LOCAL/FAMILY HISTORY DEPT. * DONNELLSON PUBLIC LIBRARY * 500 PARK AVE. * DONNELLSON, IA * 52625
History: Bargar, Dr. Valentine & Bonnell, Albert
August Newsletter
Keeping Iowa History Alive
Erma DeRosear’s article this month is taken from a Donnellson Review dated November 6, 1930. The article was submitted by Albert Bonnell and will be
written in two parts. The article contains information and concerns about events of early Iowa and Lee County history extracted from an old diary written in
1842 by Dr. Valentine Bargar. Bargar was the grandfather of Albert (Al) Bonnell’s second wife, Ida Alice Bargar. Information on the Albert Bonnell
family history is included as well. This article will continue in the September 2008 newsletter issue and will include diary information from May 25-May 30
as well as information on the Bargar Family.
Albert Bonnell, the youngest son of James Harvey and Rachel Ann Bonnell, was born January 17, 1862 in Dover, Iowa. He married Aldie Finger of Lee
County in 1883. They had two children, Celia Arena born in Dover December 4, 1885 and Roy Irvin born in Dover September 7, 1887. Aldie Finger Bonnell died June 17, 1889. Albert then married Ida Alice Bargar of Farmington, IA May 21, 1894 at the Bargar home. She was born February 14, 1865. They had seven children: Fern Evelyn born in Dover April 23, 1895; 1896; Don William born in Dover October 16, 1898; Leah Narcissa born in Dover April 28, 1900; Maurice Harvey born in Dover June 1, 1902; Rollin Albert born in Dover August 21, 1905; and Rachel Ida born in Dover February 8, 1907. Albert Bonnell and family lived on a small farm ¼ mile south of Dover from 1896 until 1910. In
September 1910 the Bonnell family moved to the ancestral home “Elmwood Farm” built by James Harvey Bonnell in 1852 and lived there until September
1921 when they moved to Ames, IA. Albert died October 24, 1939 and Ida A. Bonnell died February 6, 1944. Both are buried in Ames, IA.In this month’s excerpt, according to Al Bonnell, Dr. Bargar is giving a lecture on temperance in Lee County. Prohibition has become the leading question of the day and the diary entry presents very interesting information on the early settlement of the Midwest. People who do not believe in premonition will find the entry interesting.
The two little boys mentioned in the diary are M.L. Bargar and his brother Gilbert Bargar. Marchaud Lee (M.L.) and Gilbert Bargar were the sons of Valentine and Alice Chase Lee Bargar who married 6 Nov 1834. M.L. was born in Roscoe, Cochocoton Co. OH in 1836 and Gilbert was born WFT Est. 1831-1842
according to Rootsweb Ancestry records. (World Family Tree Est. is an abbreviation used when the database has estimated a date of birth, death or
marriage.) The diary begins with May 13, 1842: (all entries verbatim) “Crossed the Mississippi at 6 P.M. from Appanoose, IL. Madison is a fine looking place and some day will be a place of business, but is sickly. The first half mile after entering the Territory of Iowa, we saw a drunk man lying beside a log. The first
meal we ate in Iowa was corn bread. We stopped for the night one mile from Madison on the Farmington road. Last night I left my watch at Mr. King’s five
miles east of Plymouth, Ill.” May 14, 1842: “Left this morning for our destination. Arrived at Farmington, IA at 2 p.m. We traveled, going to Iowa, 652 miles. The trip took 19 ½ days. We have estimated a scope of country in Iowa. The country is new, and the land good. Tollman’s and Coon’s farms are cheap and good. Think of buying them. We averaged 36 miles per day on our journey.” May 20, 1842: “We are now at John Lawrence’s. This day we made a practical trade with Tollman. We visited Coon’s farm and Lawrence’s . We’ve just returned from a fishing tour on the Des Moines River. Farmington is a thriving village but the buildings are very poor and the town full of stumps. Ordinary looking citizens. Land around Farmington is good. The Des Moines is a beautiful river and had a rapid current, but it is sickly here—fever and ague. Fort Madison has the same and deserves it.”May 22, 1842: “This day we purchased a farm of Asa Tollman. Made, I think, about $500 each. The farm we purchased has 250 acres of prairie and 150 timber. Timber is white oak, hickory, basswood and cottonwood, together with hazel bushes. The prairie is rolling and good soil. There is a stream of water passing through the farm, a good 1 ½ story house, and a good well of water. 40 acres lies two miles from the farm, all timber. Part of the farm is in Van Buren county; part in Lee County, 14 miles from the Co. seat of Van Buren Co. and 22 miles from Co. seat of Lee Co., Ft. Madison.”
