Battles of Campbell's Island and Credit Island in War of 1812

 

Chief Black Hawk sided with the British
during the War of 1812, fighting two battles
along the Mississippi River.

Black Hawk met with Lieutenant John Campbell of the 1st US Regiment of Infantry on July 18, 1814. Campbell reported the Indians were friendly.  

Campbell said he met a party of Sac warriors carrying a white flag just below the Rock River Rapids. They invited him to Saukenuk for a council, so he traveled about four miles upstream to their village to meet with them.  

There were maybe 150 warriors, plus their women and children. One of the chiefs (most likely Black Hawk) asked if he had presents for them. Campbell replied that he did if they went to war against the Peaus as promised. The chief said he’d made no such promise to his white father. “His father was drunk if he said so.” However, the chief did agree to attack the Peaus if Campbell supplied them with the necessary weapons. 

A Ghost Story from the Old Stone House in Clinton, Iowa

The Old Stone House at Clinton, Iowa
(from a postcard circa 1912.)

The old stone house at 850 South Bluff Boulevard in Clinton, Iowa, was built sometime in 1838 or 1839. In its early days, the home served as a stopping point for mail riders and travelers. Over time, as the civil war approached, the home became a stop along the underground railway slaves traveled on their quest for freedom.  

No one can say how many former slaves sought sanctuary there—100, 200, maybe more. Many stayed for just a day, others it is said left a lasting imprint on the area. 

A 1922 article in the Clinton Herald reported strange goings on around the house. “Haunted!” said Isabel Chatterton. “Yes. By the spirits of terror-stricken black men who were racing their way toward freedom.” 

Reverend Ned Lee the Founder of Davenport's Friendly House

Ned Lee

Fifty-year-old Ned Lee stepped off the train in Davenport on May 1, 1895. He was on his way to Denver, but a quick stopover in Davenport convinced him there was work to be done in the city. So, he stayed.

He started out speaking at local churches. Sunday after Sunday, Lee talked about his mission work and what could be done. After that, he took his message to local businessmen, seeking support for his mission work. The funny thing was the churches embraced his mission work, but the saloon owners gave him the money to fund his mission. Something about Lee convinced them that he was the man for the job. Maybe it was his stories, the scars on his arms, or perhaps the glint in his eye.

Mr. Lee “sought to establish his institution in the heart of the slums,” said a 1906 article in The Daily Times. “His mission was to uplift the hopeless and invade the portions where the other ministers and churches had failed to go.”^[1]

Lee started in 1895, operating as the People’s Union Mission. He organized a Sunday School, then a sewing school to teach young girls ages seven to thirteen the fine art of needlework. To do that, he solicited help from the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union of Davenport. Things went so well that Lee formed a ladies’ auxiliary to the mission on March 10, 1896.^[2]

Morrill Marston Commandant of Fort Armstrong (1819-1821)

Fort Armstrong at Rock Island

Morrill Marston served as commandant at Fort Armstrong from August 1819 to June 1821. After leaving Fort Armstrong, Marston became the commandant of Fort Edwards. His primary duty was to stop boats going up the river and search them for whiskey to ensure it did not get to the Indians.

After leaving the army when Fort Edwards was abandoned in 1824, he began farming near the fort. Unfortunately, Marston drowned in a drunken fit in 1831.^[2]

Fortunately for us, he penned a series of letters on the Sac and Fox customs to Reverend Jedidiah Morse in 1820. In addition, Marston said he talked with four of the principal chiefs of the two nations.

They called the land around Fort Armstrong Sen-i-se-po Ke-be-sau-lee or Rock River Peninsula.^[3] Government agents had been trying to get the tribes to relocate for some time but had no luck. A Fox chief told him they would not leave because their chiefs and friends were buried there.^[4]

Early Breweries in Iowa (1846-1901)

An old time brewery

Here’s some interesting information on early Iowa breweries taken from One Hundred Years of Brewing, published in 1901.

 

The first brewery in Davenport, Iowa, was established by Mathias Frahm in 1848 or 1849 and was later known as the City Brewery. In 1853, Dr. C. H. Dries erected the Pacific Brewery, and in 1857 A. Severance came from Canada and built the Severance Ale Brewery. P & A Lyttig founded the Eagle Brewery in 1858. At about the same time, Messrs. Knepper in Shieley established the Arsenal Brewery.

