A Peep Back Through The Vista Of Years
The following are the reminiscences of Mrs. George Ordway, who came to Waterloo in June, 1854:
"Someone has said, ‘Reminiscences of the old who see the past in the fluttering distance of time may sometimes be distrusted,’ but we will try to recall the facts and leave the coloring to others. The life of the pioneer is so largely the work of faith, labor of love and patience, of hope that the story of it on paper seems cold and dull.
"The first thing that comes to my mind is the picture of a young couple, with a two-months old baby girl, in an old-fashioned covered wagon, driving into Waterloo in June, 1854. It now seems like a dream, but it is a fact that for nearly thirty years they gave themselves as best they knew to the upbuilding of the place.
"Mr. Ordway had become possessed of the idea that his work of publishing a paper in Illinois, having to do much of the labor himself, was injuring his health, so he resolved to ‘go West’ and on reaching Waterloo decided that was the place to locate. Freeport, Illinois, had been the home of each of us from childhood. We left there on June 5th. I came to Warren, Illinois, the terminus of the Illinois Central Railroad, by rail. The teams were waiting there; one wagon conveying our household effects was in charge of an uncle of Mr. Ordway, Rufus Ordway, and the other we occupied, the little willow wagon being close by the spring seat and the bedding behind forming a convenient couch where one could rest. It was a long, tedious trip, taking us almost as many days then as hours now. We were ten days on the road, stopping over Sabbath. We were very happy when on the 15th we came in sight of the beautiful Cedar, that has never lost its charm.
"We stopped at the Sherman House and found it full of homeseekers. We were one of four young couples to lodge in the only spare room. A heavy rain came up in the night; some from former experience were prepared with umbrellas and could stay in bed, but we, with the baby, had to go out to the front room until the storm was over. Then we returned, to make the best we could of our wet bed.
"In a few days we found an unoccupied log cabin about a block from the hotel, in Commercial Street. It had been built for a store with windows only on each side of the door. There was no floor, but as soon as boards enough for a chair had been laid, also for the baby-wagon, we moved in. We had two memorable experiences there. One night we had some gold, for entering land, in a drawer in the bureau at the foot of the bed. The window was open from the bottom and the door fastened by a wooden button. I saw a man reach in the window and unbutton the door. I tried very quietly to awaken Mr. Ordway; he finally roused and screamed, thinking it was the maid, whom we had to work and who slept on the floor above. When I explained matters the man was out and although Mr. Ordway followed him, he could not catch him.
"Then the Indian scare occurred. We were awakened by a man running his horse by, and screaming, ‘The Indians are coming.’ There had been reports of trouble further north and it was easy to believe that they were coming. Every man prepared and families joined in one house to protect themselves. The foundation of the fright was a wedding and a charivari.
"We remained but a month or two in that cabin. The money the man did not get was used in entering the land where a nursery was planted. Mr. Ordway making the first wagon track out on West Park Avenue to what has been recently known as the Reber Farm, now Kingbard Hill. We bought a cabin, near the river, which had two rooms, the smaller one having two beds, and the loft supplied room for as many more as were needed - on the floor.
"The term living room so generally in use now was unheard of then, but our one room was truly a ‘living room,’ with bookcase, tables, chairs. We received company, ate and lived there. One door gave the only entrance and that by a porch where the cook stove stood and where all work connected with it was done.
"During the summer, several families had come to the town and we at one time entertained nine over night.
"The Presbyterian Church was organized in August, 1854, and at that time and for many years, we kept a ‘prophet’s chamber’ for all passing ministers. Rev. Nelson Robinson was the first Presbyterian minister and he was assisted at the organization by Rev. James Phillips.
"In October C. P. Hunt came with his bride, Mr. Ordway’s father and my father coming with them. We returned to Illinois with the fathers, the Hunts occupying our cabin while we built a frame house on the hill, where we lived for many years and where they died.
"We returned in the spring and it was a busy summer, as grafts for setting a nursery had been prepared during the winter and were now to be set and tended. If it is true that he is a benefactor of his race who makes a spear of grass grow where there was none, the planting of this first nursery with those cuttings brought from Illinois should entitle George Ordway and D. W. Foote to be considered benefactors, as many, if not most, of the apple orchards of Black Hawk County came from this beginning.
"In 1860 we built out at the nursery and made our home there for some years; after having built, in 1856, what was really our first home where the Emmons Johnson home now stands.
"The little group of thirty log cabins became by 1856 a village of some importance and was settled upon as the county seat. Desirable people had located and everything seemed most promising.
"The first Presbyterian Church was located on the corner of Jefferson Street and West Park Avenue. It was dedicated with most pleasant exercises in strong faith and earnest purpose in November, 1856. The financial panic soon came, a severe blow to all enterprises, especially the little band of church workers that had done their utmost, and the church had to be sold.
"There was little progress in the growth of the town but after a time other churches were built, select or private schools opened; aid or sewing societies, ladies’ prayer meetings, with many social visits, bound the early settlers by enduring ties of friendship. The names of those most active at this time are not often seen now except on marble slabs in the cemetery, and cherished in the hearts of their families and close friends.
"The war affected our little town as it did the whole country, sadly depleting its numbers and calling out the latent energy of all. I have vivid recollections of driving up the Black Hawk for rags for the women to prepare for use among the soldiers.
"It has been said, 'The life of every great man or enterprise is more or less closely interwoven and affected by their first friends’. It is a cause for pride on the part of those now reaping the benefits of those early days in Waterloo that many choice people were among those early settlers and laid good foundations.
"My memories cover such a long period that it is impossible to refer to many of the pleasant and sad experiences that come to me.
"We returned to town after a time and, after serving as county school superintendent, Mr. Ordway again settled to his original calling of lawyer.
"The home we occupied longest of any was on the corner of Jefferson and West Park Avenue. The memory of this home is most pleasant; we had buried two children from the home on the hill, but no sad experience came to us in this last house.
"The First Presbyterian Church had built again on the corner of Fourth and Jefferson streets and being so near and much interested, it was ours to be the genesis of many things.
"Our residence in Waterloo ended in 1882, when on account of the severe climate we went to Kansas, but frequent visits have kept us in touch with all its interests and growth and we have noted it all with pride.
"The many new and large churches, the two fine libraries replacing the one room in the opera house, and the splendid homes and finished streets all testify of the wonderful prosperity that has come to the place. All that pertains to its welfare is of great interest to me and its developments but show it to have been a wise selection for our home and the cause of satisfaction that we had some share in its early days for the upbuilding in all that was for its highest good."
