Davenport’s first daily newspaper

Posted on October 13, 2011 by SCblogger

Volume 1, Number 1 of the Daily Davenport Gazette* was published on Monday, October 16th, 1854. It was the first daily newspaper ever published in Davenport. The Gazette had been published weekly for the previous 13 years, and started out with about one hundred and fifty subscribers. Since 1849, Davenport had grown from “a hamlet of a few houses” to a population of over six thousand, and the people in the community were asking for a daily newspaper.

Davenport Gazette editor Alfred Sanders decided to give the people what they wanted and launched the Daily Gazette, although he wasn’t very optimistic about its chances for success. He had doubts whether the people of Davenport would be willing to pay extra for a daily newspaper, since they barely made enough money from subscriptions to cover the costs of publishing the weekly and Tri-weekly editions.

The subscription cost of the Daily Gazette would be six dollars per year paid in advance, or “twelve and a half cents per week” paid to the carrier. For advertisements, there would be an additional fee of twenty five cents per square, but they claimed that the size of a square (of 12 lines) had increased by twenty percent.  

On that first issue, the front and back pages were entirely covered in advertisements and business cards for all kinds of goods and services. Mr. Sanders worried that they didn’t have enough subscribers to sustain a daily newspaper, so the ads were the only way to finance this new venture.

The second page had news stories from around the country, including election results from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. A marriage announcement for Mr. Samuel Hopkins of LeClaire and Miss Harriet Young of Pennsylvania was also published on page 2.

In local news, the first frost of the season occurred the previous Saturday, October 14. And Mr. Cressler of Prairie Spring Farm in Walnut Grove had sweet potatoes that measured over a foot in circumference and length, and could yield seven hundred bushels to the acre!

Fortunately for Mr. Sanders, the people of Davenport responded well to the new format, and The Daily Gazette became one of the primary newspapers in the region. It was published until 1887, when it was purchased by its rival, the Davenport Democrat.

______________________________

* Also known as:
1841-1854 Davenport Gazette
1854-1855 Daily Davenport Gazette
1856-1869 The Davenport Daily Gazette
1869-1873 The Daily Gazette
1874-1885 Davenport Daily Gazette
1885-1887 The Davenport Gazette

(posted by Cristina)

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The Davenport Fire Department: twenty-six years in the making

Posted on October 6, 2011 by SCblogger

Whereas, the events of the past week have made it very manifest that a more expeditious method should be adopted of procuring water to extinguish fires than by hauling it in Casks on drays from the river;

Therefore be it resolved that a committee be appointed to enquire into the expediency of procuring a site for water works or reservoir to supply the future wants of this city.

Also the cost of such a site and the terms on which it can be procured.

(Resolution, Davenport City Council Papers, May 14, 1856)

The above resolution was made on the twentieth anniversary of the platting of Davenport.  The city had boomed in that time, and houses and businesses were not only farther away from the Mississippi River, they were closer together, presenting a greater fire hazard than before.

The “events of the past week” refers to a fire at a hostel some distance away from the river and up a steep hill.  According to the Davenport Gazette, one wagon spilled half its barrels before it reached the flames.  The brief article doesn’t mention the extent of the damages, but it was obvious Davenport had to rethink fire safety.

Whereas the city of Davenport is without a fire engine or other apparatus for the extinguishing of fires . . . and whereas it seems to be a general desire on the part of the citizens that such apparatus should be had by the city . . .  it is proposed that a special tax be levied . . . ”

(Davenport City Council Papers, May 24, 1856)

The tax levy passed, but it wasn’t enough—the city was still paying off numerous debts, including costs related to the new Railroad Bridge.  The Aldermen held a public vote on July 28, 1856, to get approval for a loan.

On July 16, a terrible fire broke out in the Hull, Allen, and Company warehouse on Front Street near Rock Island Street (now River Drive near Pershing Street).  Three other buildings, a bakery, a two-story brick building, and a residence, were also destroyed.  The damage was estimated at $15,000 (almost $360,000 in 2010 dollars), which made it the worst fire the city had experienced so far.

