Anamosa - A Reminiscence 1838 - 1988

Early Mills
A reason for Anamosa to Grow
by Bertha Finn
When the first families headed for what was later to
become the city of Anamosa. their destination was the
called. “The Forks". or “ Buffalo Forks" after the fork
of the waters of Buffalo Creek and the Wapsipinicon
River. There were probably less that a dozen persons
who were there to build a saw and a grist mill in 1838.
One young man's death from the ‘sinking chills is told
by E.M. Crow. who kept a journal of those early times.
I-le told his story to Tom Booth who shared the story to
the readers of the Eureka :
“lt was the first Sunday in September in the summer
of 1838. In those times the widely scattered settlers
occasionally came together on Sunday at some place
agreed on for the purpose of talking over their affairs
discussing what news they could get a hold of and in
various ways relieving the lonely monotony that even
the farmers of these later-days can have scarcely any
conception of.
"It happened on the day above mentioned that Mr.
Crow. Calvin Reed. George and Eli Brown. James
Northup. Sol and Lewis Peckham met at a shanty a few
rods south of what is now [1890] the Matthews
residence at Buffalo Mills. A young man whose name
was W.H. Stewart had located a claim on the mill site
and it is supposed had died of sinking chills. a disease
then very prevalent and very difilcult to control in the
absence ofall medical help.
"The poor fellow was found lying in his shanty. He
had been dead for several days. One of the party was
sent to Clem Russell's at Fairview. 5 miles. for a spade
with which to dig a grave. and the others proceeded to
split out some basswood puncheons. which were
fastened together in a sort of box with wooden pins. He
was buried a little distance east of the point where Mr.
Matthews‘ house stands.
"There were no formal prayers offered on that sad
occasion. but it was not because of lack of kindness or
want of sympathy in the breasts of those rugged. heroic
representatives of pioneer civilization. Far from it. After
the box had been let down into the earth each looked
solemnly at the other and Calvin Reed. with tears
streaming down his bronzed cheeks. said. ‘Here lies
this poor mortal fellow man. away from home and
friends. Who will be the next one of us to go this way?‘
"This was all the sermon that was preached that day.
The young man was 25 years old."
In May of 1838. Major George Russ and Sherebiah
Dakin of Dubuque. orginally from the state of Maine.
came to the Buffalo Forks and made settlers‘ claims.
with the intention of building a saw and grist mill. With
them was a family. John Bartlett and his wife and child;
also David G. Dumars. and two men identified only as
Smith and Carpenter. The names of others are not
mentioned in the histories. The group put up the body
of a log house and put in a crop of potatoes on the flat
opposite the mouth of the Buffalo. This site was on the
first Military Road. which led behind the present
Riverside Cemetary.
Chills and fevers swept across the prairies. as had
occurred the previous year. and Major Russ and
helpers. Smith and Carpenter. succumbed to the
disease. Bartlett returned to Dubuque. Dumars stayed
on in the area until his death. 10 years later.
In October 1838. Dakin happened to be in Dubuque
when he ran into a comparatively young fellow. 27
years of age. by the name of Gideon H. Ford. who had
recently landed in Dubuque from the state of
Massachusetts. Dakin informed him that he would like
to sell his half of the mill claim and Ford agreed to
accompany him to the Forks. On October 23 of that
year. Dakin. Ford and Timothy Davis. Dubuque
attorney. arrived at the mills on the Buffalo.
By January 1839. Ford had purchased both Dakin
and Russ‘ share. He paid Dakin $1.000. and young
George Russ. who had arrived a few days after his
father's death. $500. Ford kept one-third share in the
mills. and sold one third to Timothy Davis for $1.000
and one-third to his friend George H. Walworth for
$1.000. The claim extended from Garnaviilo street on
the east to half-way to what is now Stone City; 2.240
acres in all.
In the spring of 1839. this partnership continued the
work started by Russ and Dakin. Edmund Booth.
following his sweetheart. Mary Ann. [George
Walworth's sister). to the Forks. arrived in August of
that year.
In 1841 Ford married Booth’s sister. Hannah. who
was recently widowed. She had two sons. Danforth and
William B. Ford. They purchased the frame house that
Booth and Hannah's first husband. Col. David Wood.
had erected on what is now Park Avenue. and moved it
to Main and Mill street on the Military Road in 1842.
They were the parents of a daughter. Maria. who was
the first white child born in Anamosa. and a son.
Harlow.
At the “ raising" of the first saw and grist mill on the
Buffalo in 1839. from 30 to 40 men and women
gathered from around the settlement area. It was raised
without the benefit of hard liquor. the usual practice.
Coffee was substituted. This was done without
informing the men. as it was feared they wouldn't show
up. Building the first saw and grist mills was a
tremendous undertaking. for machinery. lumber and
supplies of every kind had to be hauled from Dubuque
over the poorest roads — a mere trail on the prairies.
The first mills were built a mile west of Anamosa. on
what was then the main channel of the Buffalo. and was
built about 30 rods south of the later stone mill
Frame Mill at Fisherville