"History of Decatur County and Its People" Volume I

Prof. J. M. Howell and Heman C. Smith, Supervising Editors

The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago IL, 1915.
 
Chapter XI ~ The Founding of Lamoni
and the Work of The Order of Enoch
Pages 129 - 136
By Asa S. Cochran
 The name Lamoni, as applied to the locality which is now known thereby, had its origin with the First United Order of Enoch, a corporation composed of a number of men of means connected with the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The stockholders of this organization held their first meeting at Council Bluffs, Iowa, September 19, 1870, at which meeting Elijah BANTA, Israel L. ROGERS, David DANCER, David I. GARNET, Alexander McCORD, Calvin A. BEEBE and Phineas CADWELL were chosen a board of directors. These men further organized by choosing Elijah BANTA, president, Israel L. ROGERS, treasurer, and Henry A. STEBBINS, secretary. The purpose of this organization is clearly set forth in section 2 of the constitution, which reads as follows:

"Section 2. The general business and object of this corporation shall be the associating together of men and capital and those skilled in labor and mechanics, * * * for the purpose of settling, developing and improving new tracts of land which tracts of land shall be selected and purchased by a committee to be appointed by the board of directors * * * to take cognizance of the wants of the worthy and industrious poor men who shall apply therefor, and provide them with labor and the means for securing homes and a livelihood and to develop energies and resources of the people who may seek their respective localities for settlement."

At the first meeting of the board Elijah BANTA, David DANCER, Israel L. ROGERS and Phineas CADWELL were appointed a committee to seek a suitable location for the purchase of land and the operation of said company. The stock certificates of this corporation were issued from Lamoni, Iowa. The committee visited several localities in the states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, finality locating in the Township of Fayette, Decatur County, Iowa.; the postoffice being Sedgwick; the nearest store being at Davis City, seven miles distant; and Leon, eighteen miles away, being the nearest railroad station.

The first report of the secretary, dated September 1, 1871, showed that the capital stock amounted to $44,000 and that 2,680 acres of land had been purchased at a cost of $21,708.84. Subsequent reports show that the capital stock had been increased $100 more and a total of 3,330 acres of land had been purchased at a cost of $30,073.94. Twelve new houses had been built costing $7,078.40 and about sixteen hundred acres of prairie land had been broken at a cost of $4,040, a nursery planted and various other improvements made. The shares in the company were $100 each. Those holding the largest amounts of stock were: David DANCER, $9,000; Elijah BANTA, $5,000; Israel L. ROGERS, $5,000; Phineas CADWELL, $3,400; Moses A. MEDER, $3,000; William HOPKINS, Simeon STIVERS and family, T. J. ANDREWS and family, Ephraim ROWLAND, Marietta WALKER, Alexander McCORD, and Calvin A. BEEBE, $1,000 each; the remaining stock being divided up among about sixty different individuals.

The organization continued about twenty years, paying 90 per cent in dividends and returning the original stock also.

A resolution passed by the board in 1874 shows one thing had in view by them which concerns our subject. It is as follows: "Resolved that we proceed to locate a town site upon or near the land belonging to the association as soon as it is found practicable."

The elders of the Decatur District, principally of the Little River, now Pleasanton branch, had been busy preaching in Fayette Township and several had been baptized, so that on November 12, 1871, in pursuance of a resolution passed by the Decatur District conference, the district president, A. W. MOFFETT, organized the Lamoni branch which was composed of fifteen members who had formerly been members of the Little River branch, namely: Charles, Harriett and James R. WALKER, William and Eliza BUNT, Robert L. SIMPSON; Adam, Angeline, Francis M., and Susan DENNIS, Andrew J. GREEN, James D. and George R. DILLON and John E. ACKERLY, also Charles H. and Margaret JONES, Z. H. GURLEY and James P. DILLON. Charles H. JONES was chosen president.

During the next year, 1872, the membership of the branch was increased considerably. Samuel ACKERLY, George ROSS from Wisconsin, George BRABY, Peter B. JOHNSON, and Andrew K. ANDERSON from Illinois, I. N. W. COOPER from Pennsylvania, William HOPKINS from California, James SHAW, Robert and John JOHNSON from Canada, who with their families and numerous baptisms by the elders had increased the membership of the branch to nearly seventy.

In the year 1873 the members were still further increased by the arrival of O. J. BAILEY from Michigan, George W. BIRD who had been with Lyman WIGHT in Texas, Richard ELLIKER from Canada, Daniel P., David D., and Alburn B. YOUNG, George Adams and E. J. ROBINSON from California, each with one exception having families, a companion at least.

By this time they were in need of a place of meeting. When the writer came here in the fall of 1875 Daniel P. YOUNG had succeeded Brother JONES as president of the branch. Meetings were held in two schoolhouses at the same hour. One of the houses was a part of the one near the Evergreen Church and the other was 4 miles east. In the following spring the president called a union meeting on Sunday and appointed the meeting on the following Sunday in the new church.

