CHAPTER XVIII.

If we drive out west from Oskaloosa on the Pella road, almost immediately on quitting the town, we will begin to enter what is known as the Prine neighborhood, and as we drive on we can see here and there and yonder fine houses, great barns, big pastures wherein are herds of big fat cattle. Many of these fine places which show such evidences of thrift belong to one or another of the Prines. The old set of Prines, Henry, Dan and Kin Prine, came in an early day when land was cheap. They bought large tracts of that beautiful rolling prairie, whereon was only the wild prairie grass and flowers. They broke the sod, fenced their broad acres, and in the
course of time planted immense orchards, builded fine houses and barns, and now their, children and grandchildren are living and flourishing all about them.

Beautiful and commodious houses and well kept lawns, bright with flowers and, surrounded with maples and elms adorn the place where once was A. G. Phillips double log house, big barn, log stables, and long row of corn-pens. The house was on the south side of the lane and opposite was a great gate with immense posts painted red. Above these posts a sign was erected, high enough for any wagon to pass under, wherein was painted in letters large enough to be seen a long way off the words "Wagon Yard;" which meant a place where people, traveling in wagons could find a stopping place and could procure, not only provender for their teams, but shelter and food for themselves. If they chose they could find plenty of room to camp and boil their coffee on a fire made on the ground. People with various purposes in traveling and of various degrees of intelligence and culture often made Mr. Phillips house a stopping place. I remember one gentleman in particular who was traveling in a two-horse wagon loaded with tobacco, which he was wholesaling to merchants or storekeepers in the little towns which were springing up through the country. This gentlemans name was Henderson and was from Illinois. Mr. Henderson seemed to be about fifty years old, was rather heavy set, strong looking and had a fine head and face. His first appearance at my father-in-laws was on a Saturday, and he remained over Sunday. It didnt take long for us to discover that he was no ordinary man. My father-in-law soon engaged him in conversation, and the rest of us listened and stared. They talked on politics, they talked of the church, they talked about the Mexican war and its probable consequences, they talked about the half-breed tract and the legal intricasies attending it. Mr. Henderson made several trips through here and always managed to come on Saturday and stay over Sunday. One Sunday in the summer of '47, when my husband and I were living in our little log house, down on that beautiful ridge, my father-in-law brought Mr. Henderson to our house and I prepared dinner for them. I felt that I was entertaining a very brilliant man, or that a very brilliant man was
entertaining me, for while I fried the chicken and prepared the best of everything else I could muster up for dinner, I was listening to the wise and brilliant things that man was saying with the greatest interest. I dont think he took much notice of me, for I felt myself too ignorant to take any part in the conversation. If he directed a remark to me I could only say "yes sir" or "no sir," and simper and turn red in the face. But, I could listen, and did listen, which I think now was better than to have tried to carryon a conversation with a man who possessed such a vast, amount of knowledge, and was so capable of instructing those who were willing to listen. Mr. Henderson, we learned, had been a noted political speaker in Illinois, had been a candidate on the Whig ticket for lieutenant-governor, but was defeated. In one of Mr. Hendersons trips through Iowa he stopped in Iowa City.

The legislature was, in session, and one of its members who happened to know something about Mr. Hendersons ability as a speaker, invited him to visit the body, introduced him to some of the members and hinted that he was able to interest ail audience and so forth, whereupon he was invited to give a talk, which he did, , and it was said not only interested, but electrified the whole house. After it was over, Asberry Porter slapped Micajah Williams on the shoulder and exclaimed, "Cage! Did you ever see such a common looking old codger that could say so many smart things?" Mr. Henderson was dressed in a suit of home-made jeans, but did not apologize for his plain dress nor his seemingly humble occupation.

