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.

The Fort Dodge Chronicle: July 1, 1907

Historical Society to Hold Annual Meeting

Annual Reports Will be Made by Officers and Paper on Pioneer Life Read by Mrs. J.F. Duncombe

The Webster County Historical Society will hold their annual meeting at the Library association rooms at 8 o’clock Tuesday evening, July 9. Annual reports will be heard from the President, Mrs. J.P. Dolliver; from the secretary and treasurer, Mrs. C.B. Hepler, and curator, H.M. Pratt. The rest of the program will consist of a report of the state historical meeting at Iowa City in April to which Curator H.M. Pratt was a delegate.

Mrs. John F. Duncombe will give a paper on early reminiscences of Fort Dodge and several historical documents will be read.

Election of officers will take place at this meeting. It is also planned to have a few musical numbers.

The members of the society and all others interested in the work are cordially invited to be present.

The Gazette and Messenger: May 24, 1878

(Editor’s note: The Gazette and Messenger didn’t print on Memorial Day.)

Decoration Day

This day which, as much as any other should be fitly observed, comes about next Thursday. No action toward a general celebration of the day has yet been taken though it needs only a little effort in the way of organization to make the day a grand success. The “Daughters of Rebecca” – bless them, were the first to speak and voted that they should celebrate whether any one else did or not. The Odd Fellows at their lodge meeting this week decided to turn out as a boyd. The guards will probably do likewise. All that is necessary is to have some system and organization about it and all will go off smoothly. A meeting should be called and committees appointed.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Feb. 10, 1906

Death Angel Enters Hovel

Old Man Discovered Friday is Dead.

Was Sad Affair – G.A.R. Will Take Charge of Burial – Try to Find Relatives.

Last night shortly before the hour of eight, the death angel entered a miserable hovel on Central avenue where in a lowly room, Eugene Lockwood, a veteran of the civil war, had struggled for week, unattended and uncared for with the dread disease of pneumonia.

Lockwood’s case was reported in last night’s Messenger. The unfortunate man was alone in the world with the exception of distant relatives whose names or address are not known. For three weeks he has lain gasping for breath and almost with the death rattle in his throat, practically on the street where hurrying crowds rushed by, and nothing was known of his condition by those who were in a position to do anything to aid him. The members of the G.A.R. who would have done anything within their power to aid their comrade did not discover his plight until Friday and the county officers were not informed until the same day. It was then too late. Pneumonia had closed its grasp upon him, and it merely remained for him to gasp out his closing hours of life the same as he had his days of sickness before.

The local G.A.R. will have charge of the burial unless relatives come to claim the body. It is understood that distant relatives live in Mason City. An attempt will be made to learn who they are, but this seems unlikely. Lockwood has lived in this city for about five or six years. He had supported himself by doing odd jobs about town. He was last employed as a porter at the Freeman and Schureck saloon.

(Editor’s note: The G.A.R., or Grand Army of the Republic, was a fraternal organization of veterans of the Union Army during the Civil War.)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Feb. 7, 1907

The Ten Commandments

As Revised and Re-Written by the Farmers at Jolley.

At the farmer’s elevator company meeting in Jolley this week the ten commandments, revised to apply to the co-operative elevator and grain business were read to the assemblage as follows:

I.

Thou shalt join the farmers elevator and have no trust elevators before it.

II.

The annual barbecue thereof shalt thou attend and eat of the roast ox that thou may live long and prosper on the farm.

III.

Thou shalt not help they neighbor who patronizes false elevators.

IV.

Thou shalt not suffer they grain to be put in a dice box, nor on the camels back, for is it not written that the dice box is a gambling device and that it is hard for a camel to enter the eye of a needle?

V.

Thou shalt build all the roads to lead to the Farmers Elevator and when they work is done and thy journey ended, they goods deeds will be placed upon the high shelf of honesty.

VI.

Thou shalt not sell they share in the Farmers Elevator at the rise of every little provocation as is it not written in the book of experience that there are ups and downs in every vocation of life.

