(The notes below are more than is necessary just to tell the
story of Newton Machlan and his marriage to Mary Arney. I'm thinking that the
evolution of the search itself may be of some interest:)
My initial information was from my aunt Geraldine (their
grand-daughter), and based on what she said I assumed that Newton and his wife
Mary lived happily together until their deaths in the 1930Õs. But when I
started looking at census data, some puzzling information began to emerge. They
were buried in different cemeteries, and I started finding a Newton Machlan who
was married to a ÒMarthaÓ.
I dug deeper and deeper, including searching on-line
page-by-page through un-indexed censuses for the area around Weldon in Decatur
Co., Iowa. (At least this was a small township, and people tended to stay in
one place.) I questioned my sister Irene, who was just old enough to remember
them in the mid-1930Õs. I sent a note to MaryÕs still-living niece, Winnie
(Arney) Gambini (she remembered her mother writing to Mary).
FINALLY, I hit paydirt and discovered Newton and Martha on
ancestry.com. He had been recorded as ÒJohn NewtonÓ Machlan, and there was no
reference to his previous marriage to Mary. I also found marriage records for
MarthaÕs first marriage and for her second marriage to Newton. Except for the
first name ÒJohnÓ it was a perfect fit -- there is no doubt remaining.
(At first I wasnÕt really sure whether ÒJohnÓ or ÒJoshuaÓ is
correct for his first name -- he went by ÒNewtonÓ, and signed things ÒJ.N.Ó or
ÒJ. NewtonÓ. The ÒJoshuaÓ is from my aunt GeraldineÕs recollections. The ÒJohnÓ
appears to be from official marriage records for his second marriage. However I
found the 1860 census (see notes with his father), he is 10 months old, and is
clearly named ÒJoshua N.Ó)
BIRTH DATE NOTE:
The 1860 census was taken on August 7, 1860, and ÒJoshua N. MacklinÓ is shown
as 10 months old. This means the birth date (as provided by Aunt Geraldine) has
to be wrong -- he cannot have been born on 17 October 1860! I think his birth
data was probably 17 October 1859 -- and this was confirmed by the date on the
records for his second marriage to Martha. I have changed the date in my files
to 1859.
The story is now reasonably clear. Newton married Mary Arney
in 1880, and they had 12 children by 1900 while living on a farm near Weldon,
Iowa. By 1910 Newton had moved out (census questions hint of divorce in 1908),
and Mary got the farm and the 11 remaining kids (one having died at age 2).
Mary continued to live on the farm with varying numbers of their children until
her death in 1935, she never remarried.
Census data showed that Newton was divorced by 1910 (and
living with his son Clarence in Garden Grove), and that in about 1912 he
married ÒMarthaÓ (full name later determined ÒMartha Emmaline TINIUSÓ). At the
time of marriage he was age 52 and she was age 24. She appeared to have had one
child by a previous relationship (now know Martha previously married in
Indiana), and between them they had 5 more. They lived in Osceola in 1920, and
in High Point in 1930. He died in 1936. Martha died in Des Moines, Iowa, in
January of 1969.
THE SEARCH: When the
census data began to be puzzling, I called my sister Irene in December 2003 and
asked how much she could remember about Newton and his wife. She said she did
remember visiting them (she would have been about 10 or 11 when Newton died),
and remembered that one of them ÒHad been married before.Ó. I asked if she
remembered if NewtonÕs wife had been named ÒMaryÓ or ÒMarthaÓ, but all she
could remember was that it was ÒGreat Grandma MachlanÓ. I asked if his wife was
younger that Newton, and she didnÕt think so.
In 1935, when Irene would have been about age 10, Newton
Machlan would have been age 75, and Mary (Arney) Machlan would have been 74.
The above ÒMarthaÓ would have been about 47. Was Irene remembering ÒNewton and
MaryÓ or remembering ÒNewton and MarthaÓ? To a 10-year old, even age 47 is
ÒancientÓ, and she does remember that Òone had been married beforeÓ.)
