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1917 History
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1917 History
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THE POOR FARM
Those who break away from an old settlement and go out upon the
frontier to develop the resources of a new country, and incidentally
better their own fortunes, are never weaklings. As a rule the pioneers
are men and women of great strength and courage, endowed with good
health and fortitude, full of energy, and capable of contending with
the difficulties that the first settlers in every community have to
meet and overcome. Among such persons there is little need of
established charities. It was so in Emmet County. If some family,
through misfortunes, needed assistance it was cheerfully given by the
neighbors, and it was many years before the citizens of the county
realized the necessity for the establishment of a home for the
unfortunate poor. The first mention found in the county records
regarding such an institution, is in the following resolutions, which
were introduced by Supervisor Leopold:
"Now, on this 16th day of September, 1910, this board being assembled
in regular session, and deeming it advisable to establish a poor house
in and for Emmet County and to purchase a farm to be used in connection
therewith, it is
"Resolved, That we estimate the cost of such poor house and lands
necessary and suitable to be used in connection therewith to be
$26,000, and it is further
"Resolved, That the following proposition be submitted to the people of
said county at the next general election, to wit:
"l. Shall the board of supervisors of Emmet County purchase a farm in
Emmet County upon which to establish a poor house or poor farm, at an
entire cost not to exceed $26,000?
"2. Shall the said board of supervisors levy a tax of one mill on the
dollar of the assessed valuation of the taxable property within said
county for the year 1911, and continue said levy from year to year
until said farm is fully paid for?" etc.
The resolutions were adopted and the auditor was instructed to publish
notice of the questions to be submitted to the voters and to see
that all other provisions of the law in such cases were complied with
in all respects. At the general election on November 8, 1910, both
propositions were carried by a vote of 1,357 to 504.
No further action was taken in the matter until January 10, 1913,
when
the board received a proposal from H. K. Groth to sell to the county
228 acres (more or less), for $22,000. Supervisors W. H. Gibbs
and J. J. Klopp were appointed a committee to enter into a contract
with
Mr. Groth for the purchase of the land, and to pay said Groth, out of
the poor fund, the sum of $500 "as earnest money," the remainder to be
paid on March 3, 1913, provided Mr. Groth agreed to satisfy the
incumbrances against the tract of land and give to the county a clear
title. This was done and in this way Emmet County came into possession
of a poor farm. No buildings have been erected by the county since the
purchase of the land, the old residence already upon the farm being
considered sufficient to care for the few paupers who have claimed the
county's hospitality.
ASSOCIATED CHARITIES
The Estherville Associated Charities came into existence in March,
1912. The organization is the outgrowth of certain lines of charity
work that had been carried on for a number of years under the direction
of Mrs. J. P. Littell. Early in the year 1912 Mrs. Littell, by
invitation, gave an address before the Estherville Chapter of the P. E.
O. and that organization became interested in the subject, with the
result that in March the Associated Charities were organized. Mrs. A.
O. Peterson was elected president; Mrs. J. P. Littell, vice president
and general superintendent; Mrs. L. L. Bingham, secretary; and Mrs. A.
J. Rhodes, treasurer. Mrs. Peterson and Mrs. Littell have held their
offices continuously since the first organization. At the beginning of
the year 1917 Mrs. W. P. Galloway was secretary and Mrs. Lou
Wanamaker, treasurer. There is also an executive committee of
three men and three women, which committee has general direction of the
work.
Every Saturday afternoon, especially during the winter season, Mrs.
Littell and her assistants are to be found in the Women's Rest Room, in
the basement of the Estherville Public Library, giving out clothing,
etc., to the needy families of the city and the immediate vicinity. The
association also cares for the sick and endeavors to find positions
for the unemployed who are able to work. In a small city lilre
Estherville, "where everybody knows everybody else,". less formality
and red tape are necessary than in the larger cities, where impostors
frequently take advantage of organized charities to get an easy living,
consequently the Estherville association can render aid more promptly and without fear of being imposed upon by the unworthy.
In the summer of 1916 the association formed a sewing class, composed
of a large number. of girls aged from ten to twelve years, and on
certain days these little girls were taught to mend clothing, some of
the older ones being given instruction in the making of garments. Thus
the association is trying to teach people to be self supporting in many
ways, instead of merely doling out charity in times of more than
ordinary distress. The work is supported by voluntary contributions,
which have been liberal enough to enable the association to carry it on
in such a way that a great deal of good has been accomplished.
HOSPITALS
In August, 1898, the Northern Vindicator
made mention of the fact that
the doctors of Estherville had started a movement for the
establishment of a hospital, and that it was "well under way." An
effort was
made at that time to enlist the cooperation of the Chicago, Rock Island
& Pacific Railroad Company and its employees, but the railroad
company was more interested in hospitals at other points and did not
look upon the Estherville project with favor, hence it was abandoned.
The Estherville City Hospital was established in April, 1908, by the
physicians of the city. It was at first located on the corner of
Seventh and Howard streets and started with accommodations for ten
patients. In 1909 the management was transferred to Dr. Ethel E.
Walker, who had formerly been superintendent of the Military Hospital
at Danville, Illinois. A little later the institution was removed
to the large residence on the comer of Eighth and Des Moines streets,
thus giving larger and better appointed quarters. Since the removal a
number of improvements have been added and the hospital is now as well
conducted as many of the hospitals of the larger cities. Dr.
Ethel E. Walker is still at the head of the hospital.