VII.

Thou shalt draw the line and head your horses toward reciprocal demurrage.

VIII.

Thou shalt do all in thy power to assist in a work to overcome the car famine that they grain may be moved with greater rapidity.

IX.

Thou shalt no longer be pin heads but spikes driven into the hides of the grain trust and their hirelings.

X.

Thou shalt not lay these commandments upon the shelf where the trust elevator may cover them with dust and the moth eat them.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 30, 1907

History of Iowa Farmers’ Co-operative Association

One of the most remarkable growths in Iowa business affairs during the past year has been the increase in the number of Iowa Farmers’ co-operative associations. The present annual meeting scheduled for Mason City nual (sic) meeting of this organization of Iowa farmers calls to mind some facts which the chronicles of the organization show. According to the report of the secretary at the last annual meeting there were exactly 104 societies in active operation in Iowa. Since that time there have been thirty-one new ones organized and more in process of organization. A million of dollars that have been subscribed by the tillers of the soil by mutual agreements is invested in the properties and business capital of these institution (sic).

What, but a few years ago, was the sneer and derision of the so-called orthodox grain men of this state is now a giant to which all dealers in the products of Iowa farmers are willing to bow. The history of this organization movement is unique. “A fair deal, stick together, pay your commissions, and when selling elsewhere look out for the weights.” There is no assessment of stockholders and in no case recorded in Iowa has any society experienced a deficit. This directors may borrow money with which to operate the business, but not above two-thirds of the paid in capital stocks. Over that amount, if money is obtained, it is secured through the individual guarantee of the directors and is in no sense an obligation to the society.

All farmers co-operative associations of the state are founded upon the theory that the farmer is enslaved to the grain buyers and that this method is his only emancipation. The fight for supremacy and for the lives of the societies in the different sections where they are located is kept ever fresh in the minds of the members each year. It is rehearsed as often as the association renews it vows. Each year the question is asked whether there is a desire to go back to the old method of selling the product of the farms but the answer always comes, “Go ahead, stick together and we will win.”

To keep the unfaithful in line a penalty is provided. If a member of the association sells his grain to an old-line elevator he is taxed 1/4 per cent commission. In a few instances over the state examples have been made of those who are catering to the “enemy” that have been salutary, and such offenses, if persisted in, usually mean banishment from the councils of the association and social ostracism. the culprit has often found it convenient to remove to some other locality.

Be it said to the good fortune of the co-operative organizations of Iowa that they are well managed and there has not yet been developed a single breach of business faithfulness on the part of any of its local managers and officers. In all cases, so far as can be learned, the management has been both shrewd and honest and has instantly refused to listen to any and all overtures from other concerns. Offers have been made by line companies to enter into an agreement with the association to fix the prices at local points but the temptation has in every case been spurned, the officers believing they detected some attempt to inveigle them into forfeiting their charter by unlawful combinations.

This danger –  mismanagement – was the rock the enemies and some of the friends, even, of the co-operative was sure the movement would strike before it went far, but happily, these have been avoided. Men have been content, even poor man (sic), to manage the local business, to receive the $800 ($18,476 today), $1,000 ($23,095) or $1,200 ($27,714) per year and a clear conscience rather than feather their nest and retire rich and despised. All of them seem to consider their positions in the nature of a public trust, and have acted accordingly. The individual society has no secrets. The books are open to its members or to any other persons who care to look into them. Even the meetings of the directors are open to any and all visitors. This stills any suspicious whisper that might be born of secret session or unpublished methods.

Wherever a farmers’ elevator has been established it has tended to increase the market price of grains from a half to one and a half cents per bushel. Many line companies seem able to pay this and live.