Prompted with the data below, Irene sent the following note,
expanding on her recollections: ÒThe Great Grandma I knew did live on a farm
with Olin, Homer, Pearl and Ester.
I had forgotten Homer's name (Note: Homer actually left before Irene was
born). Do remember the other three
(of her children). Grandma (Linnie Machlan) and Edith were already married and
away from home. Mary WAS the real ancestor (and she was old, even to an eleven
year old. Ha). I do remember the
big old farm house. Therefore, I do not remember a Martha. I do not recall the death of either
Mary or Newton.Ó
HereÕs what I found from the census information:
FEDERAL CENSUS, 1880, Newton Machlan and Mary Arney are both clearly ÒsingleÓ,
and living with their parents. Newton is 20, Mary is 19. They were married
later in that year on 19 December 1880, and this was thus very clearly their
first marriage. (See notes with their parents for more details on the 1880
census.)
THE IOWA CENSUSES, 1885 and 1895. The family
with Newton and Mary is found in Decatur County, Weldon, Franklin Twp. They
have increasing numbers of children consistent with the 12 known ultimate
descendents of Newton and Mary.
1900 CENSUS, IOWA, DECATUR CO., FRANKLIN TWP (WELDON):
Newton is 40, Mary is 39, and they have been married 20
years. She has had 12 children, of which 11 are still living. All 11 are living
at home. They own the farm, and have a mortgage on it.
1905 IOWA CENSUS, LEON POST OFFICE:
J. N. and Mary are still together. (This census has no info
except the names of people in the household.)
Now is when things began to get complicated. After about
1905 I found no evidence of Newton and Mary Òbeing togetherÓ. For example, even
though they died within a year of each other, they are buried in different
cemeteries (Newton is in the Leon cemetery, Mary in the Franklin cemetery
buried next to a son Merritt who died in 1890 as an infant.) I found cemetery
records for each of them.
I have a 1905 picture of the two of them together. I have
1906 and 1926 pictures of each of them, but not together. Newton is in a 1906
picture, with granddaughters Elsie and Geraldine. Mary is in a 1926
5-generation picture with her father Jacob Arney and Great-Grandaughter Irene
Coffey. From the data below, it is NOW clear that they were separated by at
least the year 1910:
DATA FROM 1910 CENSUS, IOWA, DECATUR CO., FRANKLIN TWP (WELDON):
Mary is now the HEAD of the household, and age 48. Marital
status is hard to read, but appers to be ÒdivorcedÓ. She had been married 28
years (suggesting her divorce may have been in 1908), had 12 children of which
11 are still living. Still living at home are children Gertrude age 18, Pearl
16, Olin 15, Homer 12, Edith 10, Ester 10. And they have a boarder, Gertrude
Swearingen, age 25, who is a teacher. Olin at age 15 is listed as the only one
with employment -- he is the ÒfarmerÓ of the family. Everybody except Mary has
attended school within the past year. They own the farm, but have a mortgage on
it.
DATA FROM 1910 CENSUS, IOWA, DECATUR CO., GARDEN GROVE, PG
23 OF 30:
This was a tough one, since the 1910 index only shows head
of household and Newton has been demoted! He is found living in Garden Grove
with his son Clarence Machlan (age 27), ClarenceÕs wife Ella (25), and their
baby son Beryl. He is tabulated as ÒJoshua N. MachlanÓ (first time IÕve seen
him use his first name), he is age 50, and divorced. Under trade or profession
he is listed as ÒOwn IncomeÓ, which I would interpret as living on his savings?
FAMILY PICNIC, 1913:
I now know that Newton married Martha TINIUS on 10 Mar 1912,
and their first baby was born 17 Feb 1913. And the new family went on a picnic
in September 1913. And how do we know that?
The newspaper "Humeston New Era" for 1 Oct 1913
reported the event. It seems the Garden Grove Corn Club held their annual Corn
Picnic west of town, with "at least 5000 people being present". And
they awarded prizes in a babies' health contest. And the report was that
"ÉClara Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Machlan of Garden
Grove won first prize in the girls contest."
