PAST TIMES A supplement of the Times-Republican dedicated to celebrating our history Lake Woodmere at RiversideAug.2022
All articles and information contained herein are the property of the Times-Republican. Permission for use or reproduction must have prior approval in writing from the publisher. Past Times Interim Publisher Terry Christensen Copy Editor .......................... Stephanie Bowers Past Times Writer Robert Maharry Past Times Columnists Dorie Tammen Riverside Cemetery Michelle Roseburrough Halverson......... Marshall County Historical Society2|TimesPast|202221,Aug.Sunday,|IowaMarshalltown,|Times-Republicantimesrepublican.com
But although I’m rela tively new to Marshalltown itself — I lived in the sur rounding area for about seven years before migrat ing here — I’ve been aware of the community’s strug gles and the unique set of circumstances foisted upon us for quite some time. I do, after all, read the news, even in areas that I’m forresponsiblepersonallynotcovering.TheRiverside
Past Times is a monthly magazine published by the Times-Republican, Marshalltown, Iowa with offices located at 135 W. Main St., Mar shalltown, Iowa 50158. Past Times is inserted into the Times-Republican monthly. For more information, please call or write: pasttimes@timesrepublican.comMarshalltown,Times-Republican135W.MainSt.P.O.Box1300IA50158641-753-6611
By ROBERT MAHARRY TIMES-REPUBLICAN As a reporter and editor, I try, with varying degrees of success, to keep my person al feelings about what I’m covering to myself. True ob jectivity and impartiality, as elusive as they often seem, are noble goals nonetheless.
Cemetery is an integral piece of Marshalltown’s history, and I don’t have to tell anyone who reads this newspaper on a regular basis that it’s had a rough couple of years. I’ve come to communicate with Dorie fairly frequently for this sec tion, and I know she’s about as committed and pas sionate to what she does as anyone I’ve met during my time here.
Between the FEMA de nial and the recent news about Lake Woodmere, it feels like one blow after another. But I’ve also met some of the people at Mar shalltown Water Works and know them to be extremely smart, competent and prac tical in the way they do business. This isn’t Good vs. Evil or David vs. Goliath. It’s two entities advocating for what makes the most sense to them and trying to find an amenable outcome for Ieveryone.don’tknow what the answer is — after all, I don’t hold elected office or serve on the boards that might make these kinds of decisions — but I do feel something must be done to preserve the history of this community and keep that interest alive for genera tions to come. After all, isn’t that what Past Times is all about?This situation won’t be resolved tomorrow, next week or maybe even next month, but if I have faith in anything, it’s that the good people of this community — whether it’s those serv ing in a local government capacity or private citizens — will put their heads to gether and do the right thing. That’s Marshalltown, and that’s Marshall County.
There has to be a solution
The Riverside Cemetery on the north side of Marshalltown, pictured, suffered severe damage as a result of the 2020 derecho.
MaharryRobert T-R FILE PHOTO
employees,
What is today known as JBS Marshalltown was long ago called the Marshall Packing Company, pictured sometime in the 1930s in the then photo. With well over 2,000 JBS, located at 402 N. 10th Ave., is Marshalltown’s largest employer by a fairly wide margin.
