Skeletons in your Closet?

Posted on October 6, 2008 by SCblogger

As Autumn descends on our fair city, temperatures drop, trees turn their leaves, squirrels gather acorns and other goodies for their long winter naps, and even our houses settle in for the coming Winter. 

Older houses, of which Davenport has many, are especially susceptible to the changing seasons.  The creaks and groans of beams and floors lend an eerie soundtrack to the early evenings, while drafts from older windows trail a spooky finger across the back of one’s neck.  All this reminds one that Halloween will soon be here.

It is no wonder that this is the time of year when people come to the library to research their homes. And that when we ask them what kind of information most interests them, quite a few lean forward and whisper that what they really want to know is if anyone ever died in the house.

Unfortunately, our Scott County death records are arranged by name, not address, so unless the name of the deceased is known, this resource can’t help.   So how to find the name –or names?

City  directories can provide the names of the adults who lived in a particular house each year.   When someone stops being listed in the directory, the usual explanation is that he or she moved on . . . or passed away.   If one were to look up the name of that person in the death records for the years surrounding the year he or she was last listed in the directory, one might find a death record, which  would give the address of the place of death.  If a death record is not found for that person, he or she didn’t die in Scott County during those years and the researcher can move on to the next person.

The researcher might keep in mind that while this is a way to locate the death of someone who is listed in the city directory, some residents of a house, such as minor children, spouses, or even boarders, may not be listed.  Federal or State Census records can supply the names of everyone living in a particular household in the year the census was taken.  If a person ‘disappears’ between census years, cemetery and tombstone indexes, County probate records, and other resources may confirm a death and narrow a death date enough for the researcher to locate the death record.

And of course, all of these methods assume that the person who might have died in the house actually lived there.  If someone passed away while visiting, unless the name of the person was known, it would be very difficult to track down the death record, or any newspaper articles related to the death.

But even if our available resources can’t help you discover literal skeletons in your closet*, they can help you find out more about the rest of your house.  We even made a brochure about it.

 

(Posted by Sarah)

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*We also have many genealogical resources available to help you search out the metaphorical ones!

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Happy Anniversary to the Library of Tomorrow!

Posted on September 29, 2008 by SCblogger

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that we use it to share snippets of local history.  We hope you’ll forgive us if we take the opportunity this week to share some brief history of a local building that’s very important to us – the Davenport Public Library. 

It was 40 years ago on October 5th that the new library on the corner of 4th and Main Streets opened its doors.  Designed by famed architect Edward Durell Stone, the newspaper declared that the library was a building that was “designed for tomorrow”. 

For those of you who appreciate “just the facts”, the current library is the third major library building in Davenport.  The first was the now-demolished Cook library at Sixth and Brady Streets.  The second was the Carnegie library building that opened in 1901 on the corner of 4th and Main Streets where the current library now stands. The library has 63,000 square feet on three floors and cost $1.4 million to construct. 

One of the high tech features of the new library was the adjustable shelving that replaced the fixed wooden shelving of the earlier library.  Another was the system used by customers to request a magazine from the closed lower level of the library.  Library staff called it an “autowriter”.   A customer would write the name of the item they needed on an electronic panel.  That information was instantly transmitted to a staff person in the basement who located the item and sent it up to the first floor on a dumbwaiter.  And, finally, the library had entered the automobile age and was now able to provide a drive-up book return.

If you’ve been in the library lately, you know that much has changed.  In place of the card catalog, there are online catalog workstations.  If you need an article from an older magazine or an out-of-state phone number or address, chances are you can find it online in one of the many databases the library subscribes to.  The reading room space of 1968 now has twenty public access computers and instead of waiting in line for the circulation staff to check out your items, you can check them out yourself at the self-check machines and then renew them online from the comfort of your home.

Many things have remained the same, however.  The high-tech adjustable metal shelving is still in use and the library is still “designed for tomorrow”.  The open floor plan designed by Stone still offers the flexibility needed to change as library services have evolved, and more importantly, the overall “look” of the building remains undated.  Last September the main floor was given a facelift – some new shelving added, the Children’s “room” moved to out of the back area to the main floor, the customer service desks were moved back to their original location near the front entrance, and the carpet was replaced.  These changes provide improved customer service and also showcase the architecture of the building. 

If you haven’t been to the Main library lately, we hope you’ll come to the 40th anniversary celebration Sunday afternoon October 5 and see for yourself that the library building is still “designed for tomorrow”!