The state association is under the most careful supervision of an able corps of officers who give largely of their time to its interests. The management is divided into seven departments, the directorate, the executive, the claims, the legislative, the transportation, the arbitration and investigation and the grades. In each of these departments the special function is suggested by its name. They are made up of the leading farmers of the different communities where co-operation thrives. At present the most active men of the association are the secretary, C.G. Messerole, of Gowrie, Thomas McManus, of Doughtery, the father of the movement in Iowa, and a member of the arbitration and investigation committee, and Edward Dunn of Burchinal, the traveling representative. These men are in close touch with the situation in all parts of the state and their time is largely taken up in what they term missionary work.

The state association men, who are actively engaged in the work have laid down certain principles which they are endeavoring to follow:

First – To secure for all the farmers in the state a just and fair return for their labor.

Second – To put a stop to the blacklisting, boycotting, persecuting methods of the grain dealers’ association and all other trusts masquerading under the cloak of a trade organization.

Third – To bring about a closer relationship and better feeling between the legitimate business men and the producers.

Fourth – To make graft and thievery disreputable and bring about conditions in trade that will be possible for the business man and the producer to practice the golden rule in their dealings with one another.

Northern Iowa leads in the co-operative movement. Cerro Gordo county is the banner county, having nine organizations in active operation with one in the course of organization, making a total investment of about $150,000 ($3,464,245). Another stronghold for co-operative business is in the vicinity of Gowrie. Along the Great Western line for a number of miles from that place each way, each town has a society. The capital stock varies from $2,000 ($46,190) to $15,000 ($364,425) at the outset of the organization. Last year Rockwell transacted $365,000 ($8,429,663) worth of busienss (sic) and handled about 440,000 bushels of grain. Stanhope* in Webster county transacted last year a quarter of a million dollars worth of business. Rockford, Floyd county, handled over 300,000 bushels of grain and Dayton nearly twice as much. Britt in Hancock county handled from Sept. 1, 1905 to Nov. 1, 1905, the two months of operation, 110,000 bushels of grain. St. Ansgar, which is also a new society, organized within the last couple of weeks, has a capital stock of $15,000 ($364,425) but this society will handle live stock.

The cost of handling the business is small. Rockford did $624,000 ($14,411,259) of business in 1901 at an expense of 3/4 of 1 per cent or at a cost of about $4,000 ($92,380). It cost Gowrie to do $385,000 ($8,891,562) the same year $2,500 ($57,737). Another society with a $80,000 ($1,847,597) business did it at an expense of $1,800 ($41,471). It will be seen that the larger the volume of business the smaller the cost to operate.

These samples given only indicate what the other societies of the state are doing. All are practically doing the same kind of business and at the same rate of cost per the amount of stock invested. No society is allowed to organize with less than $2,000 ($6,190) worth of paid up stock.

(Editor’s note: Stanhope is in Hamilton County.)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Dec. 31, 1906

Hail New Year With Patriotism

Local D.A.R. Chapter Will Raise the Stars and Stripes January 1st.

In commoration (sic) of the unfurling of the first American flag, which waved over the then unhistoric Prospect Hill, Cambridge, for the first time in the year 1776, the local chapter of the society of the Daughters of the American Revolution will raise the stars and stripes on the new flag staff, recently presented to the school children of the city, on Tuesday morning.

“Hurl defiance to the enemy,” said General George Washington one hundred and thirty years tomorrow morning, as the thirteen stripes selected by him, “in honor of the thirteen United Colonies” were tossed to the winter winds. In the field was then the united crosses of Saint Andrew and Saint George, later replaced by the thirteen stars, by order of congress in 1777.

January 1st is the first day of the year to be observed by the patriotic society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the others being February 22., Washington’s Birthday; April 30th, Inauguration of the first president; June 14th, (1777) Flag Day, this day congress ordered the flag as it is today; July 3rd (1775) Washington took command of the army; July 4th, Independence Day; September 3d (1783) Ratification of peace with Great Britain; October 11th (1891) Founding of the society of the Daughters of the American Revolution; October 17, (1783) Washington took farewell of his officers at Frances Tavern, New York. This tavern is now being restored and brick from the same kiln in Holland has been brought to make the walls the same as the original.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Dec. 1, 1903

May Affiliate With Y.W.C.A.

