The Gazette Davenport, Scott, Iowa Aug 1, 1850 Married On the 28th ult by Elder Jan Brownlie, Mr David A Burrows to Miss Mary Jane Glaspel, all of Scott Co. Died On Tuesday last, of Cholera Infantum, James Burton Emery, son of James and Margaret J. Bowling, aged 5 months and 14 days. Cathy Joynt Labath Scott Co, IA USGenWeb Project http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/index.htm

Chapter 15 part 1 CHAPTER XV LIFE ON THE FRONTIER THE REMINISCENCES OF THE PIONEER, JUDGE JOHN W. SPENCER - LIFE AMONG THE SACS AND FOXES - WHEN FRIENDSHIP CHANGED TO DISTRUST AND ENMITY - NEIGHBOR BLACK HAWK - INDIAN AGRICULTURE AND HUNTING TRIPS - THE WARS OF 1831-33 - STILLMAN'S DEFEAT AND THE FLAG OF TRUCE - THE MERCILESS SIOUX - A NEIGHBOR WHO DREW THE LONG BOW (One picture of the Entrance To Fejervary Park is included with this chapter) The following article was published in book form by Judge Spencer in 1872, not for general distribution, but for the members of his family and members of the Old Settlers' association.  It was, however, first presented at an Old Settlers' meeting in Rock Island county and subsequently appeared in the Union. Judge Spencer's long residence in Rock Island and extended acquaintance in Davenport and Scott county made him a familiar figure here and his experiences as a pioneer of this section, although his residence was across the river, will assuredly be of interest to readers of this history and for that reason "The Reminiscences of Pioneer Life in the Mississippi Valley" is here reproduced in toto. Judge John W. Spencer came to Rock Island, Illinois, in 1826, and died there February 20, 1878.  He was the first judge of the Rock Island county court and performed the first marriage ceremony in that county.  In connection with others he built the first dam at Moline in 1841, and in 1852, at the death of his father-in-law, Captain Wilson, succeeded to a controlling interest in the Rock Island and Davenport ferry from which his estate still derives a considerable revenue. ********************************** I was born in Vergennes, Addison county, Vermont, on the 25th of July, 1801, and after spending the early years of my life there started, on the 4th of September, 1820, for Illinois, driving a two-horse team for a gentleman by the name of Brush.  Having an uncle in St. Louis county, Missouri, I went there, crossing the Mississippi river on the 25th of October, at St. Louis.  This place had about 5,000 inhabitants at that time.  My uncle and many more of the early settlers were about leaving where they had settled, on account of Missouri becoming a slave state.  He and several of his neighbors had, early in the fall of this year, visited the Illinois river country and made some selections for farms, about thirty miles from the mouth of the river, at a settlment now called Bluffdale.  In order to hold the lands they had selected they were obliged to make some improvement on them which, having done, they returned to Missouri. About the 1st of December, in company with my cousin, who was five or six years my senior, with his wife and two children, we started for the Illinois river where my uncle and his party had made their claims the fall before.  On arriving there we found on one of the claims a log cabin, about fourteen feet square, about half built; it lacked a roof, a floor and a door, which we soon added.  Our horses we fed, and for lack of a stable turned loose at night.  In hunting for them one morning I found them about two miles from home, and as were turned on our way homeward I discovered a large bear on the bluff, headed for the river.  When he got on the prairie bottom I rode after him; the country being very smooth I found I could drive him, so concluded to try and drive him home.  Our cabin, at that time, was without a door, and for a substitute they had hung up a blanket.  The day being very windy, they had set a chest upon the blanket to keep it in place.  This chest was a very considerable part of the furniture of the cabin, being used as a work table, dining table, and a place for putting away our most valuable things.  My cousin's wife was busy getting our breakfast and had rolled out a short-cake upon the chest; he was at work outside the cabin, making a rude bedstead.  On approaching the house I hallooed as loud as I could.  The cabin stood in the timber and my cousin did not discover the bear until he was within fifty yards of him.  He ran in for his gun as soon as possible, and, by stepping on the chest at the door and putting his gun over the blanket, he gave the bear a mortal wound the first fire.  He then reloaded his gun and, going nearer him, fired a second shot, killing him.  But this is not all; when his wife looked for her short-cake, she found that he had put his foot in it. My neighbors in Green county, some of whom accompanied Major Campbell, when he started from St. Louis, in the war of 1812, for the relief of the garrison of Prairie du Chien, gave me the particulars of this trip, which I do not think are familiar to our old settlers generally.  We all know that there is an island near here named Campbell's island, but few know why it bears this name.  In 1812 Major Campbell, with three keel boats, well manned, and loaded with provisions for the relief of the garrison of Prairie du Chien, left St. Louis and came along without being distrubed by Indians until, at last, they reached Rock island.  They described the country here as being beautiful, finer than anything they had seen and they landed on a prairie, at the foot of Rock island, on the Illinois shore.  The Indians came to the boats and seemed friendly, trading some with them.  The next morning, while sailing on the right side of Campbell's island, the major concluded to land for breakfast, against the wishes of his command.  He landed his boat and tied to the shore, the other two boats anchoring out in the storm. As soon as the  major's boat was made fast the Indians, who were concealed, commenced firing on them.  These boats were so constructed that while the men were inside they were comparatively safe, but to cut their cable so as to leave the shore, somebody must expose themselves.  They sent out one after another to accomplish this purpose until two or three had been shot down.  Finding it so hazardous to extricate themselves in this way they changed their plan and by swinging the stern of the shore boat out and that of the nearest boat at anchor in, they managed to get from the boat which was made fast to the shore into the other boats, some bing killed, others wounded.  Among the wounded was Major Campbell, severely in the shoulder.  They now abandoned the boat at the shore and the Indians, after plundering it, burned it.  I have heard some of our first settlers say that in low water the wreck of this boat could be seen.  Major Campbell was now forced to give up the trip and returned to St. Louis with the remaining boats.  By the failure of this expedition the garrison at Prairie du Chien was forced, for lack of provisions, to capitulate to the English, and the island near where these brave men were killed and others wounded was called Campbell's island.  The Indians call a steamboat a fire-boat.  At a dance of the Indians, on Rock Island, I heard Black Hawk, in making a little speech, allude to this boat; he said when this boat was burned it made a real "fire-boat."  While living in this part of the state Alton was our postoffice, being forty miles from our settlement. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/Yl.2ADE/2316 Message Board Post: I am looking for information on William and Charity Gardner, the 1860 and 1870 census show them living in Liberty Township, Scott County, Iowa. Would like to find them on 1880 census or where they moved or obituaries.

