Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1913-03-18

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n Meservey was elected judge at
the April election to fill the vacancy
and the Office was to be regularly
filled at the August election. w. N.
Meservey was again a candidate and
John D. Maxwell was his opponent.
The contest between these two can
didates was very spirited, the people
of Homer and vicinity voting for
Meservey while the citizens of Fort
Dodge and New Castle and vicinity
voted for Maxwell The election re-
suited as follows: J. D. Maxwell,
156; W. N. Meservy, 1885, @.
Notwithstanding, Maxwell was
clearly elected by a majority of 20
and no fraud was charged the can
vassers at this election being Homer
men, gave Meservey the certificate
of election. The entry made by them
of the election return book shows
the vote as recorded above Maxwell
entered contest and the trial re-
suited in his favor, but Meservey APP
pealed to the district court and con-
tinued to hold the office. When the
time for trial in the district court
came, Meservy succeeded in obtain
ing a change of venue and the case
was sent to Pottawattomie county
for trial. The Office was not a very
valuable one SO far as salary was
concerned and therefore Maxwell
failed to follow the case and Meser-
vey continued to hold the Office I'M
til after the county was divided.
The other officers elected at the
August election, 1856, were: Geo.
Gregory, district clerk; w. T. Wool
sey, treasurer; VIM. Register, sheriff;
C. c. Carpenter, surveyor; N. L. Os-
born, coroner. -
c. C. Carpenter had been work.
ing as surveyor during the year in
different parts of the county and a
good story is told of his first visit
to New Castle after the Wilson's
had opened their hotel. AS stated
by Mrs. Wilson, the number of
guests at their house was out of all
proportion to the means for COM
Portable accommodation and Car
penter and his gang of surveyors
were obliged to sleep on the floor of
the main room. In one corner of
this room was a bed with curtains
around it in which Mr.. and Mrs
Wilson slept.
Now Mrs. Wilson, notwithstand-
ing her rough surroundings, was as
neat and trim all the time as though
just out of handbook, and a great
beauty as we'll. Walt was full of
rush and enterprise, going in where
anything was to be done without re-
gard to personal appearance. He
was at this time working on his mill
dam, and was covered with mud and
tanned by exposure. In his personal
he was not a beauty. Mrs. Wilson
looked after the hotel and Walt
looked after everything else and
worked at everything. While Car
penter knew who the lanGlady was,
he did not know and had not met
the landlord, and when he was
pointed out to him he could not re-
frain from remarking: well, it's
an Internal shame that so nice a !
woman as that should be married to
that galoot of an Irishman.' Walt
didn't hear of this remark until af
ter acquaintance had changed Mr. |
Carpenters opinion, and of course,
when he did hear of it he could
laugh as heartily over it as anybody. |
Among the deaths this year was
that of a man named Crawford at
Homer. His funeral sermon was
preached by newcomer who claim
ed to be preacher and we are in
formed he preached a very excellent
sermon. The preacher must have been
an imposter, however, for the night
after preaching the funeral, he
stole a horse. and skipped out and
was never heard of again.
The first physician to locate at
Homer was DR.. Coyle, and the sec
ond was a DR.. Corbin, both coming
in 1855.
The winter of 1866 was the
hardest yet seen by any of the set
tiers and was great contrast to
the mild and pleasant one that had
preceded it. Deep SHOWS, billiards
and bad roads were the chief attrac-
lions. .t.
A. D. Williams, who removed from
this county to Montana several years
ago, in a letter just received by us,
says: 1--WE have had the finest
IL on thor in Montap, thic wiptar that |