Mosaic Club May Become a Branch of Young Woman’s Christian Association.

State Secretary is Coming

Will Be in City Friday, December 18 – Many Advantages to be Derived.

Miss A. Estelle Paddock, state secretary of the Young Woman’s Christian Association, will be in Fort Dodge Friday, December 18, and will remain over Sunday. Her visit is at the invitation of the Mosaic club. At a recent business meeting it was the unanimous voice of the members that steps be taken toward affiliating that society, so well known in Fort Dodge, with the larger, more broadly known work of the Young Woman’s Christian Association.

Some of the reasons for this step are as follows:

1. Affiliation brings the Mosaic club in close touch with an organized work of world-wide scope, and makes it possible for the local society to get help and inspiration from a society of broad experience and thorough organization.
2. Affiliation puts the club in a position to receive regular visits from the state Y.W.C.A. secretary, or from a national secretary if the needs of the local work demand it, and constant supervision of the work by the state and national organization.
3. It makes it possible for the club to be represented at the State Y.W.C.A. conventions, the Lake Geneva summer conferences, and other helpful meetings of the world’s work.
4. It makes it necessary for the club to become an incorporated body under state law. At present the Mosaic club could not inherit property if any one were disposed to leave it a fortune.
5. It puts the society in a position to secure a trained secretary to direct its efforts.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Nov. 16, 1906

Eggs are Skyward

They Retail at 25 Cents, Which is Usual  Top Notch Price for Winter.

Fresh eggs are skyward and what is more grocers are at a loss to supply the trade at all. They are retailing at twenty-five cents a dozen and dealers are buying at twenty-four. The conditions are almost unprecedented and grocers hardly know what to make of them.

“I was up at Ruthven the other day,” said Mr. D.E. Leary, “and thought in a country town like that I could surely be able to pick up a few cases, but I was badly fooled. Eggs are as scarce there as they are here.  Some one got in a car load there a few days ago and they completely sold out in two days. I think it is possible the packers are trying to keep the prices up so that they can unload their storage supply at big prices.”

Thumb Badly Cut

Slight Accident Happens at the Fackler & McMullen Plant.

While at work in the machine department of the Fackler & McMullen plant, as the foot of Central Avenue, this morning, Jno. Sultzbaugh, an employe (sic), sustained a slight injury to his left thumb by a piece of flying metal. He was at work at a lathe at the time when the metal he held in his hand broke, one of the pieces striking the end of the thumb, cutting it severelyi.

Casualties None

Lone Aspirant Passes Initiation and Becomes Full Fledged Elk

One lone candidate for initiation awaited the pleasure of his to be brother Elks in the Elk’s quarters in the Mason building, last evening, and successfully passed through the ovation prepared for him. His name is Clyde Lunger, Kansas City Agent for the Banker’s Life Insurance Company of Des Moines, formerly located here in the interests of that company, and well known in the city.

Still Have Hope

The State Board Has Not Relinquished Idea of Locating Hospital Here

That the state board of control is still considering the probability of locating the state tuberculosis sanitarium here was demonstrated in a telephone convention (sic) held by Judge Robinson with a member of the local committee. In spite of the obstacles which lie in the way, the board is still looking towards Fort Dodge with favor, and will before the next general assembly, decide the site of the state institution in order to make a favorable report on the matter places in its hands.

Closes the Series

Sunday Night Will be Last of Dr. Gwilym’s Sermons.

Rev. D.V. Gwilym, D.D. of New York City, who has been conducting services in the First Methodist church the past two weeks, will close his work here tomorrow night. In view of the fact services will be held this afternoon and evening that as many of his expositions may be given as possible.

The largest audience greeted him last night that has been out yet, and the interest is constantly increasing. Sunday will doubtless be the great day of these meetings. Dr. Gwylym will preach both morning and evening, and every one is cordially invited to attend.