The final part of Chapter 14 HISTORY OF A NOTED PICTURE In the spring of 1845 John Casper Wilde, a gentleman of considerable reputation as a landscape and portrait painter, made his first appearance in Davenport.  On his arrival here he was totally dependent upon his talent, which was of a very high order.  In 1846 he painted a fancy sketch which was the nearest approach to an artistical smile of which Mr. Wilde was ever known to be guilty.  He had neither humor of his own nor appreciation of humor in others.  He looked tragedy, thought tragedy and his conversation, outside of business and art, was never much more cheerful than tragedy.  This little oil sketch, a facsimile of which appears in this work, represented three notable characters of the village, each of whom at that time was personally known to almost every man, woman or child in the place.  They were collected at the well remembered ferry house and near the equally well remembered old bell post.  The bell there suspended was then furiously jingled, and often with disagreeable pertinacity, by those who wished to call the old ferryman, John Wilson, from the opposite shore.  The ringer was generally considered under personal obligation to stand at the post some time in company with his horse and vehicle, if he had any to cross over, so that the ferryman might, with proper deliberation, determine whether the skiff or horse-power boat were required by the nature of the cargo.  The large person of Antoine LeClaire sits in a buggy, to which is attached the notable old white horse that used to drag his master about the place.  Close by stands Gilbert McKown, whose store was on Front street, a few steps distant, and whose burly figure and good-humored face when on any street seemed a part and parcel of the town and directly identified with its corporate existence.  The third figure is Sam Fisher, as he was familiarly called by every acquaintance.  He then lived in the house later owned and occupied by George L. Davenport at the corner of Brady and Third streets.  Sam Fisher was the best fisher in the town, a good story-teller and had a most marvelous memory of past times and incidents, facts and dates, which, united with some peculiar eccentricities of character, exclusively and honestly his, has since made him a conspicuous character.  One of his smaller eccentricities is shown in the picture.  He is standing with his trousers turned up to the top of one boot and down to the sole of the other, doing a favorite gesture, and evidently doing the talking, of course. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L

