Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1911-09-01

tist church. MI. and Mrs. SPOTS are
living at the same place. Their son
,Orville w. SPOTS is only twentyone
years old; he has taken the civil ser.
vice examination for United States
mail clerk and passed with general
average Of 94 per cent and was soon
appointed on the Northwestern Railway
Company from Tama, Iowa, west. He
is now on regular and draws $4,000
per month. This is good for boy and
it is encouraging to our other boys
and girls who often say it is no use
to finish their education. Don't be-.
come discouraged; continue on.
Mr.. c. T. Gooch met with serious
accident; he ran a nail into his foot,
which prevents him from working at
the packing house where his place is
hard to fill. He is good citizen. His
boys work at the Morrell Packing
house. Rev. P. M. Lewis has charge Of
the A. M. E. church here and is doing
well. They are well experienced in the
church work by many years service.
His wife and daughter are good work.
ers. Miss Hazel Clark will now be our
agent for the ensuing year and we
hope that our friends will give her the
news.
Mr.. M. NJ. Coats owns a nice home
and lot well covered with fruit trees
and fowls. This is the home Of Rev.
1. M. Gordon, P. e. of this district of
the A. M. E. church. He is strong,
aba divine and has made many friends
with the past five years that he has
been presiding elder here.
Our next stop was in Fairfield, Iowa.
Here we found everything doing nicely.
Mr.. Sam Sykes has moved his barber
shop to the southwest corner Of the
square. He owns beautiful home in
the down town section and it was
through his venturesome efforts and la
bors that the Fairfield colored people
own nice church building, built about
three years ago by Rev. Stovall who
is now building one in Davenport. Rev.
I. Bass is now the pastor. This church
is q credit to the colored people here
and too much praise cannot be given
Mr.. Sykes and others for giving their
time and money to establish this worthy
enterprise. Mr.. L. H. Moss is still
working in the Fuller barber shop,
which has been moved since last year
to the northwest corner Of the square.
Mr.. VIM. Smith is also working here,
They are both active young men. G..
w. Coalston is still working at the gas
plant. Mr.. T. w. Price owns nice
Into Ft. Madison we fell (but not
into the pen) Here we had been ac.
customed to meeting Mr. Fred Henry,
the baggage man, who recently died at
his home of heart trouble. He is
greatly missed in this city and state,
as he was a young man in the prime
Of life and the railway officials say
that he was one Of tho best baggage
men they had. In fact yha Wns the only
colored man in lows IN such ! capacity,
to d our knowledge. Hs III = very
aniab1e young wife and one child of
about ten years of age. He owned q
valuable home and home life to them
must have been ideal. We sometimes
think it is a pity to call such valuable
young men SO soon, while other worth
less ones remain. Mr.. R. Harper is still
working at the same place. One Of his
Miss Anna, has been attend
ing the summer normal school at Tus-
kegee, Ala. He has another daughter
graduated from the last years high
school class and two more now in the
high school. Walter Arnold is living
at the same place. Mr. 9. H. Eubanks
is still working at the hotel. He has
been here a quarter of a century. His
wife has the hair parlors and has a
large business. Miss Matilda Thomas
is sick. Her father has the contract
for carrying the mail from the depot
to the post office. He owns nice
home. Geo. G. Wallace is doing nicely.
Mr. Chas. Henry Of East Moline, ILL.,,
has moved back to Ft. Madison. He is
a brother Of the late Fred Henry.