May 23, 1842: “Intend to start for John Lawrence’s tomorrow and Ben and I are to deliver a temperance address, and on the next day, start for Keokuk to take a boat to St. Louis and then for home. I feel very anxious to be at home to see my family. I often see them in my imaginary way. I fancy my little boys
running around lively as crickets. Again all my pleasure is destroyed when I fancy I see some of my family on a bed of sickness and may be some of them on their death bed.”May 24, 1842: “Left Farmington for home. Came as far as John Lawrence’s. Ben and I delivered a temperance address to a respectable audience at the
home of Mr. Newhouse. We are now going to Keokuk to take a boat for St. Louis. E.D. Smith is with us. The people in this vicinity are anxious to
promote the cause of temperance.” (To be continued in the September issue.)~ Nov 6, 1930 Donnellson Review article entitled “Interesting Old Diary Given” submitted by Erma DeRosear; information on Albert Bonnell taken from The Bonnell Family History donated by Jim and Julia Dale and article written and submitted by Diane Kruse
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September Newsletter
The Interesting Old Diary of Dr. Valentine Bargar
This is the concluding article on the “Interesting Old Diary” of Dr. Valentine Bargar. August’s issue told of his travels from May 13 through May 24 1842. This article continues with diary entries from May 25 to May 30, 1842. All entries are verbatim.
May 25, 1842 “Left Lawrence’s. Passed Montrose, saw Des Moines Barracks, Nauvoo or Mormontown. It is a very large and beautiful place. We then went
to Keokuk where we now are, waiting for a boat. Expect it by 8 o’clock. It is now 4 p.m. Edward came with us and had just left us. He seemed to feel bad at
leaving us. Keokuk is situated on the Mississippi 4 mi. above the mouth of the Des M. Iowa. The inhabitants are rather rough and profane. They use the drops too freely. I am informed the inhabitants are all rough on the Mississippi. The appearance of the country is beautiful, and lies well, except along the river where there are some bluffs and it is rather hilly. This village is at the foot of the rapids. One thing I must say for Keokuk is that some of the inhabitants
are civil and genteel in appearance. 5:30 p.m. and no boat come yet, and we are very impatient. Got on board the boat “Rosaline” at 10 p.m., a splendid
one. The Rosaline and Boreas ran a race from St. Louis to Keokuk. The Rosaline beat about 400 yards. They raced since we got on board from Keokuk to
Quincy, Ill., where we both stop and are preparing to race again. We passed Warsaw, Ill. Quincy is a beautiful place.
5 a.m.” May 26, 1842: “We are still lying at Quincy. We have started, now stopped at Marion City, Mo., a very sickley place and dead. The land is level and good.The river here is two miles wide with a great many islands in it. Passed Hannibal, Mo. Stopped at Clarksville to wood and to take on freight. It is a
village like many others on the Mississippi going to destruction owing to some cause or other which I cannot account for. Run aground twice today. The river is very low.”
May 27, 1842: “Arrived at St. Louis, walked through the city. It’s a large place and full of business. All kinds of vegetables in the markets. Saw a fish
that weighed 150 pounds. Sugar costs 4 cents a pound; molasses, 30 c gal; goods of all kinds cheap. 25 to 30 boats lying at St. Louis. Splendid court house, churches and everything else to make us happy in this world. 40 cords of buffalo hides on wharf. 2 p.m. Just got on board the Tribune. Left the Tribune and took passage on the West Wind.”
May 28, 1842: “Stayed on board the West Wind at 11 a.m. left St. Louis, passed Jefferson Barracks, full of soldiers.”
May 29, 1842: “Sunday morning, now 10 miles up the Ohio river. Heavy storm last night. Put in to shore and stayed there during storm which lasted two
hours. Thundered and lightened very sharp. Now we are about four miles above the mouth of the Tennessee river. Kentucky. We are now going upstream
at the rate of 15 mi. per hr. The banks along the river are low and the principal timber is cottonwood. The river here is interspersed with a number of islands.
The stage of elevation is medium. The boat we are on runs the fastest upstream of any boat I ever saw. The pop valve was forced up a few moments ago. I
cannot say that I am afraid. My doctrine is ‘what is to be will be’ so where is the use of perplexing ourselves with fear. I do not feel disposed to run into danger. The boat we are on is trying to make the quickest trip that has been made from St. Louis to Cincinnati. It is a new boat and is in good trim for speed. Has Evan patent safety valve and a powerful engine. Passed a cave below Shawneetown, called Rocking cave. Large enough to admit 6 horses and a wagon. 2 o’clock p.m. We are now at Shawneetown, Ill. 4 o’clock, stopped a few minutes to repair a bucket on the wheel. We are now plowing through the river at the rate of 15 to 20 miles per hour. I can now sit on the stem of the boat and see three states: Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. It is a hard matter to tell when Sunday comes for no Sunday is known. They never seem to think of Sunday on the river, nor do they seem to care.”
