CHAPTER XXXIV

INCORPORATION OF MANCHESTER

Ten years after the first business building was put up in Manchester, or to be explicit, in 1865, the town had grown and prospered to an extent almost equal to the anticipations of its founders. At that time the population was 825 and the following enterprises and establishments were existent:

Dry goods, groceries, etc., Loomis & Cornish, Robert Rule, John Tierney, H. Hutchinson, Cattron & Wheeler, H. M. Congar & Company, Paxson, Thompson & Seeds; harness shops, W. H. Board & Company, M. A. Newcomb; boots and shoes, B. H. Keller, Seth Brown; hardware and stoves, I. U. Butler, Adams & Freelove; drugs, Charles Burnside, M. Cotton; jewelry, D. R. Lewis, Dodson & Wells; agricultural implements, N. Ruggles; groceries and liquors, Clinton & McCarty, S. Davidson, W. C. White; meat market, George Brownell; millinery and dressmaking, the Misses Davis, Mrs. R. H. Cotton, Miss Lizzie White; blacksmiths, Edson Merrill, James Brown, Harrison L. Bates, W. E. Foster; wheelwrights, G. A. Chapman, H. Walton; saloon, M. Plimpton; produce, L. A. Loomis; tailor, Louis Haubuenestel; ambrotype artist, E. P. Libby; chair factory, G. R. Hartwell; livery stable, Morgan & Daggett; select school, S. L. Doggett; hotel, Clarence House, by Toogood & Bethell; coopers, S. W. Green; wagon shops, Smart & Doolittle, Enos Hamblin; painter, J. E. Harker; fanning mill manufactory, Tush & Brownell; grain elevators, I. P. Adams, A. R. Loomis, Paxson, Tomlinson & Company; lumberyard, I. P. Adams; railroad eating house, John Schelling; press, Delaware County Union, by Edward Burnside; doctors, J. W. Robbins, L. B. Ross; lawyer, A. S. Blair.

Simeon L. Doggett was commissioned in November, 1865, to draft a petition to the County Court, praying that the Village of Manchester be incorporated as a town. The territory to be included in the new organization and names of the petitioners are included in the document, which makes it peculiarly interesting and valuable to a work of this character. For that reason the petition is hereto attached, that it may be preserved for the benefit of coming generations: State of Iowa, Delaware County.-Petition.

To the County Court of Delaware County:

We, the undersigned petitioners, do hereby petition the court aforesaid, that we be organized into an incorporated town; that the village known as Manchester, with all the additions thereto, consisting of all the tract of land as recorded in the plat called Manchester (except those lots now recorded as vacated), and of all the tract of land as recorded on the plat, called Burrington's Addition to Manchester; also, the Iowa Land Company's Addition to Manchester; also, the Iowa Land Company's Subdivision of part of the Village of Manchester; also, the Railroad Addition to Manchester; also, Amsden's Addition to Manchester, and of all the tract of land before this date laid off into town lots

and recorded, of any size, on any side of Manchester, and as far north, south, east or west as said lots so added to Manchester may extend, not including any lots now recorded as vacated, be organized into an incorporated town. The territory proposed to be embraced in such incorporated town, being the same as that delineated into lots and streets and shown forth on the map or plat to this petition annexed, being located mostly on the north part of section 32, and the south part of section 29, in Delaware Township of Delaware County, Iowa, having for a boundary line, commencing in the middle of Prospect Street at the corner of Lot No. 17, in Burrington's Addition to the Village of Manchester. according to said map and the recorded plat of said addition; said lot being the lot now occupied by C. H. Carpenter and cornering on Franklin Street (that is the West Union Road) and said Prospect Street; said line commencing with said Prospect Street at said Franklin Street and running east along the middle of said Prospect Street to Buchanan Street; thence south along the east verge of Buchanan Street; thence east along the north line of North Street in the Iowa Land Company's Addition to said Manchester, according to the annexed map and the recorded plat of said last mentioned addition; thence west along the middle line of the Earlville Road; thence south along the east boundary of Lots No. 171, 172, 222, 223, fronting on Reynolds Street of said village; thence west along said Lot 223 (its south edge); thence south along a part of Wayne Street in the said Amsden's Addition to the south line of the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad; thence west along said railroad Lot 253 on the Delhi Road just south of said railroad to the Maquoketa River, and in a southern direction along the east bank of said river to a point opposite the southeast corner of Lot No. 781, in said village, and across the river from said point to the corner mentioned last; thence west along the south edge of said lot and the contiguous Lot 782, to Lot No. 939 in said village; thence south along the last mentioned lot to its southeast corner; thence west to the west edge of Fifth Street of said village; thence north to the southeast corner of Lot No. 940 of said village; thence west along the south lines of said lot and of said railroad, to Twelfth Street of said village; thence north along Twelfth Street to the Burrington and Coffin's Grove Road, and east along said road to Ninth Street of said village (including Lots Nos. 482 and 505, cornering on said street and road in Manchester); thence along said Ninth Street, Howard Street of said village; thence along said Howard Street to Lot No. 356 in said village: thence along the back lines of said lot and the adjoining Lots Nos. 357, 358, 359, 335, 334, 333 to the southwest corner of said Railroad Addition; thence along the west boundary of said Railroad Addition to the north line of the same; thence along the said north line or boundary; thence south along the east of said Railroad Addition to a point opposite to the northwest corner of Lot No. 32 in said Burrington's Addition; thence across from said point to said corner and along said Lot No. 32 to the middle of said West Union Road; thence along the middle of said road south to said Prospect Street, the place of beginning of this boundary, including all the territory within the boundary line herein set forth, and as shown on said map. And your petitioners, the undersigned, declare the said map annexed to this petition is an accurate map of the said territory proposed to be embraced in such incorporated town. And we here state the name proposed for said incorporated town shall be Manchester.

