Historical Restoration

 

As of 7 May 2008, the restoration project on the Dover schoolhouse has come to life.  Last year the Iowa State Historical Society of Iowa awarded Kevin and Cindy Frueh a $5,000 matching grant to begin the first phase of renovation   The Iowa weather has finally cooperated and our local Lee County stonemason, Mike Jarvis, has started the process of repairing the crack in the northwest wall.

 

Mike said that the old school has stood firm for all its 100 plus years.  It has not been warped by settling, and all the angles in the building are still true, indicating that considerable care went into its construction.  The walls were of two layers of limestone block, fitted and mortared into place.  Mike said the two layers allowed the walls to adjust to having considerable cold on the outside while the inside was heated.  Although a few of the blocks, especially at the base, are so large he has had difficulty moving them, most are easily moved by one man.  At this time, he has had to remove the entire northwest corner of the building, foundation to roof, and re-mortar all of it.  All large stones have been numbered and will be placed back in their original order.  The smaller stones will be inserted to fill in spaces and smaller cracks will be repaired later.  Mike expects to be done by 16 May if Iowa weather cooperates.

 

Two segments of the blackboard which ran the length of the north wall were carefully removed to work on the inside repairs.  It was discovered that the blackboard, mounted on a wooden frame, was not actually attached to the stones but nailed and secured into wooden pegs inserted in the mortar between the stones.  The name of Mr. Ben Neff, La Crew, IA was written on the back of both segments.  If anyone has information on Mr. Neff and his family, the department would like to have it on file for reference purposes.  

 

Since the appearance of the building is constantly changing, progress reports will be placed in upcoming issues and pictures will be available in the Genealogy Department and eventually on the library web site.  ~ Written and submitted by Aaron and Diane Kruse

Dover School Restoration

 

The large crack in the northwest corner wall of the Dover schoolhouse has been completed.   Although the rest of the project will take years to complete, the walls and the other three corners are the primary concerns. 

 

Because the walls were continuously exposed to the elements over more than 100 years, restoration is necessary to help maintain the integrity of the walls.  Because concrete, which was harder than the stone used to build the school, was used to patch many areas probably in the 1940s, Mike will have to grind and remove mortar to at least one-half inch and replace it with mortar that’s softer than the material he is working with, in this case limestone.

 

Tuckpointing is the term most often used to describe the process of cutting out deteriorated mortar joints in masonry walls to a uniform depth and filling in those joints with fresh mortar. 

 

Smaller projects may be on the list for completion during the ongoing tuckpointing project and will be reported on when work is started and completed. 

 

A photo journal of this on-going project is in the process of being assembled in the Genealogy Department of the Donnellson Library.

 

   

Benjamin J. Neff and Dover School

 

       - The name Ben Neff was written on two segments of blackboard removed to repair the NW corner of the Dover schoolhouse.

 

In the May newsletter, the author noted that the name Ben Neff was written on two segments of blackboard removed to repair the NW corner of the historic Dover schoolhouse.  Further research was done to see how Mr. Neff may be connected with Dover.  Pam Neff and Roberta Krehbiel contributed information for this article.

 

Mr. Benjamin J. Neff was the son of John and Katherine Faeth Neff.  He was born on Sept 27, 1889 and died on Jan 4, 1944 in Mt. Pleasant, IA and was buried in the Zion Mennonite Cemetery.   He was educated in a rural grade school and German church school. 

 

He was baptized upon confession of faith and received into the membership of the Zion Mennonite Church at the age of 14 years.  He later transferred membership to the First Baptist Church in Mt. Pleasant, after moving to that city in 1934.

 

He married Elizabeth M. Krebill on Feb 23, 1912 at the bride’s home (Frederick H. Krebill and Elizabeth R. Rings, second wife).  They lived on the old Bentzinger farm north of Donnellson for

a number of years where their three daughters (Hazel, Lela and Alice) were born and raised.  The Neff family was active in the Mennonite Church during their years in this community and Mr. Neff served a number of years as superintendent of the Sunday school.

