Archive for September, 2013

8
Sep

$200,000 for Webster City

   Posted by: admin    in Death, Organizations, People, Webster City

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 8, 1903

$200,000 for Webster City

By Demise of Mrs. Kendall Young Webster City Gets Princely Sum

The Story of the Bequest

It Was Made by Her Husband, Who Was Wealthy Pioneer of Webster City

Webster City, Sept. 8 The death of Mrs. Kendall Young in Battle Creek, Mich., Monday, was announced in this city today. By the death of Mrs. Young, Webster City will received $200,000 (about $5,032,308 today) to be used in the building of a library as a monument to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Kendall Young. The fund has been in trust since 1896, when Mr. Young died, but could ot be used until the death of his wife.

The will provided that upon the death of Mrs. Young, $25,000 ($629,038) should be expended for a fire proof building. The remainder of the fortune must remain intact, and only the income of it, or so much of it as the trustees may see fit, is to be used for library purposes.

Kendall Young was born in Maine, and his wife in County Kent, England. The two were married in this city in 1858, and with the exception of a short residence in Irvington, have lived here ever since. At the time they were married here, the population of the city was but 400, and of the county 1,600. Through Mrs. Young’s generosity, the Kendall Young library on a small scale was established in 1898. At that time it became apparent to her that the annual income form the estate was more than she required or desired for her personal use. She very generously offered the use for library purposes of the magnificent Kendall Young home on Wilson avenue, beautifully situated and surrounded by spacious ornamental grounds, together with its furnishings, including many valuable paintings and pictures. She also proposed that the surplus income form the estate should be devoted to the immediate establishment and maintenance of the library.

At the February, 1898, term of the district court, upon the joint application of Mrs. Young and the executor, it was ordered that the executor annually turn over to the library trustees the surplus income from the estate, to be by them used for library purposes. At this time Mrs. Young was confined in the Battle Creek, Mich., sanitarium, on account of her health, where she remained until she died.

Mr. Young laid the foundation for his fortune during the California gold craze of 1849, and with this start began business in Hamilton county, where the balance of his fortune was made. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Young has been cared for by the trustees of the estate. These gentlemen have seen to it that she has had all the comforts that money could buy. She has wanted for nothing, and yet, good soul that she was, she has often talked with them about the cutting down of her personal expenses in order that the money might be saved to the estate. She was 73 years of age. The funeral will be held in the city Thursday from the old Young home, now the library building.

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7
Sep

Report Births and Deaths

   Posted by: admin    in Vital records

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 7, 1904

Report Births and Deaths

Physicians or Other Persons in attendance Must Report

Blanks For Purpose May Be Obtained From Drs. W.W. Bowen or A.H. McCreight

Dr. W.W. Bowen the health officer of the city, as (sic – should be has) just received the death and birth blanks that are required to be filled out by the new “vital statistics” law that recently passed the legislature and has been causing such a furor among the members of the medical profession.

The new law requires that a complete record of every birth and death shall be made by the physician or other persons in attendance at the time and the records shall be turned in to the city health physicians or his new deputy, either of whom will supply the necessary blanks for the purpose.

From this time on the requirements of this law must be fulfilled to the letter under a penalty of fine or imprisonment or both. The penalty for neglecting this duty as stated in the law is a fine of not less than $5 (about $126 today) nor more than $100 ($2,516), or imprisonment for not more than sixty days or both. If neither physician, nurse or midwife are present at the birth of a child any person of the family or institution where the child is born may make the report on the blanks held by the health officer or his deputy. Dr. A.H. McCreight is the deputy of Dr. Bowen in this city.

In the case of a death the physician in attendance must make out the usual death certificate and the undertaker is required to take this to the health physician and make report of the death, so that by this arrangement, one man has a complete record of every birth and death in his community.

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6
Sep

Twenty-nine Arrests Made in August

   Posted by: admin    in Police court

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 6, 1905

Twenty-nine Arrests Made in August

Police Had More to do in August Than in Any of Preceeding (sic) Months

But Few Sensational Cases

Most of the Wrongdoers Were Drunks, Vagrants and Beggars No Burglars Thieves, Pickpockets or Other Similar Culprits Fall into Net

The police record of hte city of Fort Dodge for the  month of August shows that the city during that month was not as free from the rough and rowdy element as during the three or four months that preceded it.

In the month of July only some ten or fifteen arrests were made and a number of fines levied considerably below that number. The August record brings forth the intelligence that during the dog-day month twenty-nine arrests were made and about eighteen fines assessed.  There were few, if any sensational arrests or cases of any kind brought before the mayor during the month, despite the large number of wrong doers haled before him. Most of the transgressors were plain drunks, vagrants, beggars and others of a similar nature.

The arrests with their causes are as follows:

Drunk
Drunk and disorderly
Vagrancy
Disturbing the public quiet
Thieving
Begging
Suspicious character
Assault
Assault and battery
Disorderly conduct
11
1
9
1
2
2
1
1
1
1

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4
Sep

Thor Experiences Burglar Epidemic

   Posted by: admin    in theft, Thor

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 4, 1903

Thor Experiences Burglar Epidemic

Three Places Entered Thursday Night — Robberies by Same Men

Burglars Have Hard Luck

Blow Open Safe, Break Into Store, and Enter the Postoffice

Thor, Sept. 4 — Thor experienced a burglar epidemic last night, the chief characteristic of which was the hard luck attending the efforts of the hard working robbers.After breaking into three buildings and blowing one safe, they succeeded in getting away with a quantity of silk and other merchandise.

