Alexander Clark of the First Iowa African Infantry

Posted on November 30, 2012 by SCblogger

Who would have thought that a man from the small town of Muscatine, Iowa, would have been the first person to offer to raise African American troops to serve in the Iowa regiment during the Civil War?

First, one probably would have thought it would have happen in one of the larger towns, like Des Moines or Davenport.

Secondly you probably would not have expected that man to be African American.

But that’s because you don’t know about Alexander Clark.

Alexander Clark was a man who was not afraid of a challenge. He wore many hats in his lifetime: barber, orator, lawyer, editor, entrepreneur, and eventually U.S. ambassador. He was also the man who sued in the Supreme Court of Iowa and won for segregation in education to end in Iowa more than 85 years before Brown v. the Board of Education.

And during the Civil War, he would become a soldier.

Initially, Clark’s request to recruit African-American soldiers was turned down, but with the ongoing challenges of the Civil War, his offer was accepted.

Clark initially enlisted 50 men by giving them each $2.00 of his own money—a huge sum in 1862. Eventually, almost every man of African descent in Iowa capable of performing military service joined.

On July 27, 1863 the Secretary of War authorized the formation of the First Regiment of Iowa African Infantry (later called the Sixtieth Regiment of Infantry United States Colored Troops ) under special order from the War Department.

The Regiment joined the War on December 4, 1863. Alexander Clark went with them, as a
sergeant major.

After the war, Clark went on to become the U.S. ambassador to Liberia. He died there in 1891.

The Davenport Daily Gazette, 11 no. 248 (October 26, 1865): 4.

(posted by Pat R.)
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Sources Used:

Gaul, Alma. “Muscatine’s Clark forged new ground in the Civil War.” Quad-City Times, July 26, 2011

“First Regiment Iowa African Infantry.” Roster and Record of Iowa Troops in the Rebellion, Vol. 5

Outside In: African-American history in Iowa, 1838-2000. (Des Moines: State Historical Society of Iowa), 2001.

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Time to Talk Turkey (Notes)

Posted on November 20, 2012 by SCblogger

Yes, it’s that time of year, when we in SC nag request Turkey Notes from library staff and present them to you. You’re welcome!
If you aren’t aware of the Turkey Note tradition, our best explanation is here.

But honestly, all you need to know if that these things are fun—and often pun-–to write.

Here’s an assortment of the Davenport Library Staff’s best efforts this year:

Turkey feathers
Turkey warble
Turkey leftovers
In my belly tomorrow

Turkey fry
Turkey bake
Turkey ate
The pumpkin cake!

Turkey went
Turkey came
Turkey enjoyed
The football game

Turkey hen,
Turkey tom,
No one makes stuffing
Better than my mom.

Turkey frantic?
Or turkey calm?
When your deep fried turkey
Goes off like a bomb.

Turkey Ballot
Turkey Vote
Turkey wonders who created
The first Turkey Note?

Turkey Clever
Turkey Pun
Turkey Notes as children
Were loads of fun!

Turkey Navy,
Turkey Brown,
Turkey Says
Welcome to town.

Turkey hobble
Turkey gobble
Eat too much
And you will wobble.

Turkey lazy
Turkey shirky
Meanie bird’s a
Turkey jerky

Turkey waddle
Turkey flap
Rhythmic turkey,
Street bird, rap!

Turkey silver,
Turkey gold,
Platform turkey,
Disco bold!

Turkeys gobble,
Turkeys quote,
Turkeys write
Their People Notes

See? Simple!

You still have a few days to get into the Turkey Spirit—why not continue the tradition?

And, as one of our staff suggested, “Read them to your family after Thanksgiving dinner—but before pie, so they can’t get away! It’s fun!”

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What’s in a Name? The Annie Wittenmyer Home

Posted on November 15, 2012 by SCblogger

On November 16, 1865, one hundred and fifty orphans arrived in Davenport to take up residence of the newly established Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home.  Over the years, evolved and expanded over the years as the original residents grew up, eventually accepting orphans from all over the state, and then any child in need. The Home remained in Davenport for well over a century, until finally closing in 1975.

On its 84th birthday, the Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home was renamed the Annie Wittenmyer Home by the Iowa State Legislature.