 

In 1865 and 1866, Julius Lehrkind and his brother built the Blackhawk Brewery, and after its destruction by fire, Mr. Lehrkind founded another plant on Second and Taylor Streets, which he christened the Lehrkind Brewery.

 

The Zoller Brothers built a plant in Black Hawk, which they called the Black Hawk Brewery, in 1892. The City, the Eagle, the Lehrkind, the Arsenal, and the Black Hawk (Zoller Bros.) were then abandoned, and a new brewery was erected on the site of the old Lehrkind Brewery. After the Davenport Malting Company was established, the Zoller Brothers sold out their interests and organized the Independent Malting Company, building the brewery in Second and Davis Streets, which they now conduct.

 

W. H. Decker of Davenport, Iowa, founded the malt house in that city in the early fifties, being the first to engage in the business separate from a brewery in the state. Part of the original building is still standing and is now occupied by the Pittsburgh plate glass company.

 

Former University of Iowa of Iowa Halfback Nile Kinnick dies in WWII (1943)

Nile Kinnick

Iowa Hawkeye fans were stunned in June 1943 when they learned the former halfback Nile Kinnick had died in action.

Kinnick’s parents told reporters they hadn’t heard from him since May 22. They thought he was assigned to an aircraft carrier somewhere in the Atlantic but weren’t sure where. The navy subsequently reported Kinnick’s Grumman F4F Wildcat suffered a catastrophic oil leak shortly after takeoff from the USS Lexington. Nevertheless, he followed protocol and ditched his aircraft in the water about four miles from the carrier. Unfortunately, his body was never found.

When Kinnick enlisted in the naval air corps in September 1941, he told reporters, “I would be lacking in appreciation for all America has done for me did I not offer what little I had to her.

“And I’m going in with both fists swinging.”

Chief Black Hawk's Bones Stolen (1840)

Chief Black Hawk

Special from the Wisconsin Express. March 7, 1840.

“The son of Black Hawk reported that the whites had stolen the bones of his father and requested the governor to try and find out where they were and restore them to him, as they were sacred to the nation. The governor said he would, and if the offender could be found, he should be punished by the laws of the land.”

The same paper reported that the Sac and Fox were unhappy with the distribution of their annuities, especially how they were paid. They had been “paid to the ‘money chiefs,’ who spent it and left none to be distributed to the nation, causing their wives and children to suffer for food and clothing.”

Since Keokuk was made chief, he kept a large bodyguard of warriors “on whom he bestowed many favors, keeping them dressed in good style at the expense of the nation.”

Murder in Des Moines's Whitechapel District (1902)

Isaac Finkelstein

 Isaac Finkelstein was a bit of a rabble-rouser. One local newspaper described him as somewhat “contentious,” saying he “never hesitated about standing up for his rights.” That may have been because he was a Republican politician on Des Moines’ east side, or maybe the former policeman in him showed through. Whatever it was, Finkelstein constantly urged the police or city officials to go after someone.

He’d been on a one-person crusade for years, trying to shut down Des Moines’ gambling parlors. Not so much on moral grounds, reported The Bystander, but to get revenue for the city. Eight gambling dens currently ran wide open, and the city wasn’t making any money on them. Moreover, Finkelstein believed the gamblers had to be tied in with city officials. Otherwise, the municipality would be getting its share of the take.

The police raided three gambling joints because of his complaints. They arrested fifty-one men, seized $900 for the city, and destroyed $2,000 in gambling paraphernalia.

As expected, Finkelstein made a few enemies, so it didn’t surprise anyone when he turned up dead in an alley on August 5, 1902.

Chancy Lamb Clinton, Iowa Lumber Baron

Chancy Lamb

Lumber baron Chancy Lamb was born in Ticonderoga, New York, on January 4, 1816. He moved to Illinois in his teens and farmed for three years, then returned to New York, where he worked in the lumber business.

Lamb moved to Clinton, Iowa, in 1857 and bought the old Gray and Lunt sawmill on the Mississippi River. The mill burned in 1858, but not to be discouraged, Lamb built “mill b.” Unfortunately, it was destroyed by fire on October 14, 1876. He constructed and lost two more mills to fires over the next several years. However, none of the fires kept him from trying.