Chapter 14 cont. (I only live about 10 to 15 miles from the Canal) THE HENNEPIN CANAL The part which a good system of inland waterways would play in the development of this section was clearly understood by the early settlers.  When Davenport was but a hamlet the progressive citizens were alive to the necessity of deepening the channel on the rapids.  River improvement conventions were held which were attended by delegates from Burlington, Muscatine, Dubuque and Davenport to the number of 150.  Such a convention was held in Davenport in 1846, but the rocks were undisturbed by the flow of eloquence for, as Hiram Price expressed it, "They had been there since the morning stars sang together, and they did not propose to be disturbed by long speeches or resolutions upon paper." In early days the canal as a means of transportation was held in high esteem and even after the advent of the railroads in this section those interested in freight rates well understood the benefit an east and west canal would be, January 19, 1864, a Chicago and Mississippi canal meeting was held at LeClaire hall and a committee appointed to secure an appropriation from the Iowa legislature for a survey.  The expenses of the committee, $350 were pledged.  In March the efforts of the committee at Des Moines were aided by the strike of engineers on all Chicago roads which cut off Iowa from the world.  The Iowa legislature appropriated $1,000, the first money devoted to this waterway by anybody having power to vote funds. >From January 19, 1864, to November 15, 1907, the date when the first boat passed through the completed Hennepin canal, was a strenuous forty-three years for the friends of the measure.  Meetings were held in Davenport almost without number.  The hat was passed for expenses over and over again.  Editorials were written by the mile and delegates attended uncounted conventions.  Congress was bombarded with petitions and interviewed by delegations.  In September, 1874, the preliminary survey was completed.  The following January the measure had favorable action in congress.  Congressman J. H. Murphy was so insistent for the construction of the canal that he was nicknamed "Hennepin" Murphy.  In July, 1882, the National senate passed an appropriation of $100,000, the Milan route was approved.  In November, 1894, the first section of the canal was completed and water admitted thereto.  In April, 1895, the locks of the canal opened to receive the first boat.  In the fall of the year the first coal was received in Davenport from the Hennepin canal. The building of the canal from Hennepin to Milan presented many engineering problems but none to compare with those attending the construction of the feeder ditch from Sterling south to Sheffield.  The canal is nearly 105 miles long, the main line measuring seventy-five miles, and the Sterling feeder, twenty-nine and three-tenths miles.  The canal is eighty feet wide at the surface, fifty-two feet wide at the bottom and is seven feet deep.  The construction of the locks and canal walls near Milan was the first instance in the United States where cement construction was substituted for cut stone in work of this sort.  The successful use of concrete here caused its general adoption by the government, the railroads and large contractors everywhere. The total excavation on the canal was 8,080,512 cubic yards, the fill in embankments, 5,551,378, making a total of 13,631,890 cubic yards of earthwork.  Timber and lumber were used to the amount of 8,250,444 feet.  The cement construction in the canal has a total of 236,348 cubic yards.  The Hennepin is spanned by seventy highway and farm bridges, eight railway bridges and two pontoons, has nine acqueducts, thirty-three locks, fifty-two culverts, eight dams and nine sluiceways. The total cost of the canal was $7,224,408.77.  Those who enjoy figures have computed that the concrete used in this canal, the first one to be constructed by the United States, would lay a sidewalk from Davenport to Boston. While the completion of the canal has not been followed by the increase in shipments anticipated by those who worked for its construction for the forty years when work was necessary to keep the project moving, it is confidently expected that in the near future the canal will justify the expense of construction and become an important link in a system of interior water ways that will handle shipments greatly in excess of the capacity of the railroads to move. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L

Davenport Democrat Davenport, Scott, Iowa Jan 14, 1874 ...Herewith we publish a list of the attendance of the Scott county pioneers, with date of arrival and date of birth. It will be observed that several, for reasons only known to a few, have declined to complete the record. Nevertheless, the list is interesting, and is as follows: Note- All those without figures attached are members of the Old Settlers' Association by reason of being married to old settlers. [Note: first year listed in when settled in Scott Co and second is when born] D.C. Eldridge...1836...1801 Rebecca L. Eldridge...1836...1811 James Grant...1838...1812 Mrs. James Grant Wm. Van Tuyl...1835...1810 Patience Van Tuyl...1835...1812 Cornelia Van Tuyl...1838...1838 John T. Carroll...1839...1820 C.G. Blood...1839...1808 Esther Blood...1839...1783 Mrs. C.G. Blood Stephen Henley...1836...1827 Arabella F. Henley...1838...1832 Allibone Morton...1839...1830 Mrs. Allibone Morton Wm. M. Suiter...1836...1826 Mrs. W.M. Suiter Geo. W. Fenno...1838...1800 John M. Friday...1836...1819 W.L. Clark...1833...1822 Harriet Clark...1837...1826 Louisa Baker...1838...1833 Georgia A. Garrett...1836...1831 Hugh Garrett Johnson Maw...1830...1814 Mrs. J. Maw Samuel Parker...1838...1800 Violette Parker J.M.D. Burrows...1838...1814 Sarah M. Burrows...1838...1818 O.P. Nichols...1838...1829 Caroline Nichols...1838...1833 Enoch Mead...1837...1809 Mary E. Mead...1838...1815 Lizzie E. Mead...1838...1838 John Owens...1838...1793 Eunice Owens...1838...1793 Elisha G. Burrows...1840...1840 Josie G. Burrows H.G. Stone...1836...1811 Hannah Stone...1840...1822 Ira F. Smith...1834...1805 Geo. Birchard...1840...1815 Elizabeth Birchard Margaret D. Mathews...1835...1822 John B. Mathews Wm. O. Hall...1837...1824 Mary M. Hall Wm. L. Cook...1836...1804 Elizabeth M. Cook Lydia A. Birchard...1836...1804 Wm. McGinnis...1840...1816 Mrs. W. McGinnis...1840...1825 Philip Suiter...1836...1799 hannah Suiter...1835...1801 Andrew Coleman...1837...1828 Frances M. Coleman Horace Bradley...1838...1818 Eleanor Bradley...1838...1820 Joseph P. Risley...1839...1839 Geo. A. Davenport...1840...1840 Wm. S. Collins...1838...1806 Eleanor Collins A.J. LeClaire...1840...1840 Wm. H. Gabbert...1835...1825 Henry Gabbert...1835...1820 John Evans...1839...1804 Israel Hall...1839...1813 Rachel Hall...1839...1816 E.A. Hickson...1839...1811 John F. Hickson Chas. H. Eldridge...1836...1830 Josie M. Eldridge Jas. H. Robertson...1836...1805 Lenvicy Robertson Caleb Dunn...1837...1819 Eleanor Dunn Margaret V. Boise...1837...1837 Morse Boise Miles A. Collins...1838...1832 Aug. Collins Jane Johnson...1840...1834 L.S. Johnson Montgomery Thompson...1840...1815 Nancy J. Thompson A.J. Lawes...1840...1815 Eliz. J. Lawes Elizabeth G. Illian...1838...1838 Frederick Illian Helen Holmes...1840...1840 N.N. Holmes Jonathan Parker...1838...1786 Naomi Parker...1838...1786 William Arinel...1837...1834 Jacob M. Eldridge...1836...1824 Mary H. Eldridge Emily Smart...1839...1836 Alexander Smart Dr. E.S. Barrows...1836...1799 Joseph Motie...1839...1819 Mary Motie...1839... John F. Dillon...1838...1831 Anna P. Dillon Mrs. M.A. Sanders...1840...1821 Mrs. Capt. Dodge...1836... Mrs. Darah Billon...1840...1820 Mrs. C.C. Cook...1837...1812 Mrs. Eliza Cook...1837...1822 Mrs. James Thorington...1838... H.V. Gildea...1839...1810 Mary L. Gildea...1837...1819 R.S. Craig...1839...1808 John J. Trucks...1837...1795 Mary Trucks...1837...1809 A.R. Logan...1838...1828 Mrs. A.R. Logan Robert McIntosh...1836?...1806? Mrs. R. McIntosh Cathy Joynt Labath Scott Co, IA USGenWeb Project http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/index.htm

