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Sand Spring was laid out
January 26, 1858, by T. H. Bowen and L. H. Langworthy,
who employed George Welch as surveyor. The
Southwestern Railway Company had located their depot grounds
in 1856, says T. H. Bowen. The Bowens
owned a very large tract of land surrounding the site.
The first house (of logs) was built by Asa C. Bowen,
in 1852.
The first important event in the history of the town
was the accession of ten members of the "Exodus Colony," who
arrived May 1, 1858. This association was formed in
Massachusetts, and was composed of about forty families
—twenty-five of the number intending to occupy small farms,
and the others, to follow the trades they had learned.
In 1857, Rev. Mr. Bolles was delegated to go
West to purchase the land near some suitable village, and to
arrange for the reception of the families at their future
home. Rev. Mr. Bolles took a fancy to Sand
Spring, and purchased 1,000 acres of land from the Bowens,
paying $5.00 an acre. Included in the sale was a
forty-acre tract, belonging to T. H. Bowen, which had
been surveyed into lots; this became the " Colony
Addition " to Sand Spring. Bolles erected the "
Colony House," on the ridge, overlooking the town. The
structure contains sixteen rooms, and was intended as a
temporary home for the colonists as they came.
The Exodists referred to above were the only ones who
ever came, the hard times preventing their associates from
following them. The colonists were: Messrs.
Olmstead, L. A. Hubbard, Otis Battles, A. J. Douglas, Wm.
McCausland, with their families, and Mr. Pease.
Asa C. Bowen says that Mr. Bolles
preached the first sermon in Sand Spring, in June, 1858, in
the building erected for a hotel, from the text, " I will be
to thee a God, and thou shalt be to me a people." The
different houses built during that Summer were also used for
religious services, before being
occupied by their owners. A notable case was that of a
very large meeting that Summer, in a barn now owned by
Charles Crocker.
Mr. Bolles is said to
have been quite successful in the pulpit. He discharged his
responsible trust in purchasing the colony lands, and his
subsequent duties connected therewith, with scrupulous
fidelity. He remained with the colony three or four
years. Bolles afterward renounced the Methodist
creed, and became a member of the " Oneida Community," in
New York. He is said to have died in an insane asylum.
The colonists, most of whom remained at Sand Spring,
have proved valuable and exemplary citizens. There can
be but one reasonable conclusion as to the result of this
colonizing scheme, had the other families been able to
follow those who came. As it was, they were not able to
raise money for the purpose, and their lands were
transferred to other owners. Some of the village lots
were sold for taxes, and never redeemed. The Colony
Building is now owned by Ex-Gov. Claflin, of
Massachusetts.
Religious meetings were held by Rev. James Kay,
of the Baptist Church, and by Rev. Mr. Whitmore, of
the Methodist Episcopol Church, about the same time.
The first school was opened in Sand Spring in the
Summer of 1858, Miss Lucy Battles, a member of the
Exodus Colony, being the teacher.
As an instance of Western sympathy with enterprise and
courage, wherever displayed, it is proper to record that on
September 1st, 1858, the citizens of Sand Spring and
vicinity celebrated the laying of the first Atlantic cable
by a dinner and speeches from Rev. Dr. Roberts, of
Hopkinton, Dr. Gage and T. H. Bowen. The
crowd was a large one for that early day, and the
celebration
was successfully carried out in all its details, echoing
back in its truest meaning the glad dispatch, " Glory to God
in the highest, on earth, peace, good will to men."
The Southwestern Road stopped three miles short of Sand
Spring in the Fall of 1858. The people had contributed
to the utmost of their ability, but, the company was able to
make only slow progress, owing to the great scarcity of
money. In the Spring of 1859, the people of Sand
Spring turned out and helped lay the ties and rails over the
gap between their town and the big world outside, and
several ladies, among whom were Mrs. Asa C. Bowen and
Mrs. Peter Karst, helped carry and place the ties.
The school house, which is a conspicuous object in the
town, was built in 1868. E. P. Couser was the
first Principal of the graded school and T. H. Bowen
occupied the same position two years after. Mr.
Paddock is now the principal and is assisted by Miss
Celia Mellor.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1865, and
Rev. T. Thompson is now in charge. The Baptist
Church was erected in 1868, but has no Pastor at present.
The location of the Davenport & St. Paul Railroad
operated to the detriment of Sand Spring, by stimulating the
growth of Hopkinton. In 1872, the people of South Fork
Township voted a tax of five per cent, to aid the
construction of the Davenport Road. This was opposed by the
people of Sand Spring, who could foresee the bad result to
themselves, but they were out-voted. The citizens of Sand
Spring then held a meeting and resolved to resist the
payment of the tax. They had invited a Waterloo
attorney to attend and advise them. At the meeting he
was retained to bring the suit, in which a hundred and fifty
property holders joined as plaintiffs in a petition for
injunction. The case was fought through to the Supreme
Court, where the injunction was made perpetual.
The litigation cost them about $2,000, but saved them some
$6,000 in taxes.
In the Winter of 1875-6. a flurry was created at Sand
Spring by an effort on the part of Dubuque to have the route
of the Southwestern Road vacated from Farley to Monticello,
and rebuilt from Dubuque, by way of Cascade. This, had
it been successful, would have had the effect of killing
Sand Spring and Worthington. Asa C. Bowen, as soon as
he heard of the scheme, promptly procured a numerously
signed petition against the project, which he forwarded to
Hon. Joseph Chapman, at Des Moines, who succeeded in
defeating the bill permitting the change of route to be
made, by having it amended so as to require the road-bed, if
abandoned, to be put in its original condition.
The post office at Sand Spring was established June 19,
1858 and Truman H. Bowen was appointed Postmaster.
BUSINESS INTERESTS.
The business now carried on at
Sand Spring is indicated below:
Dry Goods and Groceries, L. Loeffelholtz.
Groceries, G. H. Brown. Broom Factory, W. Molthorp,
Blacksmith and Wagon Shop, B. A. Barton, Wagon Shop,
E. Overing. Washing Machine Factory, Wm. Overing.
Physician and Surgeon, S. Cummings. Notary Public and
Conveyancer, O. Henry. Justice and Conveyancer, A.
Tuttle. Hotel, Thomas Jones. Butter and Cheese
Factory, John Stewart. Postmaster, Gilbert H.
Brown.
H. C. DRYBREAD
Greeley
The manufacture of brooms, which
has been an important industry at Sand Spring ever since the
town was founded, was begun by T. H. & Asa C. Bowen,
at Hopkinton, in the Summer of 1856, they having induced
some workmen in Scholarie County, N. Y., to come West and
work for them. The making of the first broom was the
occasion for a village jollification.
This industry has been a source of considerable revenue
to the farmers of South Fork Township, and the brooms, being
made in the best manner, meet with ready sale.
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS.
The Cemetery Association of Sand
Spring completed its organization by recording its articles
of incorporation.
The funds used in the purchase of grounds were raised
by the ladies of the Sewing Circle of the town, who were
materially assisted by Mr. Asa C. Bowen, who owned
the land on which the cemetery is located. The grounds are
situated on a slight elevation east of Sand Spring.
In February, 1865, a Temperance Society was formed, and
the Washingtonian pledge signed by about forty citizens.
The following officers were elected: William Spence,
President; Adelbert Olmstead, Vice President;
Stephen T. Bowen, Secretary; Peter Karst, Jr.,
Treasurer.
In 1865, Wilson's saw-mill, log and dam at Sand
Spring were carried away by the flood.
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