More information on the history of the Davenport Public Library is available here.

(posted by Amy G)

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St. Katharine’s\St. Mark’s — A *Davenport* Tradition

Posted on September 22, 2008 by SCblogger

Tomorrow is the anniversary of Rivermont Collegiate, that fine private school that, although it has spent the last few decades in Bettendorf, owes far more of its 124 years of history to Davenport.

It all began with Griswold College, which was established by the Episcopalian Diocese of Iowa in 1860 in the former buildings of Iowa College*on northern Main Street in Davenport. Kemper Hall, a boys’ prep school, was set up in the mid-1880s, presumably to provide appropriate students for Griswold.

In 1883, the Diocese received a legacy from Sarah Burr to establish a similar girls’ school.** The Diocese purchased gorgeous Cambria Place, the former residence of John L. Davies, and the surrounding five acres of land. On September 23, 1884, St. Katharine’s School opened.

St. Katharine’s was an immediate success.*** The next year, an annex was built, and in 1902, a chapel and a gymnasium were constructed under the supervision of the Episcopal Sisters of St. Mary. Five years later, the School acquired the Renwick Mansion, dubbing it St. Margaret’s House. The school continued to grow, as did its standing in the community.

One addition to the school had a more somber purpose. When America declared war on Germany in 1917, popular French teacher Marion Crandell resigned her position at the School and went overseas with the United States Christian Commission of the Y.M.C.A., believing that her language skills would be useful in aiding the troops. She served in France for only a short time before German artillery fire destroyed the building in which she’d taken shelter. Miss Crandell was the first American woman in active service killed in World War I. In 1923, the School bought the McCandless property as a memorial, opening the house as a faculty residence.

The Sisters of St. Mary ran the School until economic difficulties forced them to leave St. Katharine’s, and the school began moving towards becoming the more traditional type of private school. Fewer people were sending their daughters away to school, and in 1968, St. Katharine’s ended its boarding program. With this potential barrier to co-education out of the way, the School was free to merge with St. Mark’s, a boys’ school.

The newly christened St. Katharine’s/St. Mark’s School searched for new quarters, and found them in the palatial former home of Joseph Bettendorf. The School moved in 1973. Seven years later, the School became self-supporting when the mutual decision was made to part company with the Episcopal Diocese.

In 2001, to reflect the changes in the mission and culture of the School, St. Katharine’s/St. Mark’s changed its name to Rivermont Collegiate.

So, if one has a chance to visit the beautiful Bettendorf campus of Rivermont and see the educational standards that have been a tradition for almost a century and a quarter, just remember—

We started it!

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*Which had moved to Grinnell, Iowa, some years earlier and was renamed, oddly enough, Grinnell College.

**Although they weren’t prepped for Griswold, which didn’t accept female students at the time.

*** Unlike Kemper Hall, which closed in ten years. Griswold College itself didn’t last too much longer, and in 1900, Davenporters—including women, for the first time–voted to purchase the site for a new city high school (present day Central High School). A new building was constructed on the land but Kemper Hall still stands today.

(posted by Sarah)

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Happy Anniverary, Chiropractic!

Posted on September 15, 2008 by SCblogger

As we in the Quad-Cities finish cleaning up after this summer of high waters and strong winds, many of us will have cause to be grateful for the Palmer College of Chiropractic and their dedicated graduates who have kept our backs on the straight and narrow for over a hundred years. 

 

It is therefore fitting to note that this Friday marks the anniversary of the first chiropractic adjustment, which took place in Davenport on September 18, 1895.

 

Ten years prior, Daniel David Palmer brought his family to Davenport and set up a magnetic healing practice.  Magnetic healers believed that the human body had the innate ability to maintain wellness, and D.D. used non-surgical or non-medicinal methods to help his patients’ own systems cure their illnesses. 

 

As he continued to examine patients with a wide range of complaints, D.D.  began to theorize that disease was caused or worsened by maladjustments to the spinal column.  These maladjustments interfered with nerve impulses and so blocked the body’s ability to heal itself.  He continued to refine his theories and methods until one day he was able to put them into practice.

 

As one story goes*, D.D. was in the building of his clinic, when he overheard two men swapping a loud joke in the hall and paused to listen.  The joke was a knee-slapper, and someone, perhaps D.D. himself, did clap one of the men, Harvey Lillard, on the back before going on his way.  Soon after, however, Mr. Lillard came to the clinic and told D. D. a very interesting story. 