The safe in the office of the Chapman Lumber company was found this morning to be in a badly demolished condition. The door had been blown from its hinges, and the force of the explosion had wrecked the entire safe. Fortunately, nothing had been left in the strong box over night, and the burglars were compelled to leave empty-handed after their trouble.

By what is thought to have been the same persons, a second burglary was committed at the general store of Stewart Oleson, where a large amount of silks and a few other articles of merchandise were taken.

The postoffice was broken into, but not entered. A window had been forced open and the burglars were about to enter when they were frightened away by a burglar alarm.

No arrests have been made, nor is there a clue to the robbers.

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The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 2, 1903

Tom Thumb Wedding at the Christian Church Success

The Unique Entertainment Will Be Repeated This Evening Those Taking Part

The Tom Thumb wedding which was given at the Christian church on Monday night was a great success and is to be repeated again tonight. Mr. Tripp of Colfax, will read. There will also be solos by Professor Whiting of Tobin College, and Misses Parthena Carmichael, Vera Dohs, and Ruth Pinkerton.

The following are the names of the children who take part in the entertainment.

Paul Hogle
Ralph Tryon
Helen Flaherty
Bell Philips
Elliot Collson
Vivian Hogle
Francis Gates
Marie Kepner
Mabel Thompson
Hazel Griffin
Genet Conner
Bernice Tessler
Irene Smith
Marion Flaherty
Zerline Wigton
Edna Wigton
Eda Peterson
Helen Hoagland
Ruth Pinkerton
Roberta Carrol
Martha Fullerton
Vera Carter
Vera Tennant
Inez Berry
Myrtle Philips
Ella Johnson
Mary Nelson
Parthena Carmichael
Dorris Collson
Paul Corneilson
Fern Scott
Leon Brown
Robert Williams
Irwin Berry
Ralph Cornelysen
Elizabeth Fullerton
Blanche McDaniels
Ruby Peterson
Marie Tennant
Harold Schill
Harold McGlassen
Arthur Peterson
Joseph Carroll
Faber McFaddin
Harry McAlpin
Sammie Hancock
Vera Dohs
Gertrude Leighton
Francis Green
Lyle Colby
Fern McDaniel
Neva Gates
Minnie Heller
Maud Heller

(Editor’s note: I attempted to recreate the names exactly how they were in the original article. If any of the names are incorrect it is either a) a typo on my part or b) a typo in the original article.)

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1
Sep

Absence Made Her Love Grow Cold

   Posted by: admin    in Marriage, Society news

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 1, 1903

Absence Made Her Love Grow Cold

Miss Gilday’s Romance of an Egg Proves That “Absence” is Not an Axiom

Marries Him Who Stayed Home

Fort Dodge Girls Who Wrote Name on Egg Shipped to Cuba, Weds Oct. 28

Des Moines, Iowa, September 1 — It was during the Spanish-American war in 1898 that Miss Marie Gilday of Fort Dodge, Iowa, mischievously scrawled her name over the white shell of an egg and slipped it into a packing case at the plant of a big Fort Dodge packing establishment. She was surprised a month later when she received a letter postmarked Santiago, Cuba. The egg had been part of a consignment to the American soldiers in Cuba and Corporal Percy Smith found it in the case when he was working in the commissary department. He wrote to Miss Gilday in Iowa it was not long before he received a reply. Letters flew thick and fast between them and an exchange of pictures followed. Then rumor had it that they were engaged and that Smith was to be furloughed so he could come and visit her.

Fay Cronlin, telegraph operator at the Illinois Central station met Miss Gilday in Fort Dodge the same year. He saw and loved her. But the story of the girl’s strange betrothal to the soldier came to him and he refrained from speaking the words that were in his heart. His companionship continued, but ont (sic – should be not) his courtship. The soldier boy in Santiago who wrote that he was coming to visit Miss Gilday, could not get the furlough and he wrote that he would have to wait until he was discharged from the army.

Seeing the operator every day apparently had its effect on Miss Gilday’s affections. A short time ago she wrote to the soldier telling him their correspondence must cease. When she told this to Cronlin he proposed. The result was that Miss Gilday resigned her position Wednesday and left for Council Bluffs to visit at Cronlin’s home. Yesterday, the wedding invitations were sent out. The marriage will take place at the home of Miss Gilday’s mother October 28. Mr. and Mrs. Cronlin will live in Sioux City.

(Editor’s note: I did a quick search on FamilySearch.org and discovered in the “Iowa, Marriages, 1809-1992” that Marie Gilday is listed as mother of the bride in the marriage of Dorothy E. Cronland to Earl E. Walters. The father of the bride is listed as Fayette J. Cronland. The marriage took place on Nov. 24, 1924, in Council Bluffs. A search for Fay Cronland brought up the actual marriage in the “Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934” records. It did take place on Oct. 28, 1903, in Fort Dodge. But the bride’s name is listed as Elizabeth Gilday.)

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