Thank you everyone for the help to my question about the Annie Wittenmyer Home. I'll check out Google, the Scott Co. site and the other url's I was given and thank you Pat for the picture. Donna --

Hi Donna. There are many good historical articles re: the Annie Wittenmyer Home on the IaGenWeb Scott county homepage at: http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/. The Home was originally a soldiers training camp called Camp Kinsman. It was donated by the government, along with the existing beds, bedding, cooking utensils, etc. to the Davenport Ladies Aid Society to be used for housing orphans. Annie Wittenmyer worked closely with the Society to found a Soldiers Orphans Home and with donations from the public, they turned the camp into an orphanage in 1865. Elaine Rathmann Assist. CC: Scott Co, IA USGenWeb Project List Adm. for: *IA-CIVIL-WAR *IA-DANES ----- Original Message ----- From: "DJH" <dhynd@kctc.net> To: <IASCOTT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, June 17, 2002 12:15 PM Subject: [IASCOTT] Annie Wittenmyer Home > I went to a family reunion yesterday and was told that before the Annie > Wittenmyer Home came into existence it was a Catholic boarding school or > Catholic orphanage. Could someone tell me whether this is true or not > and what years it was operating or tell me where I might look for this > information. Thank you for the help. > > Donna > > -- > > > > ==== IASCOTT Mailing List ==== > Reminder! If you are changing e-mail addresses, please unsubscribe > from the old address and subscribe again with the new. > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >

I went to a family reunion yesterday and was told that before the Annie Wittenmyer Home came into existence it was a Catholic boarding school or Catholic orphanage. Could someone tell me whether this is true or not and what years it was operating or tell me where I might look for this information. Thank you for the help. Donna --