1915 IOWA CENSUS, DECATUR, FRANKLIN:
Mary Machlan is found. She is a Methodist, has completed 12
grades of education. She owns a farm worth $5600, with encumbrance (mortgage)
of $700.
1915 IOWA CENSUS, WARREN CO, INDIANOLA: "Joshua N" is age 55, a farmer who earned $720 in
1914. He has a farm worth $5200, with encumbrance of $3200. Says he has an 8th
grade education.
DATA FROM 1920 CENSUS, IOWA, DECATUR CO., FRANKLIN TWP. (WELDON):
Mary Machlan is 58 and DIVORCED, living on a farm with sons
Olin age 25, Homer age 22, and daughters Esther age 20, and Pearl age 27.
1920 CENSUS, IOWA, CLARKE CO., OSCEOLA:
Newton is age 58, and Martha is age 32. They rent their
home, and he is now working as a carpenter. They have 5 children living at
home. Louise is age 11, Clare is age 6, Ralph is age 5, George is age 3 years 8
months, Frank is 2 years and 2 months. Martha and Louise were born in Indiana
(perhaps suggesting that Louise was MarthaÕs daughter by a previous marriage?),
everybody else born in Iowa. MarthaÕs father was born in Kentucky, and her
mother in Indiana.
1925 IOWA CENSUS, POLK CO., DES MOINES
Newton (61) and Martha (37) are found living with Clara
(11), Ralph (9), George (8) and Frank (7). They rent their home for $25/month.
Newton has completed school through the 6th grade, and Martha
through 11th grade. All the kids are attending school full time.
Martha's parents were Frank Tinius and Emma Low. All the children were born in
Des Moines. (Curiously, the census lists the maiden name of the children's
mother as Clara Tinius, not Martha Tinius. But the age, etc. is the same as for
Martha.)
1925 IOWA CENSUS, DECATUR:
Mary "Macklin" is found living with Pearl, Olin,
and Ester.
DATA FROM 1930 CENSUS, IOWA, DECATUR CO., FRANKLIN TWP. (NEAR WELDON):
Mary Machlan is living on a farm with her son Olin, and two
daughters Pearl and Esther. She is 69, Olin is 35, Pearl 37, Esther 30. The farm
is rented, and they own a radio. Olin has attended some kind of school in the
last year, and everybody can read and write. Olin is a veteran of the World
War.
1930 CENSUS, IOWA, DECATUR CO., HIGH POINT TWP:
Newton is 70, and Martha is 42. Daughter Louise has moved
on, but they have added a son Paul, who is 8. They own their house, and have a
radio. They were married when he was age 52, and she was age 24. All of the
kids have been attending school. He is now farming again.
FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON SECOND MARRIAGE FAMILY:
www.jrtinius.net (Martha is
Person #47)
I have also now found marriage records for MarthaÕs first
marriage (see notes with her record) and for her second marriage to Newton on
10 Mar 1912 in Des Moines, Iowa.
CONTACTS WITH SECOND FAMILY:
With some help from my third cousin Pat Welch of Ankeny, IA
(she is descended from NewtonÕs sister Edna) I have learned more about NewtonÕs
second family and have made some initial contacts.
Pat forwarded to me obituaries of NewtonÕs son George
Machlan, who lived in Des Moines. GeorgeÕs wife Doris died July 26, 2005, and
George died August 30, 2005. I learned George and Doris had a son, Keith
Machlan, and a daughter, Glenys (Machlan) Earle of Des Moines.
I exchanged a few notes with descendants of Clara, Newton
and Martha's daughter. Their impressions were second hand, based on discussions
with Clara as she grew older. Their observations are paraphrased below:
"Newton was relatively old when he married Martha, and
apparently descended into something at least resembling senility as he grew
older. Family legend has it that he moved away from many acres of prime Iowa
farmland, leaving my grandmother and her children extremely poor –
destitute even. All five of their children graduated high school.
"Stories were that he was old and distant, odd,
embarrassing the children with his sometimes strange behavior. Including going
barefoot. He was religious, often carrying a bible. His hair was still black
when he died and that he was still straight and handsome. He supposedly died
from a fall from a church roof, where he was working on the steeple.
