Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-08-02
the SIMPLE LIFE OF A COMMONER
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

from?" Use up f'om de Souf. sab
and 'eH Use nightly glad to see
you looSS so peart." "And 1 am
real glad #speet you again, Jake
my boy; the 9Th seems to agree
with you." "a%N likin' dis heah
country; ahm livf. a. Clinton; ahm
married. Capt'n." 80, 1 hope
you are enjoying your vied life.
What has become Of Billy II asked.
Don't know sab, nebber seed him
since you left de army, ah reckon he
jined some other company" "Well,
good bye Jake, we may see each
other again and have a chat. l am
to be in Clinton about q week." !
said, but that was the last l ever
saw Of him.
At the General Conference Of 1868
provisions had been made for the en-
try of Lay Delegates to that body,
which up to that time had been COM
posed OF ministers only. so that
every Conference was required to
elect two Lay Delegates, in addition
to its ministerial representation. In
compliance with this new law D. N.
Cooley of Dubuque and Hiram Price
of Davenport were chosen; each An
nual Conference being allowed one
ministerial delegate for every forty
five members, and one for a fraction
over thirty. 1t was at that session
i was ordained Elder. having COM
pleted my studies in the course and
served four years as a travelling
preacher. No change was made in
my appointment for was returned
to Maquoketa circuit for another
year. which greatly pleased my
wife, as she was loath to leave the
fine parsonage and the kind friends
she had made ON the circuit.
During the year following. the
Iowa, Midland railroad. running
from Clinton to Anamosa. was built.
Most Of the way It followed the old
roadhed Of what was formerly known
- the Calico ftoad. q line which
had been projected and partly grad
ed as early az 1853. but which had
been abandoned for want of SUM-
cient funds to complete 1t. or for
some other unknown reason. 1t had
been dubbed the Calico Road" be-
cause what little the workmen re-
ceived was paid them in orders on
the stores, instead of cash, which
was difficult to obtain in those days.
1t was said at the time that two or
three men acquired much wealth out
of the scheme at the expense of many
others. The Midland first touched
my territory at a point mile or so
east of the parsonage and seven
miles from Maquoketa. The road
was built and has always been oper-
ated by the Chicago and Northwest
ern.
While the road was in process OF
construction 1t occurred to me that
we might make a little money out
OF it toward the payment of a debt
on the parsonage. So went down
to Clinton and interviewed the au-
thorities there. was quite well
acquainted with some of them, 80 ]
had no trouble in arranging for an
excursion from the end of the line to
Clinton and return. / contracted
with them for six passenger cars,
also arranging for q short excursion
on the Mississippi river as part of
the trip. 1t was planned that on the
night before the day on which the
excursion was to take place the train
should run out to Monmouth, the
starting point, and remain there un-
til six o'clock next morning. / then
advertised the trip thoroughly in the
Maquoketa papers and from my own
pulpit. awaiting with much anxiety
the time for the start. Five or six
of my friends went with me to Del
mar Junction, where we took the
train for Monmouth. The rOad-bed
west of Maquoketa being then in
course of construction was so un-
even that we were Obliged to move
with great caution. Frequent stops
were made to let down fence rails
which had been placed across the
road to keep the cattle off the track.
In the morning these rails were all
removed and there was nothing to
interfere with the running of the
train, so at the appointed time, with
a g0odly number from Monmouth
and adjacent country, amid much
blowing of whistles and great mer-
riment among the passengers. we
made the start. The train filled up
as we pushed on. until at Delmar the
cars became so jammed that the
crowd overdowed into the express
car against the protest OF the train