Osceola County

"Firsts"

-The first town in the county was Sibley.

-Sibley was first called Cleghorn.

-The first store in the county was conducted by Thomas Shaw, on the bank of Otter creek, a few miles south of Ashton, to which place he later moved it.

-The first store in Sibley was operated by H. K. Rogers.

-The first railroad train came into the county in the spring of 1872.

-The first death in the county was that of Wells, who died of heart failure and was found dead in his homestead shanty on section 8, Ocheyedan township, in the spring of 1872. He was buried on his claim and later his remains were moved to the Sibley cemetery by the old soldiers of the Ireland Post.

-The first white child born in the county was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Nimms, of Viola township. She was born in June, 1871, and lived only eighteen months.

-Levi Shell opened the first lumber yard in the county at Sibley.

-D.L. Riley was the first mayor of Sibley.

-The first mail coming into the county was distributed at Tom Shaw's first store.

-The first meeting of the board of supervisors was held in a small shack that is still making a doubtful stand on Ninth Street in Sibley.

-The first session of the grand jury was held in the fall of 1872 in the old frame court house, which had just been completed.

-Maud Barclay, born December 17, 1872, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Barclay, was the first child born in Sibley. She grew to womanhood, and was educated in the public schools of Sibley and married Alfred Morton. She died at Ocheyedan, January 11, 1902, where Mr. Morton was engaged in the banking business. She left one daughter who now resides in Sibley.

-The first threshing machine outfit was run by John A. Haas, a homesteader on section 34 in Goewey Township, in 1872 with Abe Shapley, of Viola, a close second. Both were horse power machines. Mr. Shapley was the first to own a steam power outfit.

-The first bank was opened by H. L. Emmert at Sibley.

-The first church was the Methodist church at Sibley.

-Otto Turk had the first automobile, a steam machine.

-George Carew had the first gasoline automobile.

-The first term of court convened July 16, 1872, with Henry Ford, judge: C. H. Lewis, district attorney; Frank Stiles, sheriff, and Cyrus M. Brooks, clerk. The first case on the docket is entitled, "L. F. Diefendorf versus J. H. Winspear and Company."

-The first residence in Sibley was built by John L. Robinson, who was father of Frank M. Robinson, the first county auditor.

-John L. Robinson died in Sibley at the advanced age of ninety-eight years.

- Source: Past and Present of O'Brien and Osceola Counties, Iowa, by Hon. J. L. E. Peck and Hon. O. H. Montzheimer for O'Brien County and Hon. William J. Miller for Osceola County; 1914; B. F. Bowen and Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

- Submitted by Iona Pohlman Holderness

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