Subtitled “Great places to spend the day—or a lifetime,” this photograph-rich book gives both historical and current accounts of twenty-five towns and cities across the state of Iowa. From small (Adel, Pella, Woodbine) to large (Clinton, Mason City, Sioux City), each community is shown at its best.
And some of the information may surprise you!
Okay, so these ten rolls of microfilm weren’t lost, just delayed a bit. But we’re still very happy they’ve finally arrived!
Covering 1839 to 1910 (record vols. A-0 and register vols. 1 and 2 with index), these marriage records are a welcome addition to our ever broadening coverage of vital records from Iowa counties.
We are ever moving westward in our quest for more vital records, so please stay tuned!
What an appropriate motto for the Hostetler Studio and its owner and chief photographer, John Benton Hostetler! His talent never failed to catch the sparkle in a hopeful bride’s eyes, the wisdom in a patriarch’s wrinkled face, or the mischief in a toddler’s grin in over 10,000 glass plate negatives he created during his professional career. Here, without benefit of today’s computer software programs, Hostetler created an amusing and attention grabbing visual to go along with his catchy ad-line. (Unless they really DID toss that baby….)
This advertisement is a rarity among the portraiture that makes up the bulk of the Hostetler collection. The negative was originally labeled “Roger – J. B. and Baby Goddard”. The federal census records in our collection confirm Hostetler had a younger brother, Roger, who is listed in the city directory as employed by the Hostetler Studio in 1908. Baby Goddard is tougher, but if the image was taken in 1910 or 1911, as much of the collection appears to be, this could be little Warren J. Goddard, born in February 1910 to Jay L. and Dorothy (Stelk) Goddard. That just leaves photographer J. B.to round out the picture.
Hostetler began his career with photographer E. W. Shively in Decatur, Illinois. He came to Davenport to work for the Jarvis White Photography Company in 1887, buying them out in 1898 and changing the name to Hostetler Studio. Over the years the studio was located in several different buildings on Brady Street and finally at 212 West Third Street. J. B. Hostetler died in 1925 at age 56. His portraits, school montages, and beautiful historic landscape, park and building images are as vibrant when developed from those glass plate negatives today as they were one hundred years ago. He absolutely “knew how to catch ‘em” and are we ever glad he did!
Eighty-eight members of the East Georgia Genealogical Society submitted 317 biographical sketches of family members for this 728-page volume, but this resource is far above the usual unsubstantiated family stories about Third-Great Aunt Bessie from Elbert County.
The main person in each sketch was required to have lived in one of 28 East Georgia counties during the early years of settlement, though he or she did not have to have stayed for a long period of time. Women and slaves are included among the entries as well.
All sketches include at the very least the main person and their offspring– information about parents or other family members was added if the relationship could be documented. Each sketch was checked and re-edited to conform to a certain standard of genealogical research and the resources used had to be precisely referenced.
So, if you and yours have a possible connection to Eastern Georgia, you might take a look in the excellent index. If you discover a potential ancestor, contact information for the contributors are included at the end of every entry—who knows, maybe there’s a cousin or two out there just waiting to share his or her branches of the family tree!
Ninety-one years ago Davenport Police Patrolman Emil Speth walked the streets of Davenport, Iowa, wearing badge number 13. He was appointed to the department on July 13, 1911, according to an entry in the Davenport Police Roll Call Register January 1910 – March 1918. The married father was held in high regard by his co-workers and the public alike from all descriptions found in newspaper accounts of the time. Reading various pages of the Davenport Police Blotter January 1, 1915 – December 31, 1916, Speth’s name frequently appears as he made arrests while patrolling the streets of our city.
Looking through the police roll call register, one is able to trace Officer Speth as he moves up in police grades, takes vacations, and even time off when his wife is sick. It is not until a remark is placed next to Emil Speth’s name in the Davenport Police Roll Call Register January 1910 – March 1918 for the month of January 1917 that things have changed. The remark is short and simple, stating “Died 5:55 p.m. 1/26/17.”
Patrolman Speth was the first police officer killed in the line of duty in Davenport, Iowa.
Looking through our diverse collection, we were able to find something of what happened during Officer Speth’s final shift, which began on January 24, 1917 and was expected to carry over into the next day. The Davenport Police Blotter January 1, 1917 – October 31, 1918 provides an entry on page 5 (January 25, 1917)that notes a man named J. Allen Cox was arrested by Officer Kinney and Officer Speth for the crime of murder. Mr. Cox was described as 6 foot 2 inches in height with a dark complexion, no occupation, and of American nationality. Under remarks it is noted that he was in jail being held for grand jury.