Chapter 14 cont. FERRIES CROSSING THE MISSISSIPPI Colonel George Davenport established the first public ferry between Warsaw on the south and Prairie du Chien on the north, a distance of 500 miles.  This took place in Davenport in 1825 and full crews were employed, both at the "slough" and the main channel, for the original ferry led across from the island and not below it.  The slough ferry touched the Illinois shore near where the freight depot of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific now stands.  The island landing on the main channel was just in front of the Davenport mansion, while on the Iowa shore there were two, an arriving and a departing landing.  The rapids current was strong and the boats, usually propelled by oar and helm, were naturally carried well down stream in crossing.  The first landing was at a point where Renwick's mill was subsequently built, and from this point the boat was poled up along the shore to a point at the foot of Mississippi avenue, from which it returned to the island landing.  Two oarsmen and a man at the helm composed the crew, and the rates for putting a man and horse across the stream was $1.25, or $2 for a two horse team, and sinle passengers in a skiff 25 cents.  While living at Andalusia Captain Benjamin W. Clark established a ferry at Buffalo before he moved across the river.  This was for many years the most noted ferry between Brulington and Dubuque.  In 1834 Antoine LeClaire started his ferry below the island, which put the Davenport boats and crews out of business.  LeClaire began with flat boats and his first captain was L. S. Colton.  At the expiration of two years Mr. LeClaire sold his franchise and boats to John Wilson for $1,000 and quit the business.  Captain Wilson was a man of energy and enterprise and at once began building new boats and conducted the business in a methodical manner.  He made commutation rates with the Rock river ferry at the mouth of Green river, whereby one fare paid the way over both ferries.  This arrangement was well advertised and greatly increased Captain Wilson's business and brought to this county many people seeking homes who would not otherwise have come here.  The Iowa Sun of August 4, 1838, announced that Captain Wilson had a steam ferry upon his docks which he would launch in due time.  For some reason, not now known, the boat was not finished until 1842, but when it appeared on the water it was found to be in advance of the times, and was taken off to reappear no more until 1852.  It was the first steam ferry on the river above St. Louis.  There were twelve ferries chartered in 1842.  Every town along the river had its ferry.  Captain Benjamin W. Clark had one at Buffalo which existed up to a few years ago.  In the spring of 1838 he was licensed to run a ferry at Buffalo.  John H. Sullivan and Adrian A. Davenport had one at Rockingham and Marmaduke S. Davenport at Credit island, which have long since gone out of existence.  Just below Buffalo Joseph and Matthias Mounts had ferries.  Avery Thomas ran a flat boat at Pinneo's landing, now Princeton, and Benjamin Doolittle had a ferry on the Wapsipinicon near its mouth.  These men all had flat boats.  Gilbert Marshall ran a ferry on the Wapsipinicon at Point Pleasant in 1840, which was subsequently turned over to J. W. Curtley in 1842 and afterward became the property of Judge Grant.  A ferry was started at Pleasant Valley by Lucien Well in 1842 and Parkhurst, now LeClaire, had its ferry about the same time.  In the county commissioners' court at Rockingham in May, 1838, the following schedule for licenses was adopted:   Davenport, $20; Buffalo, $10; Rockingham, $8; all others at $5 per annum.  For Mississippi ferriage the following rates were followed: Footmen......................................$   .18 3/4 Man and horse............................. .50 One vehicle and driver.................. .75 Two horse vehicle and driver........ 1.00 Each additional horse or mule........18 3/4 Neat cattle, per head.....................12 1/2 Sheep or hogs...............................05 Freight per hundred.......................06 1/4 It was also ordered at this meeting that each keeper give due attendance at all times from sunrise until 8 p. m., but that they shall be allowed double rates on ferriage after sunset. Among the improvements instituted by Captain Wilson was the ferry alarm.  Says a local writer:  "In primitive times in order to arouse the ferryman on the opposite shore the Stephensonites (now Rock Islanders) who had been over here in Davenport to attend evening services and overstayed their time, or zealous Davenporters who after dark had occasion to visit Stephenson in a missionary cause, had to raise the 'war-whoop.'  In order to discourage relics of barbarism Mr. Wilson introduced the ferry triangle, an ungainly piece of triangular steel which, when vigorously pounded with a club, sent forth from its gallows tree a most wretched clanging noise.  But it brought the skiff, though it awakened the whole town.  That triangle was immortalized by Davenport's local bard.  In an inspired moment he ground out an epic or a lyric or a something in seven stanzas and from seven to seventeen poetic feet.  We would reproduce it if we were quite certain our readers were all prepared to die." After the death of John Wilson the ferry fell into the hands of his son-in-law, Judge John W. Spencer and Thomas J. Robinson, then associate judge, and in 1854 Judge James Grant, of Davenport, was added and the firm name changed from J. W. Spencer & Company to Spencer, Robinson & Company.  An extended history of Judge Spencer's life was written by himself is given in another part of this work.  Thomas S. Robinson left his native state, Maine, in 1837 and landed in Green county, Illinois, where he taught school several years, and was county clerk for some time.  In 1847 he went to Rock Island county and there engaged in farming for two years.  The following three or four years he engaged in merchandising at Port Byron, and from 1853 to 1868 almost without a day's absence he was the captain in command of his prosperous steamer, ever active, pleasant and accommodating and attending to his business in a business-like manner.  The first permanent steam ferry boat that plied between Davenport and Rock Island was the "John Wilson."  It was followed by the "Davenport" in 1855 and ran in connection with that boat in those busy transfer times of 1855 and 1856 before the completion of the railroad bridge.  In 1857 the "Rock Island" came into service and the "John Wilson" was sold to the Fulton & Lyons' trade.  The "Davenport" became a government transport during the Civil war and eventually met the fate of all things perishable.  The "Rock Island" continued in the service several years, when it was supplanted by the "J. W. Spencer," whose successor was the "Augusta."  In 1902 the "Augusta" was remodeled and rechristened as the "T. J. Robinson," which name it bore in honor of the man who gave this locality its earliest ferry service and who kept it up to a high standard in the years that followed.  The boats now in commission, "The Davenport" and "Rock Island," furnish the finest service between St. Louis and St. Paul.  They are provided with the latest approved machinery procurable for such service and the accommodations provided for the traveling public are the best possible.  Trips are made between the Rock Island and Davenport shores every fifteen minutes, which are kept up constantly during the day and until late in the evening.  On April 7, 1888, the original license to operate this ferry was issued by the United States teasury department and April 26, 1888, the charter was issued to the incorporated body - the Rock Island-Davenport Ferry Company - with a capital stock of $60,000.  The original incorporators were Thomas J. Robinson, D. Nelson Richardson, Henry Lischer, Joe R. Lane, Edward D. Sweeny and J. Frank Robinson.  Thomas J. Robinson died in April, 1899, and his stock in the ferry company was inherited by his son and only heir, J. Frank Robinson, and with the stock went the management which the elder Robinson had wisely administered.  J. Frank Robinson died in May, 1902, and bequeathed his stock to Captain Marcus L. Henderson, a cousin who had been in charge of the ferry as general manager since 1896.  At the meeting of the stockholders Captain Henderson was unanimously elected president and manage, with H. E. Casteel secretary and treasurer. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L

