Part 53 (2/2)
Michael Bryan erected a fine residence where the old N. B. Brown homestead is now located. At this house social affairs of the little town were conducted in true southern style, and fortunate was the person who was favored with an invitation to visit in the Bryan home.
Michael Bryan died here, and the widow with her family returned to South Carolina just preceding the Civil war. B. S. Bryan removed to the coast and is still living in Seattle.
Miss Legare organized a ladies' seminary, and was an artist of considerable talent. She was also an accomplished musician. It is said that she brought the first piano to the county. However, this claim has been disputed as it is said that the J. P. Gla.s.s family brought a musical instrument here in 1846.
In the '50s Miss Legare became the wife of Lowell Bullen, an uncle of the Daniels brothers, whose home was in North Brookfield, Ma.s.sachusetts. They resided at Marion until Mr. Bullen's death in 1869, when the widow returned to her old home in South Carolina, surviving her husband a number of years.
Nearly all the members of the southern society were members of the Presbyterian church, and took an active part in the religious and social work of that people. Mrs. Bullen was kind and considerate. Her dignified presence was enough to give her entrance into any home. She took an active interest in the poor, and was interested in education in general. She loved and revered the memory of her statesman brother, and never forgot what place he held at one time in the affairs of the nation. During the rebellion she felt that her heart would break as she thought of friends and relatives fighting on both sides in that terrible struggle for the preservation of the Union.
A letter received lately from Bryan & Bryan, attorneys of Charleston, South Carolina, throws some light on this subject:
”In reply to your letter of the 10th instant, we beg to say that H. S. and B. S. (Benjamin Simons) and Michael Bryan, of whom you speak, were the sons of Col. John Bryan, a planter of this section.
”He (Col. John Bryan) married a sister of Hugh Legare, the writer and statesman, and attorney general of the United States. These sons went to Cedar Rapids before 1860.
”Michael Bryan married Harriet Dwight, a sister of my mother, Rebecca Dwight.
”It happened strangely enough, that my father, George S.
Bryan, who married Rebecca Dwight, was no relation to Michael Bryan, who married Harriet Dwight. (In other words, the two Bryans being no relation, married two sisters.)
”Michael Bryan had several children, the survivors are Emily Bryan, married ---- Andrews, now living in Abbeville county, South Carolina, with a number of children, her husband being a planter; and William Bryan, whose residence is unknown to the writer.
”Michael Bryan's nephew, Edward Bryan, is also living on one of our Sea Islands, in the vicinity of Charleston, and is a planter. As far as we can ascertain, B. S. Bryan of whom you speak, was engaged in banking in Cedar Rapids, and Michael Bryan was engaged in real estate, having built up a portion of Cedar Rapids. He died in Cedar Rapids before 1860, and his family removed back to South Carolina. They were not Quakers, but Presbyterians, and attended the Circular church, Meeting street, in Charleston, S. C., which was a branch of the Presbyterian church.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: BAPTIST CHURCH, PRAIRIEBURG]
[Ill.u.s.tration: MILWAUKEE BRIDGE, AT COVINGTON]
In addition to the above mentioned, a large number of cultured and educated people came from Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Who does not remember the aristocratic and learned A. Sidney Belt, the robust, courtly old gentleman, Colonel S. W. Durham, the versatile and polite Judge Israel Mitch.e.l.l, the genial Oxley brothers, and scores of other southern men and women?
The members of the Legare, Bryan, McIntosh, Durham, Oxley, Belt, Mitch.e.l.l, and other southern families who located in Linn county did much in changing the manners of this somewhat cosmopolitan community.
These families pursued education. The members had traveled much. They were descended from some of the most cultured families in this country.
They were social, interesting, and entertained much, and it is needless to add that the citizens of the county were not slow in receiving the southern settlers into their homes. The presence of such an influence in the formative period of the county's history wielded an influence which has not been entirely effaced after a period of half a century.
Some time later came the Hart brothers, Jacob A. and Caspar J., and for years the influence of these st.u.r.dy men was a power for good in the city and the county. It will be many years before these splendid representatives of the southland will be forgotten. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob A. Hart was a most hospitable one. It was always open to the new settler from the south, and especially to those who came from Maryland, their old home. Their commodious brick dwelling that stood so long at the corner of Second street and Fifth avenue, was a center for long years of true and genuine hospitality. Its doors were never locked against a Marylander, and all these felt free to ”come early and stay late.” To many a young son of the south Mother Hart was ever the best of mothers, caring for the sick lads, satisfying their hunger with fried chicken and Maryland biscuits--oh, who that once was welcomed there will ever lose the memory of it! Mrs. Hart is yet a resident of this city, spending a ripe old age in dispensing the same well-remembered hospitality, going about doing the deeds of kindness.
Mrs. R. C. Rock, herself a pioneer of 1850, has vivid recollections of beginnings in Cedar Rapids. She knew the Bryans intimately, and also the Legares. She says they were people of culture. Mr. Stoney, the husband of Miss Bryan, was educated abroad, and came to Cedar Rapids in 1852 or 1853. These people were led to locate in the city through the influence of Judge Greene, whom they met in Was.h.i.+ngton. Mrs. Rock states that at this day it is impossible to estimate what Judge Greene meant to the young city. Through his influence people of means, culture, and learning were induced to come to the city and county. He traveled a great deal, and something good for Cedar Rapids always resulted.
J. J. Snouffer was another Marylander who came to Cedar Rapids in 1850, and for nearly a half century his was a powerful influence in the community. He was prominent in business and political affairs, and was ever a loyal citizen.
Dr. Robert Taylor, one of the prominent early physicians, came from Virginia in 1851. After remaining here a few years he removed to Philadelphia.
CHAPTER x.x.xIII
_Some Towns.h.i.+p History_
BERTRAM TOWNs.h.i.+P
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