The loan was approved.

Resolved . . .

That the Independent Fire Engine & Hose Co. be authorized to contract for two Fire Engines & Hose Carriages and Fifteen Hundred feet of Hose, with necessary Equipment . . . said contract subject to the approval of the Mayor

(Davenport City Council Papers, October 1856)

On October 3, 1856, the Davenport City Council passed an ordinance to establish a permanent city fire company.  The Independent Fire Engine & Hose Company was paid on a per fire basis.  But it was allowed to buy two pump-action fire engines and all the trimmings with city money.

The following May, the fire engines arrived.  They cost $3,400, but were able to throw a stream of water 200 feet from a 1.25 inch nozzle.  One was named “Pilot” and the other was called “Witch.”  These engines kept Davenport from burning down until the arrival of a newfangled steam-powered engine in 1866.

By that time, there were several Hose Companies keeping the city safe and it was difficult to keep track of who was fighting which fire.  In 1882, the state of Iowa passed a law allowing charter cities, like Davenport, with a population of 22,000 or above, to have a salaried fire department.  Davenport did not hesitate to take advantage of this new law and immediately established one, unified city fire department.

The rest, as they say, is history.


(Fire Kings Hose Company, 1881)

__________

Sources Used:

Davenport Council Records

1882 History of Scott County, Iowa.

“Fire broke out at the hostel owned by J. H. Schneckloth this morning. . .”  Davenport Gazette, 9May1856, p. 3.

“Iowa Legislature.” Davenport Weekly Gazette, 25Jan1882, p. 2.

“Parade.”  Davenport Daily Gazette, March 10, 1866, Pg. 4.

 (posted by Sarah)

 

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Patience, No — Time, Yes!

Posted on September 29, 2011 by SCblogger

The two things a genealogist can’t do without are patience and research time.  True patience comes from within, but we can offer you some extra time!

Starting next Sunday, October 2nd,  the Main Street location of the Davenport Public Library will be open 1pm to 4pm, until the end of April.  This means our Special Collections Center will also be open three more hours, so come on in and take advantage!

And three Sundays from now, on October 16th,  you can spend the whole evening with us.  From 4pm to 9pm,  we’re offering after-hours access to the best collection of genealogy databases, books, and census records in the Quad Cities. And we’ll feed you ,too!

Registration is just $10, due before the event. For more information or to register, contact us at 563-326-7902 or specialcollections@davenportlibrary.com .

Now, if we could just find a way to bottle patience . . .

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Rock Island Wapello Baseball Club

Posted on September 21, 2011 by SCblogger

This past Saturday, September 17, 2011, the Quad Cities River Bandits became the 2011 Midwest League Champions by beating the Lansing Lugnuts 6-3 at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport.

145 years ago, on Thursday, October 20, 1866, The Rock Island Wapello baseball club, which had formed earlier that year, won their first tournament by beating the Enterprise club of Peoria 85-54 in Peoria. They took home the $100 prize—and the $25 prize for best throwing went to pitcher Mansfield Sturgeon.

The team was named after Fox tribe chief Wapello (1787-1842), who signed treaties at Fort Armstrong in 1822 and 1832. The team members were: Charles Robert Chamberlin (catcher), William H. Dart (fielder), Stiles Eggleston (fielder), Edgar Gay Gleim (3rd base), Jim Hodges (3rd base/fielder), Phil Mitchell (pitcher/fielder), Charles Platt (pitcher), Harry Platt (2nd base), George Solander (1st base), Mansfield M. Sturgeon (pitcher/shortstop) and Mack Weiser (fielder).

The first recorded game in the Quad Cities also took place in 1866, when the Wapellos played against the Davenport Union baseball club. The game was played on the level ground near the stone schoolhouse on West Third Street, at 2:15 pm. The Wapellos won that game 118-7. In those early days, the pitchers did not throw the ball overhand, so strikeouts were rare. And players did not wear gloves, so there were not a lot of fly outs either. If a player made contact with their bat, they were most likely going to score a run.  