In the summer of 1847 the people in and around Oskaloosa were thrown into a state of excitement and expectation, on hearing that a large colony of Hollanders were coming through here and were going to settle and build a town on the divide about eighteen miles northwest of Oskaloosa. We were told that these people were a very pious set of protestant Christians who had left their native country on account of religious persecution. We knew very little of Holland and Hollanders. I mean the people generally. A few of us had learned from our geographies that Holland was a country of canals and much of its land had been reclaimed from the sea, and every foot was utilized and cultivated until Holland was one vast garden and net work of water-ways, outside of its towns and cities. We had some vague recollections of having heard or read of Holland being a place of refuge for those who were persecuted for their religious belief. It seemed a little strange that Holland people should be seeking refuge among us for the same, cause. Not many of us had ever seen a Hollander, and when they came along the road in various kinds of wagons drawn by various kinds of teams, we gazed in wonder at their quaint and unfamiliar appearance. Their dress was strange to us. Women were perched upon high piles of queer looking chests and boxes and trunks, many of them wearing caps, but no bonnets. Some of, the men, and women too, wore wooden shoes; which was entirely new to us. We were prepared to think well of this people, for we had heard only good of their character. We had been told that they were an honest, moral, industrious, God-fearing people, and from that time to the present have never heard it disputed. Many of them stopped at my father-in-laws place to purchase provender for their teams. Some took meals with us, some camped out in the lane or barnyard. But whether they had their meals in the house, or by a camp fire, or simply took a lunch in their hands and sat on the wagon tougue to eat it, not one of them failed to bow their heads and give thanks.

In the winter following there was much passing up and down the road in quest of supplies for the colony. They would come in to warm, take off their wooden shoe,s, by the fire, throw a shovel full of coals and hot ashes in each shoe, shake them around, throw the fire out, slap on their shoes again light their pipes and be ready for another spell of battling with cold. All these Hollanders had money, some had a good deal, and they all seemed to know the best way to invest it. That colony was an organized body. Mr. H. P. Scholte was their president. He was a fine looking man, and looked like a leader of men. He was not, only their leader in temporal affairs but was their minister. People used to speak of Mr. Scholte as the Hollanders "Prophet, Priest, and King." Soon after the founding of the town of Pella, Mr. Scholte built and occupied near the center what in that day was thought to be a very fine house, and back of it laid out a garden, covering many acres. Fruit trees, ornamental trees and flowering shrubs were tastefully arranged by a landscape gardner. Wide walks and narrow paths traversed it throughout. The useful was intermingled with the ornamental. Evenly planted and carefully tended squares of cabbage and rows of peas, were ornamented with boarders of flowers. A place like that would be called a park in these days. The fame of "Scholtes garden" spread far and near, and persons for miles around would drive to Pella on purpose to see it.

Some of the Holland families who came to Pella in the beginning were wealthy, educated and cultivated, among whom were Mr. and Mrs. Bosquet and their boys, Peter and Henry. Those boys as I recollect them forty six years ago were perfect models of good breeding. Their mother was a handsome and a lovely lady. I have been told by one who knows, that every-member of that colony brought with them from their native home, a certificate of good character. It wasnt long before their superior farming and gardening began to be noticed and talked about, and many slovenly farmers were induced to make more out of their rich lands through the example of those frugal and thrifty Hollanders. They were not only industrious and prosperous but, were hospitable. I used to hear it said that in every Hollanders house the coffee pot was always on the fire and every stranger or neighbor who entered was offered a cup of hot coffee and some kind of cakes, no matter what time of day it was. Those people made the journey from their native land to the land of their adoption through great tribnlation. Many died at sea, and with aching hearts they witnessed the burying of precious ones in the deep" deep sea. But they were a people of faith, the kind of faith which gave courage to endure almost all things. We used to wonder at the pluck; the endurance and the patience of those people. I think every observing person who has watched their progress and methods from that first colonys arrival to the present time will say the Hollanders havebeen no detriment to this country. Every man of them took the oath of allegiance to the United States soon after they came. Many of them enlisted in the army and fought bravely in the war of the rebellion. They learned long ago how to manage the rich Iowa soil and their magnificent farms with commodious buildings reach out miles and miles in every direction from Pella. They were quick to learn the language and ways of Americans, have engaged in many kinds of business and been successful, have been elected to and faithfully filled offices of trust. I have one now in my mind, Mr. Stephen DeCook, who has served several terms as county commissioner, with credit to himself and to his constituents. Mr. DeCook carries in his right arm the effects and scars of a rebel bullet. He is one of Mahaska's successful farmers, is an all around manly man-fine looking rather tall with broad shoulders: An honest face. Mr. DeCook is a Christian gentleman and a man of peace, is always on the right side of every moral or political question. He is not given to controversy, but if attacked is fully able to give a reason for the faith withins him. He has a nice family and provides well for his own household, but is not forgetful in entertaining strangers, He couldn't very well do any other way for the blood of the Huguenot runs in his veins, his ancestors having taken refuge in the Netherlands from persecution in France.

