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| David Russell Remick |
Employed before and after the war by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and its later subsidiary, the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, he left the employ of those companies as construction of the railroad --- stalled by the Civil War at Ottumwa --- moved west across the south of Iowa during 1867. He did so to launch a successful career as an independent entrepreneur that would continue in Iowa, Nebraska and California for more than 30 years.
Shortly after the first trains rolled into Chariton during July of 1867, David rolled in, too, to open the city's first real lumber yard near the first depot in partnership with E.D. Rand & Co. It was located across the railroad tracks northwest of the much later C.B.&Q. Freight House, now owned and operated by the Lucas County Arts Council.
Before the trains arrived, building materials not generated locally --- as well as most other items on the shelves in Chariton stores --- had arrived in town by ox-drawn or horse-drawn wagon. The rails revolutionized how business was done and David had positioned himself to take full advantage of the demand generated by the building boom that ensued.
During his year in Chariton, David --- whose wife and daughter, Emma, had died in Burlington while he was serving the Union cause --- shared quarters about a half mile from the yard with his clerk, a Mr. Downs.
Always the innovator, David came up with a transportation strategy that enable the two men to travel to and from the office utilizing one pony without riding double. Chariton Democrat editor John V. Faith was so intrigued that he reported upon it under the headline "Better Than a Street Car" in his edition of Feb. 22, 1868:
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General Remick, the lumber dealer in this place, is a genius in more than one respect. The General's residence is something near half a mile from his lumber yard, and to make that trip back and forth three times a day would require considerable walking exercise. Besides, there is Mr. Downs, who would, under ordinary circumstances, have to make the same journeys.
But fortunately the General has a pony and a colt, the latter being about one year old, and this fortunate circumstance enables both the men to ride from the office to the house, and from the house to the office, and both of them ride the pony. It might seem to be loading the little creature pretty heavily, but both of them do not ride him at the same time. The colt, as will be seen, is a necessary part of the arrangement. It may seem to be a little joke on the General's strategy, but we must tell it.
First, when one of the men goes to the office in the morning, he rides the pony, leaving the colt in the stable at home. Reaching the office, he dismounts, throws the stirrups over the saddle, and back goes the pony, at a 2:40 rate, in search of its mate, the colt. Then the other lets the colt out, mounts the pony, and takes both to the office the colt following.
At dinner time, they tie the colt up at the office, ride the pony to the house, and then letting him go as before, he makes good time back to the office, where the colt is waiting, and man No. 2 rides to dinner. And this is the way they work it day after day. We didn't expect if of the General.
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While David was in business in Chariton, his surviving daughter, Flora, age 13, had been in the care of relatives in Burlington. She became critically ill during the fall of 1868 and died on Oct. 17. That seems to have brought to a close the general's residence in Chariton.
Not easily discouraged, however, he soon was back on his feet and launching other enterprises farther west along the B&MR Railroad line across Iowa.
I'll have more to say about the life and times of this interesting character in southern Iowa's history another time.
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