Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1913-04-22

would be given; the bonus to be pal
when the printing office had bee
equipped. In spite OF the above yer
liberal offer, things looked some
what discouraging to the young edi
tor at first Times were very HARD
prices very low and money, which
consisted mostly of ''wild cat'' cur
rency, was very uncertain Blu
when he considered the fact tina
Webster City was the county seat
and had unusually fine agriculture
country to support it, he knew thu
hard times could not last always
and that the country was bound tt
settle and become more or les:
wealthy in time, so he concluded tt
accept the offer, and returned tt
New York for his family, and print.
ing materials for his office.
About May /, 1857, Mr.. Aldrich
had purchased the outfit for the
Hamilton Freeman and had it ship
ped to Dyrsville in this state Here
he was met by C. T. Fenton with
good teams, and the types and fur
niture were loaded in and started
for Webster City. The Washington
hand press was so heavy it had to
| be left for several weeks until the
roads became more settled and then
John Meeks with his OK teams
brought it forward.
On the 26th of June, 1857, the
first number of the Hamilton Free
man, the first newspaper published
in Hamilton county, and the first
Republican paper in the state, north
of Boone, was issued.
The people Of the country held
great reverence for the Declaration
of independence, but their numbers
had been too few, heretofore, to
properly celebrate it's birth. But
this year GS57) it was resolved
that all delinquencies of the past
should be made up and a grand
and glorious fourth was prepared
for. The festivities commenced in
the evening of the third with a
grand ball at the Wilson house
where the young folks "tripped the
light fantastic" until the national
salute was fired at sunrise. At ten
o'clock procession was formed I'M
der direction of Col. John Peake,
and marched to the grove west of
town (near where A. N. Boeye now
lives). A. Moon was president of
the day. Rev. J. K. Large offered a
very impressive prayer and J. J.
Wadsworth read the Declaration of
independence. John F. Duncombe,
of Fort Dodge, was to have deliv-
cred an address, but for some rea-
son he failed to be present, and S.
B. Rosencrans took the stand and
made a very excellent, though very
hastily prepared grafton. He was
loudly applauded for his witty
hits" intermixed with much good
solid wisdom which took we'll. When
the address had been concluded the
procession returned to the Wilson
house for dinner, after which toasts
were proposed and responded to.
fnIl oh oil
but a short distance from where he
was then speaking. Judge Maxwell |
bore down hard on land sharks
and expressed a determination to
stand by Hamilton county to the
last
1.-The Merry Boys of Webster City"
then appeared in grotesque costume
and danced on the public square and
sang songs composed especially for |
the amusement of the spectators. |
And thus ended the first 4th of July
celebration in Webster City, If not
in Hamilton county.
The peaceful tranquility of Web
ster City was just little ruffled
during this month (July) by the ar
rest of a counterfeiter named
Charles Stuart with about two thous- !
and seven hundred dollars of bad
in his possession. He was a !
bold. cheeky man, and when Judge
Maxwell fixed his bail at one thous-
and five hundred dollars he offered
to pay it in his currency, but he
went to Jail instead. He afterwards
escaped. however.
On July Is, 1857, the town plat
for the village of Mettamora was fill
ed with the county recorder. The town
occupied the greater part of section
20 in Williams township and was
owned by VIM. H. Merritt. This
town on paper was one of the finest |
a person often sees. and by means
of liberal advertisement, quite a |
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