Even among those Pilgrims who had fled from religious persecution in Holland and were professed lovers, of Democracy, there were degrees in the social scale. The wealthy and educated arid more refined were exclusive. They brought their ideas of social position with them. The social line between master and servant, or employer and employed, was much more marked than with Americans of this new western country. A young lady who belonged to a family of "upper ten" Hollanders once said to me: "I never worked in Holland for it was considered disgraceful there for a lady to work, but in America I find it is thought to be disgraceful for a lady not to work."

Late in the forties and early in the fifties, to Oskaloosa's inhabitants were added many worthy and interesting people. In the autumn of 1847, Smith & Cameron having sold out their store, a young man by the name of John Rhodes, from Virginia, came and opened out a store in the room formerly occupied by them at the southeast corner of the public square on the ground where Will Neagles store is now. Mr. Rhodes kept a store of general merchandise. In addition to the things usually kept in a store at that time, he created a little sensation by displaying a small stock of ready made clothing for men. That being the first time such goods had been offered for sale in Oskaloosa. Mr. Rhodes had tact in displaying his goods and drawing customers. He was a tall, fine looking man, was genial and full of good humor-was polite and kind to everybody. He soon made friends of all the young men about town, and they would congregate in his store of evenings and he would,
entertain them with plantation songs, play on the banjo and make things interesting generally. I dont think Oskaloosa citizens had ever heard "Uncle Ned," "Susanna," "Nellie Bly" nor "I'm Just from Old Virginia" until Mr. Rhodes introduced those choice bits of song and melody. But not long after boys could be heard on the streets whistling and singing snatches of Mr. Rhodes songs.

In those days ladies did their shopping in the day time; they never ventured in a store at night unless the case was a very urgent one. But men would congregate in the stores on winter evenings especially, gather around the stove and have a social time. Mr. Rhodes store was made especially attractive for such gatherings. I never heard of anything more harmful being done in those meetings, than playing on the banjo, singing negro songs and telling funny stories.

In, a year or two Mr. Rhodes went back to Virginia, married the girl he was engaged to before he came, brought her to Oskaloosa, but before long they left here Mr. Rhodes was doing a good business but I have heard that Mrs. Rhodes was not content to live in a small place like Oskaloosa.

To us who had trodden down the wild, prairie grass in the public square and streets of Oskaloosa, and seen it grow from a dozen of the smallest and crudest log cabins to a town of eight or ten hundred people in three or four years. It seemed like a town of some consequence and we were proud of it, and jealous of its reputation. We had very little sympathy with anybody who made disparaging remarks about our town, or didnt think it a good enough place for anybody to live. 

A number of substantial and intelligent people came and located in and about Oskaloosa along about the time I am telling of from '47 to '52. Among others was D. W. Loring. He came here when a young man, engaged in mercantile business, was a steady, unpretending, intelligent young man. There was no foolishness about
him. He attended strictly to business and from the first was prosperous. I have known Mr. Loring for nearly half a century, and in all these years have never known
or heard of his doing a dishonorable act.

After Mr. Loring had been in, business here two or three years he went back to his old home in Ohio and was married to Miss Mary Sollie, and straightway brought her to Oskaloosa. Mrs. Loring was strikingly handsome. Her form was graceful and willowy, her eyes were brown and sparkling, and an abundance of the most beautiful golden-brown hair adorned her shapely head. She was dignified without being haughty. Her tastes were all refined, her manners gracious. Mrs. Loring was an educated, well-informed, lovely Christian lady. Mr. Loring perhaps had what was called "a good start in a new country;" but he and his young wife went to housekeeping in a small house, with not more than three or four rooms, but before many years they were established in a substantial and commodious residence furnished with comfort and luxuries, among which is one of the largest and most select private libraries in Oskaloosa, and that is saying a good deal, for there are many fine private librarles in Oskaloosa.

