The sod claim-houses were the first structures
seen on the site until in August, 1872, when the railroad was
completed to the place and the station
and section-house was built. In the next spring, J. W. Sturgis built a
storeroom and put in a stock of general
merchandise, who, together with three or four men in the employ of the
railroad, were the only inhabitants
of the town at this time. During the summer, Charles Clutz came, going
in as
partner with Sturgis. Later in the fall,
Bennett Cox erected a storeroom and dwelling, opening the store with a
general stock of goods, which he operated
for about one year, and, in 1879, David Stein and P. H. Cone took
the building, running a general store.
Edward Davis began working in metals, erecting a blacksmith shop in 1878.
In 1878, Luke Galdenstein built a storehouse
for the handling of general goods; H. M. Oliver put up a grain
elevator and started a lumber and coal
yard, and, in the next year, the Keystone Hotel was built by G. Z. Fink,
who kept it about a year, selling out
to a Mr. Warrick, who lived in the house a short time and moved away,
renting the building to Richard Harris.
A post office was established at Glenville
in June, 1873, and was kept by Joseph Kentner, Postmaster, in Sturgis'
store. Kentner held the position only
a few months, and, in the winter following his appointment, Bennett Cox
received the commission and the office
was taken to his store. Cox continued Postmaster up to the end of 1880,
and was succeeded by Luke Galdenstein
and the office is now kept in his storeroom.
The earliest religious services were
held in Glenville in July, 1873, when a number of the young men of the
town
held a sort of Sunday school in the
railroad depot. But a few persons were present on this first day, and it
was
announced that a similar meeting would
be held on the next Sunday. When the day came, wagon load after
wagon load might be seen gathering in
from all parts of the country to this rude teaching of the sacred word.
On
this day the house was filled and numbers
turned away for want of room. A regular union Sunday school was
organized and J. W. Small was elected
Superintendent, and the school has since continued. The first sermon
preached in the town was by Rev. Charles
Clutz in the depot. Several congregations have been organized in the
surrounding county, which now hold services
in the schoolhouse and Baptist Church in the town. These
denominations are the Presbyterian,
Rev. R. J. Smith, pastor; the American Baptists, Rev. M. Wilson, pastor;
German Baptists, Rev. Mr. Crane, pastor;
Methodist, Rev. F. Campbell, pastor; and the Evangelical
Association, Dr. Oyler, of Harvard,
pastor, and the Catholics, who are occasionally ministered unto in holy
things
by the priest from Hastings.
The first and only church house that
has been erected in the place was that built by the Baptists in the winter
of
1881-82. It is a small, one-story frame,
costing about $1,000, and was dedicated April 23, 1882. A school
district was organized in the town in
the winter of 1871-72, and R. Thompson, D. Fitch and R. S. Winters
composed the School Board.
A contract to build the schoolhouse was
given to W. D. Young, at that time a partner of Thompson, one of the
board, for which he was to receive the
bonds of the district to the amount of $3,350, at 10 per cent interest.
The
contract was then sub-let by Young to
Ramsey, who was to complete the house and furnish all the material for
$1,200. The bonds turned over to Young
were sold to New York parties, and have since been nearly all paid
off, amounting, with the interest, to
something like $5,000, making that virtually the cost of the house, which,
together with the furniture, did not
cost one-fourth that amount. Just where the profits went one is left to
conjecture. During that last term, the
school enrolled sixty pupils.
The first death in the place was Elizabeth
Carroll, the wife of George Carroll, a section-boss on the railroad, and
the first child born was Thomas, the
son of these parties.
The town at present numbers about twenty-five
houses in all, and has a population of about fifty. Of business
houses, it has one general merchandise,
one drug, one hardware, one grain elevator, lumber and coal yard.
The town is situated in a fine fertile
prairie district, well settled and improved. For its future promise much
cannot
be predicted, from its nearness to other
and better towns, which naturally must drain the bulk of the trade, leaving
Glenville with only a small territory
and limited trade for its support, and from these considerations it is
safe to
judge for the future that the town will
attain little growth beyond its present proportions.