This is why:

Annie Turner Wittenmyer, a widow from Keokuk, was not content to spend the Civil War comfortably knitting socks for soldiers when there was more necessary things to be done. Instead, she volunteered her time caring for the wounded at a local army hospital and listened carefully to their complaints and concerns about bad food, filthy campsites, and the hardships of their loved ones back home.

Annie became a very active member of the Keokuk Ladies’ Soldiers’ Aid Society. She traveled to the Army camps and wrote long letters describing the conditions and needs of the Union soldiers. People all over Iowa responded and she distributed over $150,000 worth of goods to army outposts.

She became so good at her job that in September of 1862, the Ninth General Assembly of Iowa appointed Annie to the Iowa State Sanitary Commission, the first time a woman was specifically named in an Iowa legislative document. As the state’s first Sanitary Agent, Annie continued to report unclean conditions and request supplies, but she now had the official support and sanction of the Union government.

This came in handy when, near the end of the War, her attention was caught by the plight of the orphaned children of Iowa soldiers. She put her energy and contacts to begin raising awareness and funds and in 1864, the first Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ home opened in Farmington, Iowa.

But by 1865, the facility was hopelessly overcrowded—over 13,500 Iowa men had died, many with families and more were so sick, they couldn’t work. A new Home was being built in Cedar Falls, but it wasn’t going to be large enough to take care of the waiting list.

But Davenport had plenty of room. A center for Union volunteer units at the height of the War, it now had several unused training camps, which included barracks. The government was persuaded to donate the deserted buildings of Camp Kinsman (on present day Eastern Avenue) to the Iowa Solders’ Orphans’ Association.

Annie Wittenmyer herself oversaw the Home as matron until 1867, and while she only lived in our city for two years, her legacy has been part of our community for nearly a hundred and fifty years—and we’ve kept her in our hearts ever since.

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The Library Will Be Closed for Veterans Day!

Posted on November 8, 2012 by SCblogger

The Davenport Public Library will be closed Monday,  November 12, to honor those who fought so that we can be free.

However, the Special Collections Center will be open Sunday, November 11, from 1 — 4pm for genealogy and local history research (call 563-326-7902 for more information).

The library will resume normal hours on Tuesday, November 13.

 

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The Annexation Vote of 1957

Posted on November 5, 2012 by SCblogger

Davenport in 1940

At the municipal election on November 5th, 1957, the citizens of Davenport voted on a proposal to annex two separate areas totaling 28 square miles to the City of Davenport. The first area covered 11 square miles west of the city limits up to the Rockingham Township line (the town of Rockingham itself was annexed in May of 1926). The second area covered 17 square miles north of the city limits up to the Davenport township line, and included the unincorporated communities of Ridgeview and Probstei.

The main intention was to have the city limits on the north and west go up to the proposed new interstate highway (I-80 on the north and I-280 on the west). They were expecting that the new interstate would attract new businesses and plants near the route, which would bring new jobs and taxes to the City.

The propositions carried with overwhelming majority, with 83% of voters in favor of annexation. The first part of the ballot was to approve the 11 miles section and the second part the 17 mile section. This two part ballot caused some confusion among voters, with some failing to fill in the second square. The total number of votes in favor for the first part was 12,096 with 2,560 against. Part two received 10,565 votes in favor and 2,092 votes against.

The newly annexed areas did not become part of the City right away. Davenport had to file a petition with the Scott County District Court asking for approval of the annexation before the County could issue a decree. But first, the city would have to perform a title search, listing the names of property owners with descriptions of their properties. The City started with the area near Rockingham first.

On January 22, 1958, District Court Judge Clay LeGrand signed a decree approving the annexation of the 11 square miles originally belonging to Rockingham Township to the City of Davenport.

The northern area took longer to receive approval from District Court. As Davenport finished paperwork on this second section a legal case relating to an annexation proposal in Cedar Rapids went to the United States Supreme Court  in May 1959 (Anderson vs. Cedar Rapids).

The question before the Supreme Court involved legal notification of individuals holding any interest in properties within an area to be annexed using newspaper advertisements.  Because the ruling would affect future decisions, annexation rulings were delayed throughout the state of Iowa until the Supreme Court made its decision.

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal by Roger L. Anderson that month stating there was no substantial federal question involved in the case. On August 12, 1959 Judge LeGrand signed the order approving the annexation of 17 square miles, including Ridgeview and Probstei, to the City of Davenport.