Mr. Loring has now retired from active business, but for more than forty years was one of Oskaloosa's leading merchants, having the confidence of all classes, especially Mahaska county's substantial farmers. When one went to his store, he could always be found at his desk - I never heard of his being in financial trouble. Many young men have learned good business. habits by working in Mr. Loring's store. Although Mr. Loring has always had the reputation of being an honest, straightforward, level-headed business man, it was not at the expense of the culture of his own mind nor of the minds of his family. When the business of the day was over, he walked straight to his home, where, surrounded by his interesting family, he enjoyed "a feast of reason and flow of soul." Mr. Loring supplied his family, with valuable books and, high class literature. They all read and were well informed. When they surrounded their beautiful and daintily spread table, they made it a rule, or naturally, fell into the habit of discussing questions of scientific, religious, historic, or literary interest, which rendered their meals a double feast. A talented gentleman, who was also a minister once remarked to me that Mrs. Loring was an exceedingly well informed lady, especially in the Holy scriptures. Although Mr. Loring has made what is called a success in life, he has enjoyed the confidence and respect of the whole community where he has lived so many years. He has had to drink of the "cup of sorrow." Has seen the wife of his youth fade away and go out of his home forever, and not long after all that was mortal of his gifted and gentle daughter Mary was laid beside her mother. One solace is left to him in his declining years, his son Frank, his only living child. Frank Loring is a young busi-
ness man of unblemished reputation. The home, with its beautiful grounds, which Mr. Loring has owned, and occupied for so many years, was once the home of Mr. A. F. Seeberger, who came to Oskaloosa in the fifties and engaged in the hardware business on the north side of the square where Huber & Kalbachs store is to-day. A more highly respected business man nor a more polished gentleman ever graced the town of Oskaloosa than Mr. Seeberger. He remained here a few years, then went to Chicago where, he still resides and is one of the prominent citizens of that wonderful city. He is the Mr. Seeberger who was treasurer of the Worlds Columbian Exposition in 1893.

In 1846 an elderly couple came to Oskaloosa and purchased several pieces of property. They were Mr. and Mrs. Willard Cobb. They bought and occupied the house on Lots 7 and 8 in Block 29, o. p., Oskaloosa. Mr. Jolly, a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, built that house and sold it to Mr. Cobb. Mr. Jolly and family went across the plains to Oregon in 1847 with ox teams. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb's children were all married when they came to Oskaloosa except two daughters, Paulina and Emma Cobb, who were young ladies then. Paulina Cobb married Wm. B. Street whom I have mentioned before as one of Oskaloosas first merchants. Their only child, Miss Ida Street, is a graduate of O. H. S. and also of Vassar College. Ida Street is a gifted and charming young woman whom Oskaloosa is proud to claim as one of her daughters. Mrs. L. L. Hull, who is mistress of one of the most beautiful homes on East High Avenue, is also a grand-daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Willard Cobb.
Mr. Wm. Dart, a son-in-law of Willard Cobb, also came to Oskaloosa in 1846 and bought the "Oskaloosa House" of (I think) Orson Kinsman. Mr. and Mrs. Dart kept it a little while, then sold it to John N. Kinsman, who in 1851 sold it to A. G. Phillips; who in the Spring of 1852 sold it to his son, T.G. Phillips. In 1853 T. G. Phillips sold it to Samuel McMurray and John Prest. Mr. Willard Cobb bought Lot 1, Block 31, o. p., in 1846; a cabin was standing thereon and the Cobbs lived in that cabin a little while in the Summer of 46, until the Jolly family could vacate the better house. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb are buried in White's cemetery, usually called the "Old Cemetery.

The California gold fever had not subsided, when in 1852 A. G. Phillips went across the plains by ox team to California. Before starting he sold the undivided two thirds of the south forty feet of Lot 8, Block 20, o. p., Oskaloosa, to his son, T. G. Phillips, and the undivided one-third of the same he deeded to his wife, Martha Phillips. Mr. A. G. Phillips never returned from California, but died and was buried there. The reason I am so minute in my story of those, people and places is this:
Many of Oskaloosans young real estate men when getting up abstracts of title come to me for information about the people who lived here long ago and the property they owned.