Along with his lumber interests, Chancy Lamb was active in several businesses. He purchased pine forests to supply his mills. In addition, he became a stockholder and director of the Clinton National Bank, was president of the water company at Clinton, and was an investor in the gas company.

Lamb married Jane Bevier on November 17, 1839. They had four children—Artemus, Augusta, Lafayette, and Emma. The two boys served as directors of Clinton National Bank and were active in their father’s businesses.

James D. Bourne First Settler in Clinton County, Iowa

James D, Bourne

James D. Bourne, one of the first settlers in Clinton County, was born in William County, Virginia, in 1811. He moved to Vinegar Hill, four miles outside of Galena, Illinois, in 1832, where he worked as a miner.

Over the next several years, Bourne worked as a miner in Potosi, Wisconsin, and Dubuque, Iowa. He came to Clinton County in August 1836 and built a cabin along the Wapsipinicon River. Then he moved to De Witt in 1840, where he married Christina Dennis in 1841. The couple went on to have ten children.

Governor Dodge appointed Bourne the first sheriff of Clinton County in 1840 at a salary of $300 annually. A decade later, he served as a deputy United States Marshal, then as the county’s representative to the state legislature in 1848.

Over time, Bourne became a wealthy man, accumulating nearly 1,000 acres of land.

(Portrait and information from the Portrait and Biographical Album of Clinton County, Iowa. 1886.)

Antoine Le Claire Davenport's First Citizen

Antoine Le Claire
Davenport Democrat &
Leader. March 28, 1918.

Antoine Le Claire started his life as an Indian trader and interpreter. After the Black Hawk War, Le Claire launched his second career as a town builder.

At first, he worked as a jack of all trades. Le Claire became the first justice of the peace in Iowa in 1833. The following year, he established a ferry service between Stephenson (present-day Rock Island) and Davenport. On April 19, 1836, Le Claire became the first postmaster of Davenport. Early accounts say he carried the mail in his coat pockets.

After the City of Davenport was laid out in 1836, a steamboat loaded with investors arrived at Davenport in time for the sale, but fewer lots were sold than expected. At best, fifty or sixty lots sold, and then, for lower prices than anticipated. The new city was off to a slow start and would continue at that pace for nearly a decade.

From all accounts, Le Claire cultivated his town much as a farmer would his fields, watering it and adding a touch of fertilizer when necessary. Everything written about Antoine Le Claire referred to his generous nature. “Mr. Le Claire is a wealthy man,” reported the Rock Island Weekly Argus, “and he knows what use to make of his wealth. Mr. Le Claire has always been the first on the list in every enterprise intended to benefit the town and state in which he lives.”

When the town was laid out, Le Claire set aside Lafayette Square for a courthouse. Several other lots were provided for parks and playgrounds. He donated land or money to build many churches in Davenport and gave an entire block on Main and West Fourth Streets for St. Anthony’s, the first church in Davenport.

Feast of the Merry Murderers (1921)

 

No one was particularly surprised when they 
leaned Earl Throst was the killer. 

A little schoolhouse hidden away in the lonely hills near Dorchester, Iowa, witnessed a brutal murder nearly 100 years ago.

The Bergen School was run by a pretty 22-year-old girl named Inga Magnusson (spelled Magnuson in the original reports). She lived with her parents in Houston County, Minnesota, about a half-mile across the border from the schoolhouse.

Inga graduated from Spring Grove High School in Minnesota, then attended classes at Upper Iowa University in Fayette. After graduation, she taught at several schools before settling in at the Bergen School.

Magnus Magnusson got worried when his daughter didn’t come home from school at the usual time. He walked to the school to look for her, but the door was locked, so he assumed she had gone home with one of her students. A few hours later, he panicked and phoned neighbors to find out if they’d seen her. 

Theodore Roosevelt Visits Davenport Author Alice French (1910)

 

Davenport author, Alice French, entertained former President Theodore Roosevelt at her home on November 4, 1910. 

 The table decorations were “unique,” reported The Daily Times, and “represent a jungle in which the huge form of an elephant in bronze was a reminder of the recent hunt in the African wilds.” The breakfast began with grapefruit “Teddy de Rose,” a unique concoction that Alice whipped up for the occasion. After that, she served freshly caught trout and assorted game that appealed to the former president’s outdoorsy nature.  

