| It is claimed Noah Webster built the first dwelling
house at Ames which was late in the fall of 1865. Dr. Phipps was the first
physician. L. Q. Hoggatt, L. Irwin and — Rainbolt built the first warehouse
for grain. J. Q. Leffingwell was the first blacksmith. As to the first
dwelling houses in or where Ames now is, I will name two; Rev. I. H. Rees
lived in a log house near Squaw Creek and in what now is southwest Ames,
some ten years before Ames was surveyed. Mr. Rees settled there about 1854.
The other house referred to was also a log house and built about 1856,
by George H. Crossly, (Major G. W. Crossley's father,) and stood near a
spring near the summit of the hill. The house stood nearly precisely where
Mr. Born's house wag afterwards built, and was on the summit above the
spring. This Crossly house was in section 2, township 83, range 24, and
was near the south line of said section and a few rods west of the southeast
corner of the section. This was built some eight years before Ames came
up. The Kintzley house was built near the same time and stood near where
Esq. J. H. Keigley now resides; perhaps a little west.
Ames was incorporated in 1869. Its first Mayor was Wm. West, a man who was well qualified for its first Mayor. W. D. Lucas was the second; Wm. Clark, third; C. E. Turner, fourth; Walter Evans, fifth; Wm. Clark, sixth; Geo. A. Underwood, seventh; E. R. Chamberlain, eighth; Geo. G. Tilden, ninth; Henry Wilson, Jr., tenth; Henry Wilson, Jr., eleventh; J. Watts, twelfth; John Watts, thirteenth; Parley Sheldon, fourteenth; M. C. Jones, fifteenth, the present one, January, 1887. The list of post-masters for Ames is as follows: Henry Kingsbury, 1865, was the first; second, L. Q. Hoggatt; third, Samuel L. Lucas; fourth, Mrs. Hattie Lucas; fifth, John Watts; sixth, Parley Sheldon, who is the present (1886) post-master for Ames. The new warehouse is about fifty-five or sixty feet south of the ticket office. I will here name an instance of female energy that occurred some twenty-two or twenty-three years ago, in Washington Township. Here it is: Mrs. C. O. Duff, living near where Ames was afterwards located, by an understanding between herself and the Railroad Company, bought 320 acres of land for the Company, some of which was used, (40 acres) for the town site of Ames, which was laid off in lots and blocks late in 1864. The Company or John I. Blair and others made some fruitless efforts to get some land for a station where Ontario now is. This was prior to Mrs. Duff's purchase at Ames. It is therefore presumed they desired to try the next purchase by an agent for the Railroad Company, supposing land could be had at much lower figures by some one not known as being interested in the company. Mrs. Duff was therefore selected as the agent, and she made the purchase. Some of the early history of this and of Ames will be found elsewhere. Mrs. Duff boarded the hands while they were building the depot in 1865. Had the first efforts of the company succeeded in getting the land where Ontario now is, the town would have been there. She was an active and untiring worker in trying to get up a church organization at Ames for the Congregationalists. The church was built as you will learn, and Mrs. Duff was the untiring worker. For the dedication of the church Mrs. Pierce, (mother of Mrs. J. A. Fitchpatrick,) composed the dedicatory hymn. So it is said. CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY
TIME CARD
GOING EAST No. 2 Marshalltown Passenger, except Monday 4:50 A. M.
GOING WEST No. 3 Pacific Express 1:45 A. M.
GOING SOUTH.
GOING NORTH.
No other trains will carry passengers. M. C. JONES, Agent. TWENTY CHANCES TO LEAVE EVERY TWENTY-FOUR HOURS It seems by the time card there are eighteen to twenty chances every twenty-four hours to get away from Ames by railroad. There is no other town in the county that has such facilities for getting away. Good for Ames! The College library is said to contain 5,540 books of various kinds. Page 385 HANNUM'S MILL (Miller's in earlier times,) situated on Skunk River, on the west half of the southwest quarter of section 23, township 84, range 24, was a water and steam power mill, and did a great deal of work as a flouring mill and corn grinding. The main mill was moved in the year 1882 to Odebolt, Iowa. What was left of it is not of much value compared with what it had been. It also did considerable sawing as there was fair timber near by. SOPER'S MILL Situated on Skunk River near the north quarter section corner of section 7, township 84, range 23, was built about 1862 by Thomas Hughes, and it did considerable business for a time in sawing. When first built it was a water power saw mill; and was for a time, when first built, called "Hughes' mill." This mill was first built about 1862, and it was re-modeled, or re-built, in 1871, by Mr. Soper. It is doing but little or nothing at this time. The dam is mostly gone, and seems to be neglected. This mill after being re-modeled did good work in making an excellent quality of flour for a considerable time, but it is now doing nothing. |