 

It seems that Mr. Lillard, a janitor in the clinic’s building, had been working one day when something had popped in his back, and found that he could no longer hear well.  His condition had worsened, and he had been virtually deaf for almost seventeen years.  He then told D.D. that the morning after he had been recently slapped on the back, he found that he could hear a little better.

 

Intrigued, D. D. invited Mr.  Lillard into the clinic and checked his spine.  He did find the bump of a misplaced vertebra and forced it back into place.  To the delight of both men, Mr. Lillard’s hearing immediately improved.

 

Encouraged by this validation of his theories, D.D. searched for similar misalignments among his other patients.  He tried the same methods he had used to adjust Mr. Lillard’s spine, with much the same success.  The word was passed among his well-adjusted patients, and the popularity of D.D.’s clinic grew.

 

By the following January, D.D. decided that his methods and theories needed a name.    He turned to a patient of his, Reverend Samuel H. Weed, who helped create a new term from Greek root words to name this new healing method that was “Done by Hand”: chiropractic.

 

 

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*For further information about chiropractic, the Palmer family, and Palmer College, please try the following books that we just happen to have in our collections:

 

Gielow, Vern Old dad chiro: biography of D. D. Palmer, founder of Chiropractic.  (Davenport, IA: Bawden Bros.), 1981.

 

Palmer, David D.   The Palmers: a pictorial life story: memoirs of David D. Palmer. (Davenport, Iowa: Bawden Bros.), 1970.

Palmer, David D. Three generations: a history of chiropractic.  (Davenport, Iowa: Palmer College of Chiropractic), 1967.

Peterson, Dennis. Chiropractic: an illustrated history.  (St. Louis: Mosby), 1995.

(posted by Sarah)

 

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Announcing the Quad-Cities Civil War Legacy Conference!

Posted on September 8, 2008 by SCblogger

Have you ever wondered about the part the Quad Cities played in the Civil War? If not, you really should be wondering. It is an absolutely fascinating subject! To help explore this subject more deeply the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center of the Davenport Public Library is pleased to announce the Quad-Cities Civil War Legacy Conference to be held Saturday, October 18, 2008 in the film room at the Davenport Public Library at 321 Main Street from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m with registration beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Speakers will include:

Kris Gayman Leinicke, Director of the Rock Island Arsenal Museum, will speak on the Rock Island Prison Barracks that held Confederate Prisoners during the war.

Sheila Hanke and Laura Ramirez from the State Historical Society of Iowa will present “Honor the Colors: Iowa’s Civil War Battle Flags” with an emphasis on artifacts tied to local regiments and companies. Hanke and Ramirez are part of Iowa’s battle flag restoration project.

Robert Plumb of Pennsylvania will discuss “George P. McClelland as Citizen Soldier”. After suffering severe wounds in the Civil War, Mr. McClelland moved to Davenport where he became a civic leader and successful business man. Mr. Plumb has done extensive research on George McClelland and will share details of his fascinating life story.

Please join us as we learn more about the Quad Cities during this historic time. The registration fee is $10 which includes light refreshments during the day. Lunch will be on your own. Seating is limited so we are encouraging people to sign up early. Your seat is confirmed when payment is received.

For more information or to sign up for the event, please call 563-326-7902 or email SpecialCollections@davenportlibrary.com. Payment by credit or debit card is not available at this time. Checks may be made out to Davenport Public Library.

This conference is possible thanks to a “George P. McClelland Legacy Grant” from the Tawani Foundation, based in Chicago, Illinois, which provides funding to organizations that further awareness of the importance of America’s citizen soldiers and their role in the preservation of democracy. Collection development, ongoing research and programming for adults and youth are made possible by this grant.

This will not be the only exciting news related to this conference. Please keep watching our blog for another amazing announcement relating to the Civil War, the State of Iowa, and the Davenport Public Library!

(posted by Amy D.)

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“A Monster Parade”: Davenport’s First Labor Day

Posted on August 29, 2008 by SCblogger

“Attempts to count the procession were futile. There was so much to see and admire that all counts failed . . . It is estimated that there were close upon 5,000 men. It was a monster parade.”
Davenport Democrat, September 1, 1890

Although Labor Day was first sanctioned and promoted as a national holiday around 1885*, it took five years to reach the Quad-Cities. When it did, thousands of people from both sides of the Mississippi River, some of them from well outside Scott and Rock Island counties, flocked to Davenport, where Governor Horace Boies was the honored guest.