 

When he finished his meal, Roosevelt greeted a bevy of children from the Ida Institute who had gathered on French’s veranda. Then he went to Central Park, where he delivered a political speech, endorsing congressional candidate Charles Grilk. Unfortunately, none of the papers bothered to record Roosevelt’s speech. They were just excited to have him in town. 

Grasshopper Plagues (1860-1879)

 

Catching grasshoppers with nets. (From Frank Leslie's
Illustrated Newspaper. September 1, 1888)

The 1860s to the 1870s were known as the Grasshopper Years. The “green hellions” came out of the Rocky Mountains and ate their way across the prairies, devouring anything and everything in their path. Many early settlers thought the hoppers did more damage than all the marauding Indians in the west.

The grasshoppers also went by the name of the “hopper,” the “red-legged locust,” the “Mormon Locust,” “G. Hopper” (sometimes, “Mr. G. Hopper”), and the “hateful grasshopper.”

They were often described as “an immense snowstorm” or like a “dust tornado, riding upon the wind like an ominous hailstorm.” Often, there were so many of them they blocked out the sunlight.

 

Grasshoppers could eat up a field of corn quicker than a herd of hungry buffalo. The hoppers weren’t fussy. “They eat anything—dead plants, dry wood, the wool off of sheep’s backs, dead animals, and when one of their own becomes disabled, they fall upon him and eat him up before he has time to die.”

 

If the hordes of hungry grasshoppers had been a one-time thing, it wouldn’t have been so bad, but like a bad penny, the hoppers returned with the spring rains. When they were done eating, they laid their eggs and continued to do so until the ground froze up or they died. 

 

After their eggs hatched in the early spring, the feeding frenzy began anew. Often it was worse because the young hoppers were voracious eaters. They ate everything in sight. Then, when the food was gone, they migrated by the millions consuming everything in their path. 

 

Fat Men's Baseball Club Waterloo, Iowa (1910)

 

The Fat Men's Amusement Company
(From The Des Moines Register. June 19, 1910)

Frank C. Kee of Waterloo, Iowa, traveled the United States in 1909 and 1910 putting together the fat men’s baseball club. When he finished, the team had a combined weight of 4,487 pounds (about twice the weight of a Clydesdale horse). 

Although the team members were big, the Des Moines Register told its readers, there was nothing funny about the way they played baseball. “Their lining up at the lunch counter when out on the road,” said the paper, “is the immediate signal for the proprietor to send out for additional supplies.” 

 

“Baby” Bliss, the first baseman, weighed in at 650 pounds and was thought to be the heaviest man in the world. E, Holm, the pitcher, weighed 350 pounds. J. A. Brownwell, the second baseman weighed 400 pounds, outfielder Harry Vorwold weighed 325 pounds, shortstop Ed J. Sheean weighed 390 pounds, and W. B. Hinds, the third baseman, tipped the scale at 400 pounds. And strange as it may seem, Oliver Kimball, the umpire, was a teensy guy who stood 4 foot tall and weighed 138 pounds. 

Weyerhaeuser & Denkmann Lumber Yard Fire in Davenport (1901)

 

(From the Davenport Democrat. August 7, 1901)

The largest fire in Davenport’s history swept through the city’s riverfront district on July 26, 1901. Twenty acres of homes and businesses were swept away in the conflagration.

 

The Weyerhaeuser and Denkmann Lumber Yards were burnt to the ground. Two hundred people lost their homes, and nearly one hundred eighty men at the lumber yard lost their jobs. 

 

“A strong wind fanned the flames, reported The Moline Dispatch. “They shot hundreds of feet into the air. Then, they jumped across streets and alleys and rushed forward with the force of a monster blast furnace.”[1]

 

Everything from the foot of Federal Street to Oneida Street lay in ruins. The flames were so hot the rails melted, and the ends flung themselves in the air like “snakeheads.” They stood up over a foot in some places. All that remained of the wooden sidewalks were ashes.

 

The telephone lines were out for nearly a week as the company raced to replace the burnt poles and restring their wires. The trolley line replaced two blocks of tracks, most of the poles and wires that powered their lines, and railroad traffic was disrupted for weeks.