Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1913-02-25
THE PIONEERS Of
s. YEARS ! / AGO
The Coming Of w. W. Boak, W. I.
Worthington, A. B. Lakin, B.
Millard and Others saslss.
HOMER AS A PIONEER VILLAGE
Quite Rivalry Between Homer and
Fort Dodge in the Days Of
Long Ago,

l b
Hamilton County History: While
1854 had been an important year
1855 was still more important. The
| following is a partial list of the new
corners this year. w. w. Boak ant
| family, P. c.. Babcock, B. S. Mason
| and @.wife, Joseph Adams, Richard
Sacket, Cyrus Smith, James Key, /
E. Church, w. c. Wilson and wife
S. Wilson, w. l.. Church and family
and Mrs. Swanger (now Gillispie)
G. T. Adams, Uncle Jimmy Adams
and family, w. /. Warrington, John
Mcfarland, Israel Woodland, M
Sweeney. Huitt Ross, zera Hayden,
Jacob Duckett and wife, James
Duckett, e. P. McKowan, c. F. Kent,
A.. Hazwell, Morgan Hill, P. Clay
ball. E. Lakin, L. Lakin, A. B. LAX
in, B. Millard.
There We're of course many others
but we are unable to secure their
names. Most of the above mention
ed men We're probably married but
we have only mentioned the fact
where we were sure Of it.
THESE came in companies from
two to six or eight families and
though many of them started for
other parts of the west most Of them
made this their stopping place for
the reasons given by Mr.. Silvers and
Mrs. Wilson.
This year also made Webster
county center of attraction on ac-
count of the location of the land Of
flee at Fort Dodge which, of course,
brought everybody desiring to enter
lands within the, district, to, that
place AS a stage line was started
between Des Moines and Fort Dodge
early this year, most Of the home
seekers passed through what Is now
Hamilton county and many of them
were induced to settle here
Homer, as the county seat of Web
ster county, grew with surprising
rapfdity and its fame reached the
eastern states and it became the
most noted city in northern Iowa.
Had Homer secured the Land Office
instead of Fort Dodge, it would
probably today be one of the first
cities of the state, and the line of
the east and west railroads would
probably have passed through there.
But while It's citizens were building
up and swelling with Importance ov-
er being the most populous and pros
porous town in the northwest, the
shrewder citizens of Fort Dodge Sc
cured the land Office which took ev-
erybody to that place, and as mat
ter of course, where everybody goes,
great many will stay. Fort Dodge
now began to build with vigor
that surprised the Homerites and a
rivalry was at once started, and so
constantly were the eyes OF the
Homer people kept upon the Fort
that they almost forgot that anoth-
er, equally powerful rival was be-
ginning to spring up at Newcastle.
But Homer was the county seat and
she grew almost as fast as both her
rivals until the fall Of 1856.
AS has been mentioned, a store
had opened there In 1854, and now
early in the spring Of 1855. Philip
DERRICK and Benjamin Bell opened a
second store. The goods for this
store were brought from Keokuk by
Benjamin Bell, Ike Murphy and J..
n Bell, with OK teams, and store
opening up in the new town, with
three OK loads Of new goods was in
deed an event OF great Importance
and tended to remind the settlers of
the stores in the east How much
of the three OK loads was whiskey
we have not been informed, but as
no store was considered complete in
its stocks without that delectable
beverage, we have no doubt they
had enough to supply the customers.
These were the days when whiskey
was untaxed. and consequently
cheap and little black Jug could be
found under the bed of almost ey-
cry settler; II not for his own use,
TO play the agreeable to his neigh
bors when they called, or to have
handy In case OF snake bite, for
snakes were as numerous as whiskey
was plentiful. and nothing was
more plentiful than both of them,
unless it was mosquitoes and unoc-
cupied land.
Smell and Butterwortb came in
1855 and as both We're men OF
means, they branched out into all
kinds of business and came as near
tha 10 L. Il