"All their children were good, decent, respectable and
hard-working people. And Martha was the best. Quiet, reserved, humble, and
plain.
OTHER NOTES:
Although it is not relevant to determining ancestry, it does
appear that J. Newton Machlan was writing articles for the Leon Journal
Reporter in the early 1900Õs. One of them is very interesting in that it talks
about his life plus that of his Iowa pioneer father George Washington Machlan.
Here is the transcript:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Decatur County Journal, May 9, l907
EARLY FARM METHODS
J.N. MACHLAN Tells How it was Done in the Pioneer Days of Decatur County.
Through the kindness of the JOURNAL EDITOR we are permitted
to give to the young a glimpse of farm life in the early days of Decatur
County.
My parents erected a little cabin in the brush near the
present site of the county bridge, on Little River, west from the Fairview
School House, and called it home; e're long my father with a good team of
horses and an old fashioned sod plow began to cut and turn the virgin soil
preparatory to raising a crop. The plowman's necessary equipments for success
were as follows: plenty of patience, a whip, a plow file, a heavy hammer and a
hunk of iron, to use as an anvil on which to cold hammer the plowshare
occasionally; the file to put the finishing touch on with; and the patience
came in good play when he encountered a stone, a root, or some obstacle that
jerked the plow, plowman and all clear out of the furrow. There were also
numerous snakes to contend with, the rattle snakes, the bull snake, the hissing
viper, the blue racer, the house snake, the garter snake, the green joint
snake, the blue black joint snake and a few other species, besides the nasty
lizzards that could be seen by the hundreds.
Now as the virgin soil had been turned bottom side up and
time had arrived for corn planting, we proceeded to plant corn by one of the
following methods; by axing it in, hoeing it in, healing it in or dropping by
hand following the plow every third round and dropping the grain on top of the
furrow, at such a place that the next furrow would barely cover it with its
upper edge. This would produce what we called a crop of sod corn either good or
bad according to the season and condition of the sod. Plenty of rain was
generally essential to a good crop. It was also essential for the sod to be
well rotted. Scores of snakes would be cut in twain with the plow every season,
among which a great many rattle snakes became victims of the cruel plowshare.
The early settlers did not have implement stores to which they could go and
purchase farming tools, but were compelled of necessity to make them.
When the ground was in condition for harrowing, we set to
work with three sticks of timber some four or five inches square and perhaps
six feet in length and frame or bolt them together, which when joined, would be
a good representation of the letter A, next with an inch and a half or a two
inch auger we bored holes in the side pieces and cross section into which we
inserted huge pegs made from good hickory or oak timber, then sharpened the
lower end of the pegs and our harrow was completed. Our wooden harrow rotted
down in the fence corner after many years of good service. A few years later,
the sod tearer was invented, it was such a peculiarly constructed implement
that to the writer it baffles description, therefore, we beg leave to not
attempt it; however, it did pretty good work at that time.
_files/image002.png)
(Note from
Fred: Here's a modern "Pioneer Walking Plow with a Sod Breaker". You
can still buy these!)
Much of the virgin soil contained so many tough roots it was
not uncommon to see a furrow of sod one-half mile long without a break in it.
Some of the toughest roots were, the wild indigo, shoe string, blue stem, rosin
weed and some times a patch of hazel or buck brush. The rosin weed above
referred to produced a white gum which constituted the chewing gum of the yough
of the early settlers.
After a few months spent in the little cabin in the brush,
we decided to venture out onto the broad, bleak prairie and erect another log
cabin which we did in course of time. A well was dug which furnished water for
the house, but for years our stock had to be taken across the prairie to some
creek or spring to quench their thirst and as for ourselves when working in the
field or on the prairie making hay, we have many times drank from a puddle
containing many angle worms, crawfish and bugs, the water would often be warm
enough for dish water.