IowaMarshalltown,|Times-Republican|TimesPast|202221,Aug.Sunday,|3timesrepublican.comAuto • 22E.753-6691BusinessHome•FarmLife•HealthTollFree1-888-753-6691MainSt.•Marshalltown Your Locally Owned Choice For All Your Insurance Needs! Then & Now Then Now The meatpacking plant THEN PHOTO VIA GARY STEFFENSON/NOW PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY
By ROSEBURROUGHMICHELLEHALVERSON
|TimesPast|202221,Aug.Sunday,|IowaMarshalltown,|Times-Republicantimesrepublican.com4
he grandson of a Revo lutionary War soldier, Joseph Tuffree was born Feb. 10, 1810, near Middleton, Del., on his parents’ farm. He married Mary Anne Woolston in 1935, and they and their first seven children lived in Pittsburgh, Pa., for 10 years, where Tuffree engaged in a bakery and gro ceryThebusiness.family started mak ing their way west, living in Greene County, Pa., and Jack sonville, WVa. (where it is be lieved their eighth child was born), arriving finally in Mar shall County in 1856. Their ninth child, Ida, was born after they arrived in Iowa. The fam ily settled near Edenville in EdenToday,Township.thiscommunity is called Rhodes, after the man who gave the land for the de pot when the railroad reached the town. Railroad officials wanted the depot to not be named after the town, as there was possibly already a depot on the line named Edenville. Eventually all came to refer to the town as Rhodes, as the post office was also called Rhodes. Visitors to the Historical Society will remember the very large portrait that hung in the entry to the museum and now in the parlor at the Mow ry Irvine Mansion of Joseph Tuffree, which I like to point out bears a strong resemblance to the late actor Christopher Plummer. The photo was tak en Feb. 10, 1910, to commem orate both his 100th birthday and his initiation into the Elks Marshall Lodge, No. 312. Newspaper articles about the event noted that there were three generations of Tuffrees in the organization — father, son, and grandson. The oldest Elk in the world at the time, he had been one of the earli est settlers of Marshall County, farming 160 acres northwest of present-day Rhodes for 20 years before moving to Mar shalltown to engage in a real estate business with his son Jo seph. He owned a considerable amount of valuable property in the Oncounty.April 13, 1910, 100 year-old Tuffree gave a pro gram at an HSMC gathering, sharing his memories of pio neer days in Marshall County, titled, “Log Cabins and Dis tant Markets.” His recollec tion of pioneer life in Marshall County below differs from the accounts of Mrs. Abbott and Mrs. Statler, as he brought his family to farm, rather than live and work in a town. “My first personal acquain tance with Marshall County, Iowa was in the spring of 1856, though I had been having symptoms of the “Iowa Fever” for about a year previous to the dateThesementioned.symptoms, I think, were brought about by rea son of letters we had received from relatives of my wife, who had previously been located in the vicinity of Edenville, now known as Rhodes. These relatives had had some experience in pioneering in the state of Illinois, there fore their letters only told us of the beauties of the country. My brother-in-law, Mr. Francis A. Woolston (now deceased), wrote to me that he had an improved farm engaged for me for the year of 1856, and though it was late in the spring when I received the letter, my good wife and I decided to start for Iowa. So with what household goods we could pack in a heavy canvas covered wagon, we boarded a boat on the Ohio River and first set foot on Iowa soil at ThereMuscatine.Ipurchased a team of horses and, hitching them to the wagon, started out to find our new home. No well worn roads, no fencing, no bridges, only little buildings now and then that seem to be the homes of someone, and only about every 20 miles did we find a place where travelers could be entertained for the night. And if any of my hearers think that in these places of entertainment we found pol ished floors and oriental rugs, let me inform you that you are wholly and unmistakably mis taken. My boys often looked surprised and unhesitatingly informed the “Proprietor of the Hotel” that they “were not used to sleeping in that kind of a bed.” But the gentlemen of the house had the best side of the argument, and the boys invariably crawled in. I mention these little in stances which occurred prior to reaching Marshall County, that you may see that I might have realized what I would find at the end of my journey. Right here I may as well confess that I was not very good at taking hints, for imagine my feelings when I pulled up at the front door of a log cabin consisting of one room downstairs, and one room upstairs. It was Sunday, and the rela tives had gathered together and were watching for us. They
my little brown team was too worn out to turn back while yet I could find my wheel
Centenarian pioneer Joseph Tuffree Preserving the past Historical Society of Marshall County
Like the poet I thought, “The hills are dearest where our first our childish feet have climbed the earliest.”
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
The Tuffree family pictured with friends.
The Joseph Tuffree family, from the left, front row: Mary (in picture), Joseph Sr., Francis, Mary Arabell, Edmund and Anna. Second row: Joseph Jr., Ida, Elmer and Virginia.
T
The Tuffrees were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now known as First United Methodist on Main Street. According to Mary’s 1894 obituary, “For six years she had been an invalid, bearing her sufferings with great patience and fortitude,” dying at age 76, one month shy of their 59th wedding an niversary.Joseph Tuffree worked nearly every day of his life until a week before his death from a severe case of the grippe, now known as the flu, a few weeks shy of his 103rd birthday.
An early photo of the Rhodes Depot with a train rolling up.
