Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1913-02-05
PIONEER DAYS IN DELAWARE
COUNTY.

4 COUNTY.
j paper Read at Farmers instituted
s nave been asked to write some
thing Of the stories have heard Of
the Pioneer Days" and how they
managed In what was then the from.
tier, inhabited BY the Indians. /.
It was the spring OF 1887 that my
father first came to the Iowa terri.
tory. a little more than four years
after the Black Hawk purchase. He
came on government surveying con-
tract on the last OF December. Hav-
ing finished the work, he started
back to Milwaukee to spend TIC win
ter in a log hotel kept by a French
man. 3s,s. Z
He and his men arrived in Du-
buque; to find the Mississippi was
mot frozen sufficiently for them to
cross. they stayed for a week at the
only hotel, long log house. down on
the flats near the river. On Christ
mas day, rs years ago last Christmas.
they decided to venture and made all
their preparations. Each man car
ried long pole to test the ice. They
led their ponies with long ropes, fif-
ty feet behind each man, while their
belongings were tied in their blank
cts and then tied to the ponies so as
to trail far behind, making the weight
on the ice as light as possible.
Father, taking his compass and Jacob
staff. led the procession. It was sun
down when the last man was across,
as no one started until the one ahead
I was half way over. They built fire
and camped for the night. In the
n;,~~ kha.r 81 tod fho 10no frfn
by horseback to Milwaukee.
The following spring. with two
young men from New York state, he
returned. and settled at Bailey's Ford,
built the log house were they batch
ed it for four years. Dubuque was
the nearest post Office They took
their wheat and corn to Sage's Mill,
six miles north Of Dubuque on the
Little MaQuoketa. 1t took them two
weeks every time they went to mill.
They soon bought COW of man
near Dubuque. The streams were
full OF fish, game always plentiful,
half an hour after leaving the house
they could get deer, while prairie
chickens, quails, pigeons, ducks and
geese were always to be found in
the woods and on the streams. The
'lOASy UdIISl WI olOOu Al WV SSAh
er OF the ''leanto" was always filled
with wild honey. In their season
Strawberries, raspberries, blackber-
ries, plums and Wild crabapples follow
ed in succession; the former, were
so abundant they gathered and dried
them for winter use while crabapples
kept perfectly in the root cellars with
the vegetables
| SHhnJyt aNnGa1 W a ffron1ana IN q
large brass kettle hung on crane.
When hole came in the kettle
father bored 1t larger, filed the edges,
took a copper cent, cut out a; plug,
inserted it., then, by pounding, closed
1.-THE hole and the kettle was ready
for use. The bread was baked in
Dutch oven in front OF the. fireplace.
the old one l still have in good re-
pair. Candles supplied the lights,
and they added beeswax to the tai
low Of which they were made that
the light might be clearer and bright
er. ss.3 s + i. s5i TN s
Last summer, in riding past the
old Coffin place, my brother told
me of how the early settlers raised
and framed three barns in one day,
back in 1854 or '55. The timbers
were all cut and ready, the boards
had been cut the winter before, the
shingles were hand hewed, and some
Of the lumber had been brought by
wagon all the way from Dubuque.
When everything was ready the
neighbors came. Mr.. Jackson and
Mr.. Carter came from Hopkinton;
Mr.. Moreland, with two others, came
from Colesburg; Mr. Penn from
PENIS Grove; two men from Quas-
queton; Mr.. Minckler, Uncle Baker
and Grandfather Coffin. They met
at Bailey's Ford. After raising and
framing the barn there they all went
to Coffin's Grove and raised and
framed Henry Bakers and Clement
Coffin's, all the same day. That the
work was we'll done is evident, for
the same frames Of all OF them are
used today.
The first chairs that were made in
the Territory of Iowa were made by
man who settled in MaQuoketa.
Father heard he was making chairs.
3 ~ q a. ~