The Ambulance Record – January 1, 1917 – January 20, 1920 records Emil Speth was shot below the heart by J. Allen Cox at the Hess Hotel 12:35 a.m. (the date is listed as January 24th, but would actually have been January 25th as it had just passed midnight). Officer Speth was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital (now Genesis East Hospital) from the Hess Hotel at 128-130 E. 2nd Street (currently the site of the Mid American Building & Plaza). J. Allen Cox’s name appears on the line below Officer Speth. He was taken from St. Luke’s to the county jail by ambulance on January 25, 1917 after being treated for gunshot wounds.
The Davenport Daily Times and The Davenport Democrat and Leader help flesh out the incident. Around January 24, 1917, the Davenport Police Department received a complaint from Mrs. Violet Black, who accused J. Allen Cox of taking money under false pretenses when he said he would be able to help her obtain a divorce from her husband. He demanded payment, according to Mrs. Black, but did not produce evidence that the divorce was finalized. Detective John Kinney went to the Hess Hotel late in the evening of January 24th, when it was discovered Mr. Cox was registered there. As Detective Kinney arrived at the hotel, Officer Speth happened to be patrolling nearby and accompanied him inside to assist Kinney. They found Mr. Cox and a gentleman named J. C. Wood inside Mr. Cox’s room and after talking to Mr. Cox, the officers asked him to go down to the station with them. Detective Kinney then stepped outside of the room to check the identity of Mr. Wood, leaving Officer Speth to secure Cox. Suddenly, a commotion was heard from the room. J. Allen Cox had a gun hidden in the pocket of the overcoat he was wearing and shot Officer Speth through his coat without ever pulling the weapon out. Both officers fired at Cox and he was wounded slightly.
Officer Speth died on January 26, 1917 leaving a widow and eight children ranging from sixteen years to three months. J. Allen Cox was convicted of Murder in the Second Degree on November 10, 1917 and was sentenced to twelve year at the Fort Madison, Iowa Penitentiary. He would be paroled on August 29, 1921 and received a Certificate of Order of Discharge on September 22, 1922.
On October 1, 1962 President John F. Kennedy signed Public Law 87-726 authorizing the President to proclaim May 15th of each year as Peace Officers Memorial Day and making the calendar week of May 15th National Police Week. In 1994 President Bill Clinton signed Public Law 103-322 directing that the United States flag be flown at half-staff on May 15th of each year. The month of May is also recognized as Police Memorial Month.
Davenport Police Officers Killed in the Line of Duty:
Police Officer Emil Arthur Speth – Died January 26, 1917
Police Officer Bernard Herman Geerts – Died July 16, 1928
Detective Sergeant William Hans Jurgens – Died July 16, 1958
Police Officer Michael Lee Farnsworth – Died December 5, 1971
(posted by Amy D.)
Today is the anniversary of the first time a riverboat hit the railroad bridge between Davenport and Rock Island, Illinois.
Why is this more significant than any other Mississippi River disaster, or any other time (and there were several) when a boat hit that bridge?
Well, it’s all about the bridge–and the blame.
The bridge in question was the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi.* It was proposed in 1842 and completed after 14 years of protests from steamboat owners and operators, who had benefitted from the natural railroad track blockade provided by the river. Despite their efforts, the bridge opened in April of 1856.
Just two weeks later, the Effie Afton hit a pier of the bridge, which burned along with the hapless boat. The feud between the railroaders and the riverfolk likewise exploded.
The company that owned the Effie Afton blamed the bridge for obstructing the river, while the railroads blamed the riverboat’s pilot. The former promptly sued the latter in “Hurd et al. vs. the Railroad Bridge Company,” which was tried in Illinois. A young lawyer from Springfield, one Abraham Lincoln, was hired by the railroad companies.
The case went all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1862, the court held that as the bridge was built for the public good and was well-placed with enough space for navigation, it was not an obstruction. This decision allowed many bridges to be built across the Mississippi, without fear of lawsuits.
This victory excepted, the first bridge suffered from terrible luck. A few years after the Effie Afton disaster, a too-heavy cattle car passed over the tracks and damaged the bridge. The construction was judged too light for the traffic by 1862 and was replaced with stronger materials along the same piers. In 1868, ice knocked a support out of alignment, allowing the wind to shove the swing span into the water. And by 1872, the wooden bridge was taken down altogether, replaced by the steel railroad bridge from Davenport , Iowa, to what is now called Arsenal Island.
Throughout the 16 years of the bridge’s eventful career, riverboats continued to bounce off the piers with remarkable regularity, as if in memorial to the first boat lost to the bridge.
But the Effie Afton herself wasn’t finished, yet.
According to the Davenport Democrat (25Dec1940, p.16), one spring in the late 1890s saw an ice blockage on the Mississippi that wouldn’t budge, a thick sheet almost a mile square, reaching almost all the way across the river, and along from the railroad bridge to the other end of Rock Island.
No one knew what had snagged the ice, but it was ruining barge traffic and keeping the ferry docked. So Captain Walter Blair took the J.W. Robinson, an old ferryboat with strap-iron on her bow, and rammed the ice a few times. The mass began to move, and was cleared out in an hour.