May 30, 1842: “We are now moving at the rate of 15 mi. per hour. We are now below Louisville 60 miles. The nearer I get home the more homesick I get. I am now very impatient to get home and would give $5 if I could be there for one hour. I find that it’s difficult to find a place where a man can live without
trouble and difficulty. The idea of hunting for a place to live happy is folly—trouble and opposition will forever follow us while we live here. Places that have advantages are always followed with some disadvantages. Men struggle to find a good place and deprive themselves of the comforts they might enjoy, and by the time they find a good place, are ready to die and turn into dust. We are just passing through the locks in Kentucky. I left the boat at the falls and saw in a village called Portland, a Ky giant. His height was 7 foot 10 and his gun which I saw was 8 feet long and was presented to him by a gentleman in New York. The canal around the falls is three miles long and cut through solid rock, done by the state of Ky. It is a tremendous piece of work. The stone wall on the upper lock is 35 feet high. Came from St. Louis to Louisville in 46 hours. A distance of 600 miles.”
END OF DIARY
NOTE: The following information was taken from the Louisville Daily Journal on May 31, 1842.
“’Fatal Steamboat Accident’ – The West Wind Captain Phillips arrived here last evening. On reaching the head of our canal, she made a short stop and when
just ready to start again, one of her flues collapsed with a tremendous report. Several of the deck passengers were terribly scalded, but none of the cabin
passengers were injured. We went on board about half an hour after the explosion and saw five persons, three men and two women lying in the most dreadful agonies. The women were Mrs. Dalhart (?) and sister from St. Louis for Pittsburg; Mr. Garwood (an old man) from St. Louis for Cincinnati; a Mr. Vidouck from St. Louis for Pittsburg; and a Mr. Samuel Ross from St. Louis for Cincinnati.
One of the physicians informed us that all these, except the last, were thought to be mortally hurt. The third cook was badly hurt by a flying brick. It is feared
that some were drowned, as many were seen to jump overboard. Several hats, for which no owners appeared, were found on the deck and in the canal. Dr.
Valentine Bargar of Newcastle, Ohio was missing and there was little doubt of his having been drowned. A lad informed us that he saw two men drown but did not know who they were.
A Mrs. Hale(?) of Marietta leaped overboard and swam unaided to the have been able to obtain.” At the end of the diary this notation was found: “Just as the boat pulled near the landing, the boiler exploded and many of the passengers lost their lives. Mr. Bargar was one of them and his body was recovered from the river and the diary was found on his person. His remains were buried at Louisville by his comrades whom he had left at St. Louis and were on the slower boat which arrived there some time after the explosion.”
The following was added by Albert Bonnell at the end of the article on “The Interesting Old Diary”. “The man called Ben in the diary was Mr. Benjamin Lee, a brother of Mr. Bargar’s brother-in-law, Dr. Edward Lee who resided on a part of the farm northeast of Farmington all his life. The temperance address given by Mr. Lee and Mr. Bargar at the residence of Mr. Newhouse must have been in the brick house just west of the Green Tree Tavern or Haffner Corner, as it is known today, located two miles north of Donnellson, Iowa. Mr. Newhouse kept what was known as the Black Horse Tavern and I suppose the people at the
Green Tree had been notified of the temperance address so the two together made up the largest part of the audience. At that time large quantities of goods
were hauled by teamsters from Keokuk to as far northwest as Sioux City, and as these taverns were located just about a day’s drive from Keokuk, they did a
thriving business in those days. The temperance address made on May 22, 1842, by these two men was without doubt the first made in the interest of
prohibition in the state of Iowa, and I am proud to know that it was in Lee County where I was born.—Albert Bonnell, Ames, Iowa”
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History of Dr. Valentine Bargar Valentine Bargar was born in Cadiz, Ohio, Harrison County on August 23, 1810. He was the son of Dr. Valentine Bargar Sr. and Jane Milligan. He grew up on his parent’s farm in Cadiz and attended Athens College. He graduated in medicine and had a good medical practice in Newcastle, Coshocton County, Ohio. He was married November 6, 1834 to Miss Alice Chase Lee in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. She was born October
16, 1814 and her parents were Dr. Elihu and Narcissa (Smith) Lee. Dr. Bargar died May 30, 1842 on the Ohio River, Louisville, Kentucky. His widow resided in Newcastle, Ohio with her children until her demise on September 28, 1851. She was a member of the Episcopal Church. Although Dr. Bargar was not a member of any religious organization, he was reared a Presbyterian. In politics he was a staunch Whig.~ Written and submitted by Erma DeRosear and Diane Kruse.
Information obtained from the Donnellson Review dated November 6, 1930 and a Family Album loaned by Gilbert Bargar
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