The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 4, 1915

Local News

Annual Meeting

The annual meeting and banquet of the Plymouth Clay Products Company will take place Tuesday evening. The traveling men and stockholders are arriving in the city today, and all will be here for tomorrow.

Changes Position

Lou Brunenkant has resigned his position with the Strow Cigar Company and has taken one with Robert Wilson at the Conway Cigar Store. Brunenkant worked in his present position when the Conway Company had the place.

In New Position

Mrs. J.M. Spayde has resigned her position at the Cozy Tea Rooms and accepted one at the Drapery Shop.

Winter in California

Mr. and Mrs. A.S.R. Reynolds leave the last of the week for California where they will spend the winter.

Small Fire Today

The fire department were called about 2:00 p.m. today to the home of F.P. Schultz, 1504 Fifth avenue north. Whent he department arrived a small fire was discovered in the basement of the house. It is thought some rubbish which was piled near the furnace caught fire from the furnace causing the people to call the fire department. The fire was easily extinguished and practically no damage was done.

Purse Snatcher at Work

A home on First avenue north was entered precipitately Saturday evening about 9:30 by Miss Sarah Gallagher, who was badly frightened by a recent encounter with a purse snatcher. She explained that she had been walking between Central avenue and First avenue north when a man ran paster her and snatched at her purse. The purse handle broke, the purse fell to the ground and the man did not turn back to get it, but disappeared down an alley, running west. Miss Gallagher recovered her purse, which she said contained about fifty dollars (about $1,135 today).

Fort Dodge Semi-Weekly Chronicle: Jan. 3, 1905

Seven Women Ask For Divorce

The Popularity of the Divorce Court Rapidly Growing

Allegations Set Forth in Petitions Practically the Same as Those of Old

That the Webster county matrimonial sea is no less turbulent than that in other counties, is made manifest by the number of divorce applications filed with the clerk of the district court for hearing this term. In number they are seven, and in every instance excepting one of this seven, the application is the gentler member.

The allegations set forth in the various petitions for separation are not greatly dissimilar, and are about the same as the usual ones set forth in any divorce petition. Now that the wave of divorce has struck this section of the state, having for its headquarters Des Moines, it is likely that the courts will be kep tbusy listening to the things that he did, and that she did, and the charges of cruelty and non-support, intermingled with many other charges of like nature. At the present rate, Webster county will not be long in gaining the same matrimonial notoriety that Sioux Falls has gained, and that Des Moines is fortunate in having.

The applicants and the defendants in the seven actions to be heard this term are:

Mary Laura Anderson vs. August L. Anderson.
Lena A. Hanrahan vs. Michael Hanrahan.
Mary Duehring vs. Julian Duehring.
J.M. Williams vs. Cora Williams.
C. Bella Culver vs. Harry E. Culver.
Minnie Weeks vs. Garvield Weeks.
Bertha Overbye vs. Andrew Overbye.

Iowa North West: Jan. 2, 1866

Died:

In this place, of Diptheria, Dec. 31st – Fred B., aged 5 years and 8 months, son of A.M. & N. Dawley.

(Editor’s note: Fred’s initial may be D., but it looks closer to B.)

The Gowrie News: Jan. 1, 1891

Wedding

On Sunday Evening last, Dec. 28, at the home of the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. M. Smith, in Gowrie, occured [sic] the marriage of Miss Minnie Smith to Mr. Charles Patterson, all of Gowrie. Prompt at 7 o’clock the bridesmaid and groomsman marched into the parlor followed by the bride and groom who took their place at the west part of the room, and Rev. D.G. Youker pronounced the ceremony, w hich was followed by congratulation of their friends. The guests were then invited to partake of a delicious supper which had been prepared for the occasion by Mrs. Smith. After spending a few hours very pleasantly together the guests departed for home and the newly married couple went to his home west of town. The News extends congratulation [sic].

List of presents

Set of glassware — Misses Martha Fawver and Iona Connett.
Pair of fine linen towels  —  Mrs. Magnusson and son, Master Chas.
Parlor lamp — Messrs. John and Chas. Marshall
Pair of beautiful gilt vases —

(Editor’s note: The article does leave off as shown here.)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 8, 2903

Local Ins and Outs

Miss Josie O’Hara spent Sunday in Eagle Grove.