Time rolls on and it becomes necessary to fence our farm;
the father proceeded to the timber some eleven miles distant and splits rails
and hauls them and a fence is built called a worm fence, which when completed
is from seven to ten rails in height; but soon a new difficulty arose, more
settlers were coming in, fires were started in the prairie grass; some were
started by accident, some purposely and on quite a few occasions, campers have
left fire where they had stopped for the night, the wind would rise and the
fire would be scattered. Soon a conflagration would be raging across the
prairies and perhaps hundreds or even thousands of acres would be burned over
before the fire went out. In many cases the fires would burn all night. It was
at such times that our rail fences would suffer destruction and how to prevent
the loss we soon grasped an idea. The fires of course, would do most of the
mischief in the spring, and at some convenient time we would plow a few furrows
around the farm near the fence then perhaps two or three rods farther from the
fence, we would plow a few more, the strip between we called a fireland. At the
favorable time, when the wind was not blowing (generally of an evening) father
would say, "Well boys, this is a good time to burn out those
firelands." Of course, this pleased the boys and after the day's work was
done we equipped ourselves with small boards and brush to fight fire with and
on some occasions we would take along from one to three barrels of water; in
case fire should get into the fence. All things ready, we commenced firing
along the side so the fire would have to burn against the wind, but it matters
not how calm it was, when the fire was started the hot air rising creates a
vacuum and the cold air rushing in to take its place would cause a breeze and
sometimes the fire would get beyond control, despite our best efforts and
sometimes we would not reach home until a very late hour in the night.
A weed, well known to early settlers, called the tumble weed
or careless weed, which grew in great numbers on new cultivated land, the tops
of which were almost spherical in shape and ranging in diameter from twelve to
thirty-six inches, when assisted by a breeze would carry fire for some
distance. They were so near round they would roll for miles without stopping
when a stiff wind was blowing.
When the soil had become well rotted and the corn big enough
to need attention, we plowed it with a cultivator having but one shovel which
was made from a triangular shaped piece of iron, with which it was necessary to
plow two rounds to each row of corn. The cultivator was used in the field more
or less until the silk made its appearance on the young ears of corn. The worst
weed we had to contend with in the corn field in those days, was a species of
smart weed, rarely seen except on new land. It grew down close to the ground
and had a firm grip upon it. Hoes were extensively used in those days in the
corn fields. Another advance step was taken in the method of planting corn, the
cultivator referred to is used to draw a shallow furrow for each row of corn,
the corn is then dropped into the furrow about every three feet, then covered
either with a hoe or by cross harrowing. Three of us dropping and one furrowing
off, planting as much as seven acres in a day.
The time had come when we were raising a little spring
wheat, oats and flax. The method of threshing grain after it had been harvested
with the cradling scythe and is well cured was to prepare a circular piece of
ground usually from sixteen to twenty feet in diameter by taking a sharp spade
and shaving off the surface until it is quite smooth and level; after this was
done a pole some eight or ten feet high was set upright in a hole dug in the
center of the circular patch of ground, to this pole usually two horses abreast
are tied with long ropes and a lad mounted on one of the horses with a small
gad, the grain had been evenly spread upon the prepared ground and the horses
were started on a long tramp, tramping out the grain on the new tramping floor,
a process that was very monotonous to the horses, and speaking from experience,
the rider was very glad when the noon hour or nightfall had arrived. The grain
during the tramping process was turned over with a forked stick and as soon the
grain was tramped out the straw was removed and the grain gathered up and
winnowed out, a fresh supply was spread upon the floor and the tramping process
was continued.
The snowfall during some of the winters was very heavy. I
believe it was in the winter of l866, we arose one morning and discovered that
the snow had drifted to the eaves of the little cabin, our fences were all
snowed under and our stock scattered hither and thither and our enclosures for
stock were all under snow. After the snow fell the weather turned colder and
the snow froze hard. We could drive in any direction across the prairie over
high fences. We had just put out a washing before the snow and it was six weeks
before we were enabled to find it all. Heavy snows were common but this one was
the heaviest I ever saw. Our cabin was covered with clapboards, as was the
custom in those days, and the snow would blow between them and sift down
through the loft into our faces as we lay in bed during a snow storm. The last
thing the good mother would do before retiring was to see if the five children
were in bed covered up head and all so the snow would not lodge in our faces.
