|
|
|
EDITED BY John C. Parish
Associate Editor of the State Historical Society of Iowa
| Volume II |
September 1921 |
No. 9 |
| |
|
|
Copyright 1921 by the State Historical Society of Iowa
(Transcribed by Gayle Harper)
MAGNOLIA
|
Before me is an old law. Its musty legality is softened by
the blunt phrases of pioneer days. Its title announces its
purpose as "An Act organizing certain Counties therein named";
and its content provides for the fulfillment of the titular
promise. From the pedantic diction of modern legislation it i8
refreshing to turn to the simple instructions that "Abram
Fletcher, of the county of Fremont, Charles Wolcott, of the
county of Mills, and A. D. Jones, of the county of
Pottawattamie, be, and they are here by appointed
Commissioners to locate the seat of Justice of the county of
Harrison"; that they are further instructed to meet "at the
house of A. D. Jones, in the county of Pottawattamie " and
proceed to locate the proposed county seat of Justice "as near
the geographical centre . . . . as a suitable site may be
found." What unembarrassed discretion was granted by the
Fourth General Assembly! How delightfully simple were the
directions for the creation of a new government! But if one
turns the page, he will read there a brief restriction—"the
county seat of Harrison shall be called Magnolia".
In
response to these unquestionable instructions, the three
commissioners met on the first Monday in March, 1853, to
discharge the duty which had been laid upon them 1853! Less
than seventy years ago! But there were no railroad tracks, or
telephone or telegraph lines within the State at that time,
and Iowa land was selling for $1.25 an acre. The tiny hamlet
of Kanesville, which grew out of an encampment of Mormons
making their difficult exodus to the West, had just received
the name of Council Bluffs. Omaha was a village on the
outskirts of civilization; Sioux City, scarcely more than a
name used to designate an Indian trading-post; Des Moines, a
cluster of small cabins known as Fort Des Moines, and boasting
among its homes the civilizing influence of a brick
courthouse. This was western Iowa, when Magnolia, "the little
city on the hill", had its birth.
As a commercial and
civic center Magnolia was full of promise. It was in the very
heart of Harrison County; it was the authorized seat of
justice and government; and it soon became a lively,
energetic, frontier town. At Magnolia the first district
schoolhouse in the county, a structure of hewed logs, was
built. The first mill to do actual business was located on the
Willow River, not far from the county seat, and as early as
1858 Magnolia possessed a Masonic Lodge, the first in the
county.
The first post office of the county was
established at Magnolia. Until 1855 the nearest post office
was located at Council Bluffs, and the only way to obtain
letters was to call for them. Great was the excitement when
some fellow-citizen journeyed thence and brought home the
village mail in the crown of his hat. Then a stage route was
established running from Council Bluffs to Sioux City, and
Magnolia became one of the important stops.
The town was
highly indignant, however, when after barely a dozen trips,
the Western Stage Company was subsidized by citizens of the
rival village, Calhoun, so that Magnolia was "star-routed" and
supplied by a side mail. But this incident did not have the
effect which Calhoun had expected, for Magnolia, instead of
being disheartened, bent every effort toward improving
itself—an exertion which left its rival in the dim background
of inferiority. Other stage routes came to the town and thus
many times a week brief snatches of the world's news, somewhat
belated but of unimpaired interest, were brought to the
village.
Within a few years it numbered some three
hundred inhabitants who enjoyed the privileges and endured the
hardships which western Iowa offered to her sturdy,
self-reliant children during the middle period of the West.
Three dry-goods stores provided a part of their food and
the bulk of their clothing. A tailor, a shoe dealer, two
jewelers, ten carpenters, and one plasterer added a touch of
development to the community. Its bodily ailments were healed
by two physicians, one of whom was famous for his efficacious
remedies—a potion with speedy results known as "Thunder and
Lightning", and a mixture of herbs called "Bog Hay", which was
prescribed—it is easy to imagine, with varying formula and
effect—for fever and ague. Two ministers cared for the
spiritual welfare of the community, and six attorneys
supported themselves by tangling and untangling legal snarls.
An earnest teacher generously distributed instruction and
discipline among the children in a room which measured twelve
by fourteen feet, described as being constructed of
"cottonwood boards set on end", and possessing "one window
opening with a 'greased paper' for light".
For the sum
of two dollars a year, the early settler might read of the
world's events as published in the "Magnolia Weekly
Republican", "a very newsy, neatly printed journal", founded
in 1859, by George R. Brainard. The itinerant, as well as the
permanent resident, was well cared for in Magnolia. If he were
traveling "a horseback", he might have his horse shod at any
one of the four blacksmith shops, while he indulged himself
with one of the famous meals served by the kind old landlady
at Peter Barnett's boarding-house hotel—a meal such as
Magnolia alone remembers how to serve to-day. If he were
obliged to "stay the night", the traveler was sure of a merry
evening and "right good cheer" within the log walls of the
Bates House. He might even visit the village artist and have
his daguerreotype taken as a surprise for the folks at home.