The morning parade took hours, with most of the 400 participating horse teams hauling floats and displays from area businesses and organizations. But according to the newspaper accounts, the real party was at Schuetzen Park. There were picnics and sporting games, orchestra music and other activities and programs to amuse those waiting for the speeches to begin at 2pm.

Mayor Ficke was introduced by the President of the Industrial Home Association, Dr. C. T. Lindley, and delivered a welcoming speech to great applause. Published verbatim by the Democrat, it began:

“Visitors and Friends of Labor:–I consider it a privilege to extend to you, in behalf of the city of Davenport, on the first observance of our new holiday, a most hearty welcome.

“Year after year, the people of this state have observed with patriotic fervor the day on which was born our nation’s independence. Year after year have they also observed in a fitting manner the day set apart to commemorate the noble services of the patriotic men who on southern battlefields laid down their lives that the union might live. And now when peace is with us; when this nation is in the zenith of its prosperity; when its wealth and greatness command the admiration of the world, there is added another bright star to its constellation of holidays, so that a grateful people may henceforth on that day commemorate honest, faithful labor’s services in building up that wealth and greatness.”

The rest of the Mayor’s oration was followed by a short musical interlude before the Governor gave a somewhat lengthier speech on labor unions that “was listened to by the closest attention by the great concourse of people.”**  Several more speeches followed—one was even in German, given by Henry Vollmer, Jr.

The crowd stayed on to enjoy a program of music supplied by area musicians and were still celebrating when the evening Democrat had to be put to press. “The demonstration,” as the article put it, was “the greatest of the kind seen in Davenport.”

So, how will you celebrate Labor Day?

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* According to the World Book Encyclopedia, the first Labor Day was celebrated in New York on September 5, 1882, which was a Tuesday. The holiday later spread to industrialized cities and towns throughout the country.

**Anyone who would like to read either speech may find them on the front page of the Democrat for September 4, 1890. This issue is included in our microfilmed newspaper archives.

(posted by Sarah)

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Labor Day Closing

Posted on August 26, 2008 by SCblogger

Our library will be closed this Monday, September 1,  for Labor Day.

If you were planing a Labor Day weekend trip to see us, we will be open Saturday, August 30 for your researching pleasure.  You could spend the next two days relaxing in the Quad-City area–lots going on!–and then join us again on Tuesday, September 2 for another go at the family tree.

Our hours, should you need them, are posted here on our website, as are some indexes and other items to help plan your visit!

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A Public Service Announcement: Iowa Vital Records, 1920-1941

Posted on August 25, 2008 by SCblogger

From the early 1920s to the early 1940s, many were born, got married, or died in every county in Iowa. Unfortunately, the county courthouses—and the public libraries, like ours, that archive microfilmed copies of county documents– won’t have many records of them doing so.

You see, during this time period, Iowa law didn’t require County Clerks to keep copies of vital records certificates or enter them into the county registers. They were simply required to collect the documentation and send it to the state.

Many Clerks did keep on writing down these events in the county ledger books when they had a spare moment, at least for a while.* Making it even more confusing and frustrating for future genealogists, each Clerk completely stopped entering his county’s vital records at different times—so some counties have more of these ‘county optional’ vital records, and some have less.

In Scott County, the Clerk stopped entering births in 1924, marriages in 1926, and deaths in 1931. However, many certificates were not entered before they were sent on, so Scott County vital records are sketchy after 1920.

By 1940, the law changed back again. The Scott County Clerk dusted off his ledgers and began entering births again in April of 1941, marriages in February, and deaths in July. Most other County Clerks did the same, though the months may vary.

But if you are looking for an Iowa vital record for this twenty-year span, and the county didn’t catch it, do not despair! You may be able to order it through the Iowa Bureau of Health Statistics.

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*A researcher might note that short spans of these records were often entered alphabetically, possibly because they had already been sorted for the state

(posted by Sarah)

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An 1858 Job Review?

Posted on August 18, 2008 by SCblogger

Reading through original receipts and requests in the City of Davenport Council Papers 1859 – 1862, we came across an interesting bill submitted by City Marshal John Bechtel for the December 2, 1858 council meeting. This bill left us scratching our heads a little and realizing that even 150 years ago people probably had bad days at work.