It was a common occurrence after a snow storm had subsided, for someone of the
family to ascend to the loft and scoop the snow out before it melted.
As we pass along it might be well to describe the bedsteads
installed in some of the cabins. One method of constructing a bedstead was to
place a log in the walls angling across the corner of the cabin at a convenient
height into which pegs were set about six inches apart, a small rope was then
procured and strung back and forth from the pegs in the lot to corresponding
pegs in the walls of the cabin. A later method of construction was to procure
two round poles to serve as side rails, set the pegs into them, fasten them to
corner posts, nail on end rails then string the pegs with rope and the bedstead
was completed.
No cabin was complete without the fireplace, the hearth of
which was laid of brick or stone and the chimney usually built of brick or
stone, or wooden slats built up in mud or lime mortar. In our cabin, the hearth
was made of flat lime stone under which the rats burrowed and made nests and
reared their young, and as their disgusting habits are nocturnal, the saucy
little rodents would emerge from beneath the hearth during the night,
especially in the winter, and skip about the fire evidently warming themselves
and eating such things as suited their taste. They would sometimes bite some of
the family or anyone who chanced to be there during the night. My brother, who
resides in Des Moines, was bitten on the great toe while asleep. A servant
girl, who was employed to assist wth the household duties, was also bitten
whereupon she yelled out "murder," but as that was a common
expression with some people in those days when they were frightened, hurt or
alarmed, the family thought nothing of the expression, but someone proceeded to
make a light to ascertain how badly she was bitten.
The various kinds of lights used in those days were, first
the grease light, consisting of a saucer or pan containing grease with a rag
placed in it with one end standing above the grease, which when lighted served
to light the cabin. Next came the grease lamp, then the tallow candle.
When the sod had become well rotted, watermelons, pumpkins
and potatoes did quite well. Among the various kinds of potatoes grown were:
the calico, white meshanic, California peach blow, long red and lady finger;
the long red being the most prolific of any grown.
For several years after Iowa became a State, apples were
hauled in from Missouri, many of them coming from what was known as the famous
crab orchard. So called because the apple scions were grafted into the root of
the wild crab. The first apples the writer ever saw growing, were in the small
orchard of young trees planted on the old homestead. I think there were less
than a dozen of them which were guarded very closely lest something befell them
before they matured.
After the chaff-piling threshing machine was introduced, the
threshing of grain was not so great a task as it formerly was, but as the straw
carrier had not yet been invented, it became necessary to remove the straw and
chaff from the rear end of the machine, either with horses or by some other
method, any of which were very disagreeable, as the chaff and dust would fill
the eyes, nose, ears and mouth, if you should fail to keep it shut; but being
as it was, it was quite an improvement over the tramping floor method.
_files/image004.png)
(Note from
Fred: Here's a "Horse Powered Chaff Piler"!)
Thinking there might be profit in sheep raising, we
purchased a flock of two or three hundred, with a guarantee from the owner that
none of them were more than four years old, but soon they began to die of old
age and we discovered we were beaten in the deal, however, we kept on trying.