 

In 1934 Mr. Neff and his family moved to Mt. Pleasant, IA and operated an oil station and grocery store near his home on Lincoln St; in 1943 he closed his business and began work at the Burlington ordnance plant.

 

According to information from the autobiography and family history entitled “Bygone Days” by Irene Nora (Hulsebus) Neff, Benjamin Neff attended events at the Dover schoolhouse known as “The Literary”.  At this event people would get up and give readings or speeches, play

instruments, and the little ones would

give recitations or do skits.

 

In a letter from Rosalie Schnebele, she stated “one night Uncle Ben (he must have been 7 or 8 years old) gets up and says,

            I’m a little ‘publican

            This glory to my name!

            I wouldn’t be a Democrat,

            I think ‘twould be a shame!”

 

Rosalie also wrote “that there were some embarrassed brothers and sister there, maybe Grandfather John Neff II.  She suspected that the meetings were fun if politics was left out of it.”     

 

Ben was described as being hard working; he wrote poetry and was an artist and quite creative.  He would carve things out of wood for family members and for his church.

The Mennonite cemetery book on page 131 describes two of the things he made for the church.  “Besides serving as Sunday school superintendent in the early 1900s, Ben Neff used his talent with the saw and hammer to construct a replica of the church wired with a light inside.  The small stars with names of the Sunday school classes and number enrolled in each were attached to a larger star which rotated.  People figures moved in and out of the south door.  In the manger scene, the star was wired and rotated, shining its light on Bethlehem.” 

 

Research is continuing on the connection of Ben Neff to the blackboard segments found in the Dover schoolhouse via contacts with several family members.   If anyone has information on Ben’s connection to the Dover schoolhouse, please contact the newsletter editor at 319-470-8982.  Further information will follow in the July newsletter. ~ Written and submitted by Diane Kruse

Historical Restoration

 

As of 7 May 2008, the restoration project on the Dover schoolhouse has come to life.  Last year the Iowa State Historical Society of Iowa awarded Kevin and Cindy Frueh a $5,000 matching grant to begin the first phase of renovation   The Iowa weather has finally cooperated and our local Lee County stonemason, Mike Jarvis, has started the process of repairing the crack in the northwest wall.

 

Mike said that the old school has stood firm for all its 100 plus years.  It has not been warped by settling, and all the angles in the building are still true, indicating that considerable care went into its construction.  The walls were of two layers of limestone block, fitted and mortared into place.  Mike said the two layers allowed the walls to adjust to having considerable cold on the outside while the inside was heated.  Although a few of the blocks, especially at the base, are so large he has had difficulty moving them, most are easily moved by one man.  At this time, he has had to remove the entire northwest corner of the building, foundation to roof, and re-mortar all of it.  All large stones have been numbered and will be placed back in their original order.  The smaller stones will be inserted to fill in spaces and smaller cracks will be repaired later.  Mike expects to be done by 16 May if Iowa weather cooperates.

 

Two segments of the blackboard which ran the length of the north wall were carefully removed to work on the inside repairs.  It was discovered that the blackboard, mounted on a wooden frame, was not actually attached to the stones but nailed and secured into wooden pegs inserted in the mortar between the stones.  The name of Mr. Ben Neff, La Crew, IA was written on the back of both segments.  If anyone has information on Mr. Neff and his family, the department would like to have it on file for reference purposes.  

 

Since the appearance of the building is constantly changing, progress reports will be placed in upcoming issues and pictures will be available in the Genealogy Department and eventually on the library web site.  ~ Written and submitted by Aaron and Diane Kruse

Dover School Restoration

 

The large crack in the northwest corner wall of the Dover schoolhouse has been completed.   Although the rest of the project will take years to complete, the walls and the other three corners are the primary concerns. 