The following week was a busy one. No lumber nearer than Leon, twenty miles away. Monday and Tuesday lumber was hauled from Leon and blocks for foundation from the timber. Wednesday and Thursday, carpenters, of whom I remember Alexander H. SMITH, who had moved that spring from Nauvoo and settled near where Andover, Missouri, now is, and H. R. HARDER and Hiram DOUGHTERTY, who came from Kansas, and perhaps others, framed the building and laid the foundation. Friday and Saturday anyone who could wield a hammer or saw was invited and before the sun set for the last time of the week, the building was up, shingled, inclosed (sic), windows in, and door hung. Meeting was held the next day according to appointment. No floor, no seats, except lumber, wagon seats, or chairs brought in for temporary use. The building was located near the center of the township on land furnished by E. J. ROBINSON. In the fall, as the cool weather came on, a floor was laid, walls plastered, and it was made comfortable for the winter. The size was probably about twenty-four by thirty-six, about ten feet to the eaves. It was never painted and was abandoned as a church and sold after the church was erected in town.

In 1875, I think, Samuel H. GURLEY started a small store in what had been a schoolhouse, keeping a limited supply of goods as he deemed suitable. There were no other stores or wagon or blacksmith shops nearer than Davis City until about 1877, when Peter HARRIS arrived from Wisconsin and erected a blacksmith shop not far from the church building. This was afterwards moved to town, also the dwelling he constructed. Conditions remained the same, being only a farming community, until the year 1879.

A company was formed somewhere east, known as the Leon, Mt. Ayr & Southwestern Railroad Company, formed principally of men connected with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, their purpose being to extend the railroad from Leon through Mt. Ayr. Work was pushed forward to Davis City and west to what was afterwards known as Bethany Junction, now called Togo. From there they designed to take a northwesterly course and commenced the work of grading and would have passed about two or three miles north of where Lamoni now stands, when Samuel Y. BAILEY chanced to meet some of the leading men of the company and conversed with them in regard to changing their course so as to reach "The Colony," as the locality was then named. This proposition was favorably received by them in case sufficient aid was guaranteed to justify them in changing their course.

Several individuals almost immediately entered into an agreement to obligate themselves each in proportion to the value the assessor had placed upon their property to furnish the aid to the company required. They were David DANCER, Elijah BANTA, the First Order of Enoch, S. Y. BAILEY, J. R. SMITH, and I think N. H. RIGGS, George ADAMS and W. HUDSON.

Meeting with the railroad men they obligated themselves to furnish them 200 acres of land for a town site, also the right of way through the township, also the right of way to the state line, provided they should wish to make a junction at Lamoni at some future time. The railroad men were to build and operate a railroad, establish and maintain a depot on the land supplied them, and pay $15 per acre for the land, also deed them 100 average lots when the town was laid out and platted.

The Order of Enoch supplied 120 acres of land which lies on the south side of Main Street and bought eighty acres of Frank DRUMMOND which lies on the north side of Main Street. The land purchased of DRUMMOND cost them $600 more than the railroad men allowed them. They also furnished three miles of right of way. But eventually the 100 lots sold for enough to reimburse them' for the outlay.

There was one dwelling on the land furnished by the Order of Enoch which stood where the W. A. HOPKINS home now is located, and was occupied by I. P. BAGGERLY. He had the land now north of the railroad planted in corn which was ready to cut up when trains commenced running and the building of the town commenced.

On the other side of Main Street on the eighty acres were two houses. One stood on the block immediately south of the one afterwards occupied by the Herald office, and was occupied by Mr. DRUMMOND, who maintained a bachelor's hall therein. The other house, a much older one, stood very near where the BARR Hotel now stands. Much of this land was planted in corn.

The first dwelling house erected was by Volentine WHITE, later owned by James JENNINGS and now by Doctor HILL.

Among the early comers to the new town were William OFFICER and J. T. DIXON, L. A. FOWLER and B. L. MERRITT. The first business houses were erected by Thomas TEALE and Samuel H. GURLEY; the first where D. C. WHITE and Sons have their store and the latter one where the Lamoni Hardware Company is now located.

There was an effort made by some people to have the new town named Sedgwick, as that had been the name of the postoffice here up until this time, but Lamoni was kept finally as the name of the new town.

Lamoni was a busy place in the fall of 1879. Over ten thousand bushels of corn were sold and shipped. Carpenters were busy in all directions. A lumber yard was started by David DANCER, Albert P. DANCER and A. S. COCHRAN. In the fall of 1880 Henry A. STEBBINS became a resident of Lamoni and succeeded Albert P. DANCER in the lumber business.

The first person born in the new town, that is, after the town was established, was Bertie Lamoni WHITE, the son of Volentine and Mary A. WHITE. The first ones to be married were Earl D. BAILEY and Katie HARRIS. The first person that died was Nehemiah D. SMITH, whose death occurred February 7, 1880.

BANKS

The Farmers State Bank of Lamoni was established in 1898. The officers at the present time are: Fred TEALE, president; J. R. SMITH, vice president; Orra TEALE, cashier; and T. B. NICHOLSON, assistant cashier. The capital stock is $25,000 and the deposits amount to $160,000.