But next morning I went to see the farm where we were to live, and there I looked on an ocean of prairie, skirted by a little grove, which made good shelter and shade, but to my horror, another log cabin. This house consisted of one large room with a fireplace and two bedsteads. They were not iron bedsteads, nor brass bedsteads. They were not painted white, nor blue, nor green. They were made of pieces of 2 X 4 nailed up against the wall. I did not smile when I looked at the furnishings, and if I remember correctly my wife cried when womanlike. She thought of the grief that those bedsteads might cause during the coming summer. About 20 feet from the above mentioned building was a good sized granary which was fully as good as the above described residence. So we decided to unload our goods, utilize the granary for bedrooms, and try farming in Marshall County. The farm had some stock on it, and with plenty of meat, milk, and butter we got along pretty well except for bread. We could only get cornmeal, and therefore we had corn bread for breakfast, dinner, and supper seven days in the week. We paid $1.00 per bush el for corn and brought it over here to the Woodbury Mill and paid $0.10 per bushel to have it ground.Wedrove to Newton one day (a distance of about 20 miles), stepped into a little gro cery store, and much to my sur prise found the proprietor to be a man who had traded with me when I was in business in the state of Pennsylvania. My first inquiry was for flour. He answered that he did not have a pound of flour in the house, but if any came in through the day, he would save it for me. Imagine my joy when I called at the store before starting home in the evening, when he told me that about 300 pounds of flour had been brought in and that he had saved it for me. This flour had been brought from the little grist mill at Pella, some 30 miles south of Newton. We paid $5.00 per hundred for it and were glad to get it at that.
The miles seemed shorter that night as I drove home for I had some flour. We had some wheat bread, and I wonder if anyone ever ate such a biscuit as my wife made from that flour. Surely never better! But immediately the news went over the neighborhood “the Tuffrees had some flour,” and then the neighbors came to borrow and we loaned it out, only saving about fifty pounds for our own use. One neighbor woman said, “When I get flour I am afraid to put my hands in it, for where will the next come from.”From the timber nearby we gathered wild berries and crab apples and plums and never expected to see any other kind of fruit than these. By the way, this grove or timber proved to be the orchard of the country. Neighbors from 10 to 15 miles distant came to this grove for the sour crabapples and wild plums.Homeseekers and covered wagons drawn by oxen would frequently stop and stay all night with us. And so the summer passed and the win ter came, and only those who passed through the early days can realize what that Iowa win tersWewere.had brought with us an abundance of good bed ding, and when we found how extremely well our sleep ing rooms were ventilated, we made up our minds that the bedding was well worth the bringing.Theshooting of wild game made sport for the boys, and a wild turkey now and then made a good change of meat. In due time, we had pro duce to sell. But where was our market, and how must it reach thatNomarket?railroad switch ran into our stock yards, no packing house quotations delivered to our door by rural carriers, no market nearer than Iowa City. So we waited for the bitter cold days which were sure to come, and then we had a day or more of butchering and then loading the dressed frozen hogs and bobsleds we started for Iowa City.It took about a week to make the trip, and we sold the hogs at $1.65 to $2.10 per hun dred. In the spring of 1857, we traded 100 bushels of corn for a two-year-old heifer, and I al ways considered that this trade was one of the most profitable trades I ever made. But the absence of railroads and packing houses and rural carriers is all in the past. The early days and hard ships are alike left behind us, and now if I could yet find my wheel tracks, would I turn back?No! No! Every state in the union is good, but Iowa is the best, and no spot on earth is so dear to me now as Marshall town, Marshall County, Iowa.” Tuffree notes in the 1912 “Past and Present of Marshall County, Iowa,” compiled by Judge William Battin and F.A. Moscrip, that in early years prior to the railroad, the post office for Eden Township was in Newton, and those living in the southwest corner of Mar shall County conducted most of their business in Newton. He goes on to explain that the road to Newton was better than the road to Marshalltown, which was mostly raw prairie without good bridges. The centennial history of Rhodes corroborates this, reading, “Previous to 1857… One neighbor going for mail or any essentials they may need, would bring the mail back for the neighborhood. A weekly mail was established in 1857.”The Tuffrees farmed near Rhodes for 35 years before moving to Marshalltown. Their home was located at 201 S. First St., where Emerson is located today. Mary Woolston Tuffree’s father, a Method ist minister, and siblings also moved to Marshall County, settling near Rhodes and State Center with their families.
