Life in Worth County Back in 1873

From the May 29th, 1873 Grant City Star:

Back in those days, people didn’t have cameras and had no way to take selfies. There were traveling artists who came through town and did portraits for people. A Mr. Coup passed through Grant City.

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The cost for a good horse and buggy was $2.50 a day.

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Recently, someone was worried about a snake they saw and posted it on Facebook. It was a common garter snake. The Star reported that two men in Harrison County caught a large “bull snake” west of Bethany, which used to be covered with prairie. They took the snake to Bethany to show it off, and it would threaten people by hissing and roaring. The men were planning to sell it to the next traveling show that came along.

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Back in those days, there were no city crews, so the Street Commissioner would recruit a force of workers to repair the bridges on the principal streets of Grant City.

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Walter Taylor, who lived three miles west of Denver, had a large field of excellent rye. Just a few years before, that land had been prairie that people grazed their cattle on.

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Isadora once had its own practicing physician, Dr. J.D. Horn, who had been practicing there since 1867 or 1868. He built up a large practice during that time period and finally went on a vacation back East. One of the doctors from Grant City covered for him while he was gone.

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Well before the current Wool Shop, Grant City had its own Wool Shop back in 1873. Pete France had one on the southwest corner of the square; he would trade wool for dry goods or groceries or pay in cash. Worth County had its own barter economy.

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Al Cure of the City Hotel was also a successful fisherman. He would fish in the Grand River and would catch so many, he had enough to eat on his table daily.

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“Northwest Missouri is undoubtedly the best stock-growing region of the world. Cattle are bought and sold right here in Worth County at better figures than elsewhere. A few days since, a gentleman brought from Illinois 75 head of yearling calves and sold them to Mr. Kent of Denver for $15 a head. The reason for this is that our rich prairie grass is so plenty that our farmers are not necessarily compelled to enclose large tracts of land and now the same with timothy and clover for the purpose of fattening up cattle.”