The approved annexation doubled the size of the City from 22.3 square miles up to 50.5 square miles. The total population of the city grew to over 93,000 with the addition of about 2,000 in the first annexed area and 6,500 in the second.

Davenport in 1960

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Bibliography:

Davenport Democrat and Leader. “Annexation Wins Okay: Area Of City Is Doubled.” November 6, 1957: page 1.

The Daily Times. “Annexation Order “Doubles” Davenport: Population Nears 94,000 In 2nd Step.” August 12, 1959: page 1.

The Daily Times. “City Grows 11 Sq. Miles.” January 22, 1958: page 1.

The Daily Times. “Propositions Carry: City To Act Fast On 2 Annexations.” November 6, 1957: page 1.

(posted by Cristina)

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Just Shelved: Family Trees, Hoosier Histories, and a Generous Legacy

Posted on October 31, 2012 by SCblogger

Donald and Marietta Southwood were both long-time supporters of our Special Collections Center. They worked countless volunteer hours indexing and organizing resources and assisting patrons with their research.

Mrs. Southwood passed away April 1, 2005, and Mr. Southwood followed on June 19, 2012. Noted genealogists, they had amassed a personal research library of books, periodicals, and other items—many of them focusing on Indiana—which the family has generously donated to our Center.

We are still sorting and processing the Southwood legacy, but a small portion has already been added to our shelves:

 

House of Howe Rupp, Margaret Glanding
History and Family Record of John Treichler Snearly, Melissa J.
Rambo Family Tree: Desc. Of Peter Gunnarson Rambo, 1611-1986 Rambo, Beverly Nelson
Land Claims, Vincennes District Indiana Historical Society
Local Government Guidebook
Family Bible Records (2 vol.) Illinois State Gen. Society
Minisink Valley Reformed Dutch Church Records, 1716-1830 New York Gen. & Biographical Soc.
Old Sussex County Families Stickney, Charles Edgar
History and Genealogy of the Families of Fairfield, Connecticut Jacobus, Donald Lines
Afton, Iowa Spencer, Ray
Perry County, Indiana Rutherford, Michael
Engelhorn Family Englehorn, James A.
In the Footsteps of the Blue and Gray: A Civil War Research Handbook Brown, Brian A.
Who’s Your Hoosier Ancestor? Robinson, Mona
Genealogical History of the Maple/Mapel Family in America Maple, Telford Grant
The Flavor of Dubuque Aux.  of the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra
Athens County Family History, 1987 Schumacher, Beverly
The 1683 Census of the Swedes on the Delware Craig, Peter Stebbins
Index:  History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio Andrews, Martin R.
Bristow [Indiana] History: 125 Years
Holmes County, Ohio: Celebrating 175 Years Holmes County Genealogical Society
History of Delaware County, Indiana, Illustrated, 1881

We are grateful to Donald and Marietta Southwood for their time and support over the years and we thank their family for making their meticulously collected genealogy and local history resources available to our staff and patrons.

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Haunted Houses of Davenport?: An 1874 Account

Posted on October 26, 2012 by SCblogger

Nowadays when you turn on the television you see many shows on haunted houses, especially during the month of October. This raised a question in my mind. Did things go bump in Davenport houses long ago?

In the spirit of Halloween I decided to do some searching to see what the oldest newspaper story of a haunted house in Davenport might be (or even if there was one).

Older papers were frequently filled with stories of ghosts who haunted famous locations and faraway places. Tales of spooky happenings in London, England; Scotland; and (the not-so-distant) Canada filled the news during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. But were there any local ghost stories?

Access Newspaper Archives (online in the Davenport libraries) and our newspaper collection on microfilm did not disappoint me. The earliest account of a haunted house in Davenport that I found came not from a local Davenport newspaper, but from nearby Burlington, Iowa.

On July 24, 1874 the Burlington Daily Hawk Eye reported that Davenport had a haunted house. The short paragraph was located on page 4 under the Iowa News section.  It was placed between a story of an Iowa Falls man whose pet wolf got loose and ate many of the local citizens’ chickens and the Onawa Public Schools superintendent’s report showing the schools to be doing well.

