and officers
of the day soon had the noise squelch
ed and the speaker resumed), | lid
not a pioneer here having first come to
the county from Marshalltown, March
81, 1869 l did however, pioneer
northern Illinois and slept in log
houses and often aWoke in the morn
ing and had to brush the snow from
nv cot and make my way through
snowy forests when trails were hid
dem
Historical Events.
Reviewing the important historical
events of the state he told Of tie
organization of Iowa as territory in
1898, later in 1846 it was admitted
as q state. THE population of Iowa
in 1874" said the speaker, was
75,152, while in 1900 the number Of
persons living in the state totalled
2231,853. Wapello county was organ
lied under act of February Is, 1874.
It's first commissioners were: Lewis
T. Temple, James NJ. Montgomery and
Charles F. Harrow. The first license
granted was to David Glass to run a
grocery. The first officers were. J.
M. Peck, sheriff, Paul G. Jeffries, pro-
bate Judge; Thomas Foster, county
treasurer; H. 3. Hendershott, clerk of
district court in 1874 and county at
torney in 1916. The county judge
system came into vogue in the county
in 1851 and was succeeded by the
circuit court which took the probate
business In 1869. The first court
house was built of logs and stood on
the corner now occupied by the post
Office at Third and Court streets.
.Tha first court was called In he