Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-12-29
Mound in Riverside, Showing
Last Resting Place OF Pioneer,
Without Monument
WAS FATHER OF MARsHALLTowN
While Tombstone Stands in Freight
Depot, Adding Storage Charges Daily,
Grave Of Man Who Did Much For
Marshalltown Remains Unmarked
Misunderstanding as to Order.

the grave Of the late Henry Arson
stands unclaimed in the freight depot
OF the Chicago Great Western railway
in this city, all that is mortal of the
Father of Marshalltown" lies in All
unmarked grave in Riverside.
For about two years there has been
rough granite stone bearing the name
or Henry Arson. The freight charges
from Chicago were paid, but because
tile stone has never been claimed, stor-
age charges are accommodating rapidly,
at the rate Of 10 cents for every day,
exclusive of Sundays and holidays
How long this condition is to remain
Il, not known.
Misunderstanding as to Monument.
From all that can be learned from
members of the family and those who
s.re intimate with the family, a mis-
understanding has arisen as to the or
tering of the monument for Henry
.Anson. Capt. Adrian C. Arson, of Chi
cago, son of Henry Anson, ordered the
monument of Blake & Co, Chicago,
and, according to friends of the family
here, it was to have cost $3.50, deliv-
,sred in Marshalltown, and set up on
the Arson family lot.
+ It is said that Captain Arson under
stood his uncle, Horace A. Arson, Of
NJ o;t 70 hot 1,a n
$500 Of the cost price Of the tombstone
but this Horace Arson today denies,
Captain Arson, it is said, has ex-
pressed willingness to pay the rest
of the cost, but not the entire outlay
which, according to his claim, other
relatives were to share.
Owned Lot Together.
The Arson lot in Riverside was
purchased jointly by the two brothers,
Henry and Horace. 1t was the under
standing Of some Of the members OF
the family that an agreement had been
arrived at between the two brothers to
the effect that the last surviving should
see that a suitable monument was
erected on the lot. This Horace Arson
says is not true. He and his brother
llS says, Ildu Vc1lhCu I'll OuSiIIS q ihod
|ument together, but there was never
any understanding or agreement con-
corning it,
Willing to Contribute.
Horace Arson, when asked today
about the cause Of the monument or
dered lying unclaimed at the freight
depot. said: "Why is 1T there, or WHY
it has never been claimed, do not
know. told 'Ady,' when he was out
here the las. time, that II he wanted
to we would go in together and buy a
monument. I never heard anything
from him, and never knew that he had
taken any action until heard that the
monument was here, and had been here
for some time. / never knew what it
cost, and don't know today. am still
willing to go in on monument. but l
don't propose to let .Ady' or any one
else buy a monument that / am sup
posed to help pay for without first
consulting me. Before it goes on my
lot / want to know what it is, and
how much 1t cost"
Was Father OF Marshalltown.
Henry Arson has popularity been
termed the Father of Marshalltown,"
and there is more truth than fiction
in 50 styling him. He was one of the
first men to decide that there was a
future in the wilderness where Mar
shalltown now stands; he owned much
Of the land, including the tract that
he gave to ithe county on which the
present court house now, stands. Henry
Arson was one of the men who sue
cessfully carried Marshalltown thru its
political warfare over the location Of
the county seat. and wrested the prize
from Marietta He Wes public spirited.
possibly to q fault, or at least to the
8detriment of his personal fortune. His
death, on Nov. 80, 1905, was the signal
for expressions of universal sorrow
thruout the city, and his body, resting
in the corridor of the court house, ana
surrounded by the most floral display
from public sources that has ever
been witnessed in MarshalltoWn, was
viewed by hundreds of people who
realized that Marshalltown had lost
one Of its best friends.
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