and we also name as persons authorized to act in behalf of your petitioners in prosecuting said petition, B. H. Keller, H. M. Congar, Edson Merrill, I. P. Adams, Pardon Wells, I. U. Butler and S. W. Green. Your petitioners further state that they are qualified voters, residents of the territory to be embraced in the proposed incorporated town; that this petition in writing is signed by not less than thirty of said voters; that there are more than fifty qualified voters who actually reside within the described limits, in this petition, and that this petition has been signed by a majority of the voters within said limits; that said limits have been accurately described, and an accurate plat or map thereof made and filed; that the name proposed for said town is proper and sufficient to distinguish it from others in the state. And so your petitioners pray that this, their said petition, be granted and so will ever pray until this, their petition, is granted.

Manchester, Delaware County, State of Iowa, November 11, A. D. 1865.

(Signed) B. H. Keller, S. L. Doggett, Edson Merrill, W. G. Kenyon, W. E. Brown, F. W. Dunham, P. R. Walton, James Brown, Charles Burnside, K. G. Glover, George R. Hartwell, George Gilbert, I. U. Butler, J. A. Osborne, J. W. Myers, F. A. Lowell, Tunis Mosier, J. M. Burnett, Robert Rules, J. W. Kelsey, John Otis, Vernon Burrington, H. J. Brown, E. R. Congar, J. F. Merry, Willis E. Foster, C. G. Tyler, E. Hamblin, Edward Burnside, Lyman L. Ayers, L. S. Sherwin, S. M. Smart, John Crowther, O. A. Bishop, J. C. Aldrich, W. W. Hollenbeck, William N. Boynton, S. W. Green, W. C. Cawley, John Moody, Ray B. Griffin, R. R. Walsh, John Touslee, D. R. Lewis, T. J. Safford, William Tate, S. W. Stevens, E. H. Barnes, Eli Miner, Orange Harris, L. A. Roe, A. Rudolph, J. B. Freelove, A. M. Freelove, W. T. Adams, B. F. Skinner, J. W. Hastings, Seth Brown, Henry H. Hills, R. W. Tirrill, M. S. Stevens, T. Adams, A. J. Brownell, A. M. Sherwood, N. L. Whitney, E. D. Phillips, A. L. Brownell, Hiram Babcock, W. A. Morse, L. H. Abbey, V. Childs, W. Richmond, S. C. Bowen, A. T. Loring, W. S. Doolittle, William Bremner, J. W. Robbins, A. K. Johnson, J. C. Hadley, C. W. Lyman, Pardon Wells, Oliver Cronk, J. E. Brady, M. Cotton, N. Ruggles, G. Yeoman, E. Tush, J. C. Skinner, N. C. Skinner, F. A. Walton, L. Haubuenestel, William L. Stevens, Joseph Coats, E. P. Libby, Frederick Schelling, George Sheldon, William V. Cattron, C. M. Bronson, George Brownell, Elijah Cheney, George W. Ingram, Silas Estey, T. Schelling, Ira P. Adams, William Cattron, H. M. Congar.

February 5, 1866, the prayer of the petitioners was granted by J. B. Boggs, county judge, and February 8th the town plat was filed for record.

The election for municipal officers was held May 29, 1866, and the choice of the electorate follows: Mayor, A. R. Loomis; recorder. W. H. Board; trustees, C. II. Carpenter, Nixson Denton, Charles Paxson, Joel Bailey, John U. Schelling. On the 11th day of June the board of trustees met and organized and. among the first transactions was the appointment of W. H. Board as treasurer. His stipend was fixed at 2 per cent of all moneys received and expended by him. On June 11th the office of marshal was created and on the 30th Anson Sheldon was appointed. Ordinance No. 1, passed, which prohibited racing or driving any horse, mule or team immoderately on any street or alley; the unnecessary discharge of any firearms within the town limits; indecent or immoderate exposure of the person in any street or other public place, or in the pond or river;

gambling or disorderly conduct in any public house, and the indecent exhibition of any stallion or jack within the limits of the town. In the parliamentary parlance of this day and generation this early effort of the city fathers at legislation would be "dubbed" a blanket bill. But they knew what they wanted, even if the expression of their desires resulted in a conglomerate, and long

sentence.