Mr. Daniel Ogilvie was the first man to open out a store exclusively of ready-made clothing. He occupied the house at first- on the west side of the public square formerly occupied by Wm. R Street; but immediately preceding Mr. Ogilvies occupancy a Mr. James Quinn had a stock of books and stationery in that room. Mr. Quinn and his wife were charming people, but the business was not satisfactory so he went back to Muscatine. Mr. Ogilvie and family came in 1853, bought the house at the northwest corner of A Avenue and Third Street, which was one of the finest locations and pleasantest houses in Oskaloosa at that time. They improved and added to their house until it was commodious and very comfortable. Mrs. Ogilvie and her sisters, Misses Mary and Maggie Young, had a way of making everything about them pretty and attractive. They were not only charming housekeepers, but were hospitable, generous, and charming in their manners. Everybody liked to go to Ogilvies, and their friends were legion. They entertained bountifully, and with a grace which made their guests feel at ease. They never said anything flat or insipid, and their wit and repartee kept one interested and amused from first to last. Lizzie Ogilvie, who was a baby when her parents came to Oskaloosa, grew to be a bright and popular young lady, inheriting the taste and skill in making things pretty and attractive which were so marked in her mother and aunts. One day Mrs. Ogilvie took me to Lizzies room just to show it to me. I just stood and gazed arid admired the order and beauty which was everywhere. All those beautiful pieces of embroidery and that perfect neatness were the work of Lizzies hands. I thought I had never seen a room quite so pretty. For many years Mr. Ogilvie was a prominent and successful business man, having a large store on the north side of the square; but some 24 or 25 years ago he moved to Denver, Colorado, where he died soon after settling there. The Ogilvies didnt have to begin in a log cabin and rough it like the rest of us, who first settled in Oskaloosa, but were well-to-do when they came. Their house was nicely furnished, their table was bountifully supplied with all the good things the town and county afforded, and their meals were served on snowy linen and exquisite china, such as few in those days could afford. Mrs. Ogilvie and her sisters were self-respecting and unaffected in manner - had none of what is termed "company manners." They were generous, benevolent and helpful. 

Mrs. Ogilvie resides in Denver, near her daughter Lizzie, whose husband, Mr. Croft, is a prominent railroad man. I hear her spoken of as a model wife and mother. What used to be Miss Mary Young is now the wife of Judge Mann, a prominent citizen of Golden, Colorado, where she presides in a home made beautiful by her taste, and skill. Maggie, Mrs. Babcock, lives in Pueblo, Colorado, and has been a widow many years.

Ever and anon those charming ladies visit Oskaloosa, their old home, where they are welcomed by hosts of old time friends. Mr. Milton Young, a brother of Mrs. Ogilvie's, came to Mahaska county when a young man and by industry and honest dealing has accumulated a competence. He is now a citizen of Oskaloosa, where he and his excellent wife and children own and occupy one of Oskaloosas fine homes. Mr. Young came in the fifties and through all these years has been an honorable citizen of unblemished reputation.

Andrew Young, another brother, was the first of that family to locate in Oskaloosa. He was a young man of honor and business ability. When the war of the rebellion broke out Andrew Young was one of the first of Oskaloosa's splendid young men to enlist in the army, and one of the first of Oskaloosa,s splendid young men to sacrifice his life in defense of his country. Andrew Young fell at the battle of Belmont.

Between 1844 and 1856 the old tavern built by Charles Purvine on lot 5, block 19, O. P.; Oskaloosa, had many owners, many proprietors and many names. Some times it was not kept as a tavern at all, but was rented to various families as a dwelling. I can think of several families who have occupied that historic old house, not as tavern keepers: among them Leper Smith, George ?oland, Johnson Edgar and Christian Houtz, and others. Sometimes two or three families would occupy it at the same time. That was along in 1846 and 1847 when people were coming in so fast they were glad to find any place to shelter them. In 1848 the Porter brothers bought it and fitted it up and kept it as a hotel for a short time; then a man named Paine kept it a little while. In 1851 a family by the name of Sooy from Montezuma purchased the house and undertook to keep a house of entertainment for the accommodation of the traveling public, but it was not a success. Then the Stanleys, a nice family, were there a short time. The Overtons, very good people, went in and went out. Mr. J. M. White purchased the house in 1853 and rented it to Hugh Mcfeely, who was one of the first proprietors of the Oskaloosa Herald. Mr. McNeely only stayed a year or so, then a Mr. Eastman was, I think, the next to try his and at running that much occupied hostelry. I have mentioned a few, but not near all the people who in the years from 1844 to 1855 catered to the wants of travelers and others desiring food and shelter in that house. The name of the house was changed nearly as often but not quite as often as its owners and proprietors. "Mahaska House," "Iowa House," "Porter House." and "Eagle Hotel" were some of the names painted on a board and hung on a high post out in front far enough for the stages and other vehicles to pass between.