Later, they searched for the obstruction that had held up the floe–and found the remains of the Effie Afton.
***
*According to our information, the very first bridge of any type across the Mississippi River was built in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1855, beating our bridge by one year. But we don’t like to talk about it.
Today starts National Nurses Week. To honor these indispensable people, let’s take a look at the first nurses’ school in Davenport:
When St. Lukes’s Hospital (now Genesis East) was first organized, it naturally had nurses on staff. But after only a short time it was decided there was a need for nurses who were more formally trained. The resulting school, which opened in 1895, was called the ‘Davenport Training School for Nurses,’ so that if things did not work out as hoped, the failure wouldn’t be associated with the hospital.
As with all new thoughts and ideas, there were naysayers:
“One story was circulated about a woman who told her friends she could see no reason for such a school. Why she had taken care of more than ten persons herself–and they all died. What could anyone teach her about looking after the sick?” (The St. Luke’s Story, Mary Kay Phelan, p.13)
It is a good thing the majority of those who made the decisions did not feel the same way! The training school succeeded and in 1897, the name was changed to ‘St. Luke’s Training School’. The first class graduated in 1898, and for decades afterward, the school turned out many fine nurses.
Due to the generosity of Col. and Mrs. French, about eight years after the St. Luke’s Hospital moved to its Rusholme Street location, a new residence and school were built for the nurses by the hospital. The building was called French Hall.
After the building was no longer used for a residence for nurses, the Maternal Health Center, which later became the Edgerton Women’s Health Center, moved in. French Hall itself is gone, but the site is occupied by the Medic Emergency Medical SVVC.
For the growth of medical applications many well known and recognized alliances such as National Assessment Collaboration (NAC) are helping international medical graduates with their clinical process by getting them a license to practice their research Canada.
If you are looking for skilled nursing care, find out more here.
Reprinted from the Modern Hospital, February, 1938, Vol. 50, No. 2. Acc#1999-02 St. Luke’s Hospital Nursing Alumni Association Records. Scrapbook 1895-1956.
May 1st is May Day – traditionally a day for children to surprise friends with special little baskets of flowers, popcorn and treats. The phrase MayDay also is recognized as a cry for help (from the French term m’aidez), which is precisely the call to action sent out by the Society of American Archivists .
In a grassroots effort to save our public and personal archives from disasters such as flood and fire, the group would like us all to consider doing a few simple things to protect our treasured documents, photographs, and mementos. For example, the SAA is encouraging repositories like the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center to update the information in our emergency preparedness plan, or quickly survey collections areas to ensure nothing is stored directly on the floor where it would be especially vulnerable to water damage.
The SAA has some MayDay Quick Tips that are appropriate for the public in general, too. Contact our staff archivists with your questions or follow these links and give your loved ones a legacy – save your family archives!
In honor of this year’s flooding (which surprised us as much as anyone), we pulled a few of our images of Floods Past from our Historical Photograph Collections for your enjoyment:
This photos were taken during the same flood in the early 1940s. There were three to choose from: ’43, ’43, or ’44.
High and dry in the sky . . . until we land.
This aerial photo was taken from an airplane above the west end of Davenport.
The Mississippi come up to say Hello!
This image shows the river slowly creeping over the levy into LeClaire Park.
Watch out for the water hazard!
Credit Island Gold Course shrank to several holes less than the full 18 as the water rose higher.
***
The flood of 1965 was called the “Flood of the Century” and the “Great Flood,” at least until 1993 came along.
Robin Hood Island
The Robin Hood Flour Mills were surrounded by the Mississippi River in the spring of 1965.
When escaping a flood, always remember to turn off the lights before leaving.
A lone figure wades back towards Robin Hood Flour in this river-level view.
Municipal Swimming Pool
A rooftop view of the efforts to keep Davenport on the shallow end.
Hey–your pumping truck is in a No Parking Zone!
Eagle Signal does a valiant job of keeping 736 Federal Street from going under.
Our friend the sandbag.
The 700 block of Federal Street shows that floods don’t always win.
***
Stay tuned–we will share more of our historical images in future posts!
Quizzer— What’s the matter, old man? You look worried.
Sizzer— I have cause to. I hired a man to trace my pedigree.
Quizzer— Well, what’s the trouble? Hasn’t he been successful?
Sizzer— Successful? I should say he has! I’m paying him hush money.
Davenport Democrat, December 31, 1918, p.14
Genealogy jokes are rare in our newspaper archives–especially ones that provide ideas for future fundraising opportunities.* So when we find ’em, we just have to share.
*This is also a joke and in no way is meant to imply an individual determination or a conspiracy to commit any illegal deeds whatsoever. Our staff would never dream of blackmailing anyone with the deeds of their ancestors, whether famous, infamous, or just plain uninteresting.
Bad Behavior has blocked 726 access attempts in the last 7 days.
