The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1908-12-10

walnut, split it up, dressed the boards
thus made, and put together very re.
spectacle cCfin for one of his neighbors
who had died. For making corn meal
the grating method was sometimes used
by this means the corn was scraped Ii
the cob by hand on continuance like
a huge nutmeg CRATER. Others used a
sweep. On the lower end of a susj-
pended pole was block of wood in
which an iron wedge was inserted with
which the corn placed in cavity hol.
lowed out of the top of stump was
pounded into meal by working the sweep
up and down.
In the forties the nearest mill was
about four miles below Princeton, Mis-
souri,, about twenty-five miles away.
In the course of time Allen Scott put
up horse mill for grinding corn, the
patrons usually furnished the power.
which at first was more frequently by
oxen than by horses. In the latter half
of the tifties several mills were erected,
some of them were run by steam and
others by water power. In 1854 d. G.
Cowles built saw mill at Davis City
for William Davis, and two or three
years later Royal Richardson, William
Shook, John Mark and John Clark put
mp mills in the south and east parts
of the township.
Calicoes, blankets, coffee and such
things were sometimes obtained from
the Indians who brought them from
Council Bluffs and Fort Des Moines
when they went to those agencies to
draw their allowances from the govern
ment. Allen Scott opened the first
store which he kept at his farm house,
and in partnership with him for a time
was a man named Foster. The first
post office was also kept here, and was
named Nine Eagles, of which Governor
Ujhazy, hungarian refugee, was the
first postmaster. The mail was brought
by way of Princeton, Missouri.
The first school was taught in va
Gated cabin on the Hamilton place,
about mile northwest of where Pleas
anton is now. Cole Seymour was per-
haps the first teacher, followed by jim
Dunkerson, Mir. Tillery and Gideon p.
Walker; the latter teaching several
terms. The teachers were paid by sub
scription, and the length of the terms
depended on the amount of money rais-
ed in this way.
The village of Pleasanton was laid
out in the spring of 1854 by Daniel Bar
tholow, and named Pleasant Plains.
One half Of the land was given by Bar
tholow, and the other half William
Shook. The first store was kept by G..
M. Hinhle, who lived on farm now
occupied by John Mccormick, about a
mile and half northwest of the town,
Later there were stores by Greenville
Watson, jeff Gardner, Isaac Waldrup
and James Alfrey, who first served in a
store belonging to Ballou and Pritch-
ard, and afterwards set up for him
self. Tom Majors, afterward candidate
for governor Of Nebraska on the repub-
lican ticket, had large stock of goods
In 1888. The goods were at first
brought in by OK teams from Keokuk
and Burlington on the Mississippi, and
from Brunswick and st. Joe on the
Missouri. Later they were hauled from
Ottumwa after the main line of the Chi
cago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
reached there. The hauling of the
goods from those points gave consider
able occupation to men and teams, help
ing materially to piece out the means of
living, and giving start in the acquir-
ing of property.
At an early day William Shook enter
tanned travellers, later Joel Painter kept
a licensed hotel on the lot where the
Pleasanton Bank now stands. Royal
Richardson opened his hotel in 1861.
DIR. David Macy, was the first physi-
clan and located in Pleasanton in 1855;
DIR. broadening, now of Lineville, was
at Pleasanton for year or more, when
he first entered upon the practice of his
profession, about 1856. DR.. P. Il. Null
linnix located for practice here in 1850.
DR.. W. Il. Peters also that year.
When W. s. Warnock, who had been
admitted to the Ohio bar in 1853, struck
Pleasanton i'll the fall of 1865, on his
way to the west in the search for
health, and incidentally looking for an
opportunity to teach school, there was
no school building in the village. Some
of the public spirited citizens learning
that he wished to teach asked him to
tarry few days while they erected a
school honse. He did so. The men of
the village went to work with will, re-
paired to the timber, cut logs, hauled
them to site just back Of where Mr..
Richardson's present residence is, and
in less than two weeks had a building
ready for occupancy. True, it hardly
came up to the standard of modern
city school, with its log walls, puncheon
floor, and elapboard roof, it's seats of
split logs with wooden pegs for legs.
Nevertheless it served a good purpose,
being used as a meeting house for re-
ligious services as we'll as for day
school. There were meetings for Bible
study and later, Sunday School.
Mr.. Isaac Waldrup, merchant of the
town, preached there with much ac-
ceptance.
DR.. Forbes had school in log cabin
on the site of the old Interstate Index
office. The floor of the cabin had not
been laid and the log sleepers were
used for seats, yet the instruction i'm
parted served it's purpose in the de-
velopment Of the youthful mind as we'll
as that given today on seats of the lat
est design and mechanism.
Education was considered of such
great Importance by the citizens that a
building known as the College was
erected for educational purposes in the
late fifties. 1t was two-story frame
building, 40x6O, and was built by pri-
vol n hcan q