Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

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Hotel Gillen (photo submitted by Grace Holden Rodman)
ambitious pounding). and he slipped down the
backstalrs and onto the alleged stolen horse. The
effect of this discovery the next morning by the sheriff
and his posse was said to be "paralyzing".
In 1853 Benjamin Chaplin became the owner of the
Waverly House. After five years he sold it to Crawford &
Leonard. who ran it for a time. Being unable to pay for
it. Chaplin took it off their hands and ran it from
1860-68. In 1860. a boarder. named Brown. from
Dubuque. got up early. quite early one Sunday morning
to retum home. On going to the barroom for something.
he roused an Irishman sleeping there. The Irishman.
thinking he was about to be robbed. picked up a fire
shovel. and “struck him a tremendous blow on the
arm. breaking the bone."
This hotel. which had served the public for 30 years
was bumed in a fire in 1882.
In 1856-57. a hotel was erected on the "upper level”
of town. and was considered at the time to be too far
away from the center of business to be a success. The
bricks came from the brickyard of Oliver Lockwood.
and were drawn by several hired workers with teams.
The white oxen of Edmund Booth were used. as were
Mr. Berndes. of Cass. who owned a big old fashioned
Virginia wagon and four horses. driven with one line .
with the driver astride the near wheel horse.
The hotel was opened in the fall of 1857. and was
called The Fisher House. due to the Fishers’ financial
backing. H.C. Metcalf and N.G. Sales also had money
invested. It was billed as the best hotel in the state. The
three-story building. it was said. could accommodate
150 persons. It also had a well of water and a cistern
capable of holding 300 barrels. On North Garnaviilo
behind the hotel was a large stable capable of holding
60 horses. The cost of building the hotel and buildings
was 825.000. 5
Amos Peaslee of Dubuque was "the first owner. He
leased out half of the hotel for a number of years. The
coming of the hoped-for railroad through Anamosa was
three years away. and “dickering" was still the
prevailing means of doing business. The Eureka files
show that on one occasion. "August Heitchen. who had
a hardware business. sold a stove to A. McDonald
(afterwards keeper of the poor farm) for 835. and in
payment received 100 bushels of wheat at 35 cents a
bushel. The wheat was taken to Fisher's mill. where it
was ground into flour. Heitchen in turn “ dickered" it
here and there. wherever he could work it in. At times
eggs were 3 cents a dozen and butter 5 cents a pound.
and even then the market was constantly oversupplied.”
Not all of the early settlers were without funds.
To celebrate the opening of the town's big hotel.
a ‘New Year's Hop’ was held January 1. 1858.
Managing the event were Charley Hutton. Dr. N.G.
Sales. T.A. Griffith. D. Graham. Charles D. Perfect. C.L.
Hayes. Israel Fisher. Hiram Russell. T. L. Henderson.
Fred Holabird. J.J.Welsh. J. G. McGuire. W.R. Locke.
James Perfect. William T. Shaw. and A. Higby. The
tickets were $3. The next month a ‘Washington
Birthday Ball’ was held with the same managers in
charge. The ballroom was located on the third floor. on
the north wing of the hotel. The Eureka. describing the
event. stated."The music was furnished by the famous
Buffalo Bill Band. colored. ofDubuque."
In 1860 Amos Peaslee left the Fisher House to
mangage the Julien House in Dubuque. His successor
was B.F. Shaw. then county superintendant of schools.
In October of that year. Stephen A. Douglas stopped in
Anamosa and spoke to a crowd of about 500 persons in