In 1900 Dr. Albert Anderson opened a private hospital on the corner of
Seventh and Des Moines streets. The patronage soon increased so that
larger quarters were necessary, and the hospital was removed to No. 826
North Eighth Street. In 1906 the hospital was closed and was not
reopened until 1914, when Doctor Anderson sold his interest to Miss
Josie A. Roberts, who still remains at the head of the institution. The
advertised capacity of this hospital is twenty-two patients, but accommodations can be provided for twenty-six in an emergency.
Neither of the Estherville hospitals is· a public institution in the
sense that it is supported by taxation. They belong to that class of
institutions known as "benevolent," rather than "charitable."
Both are well equipped with all the necessary apparatus for taking care of patients,
performing surgical operations, etc., and both are open to the licensed
physicians of the city and county, who can send patients there and
attend them during illness just as if they were in their own homes.
CEMETERIES
There is one institution of a charitable nature which the pioneers of a
new country are always somewhat reluctant to see make its appearance,
yet it is one that must come sooner or later. That is a burial
place for the dead. One can hardly imagine a more desolate
scene than the first grave in a frontier
settlement. After a number of burials, when the cemetery has grown to proportions that naturally require greater
care, when walks are laid out and improved and monuments are erected,
flowers planted on the graves, etc., the desolation disappears and the
people accept the cemetery as a necessary adjunct of modern
civilization.
Probably the oldest cemetery in Emmet County is the one
in the northeast part of the City of Estherville. It was platted and
established on July 14, 1866, at which time James L.
L. Riggs and his wife, Minerva Riggs, made a deed to an association
conveying a certain tract of land in Section 11, Township 99, Range 34,
to said association to be used as a burial place. On November 17, 1900,
the Estherville Cemetery Association was incorporated by Howard
Graves, Eliza M. Bemis, Mary J. Barnett, L. L. Bixby, J. W. Lough, W.
S. Jones, C. B. Mattson, Sally A. Mattson and Robert Clark. The first
seven of the above named constituted the first board of
directors. This association was organized for the
purpose of taking control of and improving the old cemetery established
thirty-four years before. A new plat was made and filed with the
county recorder on April 26, 1901, showing 192 burial lots. Later on
the same day an additional plat of 144 lots was also filed with the
recorder. Since then the cemetery has been greatly improved and
beautified, practically all the money received from the sale of lots
having been expended for that purpose.
Oak Hill Cemetery, west of the Des Moines River at Estherville, was
established in 1889. The Northern Vindicator of April 12, 1889, says:
"The project for new cemetery grounds has materialized and the location
selected. Seven acres on the hill west of Mr. Hardie's have been pur
chased of J. W. Lucas by an association of gentlemen, who propose to
fence and lay out a cemetery that will be a credit to the community.
The grounds are covered with second growth timber, which will be
trimmed up as good tas may dictate. A plat will be set apart for
the Grand Army of the Republic, with a view to erecting a monument to
the mem ory of soldiers and sailors, without which, North or South, no
cemetery is complete."
The members of the association mentioned by the Vindicator were as
follows: F. E. Allen, John M. Barker, William Bartlett, J. B.
Binford, W. H. Foote, J. J. Klopp, W. M. McFarland, A. 0. Peterson, F'. H.
Rhodes, R. E. Ridley, E. R. Littell, J. M. Snyder, William Stivers and E. J.
Woods. Subsequently ten acres additional were acquired and on May 28,
1898, the Oak Hill Cemetery Association was incorporated with the
following board of directors: F. E. Allen, William Bartlett, J. W.
Lucas, A. O. Peterson and R. E. Ridley. This cemetery has a naturally
beautiful location and it is now one of the most popular burial
places in the county.
Swan Lake Township Cemetery was laid out on June 23, 1880, by J. M.
Barker, who was at that time the county surveyor. It is
located in the northwest part of Section 21, Township 99, Range 32,
about two miles southwest of the village of Maple Hill. At the time it
was first platted, the Town of Swan Lake, about two miles southwest of
the cemetery, was the county seat of Emmet County. On June 7, 1886,
the trustees of Swan Lake Township had a new survey made, the new plat
showing 132 burial lots, but the plat was not filed with the county
recorder until April 11, 1901. Swan Lake Township Cemetery is used by
the people occupying a large district in the central part of the county.
About a mile west of Armstrong, on the high ground near the east branch
of the Des Moines River and just south of the Chicago, Rock Island
& Pacific Railroad, is one of the prettiest burial places in Emmet
County. It is situated in the northeast corner of Section 16,
Township 99, Range 31, and was surveyed on July 10, 1888, by E. J.
Woods, who was then county surveyor. The plat was filed with the
county recorder on the 16th of the following November. The original
plat contains 152 lots, on which a number of fine monuments have been
erected, and from this cemetery a fine view of the surrounding country
may be obtained.
In Lincoln Township there is a cemetery in the northeast corner of
Section 33, near one of the public school houses. It was
established as a burial ground at an early date by some of the early
settlers in that vicinity. Subsequently a plat of 144 burial lots
was prepared and filed in the office of the county recorder.
In the northwest corner of Section 13, in Denmark Township, is a small,
well-kept cemetery in which a number of the pioneers of that part of
the county lie buried, and there is a neat cemetery in the northwest
corner of Section 17, in High Lake Township, just across the road from
the Norwegian Lutheran Church, having been established by that congregation soon after the church was organized.
