Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1916-07-14
FOURTH OF JULY ADDRESS

FOURTH OF JULY ADDRESS
By Judge William Theophilus at th,
Cresco Celebration.
am greatly gratifed and feel high
ly honored to have been invited to joir
you in celebrating this day in my OLE
home county, where spent many years
Of my early life. 1t is pleasure and
joy to greet you and see again the kind
familiar faces of former days. Many
are. however, missing; they have gone
to their reward. Though hence gone,
their works here still remain. Thei,
kind deeds and noble lives bring forth
fond recollections of the early days.
How sweet, and Oh, how fragrant are
their blessed memories waiting down
through the labyrinths of time.
1t was on . sunny summer day, near
ly half century ago, first arrived in
this county. remember most wildly
how charming and inviting the sur
rounding country looked to me as our
train sped on its way from Calmar, and
when it approached this town and ! saw
in panoramic view the broad prairies
and the pleasant grove; and the train
conductor having announced that we
had almost reached our destination, my
young heart throbbed with joy, and
keen was my delight on seeing that my
new home was to be in country so
fertile and surprising fair.
This beautiful, thriving town was
founded just fifty years ago this sum-
mer, and what a splendid progress it
has made throughout the years. Today
it is the best town of its size within the
entire State, and Iowa, as you know, is
noted for its excellent towns.
The character and quality OF town
depends on the people who live there,
upon their ideals and morals. Every
town bespesks the ideals and morals of
its inhabitants, and the better these
are, the better the town. The found
ers of this town, in giving it name,
were prophetic of it's future. "Cresco"
is a Latin word meaning ito grow,
ito arise, "to increase" to be ad-
vanced," to attain HONOR
What an appropriate name "Cresco"
is in view of the history of the town,
it's growth and advancement. May it
ever continue true to the meaning of its
name.
l have a very warm place in my
heart for Cresco and Howard County,
for it was here l spent many happy
years of my early life; here live many
of the friends of my youth, and it was
here l was first honored with public
trust. Furthermore, it was here, in
the earth of Howard County, that my
beloved and sainted mother, of blessed
was laid to rest more than
two score years ago; and now her
sacred ashes are commingled with the
soil, thus making it tome a holy ground.
While celebrating here today, let US
not forget the early pioneers of this
section, for without them there would
have been no railway here, and with
out railway there would be no Cresco
today.
What sterling men those pioneers
were. They were the advance guard OF
and progress in the new
world. 1t takes more than an ordinary
man to go out in the wilds to brave the
and privations of the 'front.'
Ter life. The pi.neer settlers have
proven themselves to be superior
class Of people everywhere, and the
early pioneers of this County were OF
this noble type. They were men OF
firm faith in the future, and Of high
hopes and aspirations; men of energy
and enterprise, of industry and en-
deavor; men of strong qualities to win
the strife and struggle of life; men
with iron in their blood, and granite in
their bones, and the love of right in
their hearts. 1t required inch posses
sing these qualities to endure the hard
ships and privations of the frontier, and
to overcome the many obstacles that
stood 80 often in their way.
No market this side of the Mississ-
ippi, no mills, no roads nor railroads,
and no bridges across the streams. 1t
took week to ten days, with an OK
team, to go to market and return. Now,
with an automobile, the same distance
and destination may be made in less
than half day. The first settlers had
to contend with the terrors and depre-
dations of wild beasts, and the dangers
and devastations of prairie fires. In
the early years the winters were long