Dorothy, No I don't know anything about her parents or family. Just that she was married to Hans Horstmann. Her obituary said where she was from but didn't mention any family. Pam ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dorothy" <rattlesbones@msn.com> To: <IASCOTT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 16, 2002 7:36 PM Subject: Re: [IASCOTT] Looking for GACHA and HASS family info... > > Pam, > Do you know the parents of you Magdelyn Hass? > I have Hass in Clinton County from Germany. > Dorothy > -------Original Message------- > > From: IASCOTT-L@rootsweb.com > Date: Sunday, June 16, 2002 4:12:18 PM > To: IASCOTT-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [IASCOTT] Looking for GACHA and HASS family info... > >

Pam, Do you know the parents of you Magdelyn Hass? I have Hass in Clinton County from Germany. Dorothy -------Original Message------- From: IASCOTT-L@rootsweb.com Date: Sunday, June 16, 2002 4:12:18 PM To: IASCOTT-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [IASCOTT] Looking for GACHA and HASS family info... Robyn, If you get any info on Magdelyn Hass I would be interested. My gggrandmother was Christina Magdalin Hass. She married Hans Christian Horstmann July 3,1857. She was born in Glenshendort,Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Nov.1,1835 and died in Davenport April 18,1904. I have no other info on her family. Good luck. Pam Range ----- Original Message ----- From: <theashtons@hotmail.com> To: <IASCOTT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 16, 2002 1:07 AM Subject: [IASCOTT] Looking for GACHA and HASS family info...

Robyn, If you get any info on Magdelyn Hass I would be interested. My gggrandmother was Christina Magdalin Hass. She married Hans Christian Horstmann July 3,1857. She was born in Glenshendort,Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Nov.1,1835 and died in Davenport April 18,1904. I have no other info on her family. Good luck. Pam Range ----- Original Message ----- From: <theashtons@hotmail.com> To: <IASCOTT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, June 16, 2002 1:07 AM Subject: [IASCOTT] Looking for GACHA and HASS family info... > This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. > > Surnames: HOBBS, GACHA, HASS > Classification: Query > > Message Board URL: > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Yl.2ADE/2315 > > Message Board Post: > > I have found the following people buried in Davenport's City Cemetery on the same lot as my 4th great-grandparents and their son. I am trying to determine if and how they are related. > > GACHA, Ella, d. 28 Jul 1884, 8 yrs 4 days, lot 268 > HASS, Magdelena, b. 1 Sept 1816, d. 12 Dec 1896, lot 268 > > Any information on these families and how they are related to George and Ann HOBBS would be greatly appreciated. > > Thanks! > Robyn > > > > ==== IASCOTT Mailing List ==== > PLEASE do not submit virus warnings, chain letters, or off-topic > material to this list! > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >

The following files have been uploaded to the Scott Co, IA USGenWeb Project pages. http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/index.htm >From Cathy Labath: 1900 Davenport Times Directory Surnames Dehn-Dittmann http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/1900ddir.htm Jan 10, 1850 Letter from California in re Gold Rush http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/goldrush1849.htm >From Joan Bard Robinson: The Conclusion of a Raft Pilot Log (pgs 279-308) http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/raftpilottoc.htm >From Elaine Rathmann: Civil War Era News Items- June 11, 1862 http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/cwnewsitems1862pg2.htm HISTORY OF DAVENPORT AND SCOTT COUNTY, IOWA Harry E. Downer Volume II, Index Chicago, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company 1910 http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/1910.htm Bios for John Langseth, Thies Nagel, Frank Maass, Isaac Sears, Fred Wernentin, Theodore Petersen, George Frauen, John Benedict, Joseph Skelly, J.C. Duncan >From Debbie Gerischer: HISTORY OF DAVENPORT AND SCOTT COUNTY, IOWA Harry E. Downer Volume I Chicago, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company 1910 CHAPTER XIV-The Great River. The glory and majesty of the father of waters - Description of the keelboat - An early trip from Cairo to Galena - A list of the early steam craft that breasted the currents of the upper river - Bringing down the logs - The ferries which have brought people into Scott county - The long-awaited Hennepin canal http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/chapter14.html CHAPTER XV-Life on the Frontier. The reminiscences of the Pioneer, Judge John W. Spencer - Life among the Sacs and Foxes - When friendship changed to distrust and enmity - neighbor Black Hawk - Indian agriculture and hunting trips - The wars of 1831-33 - Stillman's defeat and the flag of truce - The merciless Sioux - A neighbor who drew the long bow http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/chapter15.html >From Betty Vandevoort: Oakdale Cemetery Tombstone Photos- Schellhorn and Moorhead http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/oakdalecemetery.htm

Chapter 14 cont. THE FIRST RAFT PILOT "Captain S. B. Hanks, now living in Albany, Illinois, (1905) at the age of eighty-nine years, gets the credit for having been the first recognized raft pilot.  He saw the business grow from a single trip to a great industry in which ninety steamers were engaged regularly all season long, whose crews numbered, all told, 1,800 men, with a monthly pay roll of over $80,000. "The average raft steamer is 130 feet long, twenty-six feet wide, four feet hold and has two inch pressure boiler with engine thirteen inches in diameter and six feet stroke.  Some of them have very nice cabins with accommodation for the crew of twenty and a few extra.  The logs are driven down the small tributaries into the Black, Chippewa, St. Croix and upper Mississippi rivers, and then flooded and driven down loose into the Mississippi river. "Black river logs are rafted at North LaCrosse at the mouth of the stream.  Chippewa logs are driven down into the Mississippi at Reed's Landing, then twelve miles down into West Newton slough, where they are held, sorted, scaled and rafted by the Minnesota Boom Company, which company can turn out, when conditions are favorable, 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 feet per day.  St. Croix logs are rafted at Stillwater, where the St. Croix river enters St. Croix lake.  Upper Mississippi river logs are driven loose from St. Anthony's falls and rafted between Fort Snelling and St. Paul.  From these points the steamer tows them to the saw mills at Winona, LaCrosse, Lansing, Guttenberg, Dubuque, Bellevue, Lyons, Fulton, Clinton, Moline, Rock Island, Davenport, Muscatine, Burlington, Fort Madison, Keokuk, Quincy, Hannibal and St. Louis, while rafted lumber is sometimes taken to Chester, eighty miles below St. Louis. "The average speed of a tow boat and raft down stream is three and a half miles an hour.  Of late years several operators have adopted the plan of making their rafts very long and using a small steamboat fastened crosswise of the bow.  By going ahead or backing the bow boat the raft can be pointed around or kept in the channel much more quickly than the boat at the stern could do it alone.  Another point gained by this plan is that while the ordinary raft is too wide for the bridge draws, and can only be put through one half at a time, lengthened out double length and half width, double tripping the bridge is avoided and much time saved. "The business has seen its best days.  Forest fires and the chopper's ax have destroyed nearly all the good timber accesible.  The average size of the logs diminishes each year.   Mill after mill will close when its supply of white pine is exhausted.  One by one the tow boats that have chased each other down the grand old river will be laid to rest and rot, while their crew, who have waited in vain for the pleasant message to 'get her ready at once' will wander off, sadly trying to catch a land lubber's step and earn a hard living on shore, thinking often of the old familiar whistle he will hear no more." Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: HOBBS, GACHA, HASS Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Yl.2ADE/2315 Message Board Post: I have found the following people buried in Davenport's City Cemetery on the same lot as my 4th great-grandparents and their son. I am trying to determine if and how they are related. GACHA, Ella, d. 28 Jul 1884, 8 yrs 4 days, lot 268 HASS, Magdelena, b. 1 Sept 1816, d. 12 Dec 1896, lot 268 Any information on these families and how they are related to George and Ann HOBBS would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Robyn