After ten or twelve years of sudden changes of proprietors, names and reputation, there was a stop to that precarious shifting about. Mr. F. L. Downing, who came to Oskaloosa from London, Ohio, in 1856, purchased, the house and grounds belonging there to from Mr. Jerome M. White. Mr. and Mrs. Downing understood, their business. They soon brought order out of chaos, and neatness out of confusion. Mrs. Croney and her daughter Caroline were members of the Downing family. Mrs. Croney was a host, within herself, and her excellent ideas and deft fingers added to Mr. and Mrs. Downings knowledge and ability soon made tha-much-abused house inviting, attractive and popular. Mr. Downing thought it best to give the house a new name, so he named it "Madison House." They were model hotel-keepers, Mr. Downing being called "the prince of landlords." He made some additions, thoroughly repaired the old part, furnished it comfortably and respectably from one end to the other and always kept it in first-class order. Their table was always supplied with the very best the town and county afforded, and their meals were faultless. No matter at what labor or expense, the Downings always kept the Madison House in excellent order. Both Mr. and Mrs. Downing were not only persons of good taste, but were genial, friendly and hospitable. Their hotel was popular. They made money and added to their possessions.

Mrs. Croney, Mrs. Downings mother, was a prominent factor in making that hostlery an attractive place. Her room was one of the coziest and most charming places imaginable for the ladies about town to drop into and enjoy a pleasant chat. She and her daughter Caroline always had something amusing or interesting to relate, as their needles flew in and out of some usefull or ornamental piece of work. Mrs. Croney was a devout Methodist, and while she was stitching away would often bring tears to her listeners eyes as she would relate the sayings of this or that preacher of the by-gone days, or incidents she had witnessed in revivals in the days of her
youth. Mrs Croney lived and died in the faith, and as I drive about in Forest Cemetery, my old horse "Jim" is sure to stop by a marble slab while I read thereon the name of Lydia Croney, which always brings to my mind incidents I have heard her relate in that charming, cozy room in the Madison House. Her daughter Caroline was a handsome girl. She married Mr. Stephen F. Downing, a brother of F. L. They own and occupy a comfortable and pretty home in one of the finest locations about Oskaloosa. Stephen Downing is a trusted and successful commercial traveler and one of the most genial of men. Stephen and Caroline have three daughters. Cora, the oldest, is the wife of Mr. Ed Howard, an intelligent and prosperous young business man of Oskaloosa. Cora is handsome, sparkling, and a model housekeeper. There are no brighter children in Oskaloosa than her little daughter Hazel and her son Bailey. There is not a home on the outskirts of Oskaloosa where one can have a finer view of the town than at the home of Stephen and Caroline Downing. Their place was beautiful as I saw it before a white man had ever cut down a tree or turned a shovel full of soil. Utility, neatness and good taste seem to be inherent in the Downing and Croney blood. Kate and Mabel, the young ladies of that house, like their mother and grandmother, know how to make everything about them useful and attractive. Their rooms are filled with their handiwork and borders of flowers adorn their grounds.

Charles Croney, Mrs. Croney's son, was not much beyond boyhood when the war of the rebellion broke out, but he enlisted in the army, went through the war without getting killed or seriously wounded, but came home broken in health. He died a few years ago in Washington, D. C., leaving a wife and daughter, who live there still.

Mr. and Mrs. F. L. Downing's daughter Ollie and son Dwight were little children when their parents came to Oskaloosa, and they grew to womanhood and manhood in Oskaloosa. Ollie married Mr. John Lord, a very superior young man. They went to California years ago. Dwight chose the law as a profession, married one of Oskaloosa's nicest and best girls, Miss Grace Durfee, and settled down in the town where he was brought up, and enjoys the reputation of being a reliable, honest and painstaking business man. He looks like his father; which is saying a good deal. Mr. and Mrs. F. L. Downing were a handsome and distinguished looking couple. They were not only leaders in the hotel business, but were leaders in society. Their happy manners and good taste made them favorites among the fashionable. Their benevolence and kindness of heart made them loved by the needy and unfortunate. When Sarah Croney Downing was still young and time had made no wrinkles in that fair face, death, that ruthless reaper; who is no respecter of persons, broke into that family, and that charming wife and mother and friend was his victim. Mrs. Downing's death was not only a sad bereavement to her immediate family, but her wide circle of friends. Very many of Oskaloosa's best people felt her death to be a personal loss to themselves. Though Mrs. Downing had much to make life dear and this world look bright, she died in the hope and faith of a better life beyond. I can never forget the earnest prayers and comforting words uttered by the dying bed of that suffering woman, by that sweet, saintly Quaker lady, Mary Jane Cook, I who has since gone to her reward, and who knows but Sarah Downing was one of the first of the redeemed ones to greet her on the "shining shore?" Mrs. Downing's funeral occurred on the fifth day of August, 1869, at the First M. E. church in Oskaloosa. Multitudes from all classes gathered in and abont the chnrch, the fashionable and prosperous to sympathize with the bereaved, family and manifest their respect for a departed comrade, the poor and lowly to weep for one who had fed and clothed and sheltered them. The Rev. E. H. Waring, under whose ministry Mrs. Downing was converted, concluded the funeral services. In his discourse, among other things I remember of his saying: "Among all my acquaintances I know of no Christian lady who had so wide a circle of friends." Mr. Downing was a devoted husband. All through his wife's lingering and painful sickness everything that money could purchase or love invent was lavished on her. Mr. Downing rented the Madison house to Messrs. Vermillion and Ong. Some two or three years after he married Miss. Eunice Dart, a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Albert Dart, of Oskaloosa. Miss Eunice was a popular and handsome young lady.