The job of the City Marshal in 1858 encompassed many diverse duties. The Marshal collected all taxes for the city, sold property and animals as needed, enforced ordinances, handled public nuisances, repaired sidewalks, and until May 5, 1858 even acted as Chief of Police.*

With so many duties the City Marshal hired individuals to help when needed. One area that needed extra labor was nuisance abatement. Problems with sanitation, street conditions, and removal of animal carcasses all fell under this category. Looking through council papers, it was common for the City Marshal to submit bills for laborers to be reimbursed for work either catching or burying animals. These bills were usually paid without written comment or question. That is what caught our attention about the following bill:

City of Davenport
For John Templeton Sr. July 29 1858 For Burying dead horse in E. Dpt
Davenport Dec1 /58 $5.00

Apparently Mr. Templeton was hired to bury a horse in East Davenport. Not unusual at all. What surprised us was a note written in pencil at the bottom of the page.

being a bad job alow [sic] him 1.50
John Bechtel
City Marshal

On the reverse side of the bill is a note from the City Treasurer indicating council approved $1.50 to be paid to Mr. Templeton, not the original $5.00 requested.

We can only imagine how Mr. Templeton reacted upon hearing the news of being paid $1.50 for what must have been a difficult job to say the least. We also wonder what Marshal Bechtel saw that made him declare it such a bad job. It certainly does leave a mind wondering!

*On May 5, 1858 the Davenport City Council passed an act establishing and regulating the police department of the City of Davenport. This act included the creation of the position of Chief of Police, official police department, and officers separate from the duties assigned to the City Marshal. This was just one of many steps in the development of the Davenport Police Department.
(Amy D.)

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Dreams of Olympics Past–Victor Hopkins

Posted on August 14, 2008 by SCblogger

Victor Hopkins was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on July 19, 1904 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by a single mother and was adopted at a very young age by Mr. and Mrs. Jakob Hopkins, an older couple who died when he was nine. The 1915 Iowa State Census places a ten-year-old Victor at the Iowa Soldier’s Orphans’ Home (later called the Annie Wittenmyer Home) in Davenport, where he stayed until at least his sixteenth birthday—in 1920, the Federal Census lists him with a Frank and Anna Coffin.

According to a letter written by Harry Hopkins, Victor’s son, Victor joined the Davenport Cycling Club while he was still very young—the story goes that Worth Mitten, the founder of the Club, was out with his group of cyclists one day and they were all left in the dust by this kid who was out delivering newspapers. Encouraged by his fellow members, Victor set a new Amateur World Record for cycling his first year with the Club: 5 miles in 11 minutes, 22 seconds.

In 1924, Victor set his sights on the Olympics in Paris, France. He biked from Davenport up to Milwaukee for the 116-mile time trial, placed second, then went home again—all on his one-speed bicycle. When he qualified for the final 117-mile trial three weeks later, he pedaled the thousand or so miles up to Paterson, New Jersey—and won the trial by 20 seconds.

Unfortunately, Victor’s extraordinary skills couldn’t overcome sheer bad luck. During the 117-mile road race in Paris, he had breezed his way to third place when he hit a poorly-marked railroad-crossing gate and bent his rear wheel. By the time he fixed the damage and re-entered the race, it was too late to regain his position. His son states that he came in 58th, though most newspaper accounts have Victor in 59th place.

Regardless, Victor did not let this disappointment stop him once he returned home. He continued cycling, but also began racing Motorpace bikes. He trained by riding from Davenport to Dewitt, over to Clinton, and back to Davenport, a circuit of over 70 miles. Victor won the 1926 American Professional Motorpace Title after competing in only 24 or the 36 races, some with a broken collarbone!

According to an article in the Quad-City Times (October 1, 2006) He returned to Paris in 1932, supposedly to enter the Tour De France, which would have made him the first American to do so. Victor did get a racing license, but he isn’t in the official race roster, and there is no documentation or other evidence that he participated in any part of the Tour. It is speculated that he might have been an alternate on stand by, or that he decided to compete in one or more of the other, shorter races that were going on at the same time.

Victor retired from both cycling and pace racing in 1934 and moved to Nutley, New Jersey where he passed away in December of 1969. In October of 2006, Victor Hopkins was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame–and about time, too!

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