The paragraph simply reads:

“Davenport has a haunted house, in which the ghost shuffles around the rooms in slip-shod shoes, bangs tinware, scratches at the doors, and occasionally goes out doors and drives the dogs into convulsions of rage by teasing him and inducing him to bite at the impalpable legs of the ghostly intruder.”

Unfortunately, no specific details were given to help us locate either the house’s owners or street location in the Davenport City Directories to do further research.

Whether true or not, it certainly may have caused a few chills to go down the spines of readers in 1874. Isn’t that the true point of a ghost story?

(posted by Amy D.)

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Local History Film Screening–and More!

Posted on October 18, 2012 by SCblogger

As part of our 30th anniversary celebration, we will be having a special screening of local history film footage from our Archive & Manuscript Collections.

The films will be shown this Saturday, October 20th at 1:30pm in the Film Room, located in the lower level of the Davenport Public Library (321 Main Street in Downtown Davenport).

One of the films  is color footage taken at the 1958 Mississippi Valley Fair.   The Fair took place from August 10-17 of 1958 at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds on West Locust Street in Davenport. One of the highlights of the film is Gene Autry, who can be seen wearing a red suit and a white hat, with his horse “Champ” doing his Western Review. The film also includes 4-H Club girls showing off their sewing and baking skills, adult and 4-H baby cattle and market hogs competitions, and the “Queen of the Furrow” Contest.

Another film is from the Davenport Parks & Recreation department. This black & white silent footage was taken in the 1930s. It shows sledding at Fejervary Park, the digging of the lagoon at Vander Veer Park, and ice skating at Credit Island Park.

The third film is a reel from a local newscast, labeled “End of Year 1966”. This black & white film includes a speech by Iowa governor Harold Hughes at the dedication of the I-80 Bridge in LeClaire, which opened on October 27, 1966.

The screenings start at 1:30pm—please join us!

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But that’s not all!  We have a full day’s worth of programs going on this Saturday, from Genealogy tips to local Civil War history:

Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. with Welcoming remarks at 9:45 a.m.

9:50 – 12:30 – Researching at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and Using the Draper Manuscripts by George Findlen.

12:30 – 1:30 – Lunch Break. You may either eat in local restaurants or bring a lunch to the library. Water and coffee will be provided for those who wish to eat at the library.

1:30 – 2:30 – Screening of local film footage from the SC Collection – SC staff will present with Bob King from Classic Films.

2:45 – 3:45 – Davenport Civil War Camps – Jim Jacobsen of History Pays!

3:45 – 4:30 – Davenport 1857 Map – Conservation and Content by Amy Groskopf.

You’re more than welcome to stay the whole day or attend the programs of interest—and maybe use some time to do research as well!

For more information or questions please call (563) 326-7902

We hope to see you there!

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Unique State Historical Society of Wisconsin Resources Shared at SC Anniversary Conference

Posted on October 16, 2012 by SCblogger

As part of Special Collections’ 30th Anniversary celebration we are having an all day genealogy and local history extravaganza this Saturday Oct 20.   For those of you interested in genealogy, or if you’re just looking for things to do in Wisconsin Dells this October, you’ll want to make sure you come hear about the amazing resources available just a short distance away at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.  George Findlen, a long-time genealogist and volunteer at the SHSW will present a program about researching at the SHSW.  The second program Mr. Findlen will present will be on the Draper Manuscripts – a vast collection of primary source genealogical research materials held by the State Historical Society.  If you attended the Quad Cities Genealogy Conference in April of 2012 you heard just a small preview of what is available in the Draper Manuscripts – now you can hear the rest of the story!

The programs are free and open to the public with no registration required.  Doors open at 9:30AM with the first presentation beginning at 9:50AM.  Stay for awhile or for the entire day.  Afternoon programs will including screening of historic local film footage, a program on Davenport and Iowa Civil War Camps and the first public showing of a recently restored rare 1857 map of Davenport.

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Oct 14 Genealogy Night Cancelled

Posted on October 12, 2012 by SCblogger

Due to low registration our fall Genealogy Night even has been cancelled.  Remember, in addition to our regular hours, Special Collections will be open for Genealogy and Local History research on Sunday, November 11 from 1-4PM.  Please contact Special Collections at 563-326-7902 or specialcollections@davenportlibrary.com for details.

We will hold another Sunday evening Genealogy Night in April of 2013.

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