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Today, the water level on Lake Woodmere is falling rapidly. The lake is threatened by a lack of water. Similar to what happened in 1900 with the city, the Marshalltown Wa ter Works (a separate entity from the City of Marshalltown) has de cided Riverside must pay for water at the commercial rate. Riverside, as a non-profit organization, can not afford to pay for the water going into the lake, so the line to the lake was shut off last fall. With the coming of hot tem peratures over the summer and recent drought conditions, the water is evaporating with nothing to replenish it. Without a constant water supply, the lake will dry up. A major attraction in our community will be gone. Our beloved swans and domestic geese will have to be relocated elsewhere, and Riverside will have a huge empty hole in the ground instead of a lovely lake. It’s a double-whammy coming just two years after the derecho, from which we are still recovering.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO 1965 prize-winning photo.
The lake at Riverside has been a destination for families in and around Marshalltown for about 120 years. You can call it a pond if you like, but it’s come to our attention recently that some folks don’t know it has a name, “Lake Woodmere.” The story goes that Lake Wood mere was originally a marshy area not suitable for burials. Clay from Blue Earth, Minn., was brought to Riverside and deposited in the marshy area. A herd of pigs was rented from a farmer and allowed to wallow there, trampling down the clay to form a lining for the lake, which still exists today.
“I only need visit the graveyard of a community to know the char acter of the people.” — Benjamin Franklin.
We don’t know exactly when that work began, but we know from old newspaper stories that the lake was here as early as 1896, and one report we’ve seen said it was here as early as 1884. At some point, a wa ter line from the city water supply was installed to feed the lake. The Superintendent of River side from 1894 until his death in 1946 was Sam Rubee. He is credited with making Riverside the beauti ful place that it is today. He was widely known for his talents with landscape design, and made a bit of a name for himself in cemetery management nationally.
If you haven’t already, please consider signing a petition we have circulating asking the city council to intervene and advocate on River side’s behalf. See our Facebook page or call us for a list of petition loca tions, or come to our office to sign.
History is alive at Riverside Dorie Tammen Lake Woodmere at Riverside
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About 20 years ago, a major fundraising effort was begun to renovate and remodel Lake Wood mere. Apparently, erosion was oc curring on the shoreline, and the problem needed to be fixed. Dona tions came in from near and far. The result of this huge project was the lake that we see today, with the stone wall surrounding it, two ramps leading to the water’s edge, and the waterfall. In 2020, shortly before the devastating August derecho windstorm, a new lighted fountain, an upgraded waterfall, and three aerators to improve the water quality were installed.
I’ve been told there should still be a receipt for the hog rental some where in our records. Oh, how I wish I could find it!
For many years, a favorite com munity event has been held on Lake Woodmere. Until the CO VID pandemic interfered, the Izaak Walton League sponsored an an nual Fishing Derby. Families could bring their children and grandchil dren and fish the lake. Prizes were awarded, and hot dogs and bever ages were available. It drew large crowds of people for many years. We hope to continue it in the future.
On May 5, 1916, it was reported in the local paper that Sam Rubee had ordered a pair of black swans and a pair of white swans — from Russia, no less. They were to be shipped “as soon as shipment is safe from unusual war risks,” since WWI was then underway in Eu rope.On April 30, 1919, came a story reporting that the female white swan was nesting for the first time. It cautioned visitors to beware of “Old Daddy Swan” who had be come rather belligerent in efforts to protect the nest. This was shortly before the Russian Revolution, and the report ended with this amus ing statement: “during the nesting period the male becomes a regular Bolshevik.” In a follow-up on June 6, 1919, a newspaper headline read, “Presenting Mr. and Mrs. White Swan, Riverside, and Family of Cygnets.” Four babies had hatched, and a fourth was still due. We have seen many photos of the lake with swans, sometimes as many as six, but we have never seen a photo of the black swans. On the wall in the Riverside office is a game breeders license dated 1926. We presume it was related to the raising of swans and other waterfowl on the lake. In about 1926, a Des Moines woman wrote to a reporter with “The American Magazine,” a na tionwide publication. In her letter, she described Riverside as “a place gay with life” and “a spot where the living like to linger.” The reporter, Mary B. Mullett, was intrigued, and traveled across the country to see Riverside.Shewas given the grand tour by Sam Rubee. In her story for the magazine, published in May of 1927, Mary Mullett wrote, “Can you imagine a cemetery where chil dren flock to play? Where the littlest ones go in winter, to skate on a tiny lake? Where, in summer, they joy ously feed the stately swans in this sameAlake?”favorite feature of the lake for many years was the large fountain that operated year-round. In winter, it froze, forming a huge ice sculp ture that was admired by many. It was even featured in a story in the Feb. 2, 1895, Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette: “During the latter part of winter thousands of people have watched the growing wonder of the “ice fountain” in the center of the artificial lake in beautiful Riv erside Cemetery in Marshalltown. It reached a height of some forty feet and changed with each passing wind.”In 1965, Mrs. Vernon Forsberg took a photo of her children and the children of Mr. and Mrs. Allen Mc Naughten playing together on the shore of Lake Woodmere, with two swans swimming nearby. She sub mitted her photo to the Des Moines Register and won a $50 prize for it in a photography contest the news paper was holding. The photo was on the cover of the Register’s “Pic ture” magazine supplement pub lished on May 16, 1965.