Chapter 14 cont. THE CLINTON "NIGGER" "By 1870 the business of towing rafts by steamboats had become well established but considerable trouble attended all their efforts to properly handle and guide the rafts until Chauncey Lamb, of Clinton, Iowa, invented the famous 'Clinton nigger,' since then in use on every boat in the rafting business.  By its use the boat's position can be easily and quickly changed so as to shove forward or back up in different directions as the change in wind or course of the river may require.  The boat's head is made fast to the stern of the raft as near the middle as possible, and the stern is held in position by two gang lines of large ropes made fast on the stern corners of the raft and rove around the drums of the 'Clinton nigger' placed aft of the boat's center and amidships.  'Running the nigger' pulls in one gang line and passes out the other, changing the direction of the boat accordingly.  A boat hitched in this way can handle a much heavier tow than if hitched in stiff depending entirely on the rudders for steering and handling.  During the early part of 1895 the steamer Saturn, 120 feet long, twenty-four feet wide, with engine fifteen inches in diameter, four and a half feet stroke, made a very successful trip to St. Louis with a raft of lumber 1,584 feet long and 272 feet wide, containing over 7,000,000 feet of lumber besides shingles, laths and pickets enough to load a good sized steamer.  About the same time the steamer E. Rutledge brought to Rock Island a raft of logs 1,450 long and 285 feet wide, containing over 2,000,000 feet log measure.  Either of these rafts would cover ten acres but were brought successfully through some very narrow, crooked places. "Floating rafts are a thing of the past and many of the famous old floating pilots have long since crossed to the other shore.  They were a strong, hardy, self-reliant lot of men, accustomed to expsoure, hard work, long watches and the handling of the rough, boisterous men who composed their crew.  When wind-bound or tied up near some small town where liquors were to be had, these raftsmen of the olden time were much inclined to paint things a very brilliant color, and where local authorities failed to control them they generally hunted up the pilot to take charge of his men and save the town. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L

Chapter 14 cont. RAFTING DAYS Captain W. A. Blair gives an interesting description of rafting on the Mississippi river in the following article which first appeared in the Chicago Tinberman: "The rafting of logs began about 1845 and reached its height in 1890 when the Chippewa river alone sent out over 600,000,000 feet of logs, besides over 400,000,000 feet of sawed lumber for the yards at Brulington, Keokuk, Hannibal, Louisiana, St. Louis and Chester.  The first rafts floated down the Mississippi were very small, were carried along by the current and handled by large oars on the bow and stern.  The logs were rafted in strings seventeen feet wide and held together by poles across them, to which each log was fastened by wooden plugs and lockdowns.  These strings were fastened together into rafts from five to ten strings wide and about 250 feet long.  Delays by wind, sticking on sandbars or breaking on islands were common and while the price per thousand feet was very high, the proceeds of the entire trip were often required to pay off the crew. "In 1865 W. J. Young, of Clinton, Iowa, one of the most successful pioneers of the lumber business, encouraged Captain Cyrus Bradley to try a small steamboat hitched to the stern of a raft to push and guide it in the stream.  His first efforts were not highly satisfactory but enough so to induce him and others to try pushing rafts with better boats in the same way, which they did with very gratifying results. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/Yl.2ADE/492.1.1 Message Board Post: Dear Debi, I don't have anything on Caroline, I am looking for something. Sorry,Dan

Wonder if anyone is researching the Roberts and Roraback families (or if anyone had ancestors working at the U. N. Roberts Sash and Door company in Davenport and could tell me when it ceased to do business). Here is what I have. Isaac and Rhoda (Burroughs) Roraback arrived in Davenport around 1880 from South Bend,Indiana. Both were originally born in NY State. There were 5 surviving Roraback children: Julia Roraback ws born in 1836/38 in NY. She married U. N. Roberts (born in Wales) in 1868 in South Bend. he was the founder of a successful sash and door company which he started in 1866. U. N.Roberts had a brother, Edward L. Roberts, who married Julia's sister, Sarah Nellie Roraback -- so brothers married sisters. Julia and U. N. Roberts children were Edward C. Roberts born about 1872 and Horace G. Roberts, born about 1876. U. N. Roberts died in Davenport in 1877. Julia never remarried. George R. Roraback was born in 1829 and lived in Davenport until his death in 1911. His first wife was Margaret Lines by whom he had the following children: George Edward, Kate or Katherine, Herbert U., and Roy Roraback. His second wife was Maria Benedict and they had a daughter Marjorie H., who was a music teacher in Davenport. Uriah Roraback was President of U. N. Robert Company after U. N. Roberts's death in 1877. He moved to Minnesota in 1896/97 to run a branch of the U. N. Roberts Company there. He married Harriet E. Witherill in South Bend. They had at least 2 daughters: Marian R. and Myra C. (who married Dr. Raymond E. Peck) and perhaps others. Eliza B. Roraback married Marcus a Thompson in South Bend in 1870. They appear to have moved to Chicago rather than Davenport. Known children: Paul and Irving Thompson Sarah Nellie Roraback Roberts (mentioned above) also appears to have moved to Chicago from South Bend, rather than to Davenport. Edward L. Roberts had his own sash and door company in Chicago. Their children were Hugh M., Rhoda L., Catherine, Ruth and Edward L. Roberts, Jr. Would enjoy hearing from (and exchanging information with) anyone with information on these families. Joyce Steffel Chicago, IL