Thomas Nixson is home for his summer vacation.

Fred Hall, of Sioux City, is visiting relatives in the city.

Miss Ida Oleson left Saturday morning for a visit in Boone.

Miss Amy Dyke of Colorado Springs is visiting in this city.

Mrs. Otis Garrison of Sioux City, is visiting Fort Dodge friends.

James Delamore and U. Graham of Clare were in the city Saturday.

Miss Evelyn Rodney of Independence is visiting at the M.J. Rodney home.

E.G. Larson and Dr. C.J. Saunders went to Clare this afternoon to attend a bank meeting.

County Superintendent A.L. Brown and wife visited over Sunday with relatives in Sac City.

Mrs. D.J. Farrell has returned to her home in Mason City after a visit at the Dr. Farrell home.

Dick Kenyon has returned from Grinnell where he has spent the year in the pursuit of learning in Iowa college.

Miss Maude Herrick leaves tonight for her home in Elk River, Minn., where she will spend most of the summer.

E.S. Tinkham was called to Humboldt on Friday by news of illness of his father, returning to the city Saturday.

Miss Maude Herrick leaves tonight for her home in Elk River, Minn., where she will spend most of the summer. (Editor’s note: This was repeated in the original paper.)

Will Mulroney has returned to the city for a week’s vacation after a trip on the road in the interest of the Gate City Hat Company.

Miss Gertrude Gardner has returned from Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, where she has held a position in the art department of the schools.

Miss Ella Beach, of Minneapolis, who has been visiting her mother and father in the city, leaves this week for Seattle, Washington.

Dr. C.J. Saunders leaves on Tuesday for Rochester, Minn. He expects to spend several days in studying in a hospital which is located there.

Thomas Kozel who has been living in Arizona for the past two years is expected home in a few days, for a visit with relatives in Fort Dodge.

After a visit at the J.W. Beck home in this city, Mrs. A.J. Hanson has returned to her home in Thor. She was accompanied by her daughter, Mrs. J.W. Beck.

Mrs. Augusta Hill has gone to Grinnell to attend the commencement exercises of Iowa college, from which her daughter, Miss Ina Hill, graduates this year.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 3, 1095

Obituary

Luther Clark Bentley, oldest son of B.P. and S.L. Bentley, died at the hospital, May 26, at 6:40 p.m., at the age of 35 years, 7 months, and 22 days. He was born in Floyd county, October 4th, 1869 He leaves a father, mother, sister and five brothers to mourn his departure, Jennie, Clarence, Frederic, Samuel, Curtis and George, the three former brothers are in Washington and could not be present at the funeral He was a kind and loving son and brother.

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 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.)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Aug. 27, 1904

Freak Marriage of Stratford Girl

Wedded at Spiritualist Camp Meeting Before Crowd of Spectators

Minerva Bentley is the Bride

Weds William L. Gibbs of Abilene, Tex., Met at Camp Meeting at Cedar Rapids, and Concluded to be Made One on the Spot

Stratford, Ia. Aug. 27 — Miss Minerva Bentley of Stratford took an important part in a woods wedding at Cedar Rapids on Wednesday evening. In fact, she was the bride, the groom being William L. Gibbs of Abilene, Tex. The two were attending the Spiritualists’ camp meeting there and concluded to enter into matrimony before the close of the camp meeting. The following is a report from the meeting in regard to this strange wedding:

“There is a little matter of business to transact before we conclude,” solemnly observed a minister at the Spiritualists’ camp meeting at Cedar River Park last evening: and with the audience all in ignorance of what was to transpire a blushing bride and groom walked into full view of the crowd and proceeded to answer the usual questions incident to a marriage ceremony.

The couple who chose this novel and surprising method of becoming man and wife were William L. Gibbs of Abilene, Tex., and Minerva Bentley of Stratford, Ia. They have been in attendance at the camp meeting and arranged with Rev. J. Allord to make a preliminary announcement and perform the ceremony.

(Editor’s note: I looked up the marriage on FamilySearch.org. They were married on Aug. 24, 1904, — a Wednesday, as mentioned in the article — in Waterloo. She was 44 and he was 53. His parents were John L. Gibbs and Martha J. Long. Her parents were William Bowman and Maria Hardin.)