The Rock Island Wapello baseball club won every game they played for 4 years, but disbanded after their first loss in 1870.

We recently digitized a set of 13 cartes de visite of the players, an early version of today’s baseball cards. The photographs were taken by George Solander, the first baseman who was a photographer for Newberry & Solanders in Rock Island. The players are wearing their uniforms, which were blue Turkish pants, white linen shirts, belts with the team name “WAPELLO BBC”, and blue caps trimmed with red and topped with a white button.

On August 5th, 2001, the cards were sold at an auction in Rosemont, Illinois for eighteen thousand dollars. 

Mansfield Sturgeon baseball card from 1866

 Works Cited

Morning Democrat Centennial. “Take me out to the ballgame.” October 5, 1955.

Rock Island Argus. “Welcome to the Wapello club.” October 23, 1866.

Veto, Matt. “145-year-old R. I. baseball cards up for auction today.” Rock Island Argus, August 5, 2011.

Wickstrom, George. “Ball had zip enough for big scores when game of baseball was new here.” Rock Island Argus, April 12, 1943.

 

(posted by Cristina)

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A Davenport Connection: The Early Life of ‘Big Nose Kate’ Horony – Part II

Posted on September 14, 2011 by SCblogger

On September 5, 1860 the steamship Bremen set sail from Southampton, England heading for New York City.  Originating from the port of Bremen, Germany the ship contained hundreds of individuals headed to the United States.  Among those on board were Dr. Michael Horony, his wife Catherine, and their eight children.  Victor, Emilie, Mary, Julius, Alexander, Wilhelmine, Rosalie, and Ludwig joined their parents (or in Victor and Emilie’s case their father and stepmother) on the journey from their native Hungary to a new home in the United States. 

The Bremen arrived in New York City on September 19, 1860.  The Horony family began the next step of their journey that would lead them to the growing city of Davenport, Iowa.  The sibilings could have no idea the hardships they would face over the next few years or that eleven year Mary Katherine would one day become western legend “Big Nose(d) Kate.”

We are slowly beginning to find pieces of the life the Horony family led in Davenport.  Record keeping of the 1860s (and 1870s as well) was not as developed as we would wish.  Over the past few years our staff has stumbled upon new family information while working on other projects.  Here is a little of the information we have put together on the family’s time in Davenport.  We hope you enjoy these finds!

The 1861-62 and 1863 Davenport City Directories list Michael Horony as a physician with his business and home located on the southwest corner of 2nd Street and Western Avenue.  This location is close to the river and across the street from the old Washington Square Park.  A building containing a florist distribution business now stands at the site of their home.  We do not have city directories for 1864 or 1865, but we know a home in that area and its contents were part of the Michael Horony probate in our collection.

In August 1862 Victor Horony’s name is listed in the newspapers along with other men eligible to be drafted into the Civil War.  That same month Victor enlisted into the Army.  Little else has been found on the family’s life until 1865. In the March 1865 City Sexton Report to City Council Catherine Horony is listed as having been buried on March 12, 1865 at 2:00 p.m. in the Public Grounds of City Cemetery.  Her given age is 34.

On April 29, 1865 the Daily Davenport Democrat carries a small front page article on the sudden passing of Dr. Michael Horony on the previous day.  The April 1865 City Sexton Report to City Council records that Dr. Horony was buried on April 29 at 4:00 p.m. in Lot 245 in City Cemetery.  He is recorded as being 46 years old.  Lot 245 was owned by the Susemihl family.  Emilie Horony had married Gustuv Susemihl in 1863.  We recently found the results for Dr. Horony’s autopsy with the cause of death listed as Apeletic Shock.*

Mary Katherine and her younger siblings Alexander, Wilma, Rosa and Louis (as they were recorded)  were at first under the guardianship of sister Emilie and her husband until Gustuv resigned guardianship around July 17, 1865 as they were leaving the state of Iowa for an undetermined time.  Passport information found on Ancestry.com indicates the couple sailed to Europe later that same month.  Otto Smith was then named guardian. 