In 1858, a unique gathering assembled in Magnolia, for in
the autumn of that year the Harrison County Agricultural
Society held its first county fair. It was not the kind of an
exhibition which goes by the name of county fair to-day. There
were no gambling games or soap-box enthusiasts in evidence.
The objects of attraction were "the products of soil and
barnyard, with a sprinkling of homemade wares and domestic
articles ". It was a wholesome gathering amusing itself with
the ever-popular sports of horse and foot racing.
In
pathetic but inspiring contrast to this merrymaking was the
county celebration held in Magnolia on July 4,1862, during the
agonizing period of civil war. Men, women, and children— many
with sad faces and sadder hearts—assembled from all the
adjoining counties and even from Nebraska, bringing with them
wagon-loads of food. Harrison County has never again seen such
a dinner! The air was filled with music and patriotism, and a
huge homemade flag flaunted its cambric stars and stripes to
the admiration of the throng, in the midst of which might be
found the skillful-fingered women who had bought the material
at the general store, and who had cut and fashioned the bright
banner which symbolized to all, their stricken and contentious
home land.
Who will deny that Magnolia was the hub of
activity and that Magnolia directed the affairs of the
country. The shrewd godfathers of the little village had made
no mistake when they selected this centrally located, thickly
wooded, and well-drained tract for the seat of justice of
Harrison County, but events conspired in such a manner as to
check its logic al growth and to cause it to evolve not into
the promised civic center, but into a tiny inland town. When
Magnolia was platted, not a railroad had yet been constructed
a hundred miles west of Chicago, and it could not be foreseen
that within a few years, indeed by 1866, the Chic ago and
Northwestern line would have laid its tracks across the State
in such a way as to miss Magnolia altogether. This was a
death-blow to commercial expansion and activity— the little
city was cut off from the throbbing artery of trade, as a
consequence of which came the ultimate transfer of the
courthouse to the neighboring village of Logan. All of this
did not take place at once, nor did it come about without a
struggle. Many contests had raged between Magnolia and
Calhoun, Missouri Valley, and Logan at various times with
regard to moving the county seat.
Magnolia had retained
control, however, until 1875, when Logan, seizing the
psychological moment, again proposed a transfer to her own
city and won by a doubtful majority of two votes. The county
records were moved to that place where a courthouse was built
in 1876.
Magnolia had reached her prime, the apex of
her growth. One would expect the city to die and slowly
disappear. Contrary to all expectations, such has not been the
case. To be sure, its population has remained practically
constant for many years— the census of 1920 showed 099
inhabitants—but the town itself has undergone many changes.
Scarcely any of the old landmarks remain; in fact, Magnolia
has been practically rebuilt during the past fifteen years.
Many of the store-buildings are made of brick, and cement
sidewalks line the most important streets. The city is lighted
by electricity, and at night, its cluster of street lights may
be seen for miles around. Since the persistent intrusion of
the automobile, the seven miles between Magnolia and the
nearest railroad have become a negligible distance. A
motor-bus makes two trips daily to Logan and back, carrying
passengers and mail.
The pride of the town is a large
consolidated school-building, modernly equipped in every way,
where all the children in a district of twenty-five square
miles, from the tiniest primary pupil to the young men and
women preparing themselves for college, receive training on an
equality with that offered in our city institutions. There are
seven busses, dubbed "kid-wagons" by the juvenile passengers,
which transport the youngsters to and from the great
schoolhouse, many times the size of the next largest building
in the village.
Magnolia's spirit is one of loyalty and
allegiance. Company C, 29th Iowa Infantry, was organized there
in 1862 and gave splendid service during the Civil War. A few
of the veterans who still live in the community assemble on
Memorial Day to show reverence for their comrades who have
gone ahead During the recent war, Magnolia provided her quota
of men for the army, and offered her services in other ways,
as did the thousands of small towns and villages throughout
the United States. Her war-record is one to be proud of.
Once a year, in August or September, Magnolia dons festive
attire, and assumes a gala-day appearance. This day is known
as "Old Settlers Day", and is the time when the pioneers,
their children, and their children's children assemble to
listen to roll-call, to hear speeches, to exchange
reminiscences and to feast upon the fat of the land. This is
the day when Magnolia indulges in maternal pride of her sons
and daughters. Like other towns, she has her favorite son.
Newell Dwight Hillis, pastor of the Plymouth Church in
Brooklyn, New York, was born and reared here. His tribute to
his early home provides a fitting conclusion to an article on
this small pioneer town which went through a rapid growth, a
more or less rapid decline, but which seems to have settled,
at last, into a state of immortality:
"Since those far
off days in the old Magnolia high school I have seen many
cities and countries, and studied and lingered in many
libraries, colleges and universities. I owe an immeasurable
debt to certain great books, to noble authors and educators.
But my chief intellectual debt is to my father and mother and
sisters and to the old friends and students in the old
Magnolia high school. For neither time nor events have ever
lessened my conviction that the scholar is the favorite child
of heaven and earth and that the old book, and the old scenes,
and the old friends are the richest gifts that God has
vouchsafed to me in my earthly career. "
BLANCHE C. SKY |
|