His cemetery planning and design ideas were considered to be quite radical at the time. He sur veyed and measured the land at Riverside and drew detailed plat maps that included the measure ments of each individual plot. We still use the actual maps today that Rubee drew in 1898. By the turn of the last century, the city was providing water at no cost to schools, churches, and other public and semi-public organiza tions, including Riverside. Accord ing to a July 2, 1900 Evening TimesRepublican story, the city was planning to cut down that list and begin charging for the water. The Board of Trustees objected heartily to this and told the city that River side couldn’t afford to pay for water and would have to shut it off. “Without water for the grass and for the lakes and fountains, the cemetery would soon become a dreary looking place,” the story read.The Trustees argued also that all of the people of Marshalltown were interested in Riverside and its main tenance, “and if left to a vote of the people the latter would say almost unanimously that water should be supplied free.” It’s our understand ing that the subject came up several times in later years, but the free wa ter has continued throughout the life of Lake Woodmere, well over 120 Theyears.lake has been the subject of many news stories throughout its history. In 1901, residents were no tified that seining for fish anywhere in the county was illegal, with the exception of the lake at Riverside. That was because the lake here is landlocked, has no natural inlet or outlet, and “does not become stocked with fish from other wa ters.”I was surprised to find that in 1904, the paper reported that “the lake will be known hereafter as Wil lowood Lake.” We don’t know when or why the name was changed to Woodmere.In1911, the lake was drained of water to remove “a million or more fish” so that the lake could be cleaned out and beautified. It was reported that the fish included carp, sunfish, buffalo fish, black bass, and bullheads. The buffalo fish and carp were not saved, but the others were released in the Iowa River.
8|TimesPast|202221,Aug.Sunday,|IowaMarshalltown,|Times-Republicantimesrepublican.com Jeff Isgrig First Vice President - Investment Officer James Hunt, AAMS© Financial Advisor Investment and Insurance Products: Not FDIC-insured • NO Bank Guarantee • MAY Lose Value Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, member SIPC, is a registered broker-dealer and separate nonbank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. Roger FinancialKaputAdvisor 14 E. Southridge Marshalltown, IA. 641-752-5401 • 800-542-2223 Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, Member SIPC Jeff Isgrig First Vice President - Investment Officer James Hunt, AAMS© Financial Advisor Investment and Insurance Products: Not FDIC-insured • NO Bank Guarantee • MAY Lose Value Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, member SIPC, is a registered broker-dealer and separate nonbank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. Roger FinancialKaputAdvisor 14 E. Southridge Marshalltown, IA. 641-752-5401 • 800-542-2223 Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, Member SIPC Jeff Isgrig First Vice President - Investment Officer James Hunt, AAMS© Financial Advisor Investment and Insurance Products: Not FDIC-insured • NO Bank Guarantee • MAY Lose Value Fargo Advisors, LLC, member SIPC, is a registered broker-dealer and separate nonbank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. Roger FinancialKaputAdvisor 14 E. Southridge Marshalltown, IA. 641-752-5401 • 800-542-2223 Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, Member SIPC Karen Neff Financial Advisor