The State Savings Bank of Lamoni was organized and begun business in 1898. W. A. HOPKINS is the president; Anna A. DANCER, vice president; and Oscar ANDERSON, cashier. The capital stock is $50,000 and the deposits $438,000.

NEWSPAPERS

The Lamoni Gazette was given to the public in November, 1885, by Sumner E. KING, from Missouri. Three months later he disposed of the paper to WALKER and HANSEN. Several owners followed this firm and it finally fell into the hands of the Lambert RUTHERS who changed the name to the Independent Patriot and under this name it was a success and a great aid in the moral uplift of the community. It was discontinued in 1910.

The Lamoni Chronicle, the present newspaper at Lamoni, was first established in June, 1894, by W. H. DEAM. DEAM kept the paper for a time and then sold out. Several owners followed until April 1, 1913, when W. H. BLAIR, H. E. GELATT and G. W. BLAIR purchased the plant. They have made a distinct success of the paper and have one of the most modern plants to be found in the state among the smaller papers. The paper runs from eight pages up, is six columns, and is issued on Thursday of each week to about thirteen hundred paid-up subscribers.

THE CITY OF LAMONI AND ITS PEOPLE

Among the many active agencies for the building of Lamoni is the Lamoni Commercial Club, organized to promote the general welfare of the community. The business of the town has been very prosperous due to this spirit. The club was organized in 1907 and its first officers were: W. A. HOPKINS, president; C. E. BLAIR, vice president; F. B. BLAIR, secretary; O. E. TEALE, treasurer.

At the present time Lamoni has upwards of eighteen hundred inhabitants and is located in the heart of a rich agricultural, gently rolling and fertile prairie country, well settled and improved by prosperous and substantial farmers.

Lamoni has a modern system of water works installed in 1910, with an abundance of good water, supplied from a large lake covering over ten acres of ground and thirty feet deep in places, located three quarters of a mile from the business section of the town.

Electricity for the town is supplied by the plant at the Herald office, which also supplies current for Davis City and Kellerton.

In 1914 an extensive sewerage system was laid beneath the principal streets, the sewage being disposed of by means of a septic tank located on the outskirts of the city.

Among the other things which cause Lamoni to be justly proud of herself are: two municipally owned parks; a modern, pressed brick coliseum building, completed in 1911; an efficient fire company; beautiful homes; two banks; charitable homes; two fine church buildings; a splendid telephone system; no saloons, gambling rooms or pool halls; a second class postoffice; and above all a spirit of progressive citizenship.

Lamoni has for years had a modernly equipped grain elevator, including cleaning and shelling stations on the Burlington Railway between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Des Moines and Chariton, Iowa. The second elevator is owned by the Farmers Grain and Seed Company.

Lamoni is the headquarters of the Inter-State Trail, which is an organized, improved and well marked highway extending from St. Paul to Kansas City, via Des Moines, Lamoni and St. Joseph. The Waubonsie Trail, running east and west, also passes through Lamoni, forming a junction of the two trails at this point. In the movements for good roads the citizens of Lamoni have always taken an active interest.

One of the finest high school buildings in the state is located here. This building was started first in 1913-4 and completed. In November, 1914, fire destroyed the interior and roof, without damaging the side walls to any extent, however. The work of rebuilding was immediately begun and now is about completed. The original cost of this magnificent building was $50,000. The equipment is of the latest and every care has been taken to comply with the laws of hygiene and efficiency relative to a perfect schoolhouse.

SOCIETIES

The fraternal spirit in Lamoni has been developed to a very high degree in the past years. Besides the men's clubs there are numerous clubs composed of women, all of them organized with a worthy purpose in view, whether for the intellectual improvement of the members or the co-operative effort to better the city. Perhaps the leading club among the women is the Patronesses, more of which is said in the history of Graceland College by Inez SMITH.

The Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, all have chapters in Lamoni and are prosperous and with strong membership. The Grand Army of the Republic Post and the Women's Relief Corps hold a strong position in the organized life of the city and have a building devoted to their especial use.

John Anderson Post No. 487, Grand Army of the Republic, at Lamoni, Iowa, was organized there in February, 1891. Among the twenty charter members were: E. B. TEALE, S. A. FERGUSON, G. H. TEALE, J. M. ASHBURN, Henry STODDARD, D. F. CRAVE, Robert TURNER and David ENNIS. They continued as a working body for several years, but deaths and removals then caused a discontinuance of the post. Later other old soldiers moved to Lamoni and the post was reorganized in October, 1909, with the following as charter members: El. A. STEDMAN, John McELROY, John SMITH, Robert TURNER, H. A. STEBBINS, Frank HACKETT, John SPAUDLING and others. The post has remained active ever since and every year observes Memorial Sunday and Decoration Day with befitting ceremonies.

THE METHODIST CHURCH

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Lamoni was originally built on a farm near Lamoni and was removed to town in 1884. The membership in Lamoni is not very strong at the present time, but the church itself is well housed and practically free from debt, thus insuring life though small in membership.
 
 
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