Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

Yanda Farm
The Yanda farm. in section 17 in Cass township. was
purchased by Carso Crane in 1863 for $3.600. He had
been a captain in the Civil War. He borrowed $1,250 to
build the present home. When the house was built, the
wife was asked where she wanted the well to be located.
She answered, “ As close to the house as possible."
Consequently, the well is only two feet from the front
porch.
The farm was purchased by John and Mary Lawrence
Yanda in 1900. John was 21 years old when he arrived
from Germany in 1882, where he had worked in a
textile mill from the age of ten. Upon his arrival he
worked in a grocery store, which his cousin owned in
Dubuque. Before John Yanda purchased this farm in
Cass township the family had farmed in the Coggon
Prairieburg area and, for a few years, operated a
restaurant in Monticello. They then moved to Alabama
for flve years. where they raised grapes. The family
returned to Iowa and purchased the Cass farm in 1900.
The farm had a round barn and a basement barn
where Carso Crane had built a tight, wooden bin in the
haymow for the whole green corn stalks for silage;
perhaps one of the first silos.
John and Mary Yanda were the parents of five
children, two daughters and three sons: Bertha.
Excerpts of the Cass Church history. written by
Georgianna Lake for the celebration of the church's
100th Anniversary. June 10, 1956. as follows:
submitted by Lawrence and Dorothy Yanda
Elizabeth. Jim. Henry and Ludwig. Two of the sons.
Jim and Ludwig, served overseas with the U.S. Army in
WW1. Ludwig spent 75 days on the Muesse-Argonne
front lines in France without relief. This was during the
heaviest fighting of the war. He told how dense forests
were cut down and eventually cleared away by the
shellings.
Ludwig married Anna Holub Feb. 8, 1920 at 8 a.m.,
at St. Joseph Church in Prarieburg. The early time was
set due to two funerals also being held that day. The
deaths were two victims of flu epidemic.
Two years later John Yanda had a sale and moved to
Cedar Rapids. Ludwig and Anna moved to this farm
from Prairieburg. They purchased the farm in 1938.
They became the parents of two children. Lawrence
Joseph and Berniece Mary. Lawrence and Dorothy
Trumm were married June 30, 1948, and moved to this
farm. purchasing it in 1972. They lived there until
1981, when they moved to the next farm across the
road.
Lawrence still operates both farms with three of his
sons, John. Robert. and Anthony. There are five other
children in the family: Mary Louise Emerson and Julie
Ann Siebels of Cedar Rapids; James of Chicago;
Bernadette of Des Moines, and Jennifer of Anamosa.
History of Cass Church
A.
Ill 7
Dear are the memories of the Cass Congregational
Church. A centennial anniversary was held Sunday.
June 10, 1956, with more than 150 persons in
attendance. (Submitted by Arlene Brainard)
In the spring of 1855, Rev. LaDue, pastor of the
Anamosa Congregational Church began holding
occasional services on Sunday afternoons, in a small
unfinished frame school house, for two or three
families. The school was located on the southeast
corner at Cass Center.
In June of the following year, the First
Congregational Church of Cass was organized. A.P.
Condit was chosen as deacon; Alexander Crawford.
Spencer Pitcher and George W. Hall, as trustees, and
10
J.S. Condit, clerk.
Rev. LaDue left soon after the church was organized
and Rev. S.A. Benton took his place. In the winter of
1857, a series of meetings were held in the little school
house. which by then had been plastered and seated.
Rev. C.S. Cady. of Bowen's Prarie, assisted Rev.
Benton.
Many members joined the organization's meetings
and the meetings resulted in the calling of Rev. Cady as
the first resident pastor.
At a meeting held Nov. 3. 1858, it was determined
that a church would be built on land donated by R.B.
Condit. Land was also donated by Mr. Condit for
cemetery purposes. Mr. M.C. Thompson, Dr. Haskins
and J.A. Palmer were appointed to the building
committee. Later R.B.. Condit and O.B. Doyle were
added to the committee. The job of building the church
was let to A.P. Condit.
The Congregational Church was dedicated. debt-free,
in the fail of 1860. The 14 charter members were: Mr.
and Mrs. O.B. Doyle. Mr. and Mrs. A.P. Condit, Mrs.
Jeramiah Friend, Mr. and Mrs. George Hall. and Mr.
M.C. Thompson.
The resident pastors who followed Rev. Cady were:
Revs. C.C. Humphrey, 1864-67; Wm. H. Hayward.
1868-1870; Wm. H. Barrows, 1871-74; (Rev. Barrows
was again called to serve in 1889 for another five years).
Pastors who served between Rev. Barrow's two
pastorates were Revs. E.C. Downs. James Mitchell,
George Ritchie and D.N . Bordwell.
Rev. Mitchell remained about three years. It was
while he was pastor that the Ladies Aid was organized
in the late 1870s.
Sometime during the 1870s, the society bought a
house and lot of R.B. Condit for a parsonage. It was
located about one-fourth mile directly north of Cass
Center.