In an annual guardian report filed April 11, 1867 in the Scott County Court it notes an R. Henne was paid $1.00 for finding Mary Horony a situation.  On October 10, 1865 Mrs. Marg Wendt was paid $12.50 for boarding Mary.  By September 14, 1867 the whereabouts of 16 year old Mary where unknown according to guardian Otto Smith in court papers filed in the county.  Mr. Smith stated in April 1868 there were no funds left to provide for the remaining children and he requested the sale of the Horony home.  Without Mary’s whereabouts known the sale did not take place. 

It appears Mary was eventually located as on April 12, 1869 papers were filed in the District Court of Scott County concerning the sale of the property.   Mary is listed as Mary May on two separate forms.  No local marriage record has been located for Mary Katherine.  Where had Mary been and how did she come by the last name May is unknown to us.

Mysteries have also existed around two of Mary Katherine’s brothers.  Victor disappeared from our records after a brief mention in local papers in 1870.  The last mention of Julius relates to the Bremen ship manifest as he is missing from the guardianship papers of 1865.   

Going on a clue from the 1870 newspaper articles we looked through cemetery records in western Iowa for Victor.  We located a Victor Horany buried with a Civil War headstone in Graceland Cemetery in Avoca, Pottawattamie County, Iowa with his death date May 11, 1880.  The company and regiment information matches that for Mary Katherine’s brother Victor.  Could this mystery be solved?**

As for Julius, no record for his death has been found locally.  All City Cemetery sexton reports from September 1860 – May 1865 have been found except for September 1862.  Newspapers from that month do not mention his death nor is information found in other local cemeteries.  As mentioned before, record keeping during this time is sketchy at best and obituaries rarely ran in the newspapers.  Could he be buried in Davenport or might Julius have passed away on the Bremen or the journey from New York City to Davenport?  The mystery continues for us unless someone else holds the answer.

Hopefully more information will continue to be uncovered as time goes on.  It seems every time we find something new it creates another mystery in Davenport’s connection to Mary Katherine Horony. Here is to our happy (local history) hunting!

Interested in reading Part I?  Please click here.

*Index to Coroner’s Inquests 1866 – 1927.  Microfilm. 

**By 2019, we have located newspaper advertisements indicating Victor was a barber in Avoca, Iowa in the 1870s. Victor died on March 18, 1879 in Avoca. It is not known why the headstone says May 11, 1880. His wife and son are buried in the same cemetery.

 (posted by Amy D.)

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Davenport Inventors: Patently the Best

Posted on September 8, 2011 by SCblogger

Davenport has had its share of inventors over the years, including Alexander F. Victor, who held almost eighty patents for his film projecting equipment; William Voss, whose washing machines brought laundry to a whole new level, and Otto F. Rohwedder;* a Davenport native who created the first automatic, commercial-use bread-slicing machine.

In fact, more than four thousand patents were granted to Davenport inventors between 1856 and 2009—from Harvey Hughes and his brick press to Carl J. Franken and his “insulated ice compartment for bottom mount refrigerator with temperature control system.”

That’s a lot of inventions.

So how would one go about finding information about local works of genius, like the writing tablet that Charles Fluke patented in 1879?

We’re so glad you asked!

The Davenport Public Library is now serving as Iowa’s first patent and trademark resource center on behalf of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. We are the eighty-first library in the country to become a PTRO, and the first all-electronic access repository in the country. And we’re pretty excited about it.

The website of the US Patent and Trademark Office allows patent searches to be done from any computer, but the Davenport library has a specific workstation that will provide access to an even more powerful database that allows different search parameters. This workstation is in the Special Collections Center.

This is a great opportunity for local inventors to search the country’s eight million patents in preparation for sending in their own applications . . . but we in Special Collections think it’s going to be a great local history resource as well!

___
*Who was living in Missouri at the time, but we’re claiming him anyway.

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Truth in Advertising: The Last Giraffe

Posted on September 1, 2011 by SCblogger

 

Davenport Daily Times, 18 July 1901, p.6

 

The Ringing Brothers Circus, with or without Barnum & Bailey, has been a Davenport tradition for more than a century.

