IF THIS HOUSE COULD TALK -- Blog Post #25 -- Trains A Way of Life
Long before there was Amazon, there was the train from St. Joe. When Charles needed an atomizer to treat his son Charlie’s sore throat from diphtheria, he wired St. Joe at 1:00 a.m. to order one. It was delivered by noon that day on the train from St. Joe.
Trains were intertwined with the changes in transportation, commerce, and lifestyles in Marysville in the latter half of the 19th century. The first train came into Marshall County over the St. Joseph & Western Railroad in 1870, and the next year, the line was extended to Marysville.
Trains brought freight and mail to town. It was by rail that the iconic lions that sit in front of me were delivered in 1881. When my grounds were flooded in1882, Charles built the brick wall that still stands today around my grounds to keep out flood waters. It took 100,000 bricks shipped in two train loads and a railcar of cement to build the wall. Not everything was brick and mortar. One year Charles’ gardener had 200 cut roses packed in ice delivered from Chicago for Decoration Day.
There was a growing number of local trains in Marysville which Charles used to conduct his bank business. He made day trips to Axtell, Beattie, Blue Springs, and Irving to visit customers. He typically left early in the morning, as early as 1:00 a.m., arrived at dawn, had breakfast, went out by horse and buggy to meet with farm customers, and returned by train to Marysville in time to have supper here. After one of his trips to Axtell in 1885, he marveled that he could go 40 or so miles that day “to do a comfortable day’s work.”
Trains were a part of everyday life for Charles’ children. They went to the train station to watch the elephants and other animals being unloaded when the circus came to town. Daughters Tinnie and Jennie took a day trip to Seneca to attend a party in their honor. They took the train with friends to Axtell where amateur players from Seneca performed. Son Charlie and some of his friends went to Herkimer to celebrate the Fourth of July and returned home at midnight.
One fall, Charles, the children, and a couple of Schmidt cousins made the two-hour train ride to Blue Springs to attend the fair at Wymore Fair Grounds. After lunch at the hotel, they went by streetcar to the fairgrounds. They returned by train in the evening. Many people from Marysville also took the train over and back to see the fair.
Charles used trains for more than business. In 1882, he traveled to Hiawatha to buy plants at a greenhouse there. He bought snowdrops, pinks, agave (Century plants), and agapanthus for his gardens and greenhouse.
Pictured is the former Beattie train depot that was relocated to Marysville. It sits in Marysville City Park. Charles would have used this depot which was built in 1886 when he went to Beattie to conduct bank business.