We had plenty of range, but they must have a shepherd, which lot usually fell
upon the writer, and permit me to say it was a very monotonous, lonesome
occupation watching sheep on the broad prairie, and not a human being in sight
for hours at a time. For years we were compelled to lot the sheep at night near
the cabin, to prevent the wolves from killing them, but even then they would
get among them and kill the lambs. One day while the writer was tending the
sheep a short distance from the cabin, a wolf came into the flock and seizing a
lamb by the back of the nect and trotted off with it. I waved my stick that I
uaually carried vigorously in the air and yelled with the force I could
summons, the wolf dropped the lamb and I took it to the cabin, but it was so
badly injured it only lived a few days. Our flock increased and the extremely
old ones died off and we had better success for a while. In our flock was a
large fellow with curled horns; he had been teased quite a little and had
become quite mischievous. On a certain occasion, by accident the sheep became
imprisoned in the smoke house; some member of the family had closed the door,
not knowing that he was in there. The servant of the kitchen, who was commonly
called an old maid, went to the smoke house for something to serve for dinner
meal and on opening the door, the sheep made a dive for her, running between
her feet, carrying her for a long distance, bleating as if in great agony,
while the maid was screaming and trying to alight from his back. The situation
seemed a critical one as the sheep did not know how to unload his burden and
the maid feared trying to let loose for fear of getting hurt in the attempt,
but finally by some kind of maneuvers they came out of the fracas none the
worse for wear, save being a little frightened. Another advance had been made
in the corn cultivator which then had two shovels instead of one and a row of
corn was plowed every round of the horse and plowman, which was quite
gratifying to the farmer. But while this was true, new and additional weeds
were added to the farmers' list of pests among which were the milk weed and the
black eyed swan, both of which are with us unto the present day. The black eyed
swan was introduced into this country as a garden flower by some English
people. Time rolls around and the rats under the old hearth having increased in
numbers and boldness, as well, they became almost unbearable and father set
traps and caught quite a number of them. The cabin all being in one room, we
could watch them by the light of the fireplace from all quarters of the room
and I must say it was amusing to see father spring out of bed, on hearing the
trap spring, and kill the rat, set the trap again and retire, sometimes only
remaining in bed but a short time when he would spring up and repeat the
operation. Someone prescribed a remedy for getting rid of the saucy rodents; it
was as follows: Catch a rat, singe it over the fire and turn it loose and the
rats would all take a leave of absence. Father caught the rat but his heart
failed him when it came to the singeing process and the rat never got singed.
So much for rat trapping around the old fireside. Other improvements had been
made to facilitate corn planting. A farmer a few miles distant had purchased a
two horse planter for about $75 and we could hire it for about l5 cents per
acre. The ground when ready to plant was first marked off with a kind of sled,
the first one to appear made two marks at a time, in a few years someone made
an improvement on the marker and it made three marks at a time. About this time
we thought we would cap the climax. We made two wooden axles that would fit our
wagon wheels, one short and one long one, coupled them together and made four
marks at a time, which was easy on the team and by this improvement, forty
acres could be marked off in a few hours. The ground being marked, two persons,
a driver and a dropper, a team of horses and the new corn planter, would plant
from ten to fifteen acres per day. The most common variety of corn planted
those days was the bloody butcher, although more or less white corn was grown.
A threshing machine had been introduced with a short straw
carrier attachment known as the Buffalo Pitts, which was quite an improvement
over the old chaff piler. In connection with the Buffalo Pitts thresher was
introduced a system of tallying the number of bushels of grain threshed. It
consisted mainly of a board attached to the side of the machine where the grain
came out. It had a number of one-fourth inch holes in it arranged in rows into
which pegs were moved for each bushel of grain threshed. The board would tally
up to one thousand bushels, when it became necessary to commence again at the
first.
_files/image006.png)
By this time Osceola had a railroad. The Leon merchants had
their goods shipped to Osceola and hired them hauled in wagons across the
country. Engaged in the hauling of goods was a MR. HUGHES, MR. GOINS, MR.
LINDSEY and others, all of whom were residents of Leon. MR. HUGHES was engaged
at a certain time in hauling shingles. One day while enroute for Leon with a
load of shingles his horses became frightened and ran away, scattering shingles
along the highway for some distance. MR. HUGHES received the name "shingle
sower".
Another step forward was taken and the two-horse cultivator
was being introduced to the farmers. We bargained for a Blackhawk walking
cultivator, with the firm of Richards & Close, whose ad appeared in the
Decatur County Journal of that time. The plow was delivered at our gate at the
old homestead by the MR. HUGHES referred to, while enroute to Leon. The plow I
believe cost $35 and was the first two-horse cultivator the writer ever saw and
pardon me for saying, it gives me pleasure still to look at the old cultivator,
the principal parts of which are in good condition, and with some repairs it is
still used by its purchaser in north Leon, to cultivate garden truck or
anything that needs cultivation.