These famous brothers were the sons of August Ringling, a harness maker born in Hanover, and his wife Salome, who was French.  The family lived in Illinois and Wisconsin before settling for a few decades in Clayton County, Iowa, where several of their children were born.

Five of the brothers— Albert (b. 1854, Illinois), Otto (b. 1858, Wisconsin), Alfred (b. 1860, Iowa), Charles (b.1864, Iowa) and John (b. 1869, Iowa)—started a circus in Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1884.  They were later joined by August (b. 1854, Wisconsin) and Henry (b. 1868, Iowa).

The rest, as they say, is history, hard work, and showmanship.

The Ringling Brothers brought their circus and parade once again to the streets of Davenport on July 19, 1901.  Admission was 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children under 12. They had two exhibitions, one at two p.m. and another one at eight.

What set this circus apart from the others that came through during the summer months was their elaborately planned processional display, divided into thirty sections, each with their own central idea or theme.

One such theme was the promotion of “The Only Giraffe,” a neat bit of romanticism that the eager audience probably didn’t question too closely.  The exotic-looking creature might not have been the last giraffe in the world, but it was most likely the first one they’d ever seen.

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Happy 175th Birthday, Davenport!

Posted on August 26, 2011 by SCblogger

The year 2011 marks the 175th anniversary of the founding of Sofa City – that’s right! In February of 1836 the official “Articles of Agreement” were drawn up, land was purchased from Antoine LeClaire, and a town was platted in May which was named DAVENPORT.

By the close of that year, 1836, seven cabins had been erected; crude structures but able to withstand the coming winter. The population was less than one hundred. Pioneer settlers named Hambaugh, Hibbert, Colton, Mitchell, Gordon, Eldridge, McIntosh, Bowling, Cook, Noel, LeClaire and Davenport stuck out the cruel cold to welcome spring. They celebrated with the first marriage ceremony in the little town and a new brick yard!

At the end of 1837, Davenport had fifteen or so houses and the population had spiked to about 160. This winter was kinder; spring was mild and beautiful, but the crop of immigrants to the tiny town was relatively small. There was little money and no produce with which to bring supplies to the struggling town. However things picked up in the spring of 1838 when some of the churches were able to organize, a school opened, the first printing press arrived and issued the “Davenport Iowa Sun” newspaper, and Mr. LeClaire laid out his “First Addition to the Town of Davenport” upon his “reserve”. This added two tiers of blocks to the town forming Harrison and Brady streets with a northern border of Seventh Street. The community was invigorated.

In 1839, Davenport was granted a town charter by the new Territory of Iowa. April brought the election of the first Mayor, Rudolphus Bennett. During the summer a brick home was erected by D. C. Eldridge on the northeast corner of Third and Main Streets. Roads now led in all directions from town, all the way to the Wapsipinicon River. A saw mill was in operation at the mouth of Duck Creek. Not bad for the first three years!

It is easy to forget these early pioneers and the hardships they endured; easy to take our liberties and luxuries for granted. People recognized this and rallied to celebrate Davenport’s centennial year of 1936 in high style with contests for slogans, poems, musical marches, longest whiskers and pageant queens. Even a centennial logo contest was held, the winner being William F. Skiles of 3004 Davenport Avenue.  The city directory lists Skiles as a draftsman who worked at the Rock Island Arsenal and the census notes he is 35 years with a wife, Arleen, and three small children.

Davenport Centennial Logo by William F. Skiles

Perhaps as he designed and drew this winning poster he imagined trying to raise three small children in one of the small, crude cabins, waiting for a warm spring, proudly taking his wife to church for the first time since they left the comforts of the east and embraced the wilderness that became their new home.  Skiles’ design may seem simplistic, but seventy-five more years have passed! Different pioneers have brought us to 2011 Davenport – great city, great life! Mr. Skiles’ image of pioneers silhouetted against the tall buildings of a modern city might not be simplistic at all. It might be the very essence of what we need to remember after 175 years.