THE CITY HALL

On the 22d day of January, 1873, council passed an ordinance for building the city hall, in accordance with the following preamble:

Whereas, N. Denton, A. R. Loomis and L. A. Loomis did, on the 25th day of July, 1873, submit a proposition in writing to the Town Council proposing to build immediately three contiguous stores on Lots No. 146 and 197, in Manchester, Iowa, such stores to be two stories high and the three to be 66 by 70, and offering to give the town the right to build a public hall thereon, which shall be under the exclusive control of the town during the life of the building; the town to have the right in common of the use of a stairway six feet wide, of ingress and egress, at all times, from Franklin Street into and out of the hall; the walls of said building to be sufficiently thick and strong to justify the erection of such a hall; and N. Denton agreeing to bind himself that no building shall be erected on the south side of said hall within twenty feet, so as to interfere with or obstruct the windows on the south side of said hall; which proposition was, by a majority vote of the council, accepted; and

Whereas, Said A. R. Loomis and N. Denton did, on said 22d day of July, 1873, submit to the council a proposition in writing offering to enter into a contract with the Town of Manchester to furnish all the material and erect a hall on the site proposed, viz.: The second story of the three stores to be erected on Lots 146 and 197, aforesaid; said hall to be 66 feet wide by 70 feet deep on the outside, 20 feet high between floor and ceiling, lighted with ten windows, tin roof, which shall be self-supporting; no columns to be used, or any obstruction to obstruct the hall; the plan and elevation to be submitted to and approved by the council before signing the contract, for the sum of $6,000, payable when said hall is completed, in town bonds due ten years after the completion of said hall, with 10 per cent interest, payable semi-annually; and

Whereas, Said council did, on said 22d day of July, 1873, by a majority, pass the following resolutuion, to-wit:

Resolved, That the plan and specification for the Town Hall furnished by Herr & Kescher be approved and adopted, subject to such alterations as may be deemed expedient before entering into a contract for erecting the same, and that the mayor be authorized to accept the proposition of A. R. Loomis and N. Denton to construct the said hall for $6.000, payable in ten year bonds drawing interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum, interest payable semi-annually, provided he cannot do better within twenty days; and

Whereas, Said mayor was unable to let said contract on better terms than those proposed by said Loomis and Denton within the time above specified, and did, on the 14th day of August, 1873, let the same to said Loomis and Denton on the terms aforesaid; and

Whereas, On the 7th day of November, 1873, the following changes in the specifications attached to said contract were authorized by a vote of the council, to-wit: "The roof of said hall to be ceiled instead of plastered, and the corners of the ceiling to be arched;" and

Whereas, On the 22d day of January, 1874, the time for the completion of said hall was extended to the 1st day of June, 1874.

Bonds of the denomination of $500 and to the extent of $5,000 were issued by the city, bearing 10 per cent and payable in ten years. An additional $1,000 was provided for, the same to be paid upon completion of the building. Work was commenced on the utility in the summer of 1873 and the structure was com pleted in May of the following year. The city added the third story to the building and arranged it for public meetings of various descriptions. But the principal object of the construction of the third story was to furnish a place for the District Court, it having been stipulated and agreed upon the part of the city and certain of her citizens, that in the event the county seat should be removed to Manchester the city would furnish to the county a suitable place for the sittings of the District Court. Rooms on the second floor not suiting the purposes of the county in this instance, the hall was constructed and the District. Court installed therein until the courthouse was built in 1894 and ready for occupancy in the early part of 1895.

THE CITY BUILDING

On the 14th day of August, 1885, arrangements were perfected and contracts signed for the erection of a new city building, the work on which was immediately commenced. This is a three-story brick structure, of imposing appearance, and stands on the north side of Main Street, between Tama and Madison streets. Its ground dimensions are 40 by 60 feet. On the ground floor is one great room, with an entrance on each side of a wide stairway, in which is installed the city's fire apparatus. Back of this are the city clerk's offices. On the second floor are the council chamber, firemen's hall and office rooms, and the third story, built by the Odd Fellows, is occupied by the various bodies of that fraternity. This is really the city hall and is one of the best buildings of its character in this part of the state.

TIRRILL PARK

Some years ago, R. W. Tirrill laid out a tract of land, containing about fifteen acres, into a park, and gave it to the City of Manchester. This property was the gradual accumulation of several pieces, which Mr. Tirrill secured from time to time, with the object in view of making it a gift to the people of Manchester, for a pleasure spot and one of the show places of the city. Securing a landscape gardener, the grounds were laid out with a view of building paths, drives, pagodas, fountains and the like. In the design a drive, to be named Tirrill Boulevard, is provided for on the north, and on the south is Union Avenue, along which Mr. Tirrill constructed a cement walk. At the main entrance, past which the Manchester & Oneida Railroad runs, is a pretty little open structure, erected by the donor at a cost of $600. This is used as a rest