Going back now to the days and nights in the little cabin
where things had been moving along quietly for some time with a new house maid
assisting with the indoor work; until one night the family was startled by an
unusual noise in the house, a light was struck and we discovered that the maid
of all work had taken her departure. A member of the family was dispatched to
search for the missing maiden, after a brief search she was found a few rods
from the house taking a ride on father's old shaving horse. She was escorted
back to the cabin and persuaded to retire again and on being told of her
conduct, the following morning, she was horror stricken. It was a bad case of
insomania (sic) and for a long time afterward the family was often startled in
the night by her queer actions.
In the early days of Decatur County, considerable hay and
grain was stolen. Movers and travelers going across the country would often
steal their horse feed and take rails from the fences and make fuel out of
them. One farmer, however, got even with a mover. He had missed some rails from
his fence and mounting a horse, went after him and overtaking him before he
reached Osceola, made him pay 50 cents each for the rails he had burned. The
farmers would often see them in the act. The writer on one occasion caught some
young well dressed fellows stealing hay. I asked what they did that for and
they asked me to set a price, which I did. They said that it wasn't any too
much and paid the price and drove on.
Good blooded horses were very scarce, but at the same time
there were a good many good, serviceable horses on the farms, among which were
the Canadian horses, as they were called, that were excellent all service
animals.
The first hogs were the well known hazel splitters or razor
backs that were allowed to rove the prairie at will, and you might imagine
yourself among the brush or in the tall prairie grass, with a salamander in
your hand searching for a hog to butcher or one that might have a family of
pigs to care for, it was not uncommon to fail in finding a young litter of
swine until they were several days old. As to cattle, they were just cattle and
a conglomeration of colors and kinds. They all had horns and most of them good
long ones. There were some excellent milchers (sic) and some expert kickers
among them.
Now, one more happening in the cabin on the old homestead
and we will bring these very incomplete sketches to a close. One very cold
winter day as the family were seated about the old fireplace, a muffled rap was
heard at the door, someone of the family went to the door, pulled the string
that lifted the wooden latch, the door swung on its hinges and there stood a
gentleman of perhaps thirty summers, who asked permission to come in and warm.
The privilege being instantly granted he was proffered a chair by the fire
which he soon occupied, and immediately began to slip off a pair of new boots,
which seemed rather tight for him, but after a few hard pulls he succeeded in
getting them off. It was not long, however, until he was warm and contemplated
resuming his journey. He seizes one of his boots, gives it several vigorous
pulls, but as his feet had swollen while sitting by the fire, he fails to make
the boot go on for the time being, but he soon mastered the situation; he
called for some soft soap, which was soon given him, after which he proceeded
to grease his heels thoroughly, the boots went on and although the gentleman
was from Missouri, he didn't have to be shown, and we learned another Yankee
trick.
J.N. MACHLAN.
Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert
September 7, 200l
MORE NEWTON MACHLAN ARTICLES:
Newton
Machlan wrote many articles, particularly where it concerned family:
Decatur
County Journal
March l,
l900
ROLLA ARNEY,
second son of J.S. ARNEY, weds an estimable young lady from Ft. Dodge whose
maiden name was ANNA CARROLL. Her girlhood days were passed in Ft. Dodge but
she has been employed at the Hotel Aborn, Des Moines, for some time. The groom
was reared in this county and is an excellent young man belonging to one of our
best families.
While
visiting at J.N. Machlan's, the happy couple were remembered by the groom's
chums who gave them a charavari of the old fashioned kind with horns, bells and
shotguns. The boys were invited in and treated liberally and the incident
closed with vocal and instrumental music.
The crowd demeaned themselves as gentlemen, and seemed to enjoy
themselves.
The future
home of the couple will probably be Valley Junction where MR. ARNEY will devote
his time to the business of a plasterer.
J.N.
MACHLAN.
_files/image008.png)
_files/image010.png)
_files/image012.png)
_files/image014.png)