 

Because the walls were continuously exposed to the elements over more than 100 years, restoration is necessary to help maintain the integrity of the walls.  Because concrete, which was harder than the stone used to build the school, was used to patch many areas probably in the 1940s, Mike will have to grind and remove mortar to at least one-half inch and replace it with mortar that’s softer than the material he is working with, in this case limestone.

 

Tuckpointing is the term most often used to describe the process of cutting out deteriorated mortar joints in masonry walls to a uniform depth and filling in those joints with fresh mortar. 

 

Smaller projects may be on the list for completion during the ongoing tuckpointing project and will be reported on when work is started and completed. 

 

A photo journal of this on-going project is in the process of being assembled in the Genealogy Department of the Donnellson Library.

 

   

Benjamin J. Neff and Dover School

 

       - The name Ben Neff was written on two segments of blackboard removed to repair the NW corner of the Dover schoolhouse.

 

In the May newsletter, the author noted that the name Ben Neff was written on two segments of blackboard removed to repair the NW corner of the historic Dover schoolhouse.  Further research was done to see how Mr. Neff may be connected with Dover.  Pam Neff and Roberta Krehbiel contributed information for this article.

 

Mr. Benjamin J. Neff was the son of John and Katherine Faeth Neff.  He was born on Sept 27, 1889 and died on Jan 4, 1944 in Mt. Pleasant, IA and was buried in the Zion Mennonite Cemetery.   He was educated in a rural grade school and German church school. 

 

He was baptized upon confession of faith and received into the membership of the Zion Mennonite Church at the age of 14 years.  He later transferred membership to the First Baptist Church in Mt. Pleasant, after moving to that city in 1934.

 

He married Elizabeth M. Krebill on Feb 23, 1912 at the bride’s home (Frederick H. Krebill and Elizabeth R. Rings, second wife).  They lived on the old Bentzinger farm north of Donnellson for

a number of years where their three daughters (Hazel, Lela and Alice) were born and raised.  The Neff family was active in the Mennonite Church during their years in this community and Mr. Neff served a number of years as superintendent of the Sunday school.

 

In 1934 Mr. Neff and his family moved to Mt. Pleasant, IA and operated an oil station and grocery store near his home on Lincoln St; in 1943 he closed his business and began work at the Burlington ordnance plant.

 

According to information from the autobiography and family history entitled “Bygone Days” by Irene Nora (Hulsebus) Neff, Benjamin Neff attended events at the Dover schoolhouse known as “The Literary”.  At this event people would get up and give readings or speeches, play

instruments, and the little ones would

give recitations or do skits.

 

In a letter from Rosalie Schnebele, she stated “one night Uncle Ben (he must have been 7 or 8 years old) gets up and says,

            I’m a little ‘publican

            This glory to my name!

            I wouldn’t be a Democrat,

            I think ‘twould be a shame!”

 

Rosalie also wrote “that there were some embarrassed brothers and sister there, maybe Grandfather John Neff II.  She suspected that the meetings were fun if politics was left out of it.”     

 

Ben was described as being hard working; he wrote poetry and was an artist and quite creative.  He would carve things out of wood for family members and for his church.

The Mennonite cemetery book on page 131 describes two of the things he made for the church.  “Besides serving as Sunday school superintendent in the early 1900s, Ben Neff used his talent with the saw and hammer to construct a replica of the church wired with a light inside.  The small stars with names of the Sunday school classes and number enrolled in each were attached to a larger star which rotated.  People figures moved in and out of the south door.  In the manger scene, the star was wired and rotated, shining its light on Bethlehem.” 

 

Research is continuing on the connection of Ben Neff to the blackboard segments found in the Dover schoolhouse via contacts with several family members.   If anyone has information on Ben’s connection to the Dover schoolhouse, please contact the newsletter editor at 319-470-8982.  Further information will follow in the July newsletter. ~ Written and submitted by Diane Kruse