Part 50 (2/2)

The first steamboat company, incorporated for $20,000.00, was organized in 1855, some of the incorporators being Alex. Ely, Dr. S. D.

Carpenter, the Greenes, and other business men of Cedar Rapids.

The first grist mill was built by N. B. Brown in 1843. Isaac Cook was the first lawyer locating in Cedar Rapids; John Shearer was the first justice of the peace, and James Lewis was the first constable. The first general store was opened by George and Joseph Greene in 1842.

Judge George Greene taught one of the first schools near Ivanhoe in 1839 and 1840. Alexander Ely, George Greene, and N. B. Brown, with others, erected the first school house in 1847 in Cedar Rapids, later selling it to the school district.

Joseph Greene was the first postmaster in Cedar Rapids and carried the mail in his plug hat and distributed the same as he happened to meet the people to whom the letters were addressed.

Dr. S. H. Tryon was the first physician in Linn county. Dr. E. L.

Mansfield was one of the first physicians locating in Cedar Rapids, in 1847. H. W. Gray was the first sheriff of Linn county, being appointed by Governor Lucas in 1838. The first county fair was held in October, 1855. The first hotel was built in 1847, called the Union House, James Dyer being landlord; this building was destroyed by fire in 1865.

In 1855 W. D. Watrous, W. W. Smith, and J. J. Snouffer built the steamer ”Blackhawk” for the purpose of navigating the Cedar river. It ran between Cedar Rapids and Waterloo for two years. It was later purchased by the government and used for a supply boat on the lower Mississippi. In the '40s and '50s Mississippi steamboats made regular trips to Cedar Rapids. The first railroad reached Cedar Rapids in 1859; it is now known as the Chicago & Northwestern.

The first fire company was organized in Cedar Rapids in 1869. In 1871 the Cedar Rapids Gas Light Company was organized. The first mayor of Cedar Rapids was Martin L. Barber.

The first steam mill in the county was built by J. P. Gla.s.s in 1845.

The first hand-raking reaper brought into Linn county was by William Ure, of Fairfax towns.h.i.+p, who hauled it from Chicago by oxen in the summer of 1847.

The first newspaper in Cedar Rapids was the _Progressive Era_, published in 1851 by D. O. Finch; the first newspaper in Marion was the _Prairie Star_, published by A. Hoyt in 1852; the first daily newspaper published in Linn county was called the _Morning Observer_, the first number being issued on September 1, 1870, and edited by Thomas G.

Newman and Z. Enos.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAIN STREET, SPRINGVILLE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: QUAKER MEETING HOUSE, WHITTIER]

[Ill.u.s.tration: WHITTIER]

N. B. Brown erected the first flour mill in 1844; the first woolen mill was erected in 1848. The first judge of probate in the county was Israel Mitch.e.l.l, appointed in 1838. He was also one of the justices.

The first bridge erected across the Cedar river in Cedar Rapids was in 1856 at what is now Seventh avenue. The oldest settler now living in the county is Robert Ellis, who arrived in 1838.

The first marriage in Linn county was that of Preston Scott and Miss Betsey Martin, which occurred in July, 1839.

The first white male born in Linn county was George Cone, who first saw light at Marion, April 12, 1839.

The first death in the county was that of Mr. Williams, who died January 15, 1839. He was buried in the Campbell cemetery near Bertram.

The inscription on his tombstone is yet visible.

The first mill was erected by John S. Oxley in 1842-43 on Big creek. It was later purchased by Jacob Mann.

The first citizen to become naturalized was Peter Garren who, during the October term of court, 1840, as a native of Scotland, renounced all allegiance to the queen of Great Britain.

James E. Bromwell, who came to Linn county in 1839, will always be remembered by the residents of Marion. He helped lay out the county seat. He made the first coffin for the first interment in its cemetery, a.s.sisted in the erection of the first residence in the town, as well as in the erection of the first store buildings, besides taking time enough to procure the second marriage license issued in the county for his marriage to Catherine Gray, on August 26, 1841.

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