That is part of our mission in the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center – keeping little pieces of history. Perhaps one day Mr. Skiles’ children might come to see the winning poster; to enjoy the part their father played in Davenport’s centennial.

Find a little piece of history at the library. We’ll be happy to help you as Davenport turns 175!

(posted by Karen)

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In Memoriam: Alice Richardson Sloane

Posted on August 17, 2011 by SCblogger

“Preservation and access of historical records will provide the key ingredient for success in the future for those who are able and take advantage of the lessons of life from the past. This knowledge and understanding of truth about our past can lead our Nation in greater achievements in the future.”
—Alice Richardson Sloane, November 26, 1999

Alice Richardson was born March 1, 1930, in Davenport, Iowa. She married Loren Ted Sloane in December of 1949. Both she and her husband earned advanced certificates in genealogy and Mrs. Sloane became a Certified Genealogist in 1979.   Together, they operated a successful genealogy research service for nearly thirty years.  A member of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America, Mrs. Sloane wrote an Ancestor index for the Society and assisted many clients in documenting proof of membership in that and various other heredity organizations.

In the late ‘nineties, Mr. and Mrs. Sloane donated more than one million dollars and over 15,000 volumes of their own professional library to the Davenport Public Library’s special collections department in order to create a Center for genealogical and historical research. The resulting 7,800 square foot facility included compact shelving with over 13,000 linear feet of storage, microfilm reader-printers, two book scanners, and enough tables and chairs for fifty researchers.

The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center was dedicated on November 26, 1999. At this writing, the Center contains over twenty-three thousand books, eighteen hundred rolls of microfilm, seventy thousand images, and two thousand linear feet of archive and manuscript collections. We answer well over 14,000 research and reference questions per year.

That is quite a legacy.

Mrs. Sloane continued to visit us often, bringing donations of books and periodicals for our collections–and an enormous poinsettia every Winter. She was our benefactor, mentor and friend.

Mrs. Sloane died Monday, August 15. We will miss her very much.

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Just Shelved: People, Places, Planes, and More!

Posted on August 12, 2011 by SCblogger

We’ve added many new resources to our collections recently!  Some of these were budgeted, some were donated, and some are courtesy of the Scott County Iowa Genealogy Society:

People:

  • Man of Deeds: Bishop Mathias Loras and the Iowa Frontier by Craig Schaefer (SC DVD 282.092 Man)

 

Places:

  • Cherry Valley Past and Present, written for young people by Judith O. Green (SC974.774 Gre)
  • Huron Island 1872-1940 : a history of the island community and their families by Larry W. McHenry (SC977.796 Hur)
  • My Home Town: Newell, Iowa by Steve Samelson (SC 977.718 Sam)
  • Lost Black Hawk County by Linda McCann (SC977.737 Cor)
  • Waterloo by Brandon J. Brockway (SC 977, 737 Cor)

 

Planes:

  • Eastern Iowas’ Aviation Heritage by Scott M. Fisher (SC629.1309 Fis)
  • Images of Aviation:  Quad-City International Airport by David T. Cooperman (SC387.736 Coo)

 

Familes:

  • A Preliminary Census History of Walter Watrus Sr. and his Descendants, by Alexandra Uteeve Johnson (SC 929.2 Wat)
  • History of the Allerton Family in the United States 1585-1885 by Walter Allerton (SC929.2 All)

 

Wars:

  • Your Brother in Arms: A Union Soldier’s Odyssey by Robert C. Plumb (SC 973.7448 Plu) — Not to brag, but our department and staff were given a little acknowledgement for assisting the author.
  • Honor Flight of the Quad-Cities:  Trip to Washington,DC, April 23, 2010 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (SC 977.304 Hon)

 

Yes, there’s a little something for everyone in the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center! 

We invite you to visit and browse our collections.   If you can’t visit but would like for us to search a specific resources for you, our research policies and procedures are available on our website here.

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