In 1874 Mr. Downing moved the Madison house away, and on the ground where it stood erected a three-story brick hotel he named The Downing House. The Downing House seemed very complete and grand to Oskaloosa people then, and we were proud of it. Not long after, Mr. Downing built the Downing House his health began to fail. He visited various watering places and health resorts, hoping to regain his health, but was not materially benefited. He wouldn't give up, bnut kept going. One morning feeling unusually depressed, he took the train and flew off to Colfax. In a few hours a dispatch came to his family, saying, "Mr. Downing is dying!" Not long after, another dispatch came, saying, "Mr. Downing is dead!" His family was heart-broken-his friends shocked and grieved.

In one of the most beautiful lots in Forest Cemetery two graves lie side by side. At the head a tall marble monument, on which is carved the dates of the birth and death of Foster and Sarah Downing. On the same lot is another grave on which the grass has been growing for many years, and there on a marble slab the same kind of a little story is told, only it is Lydia Croney. "They were united in life, and in death they are not parted."

All the time I have been writing about the Downing's I kept thinking about the McMullins. Major McMullin and Mr. Downing were in business together many years,
and when I think of one I am sure to think of the other. Mrs. Downing and Mrs. McMullin were very intimate friends, too. When Major and Mrs. McMullin and their little daughter Sallie came to Oskaloosa it was Mr. McMullin. There had been no war in his lifetime to make Majors, and Captains; and Colonels, and Generals of our men as there was not long after. The McMullins came from Ohio, where so many of Oskaloosa's nice people came from. They came in 1855, not quite early enough to live in a log cabin, but they lived in some houses not overly good or roomy at first, but wherever they lived,  everything about them was made as neat and pretty as
it was possible for them to be made. It didn't take the citizens of Oskaloosa long to discover that the McMullins were superior people. They soon drew hosts of friends around them composed of Oskaloosas best citizens.

Mr. and Mrs. McMullin have been worthy and valued members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for more than forty years. Their seats are never vacant unless they are unavoidably detained from attending. They are not very loud in their professions, but are always ready to do their full share in maintaining the church. Maj. and Mrs. McMullin are exceedingly hospitable. They entertain with a grace and ease not often attained. One reason why things move along so charmingly in that elegant and dainty home is this ; There is perfect harmony between husband and wife. Their tastes are alike, there is no jarring nor discord. I have heard it said by persons who know well their habits, that there is never an unkind or disrespectful word spoken by one to the other. When the war of the rebellion came Maj. McMullin was one of the first of Oskaloosa's strong and brave and patriotic young men to enlist in the army. He was in many hard fought battles. He was promoted and commissioned Major at Pittsburg Landing. He came out of the war alive by the "skin of his teeth" carrying a scar made by a rebel bullet. Among others of the Major's good qualities, he had sense enough to save his money and when, the war was over he had the means to go into a good business and fix himself and family to live in comfort. Sallie was a gentle child. She grew to be a sweet-spirited and gentle young lady. She married Mr. J. R. Noble, but while yet a young woman, those worthy and tender parents saw the eyes forever closed to the things of this world, and the daughter they had loved so much and so tenderly brought up, laid to rest in Forest cemetery, leaving to their care three little daughters. Not many little girls left motherless are blessed with so good a home, kind treatment and proper training as they receive at the hands of those worthy grandparents, Major and Mrs. McMullin.