Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-06-26
pELHI A PROSPEROUS
LITTLE CITY

LlllLt I'LL !
fCH In HISTORICAL INCIDENTS
PAST AND PRESENT
ol e of the most historic spots ir
Hawkeye state is the little city
&Delhi, situated in the southeast.
b part Of Delaware county. This
rmer county seat was where the
Erly history of the eastern section
4 Iowa was made, for Delhi was a
hriying little village when the pres
ut acres of corn and grain were
waving fields of slough grass. In
ian3, rattle snakes and wild game
lere the only Inhabitants of the
II Ountry when Chas. w. Hobbs forg.
II d out into the then unknown and
quilt his log cabin in the southwest
orner Of what now is Delhi. Soon
ther people settled near him and
p March, 1912. the town was plated
| tut by the county surveyor.
"A post office was established in
me town in March, 1874. and Mrs.
Efary E. Hobbs, wife Of Charles w.
Hobbs, was appointed postmistress,
: md for several years kept the mail
IN an empty flour barrel. In 1916 the
! county secured the quarter section on
which the town was plated out and
{ several houses were built. A log
| court house, started in 1912, was com
u bleted in 1886.
Judge Frederick B. Doolittle. who
still may be seen on the streets OF
The village he helped to bui.d, was
Ene Of the first progressive settlers
Sand it was due to his efforts that
the village was so successful. He
! ame to the country in 1S49, and
bought considerable land and went
into an extensive nursery business.
Heshad at one time over 100000 trees
Which was the most extensive es.ab-
{nihment Of It's kind west Of Michigan
IN longed to see this new town a
lthri Ting, enterprising little city and
fsave land and money to all worthy
enterprises. In 1s4s the first back,
smith shop was built by man
named Mitchell
The first store in the town con-
INSISTED of a little stock Of goods kept
in lean-to at the back OF the tav-
ern, but in 1851 Mr.. Helm built what
was, known as the "Blue Store,'' on
a lot donated by Mr.. Doolittle.
In 1851 Daniel Baker built the cd
Iowa House and in 1856 the Harding
hotel was completed. These two
hostelries did flourishing business
fors hundreds OF strangers who came
to Iowa with their pockets full Of
gold to buy the acres Of fertile prai
RE.
For a time the town was very
prosperous, in fact it was one Of the
thriving towns of eastern Iowa, but
lthe Dubuque & Pacific. now the ILL
Eois Central Railroad, pushed thru
e country and missed the. town
lree miles and the financial crash
III 1857, was a severe blow to It's
prosperity.
1Theso early days were not all
Z froNght with success, but many trials
( and battles marked the trend Of civil
sization. Several Of the early. settlers
fof the region were not upright, law
abiding men and these were the men
h who secured the reins Of government
and q loose, open form OF government
was carried on. Liquor was sold in
all Of the taverns in -hese early days
and it was not long before saloons
made their appearance and bite feuds
arose between the Temperance and
factions.
a In 1856 the town was incorporated
and "A. X. Eaton was the first
elected mayor, and S. G. Van Anda
second. and it was during the latters
Sterm of office that the corporate pow
ers were allowed to sink into disuse
and it was not until about four years
ago that the. town was re-incorporated
and ]. w. Swinburne has served tn;
entire time as its successful mayor.
T. z b ~ y j. : : 3
+ On the 10th of March, 1856, the
little village was shocked by the
cry Of murder" for violence had been
done and one Of the prominent doc
tors of the place, DR.. Stout, was
killed by one Of his own profession,
DR.. Sharp. The guilty man was ar
rested. but, escaped from jail, only
to be captured and returned blu:
was later pardoned by the governor.
Several of the famous trials Of the
county were conducted in the little
! court house Of Delhi and the old time
lawyers would come on foot and on
horseback to plead their cases.
In 1872, through the efforts of
Judge Doolittle, over $4,000 was rails
ed in the county and the Davenport
& st. Paul Railroad, now the G. NJ.
& st. p, was started. This gave
lew impetus to the town and for
severa' years there was a marked
spirit of prosperity. But by 1881, a
town had sprung up to the northwest
OF the county seat, the present city
Aof Manchester. which rapidly came
to the front with its excellent railroad
facilities and in 1881 the archives and
OFF ces of the county were moved to
Manchester This was severe
blow for Delhi and 1t suffered ser.
iOus decline. Families moved from