Baer Ag Supply, Inc. – The End of a Historic Legacy

September 11, 2017 by admin

In 1946, Leo Francis Garland and his son, Francis E. “Pat” Garland, purchased the property at 6th Street and Hickman and built their own company—LF Garland and Son Grain Company. Leo’s son-in-law, Joe Wiltgen, later became a partner as well.

The families’ children and grandchildren spent a lot of time both working and playing at the grain elevator. They delivered water, coal and other merchandise around town, and when there wasn’t work to be done, they’d join other neighborhood kids behind the elevator to play baseball, wiffle ball or football, or in the wintertime, to play in the snow.

“Half the town would be down there,” says Chuck Garland. “In the winter, elevator snow would be piled high and all us kids would build tunnels and slide.”

Meanwhile, in the 1960s, Lewis Baer started a fertilizer and chemical plant on the north side of Hickman (where Shottenkirk Chevrolet sits today). The plant, called Baer Ag Supply, offered custom spraying, as well as the sales and storage of fertilizer, lime, chemicals and seed.

As the company expanded, Baer took on several partners—Al Scholes, Jay Hoskinson and Bob McIlrath—yet remained the majority stockholder. McIlrath came on board in 1973, when Baer purchased Dexter Fertilizer, a liquid fertilizer and chemical business located in Dexter.

In 1976, Baer Ag Supply’s expansion continued with the purchase of LF Garland and Son’s elevator across from them on Hickman. The grain elevator operated under the name Waukee Grain and Feed until 1983, when it was changed to Baer Ag Supply, Inc., to tie all of the operations together.

In 1978, grain storage and drying capacity were added. In 1982, the company also added a new central office and scales. During peak times, Baer Ag Supply employed 21 full-time employees at the Waukee and Dexter locations, as well as additional part-time seasonal employees.

Baer and his partners expanded their service territory to include as far south as Cummings, north to Ankeny and past Dexter to Stuart. In 1997, Heartland Co-op acquired Baer Ag Supply’s grain elevator facility on the south side of Hickman and the fertilizer plant in Dexter, and then leased the fertilizer and chemical plant on the north side of Hickman.

After the widening of Highway 6 (Hickman Road) to four lanes, the remaining fertilizer and chemical facilities on the north side were eventually sold to Doug Telke in 2001, who used it for general storage, as well as lawn mower sales and operations. He eventually sold the property to Shottenkirk in 2008.

Heartland Co-op sold the remnants of Baer Ag Supply’s buildings and land to Kum & Go. In June of 2017, preparations were made to demolish the old buildings and begin new construction of a Kum & Go Marketplace. The Waukee Area Historical Society acquired Baer Ag Supply’s company sign. Kum & Go presented the sign to the society on August 6, 2017 at the Waukee Public Library.

More About Lewis Baer

Lewis Baer was born in March of 1921 on the Baer family farm in Cedar County. He attended school at Tipton Junior College and Iowa State University, and met his wife, Avalon Seiberling, while attending school at Tipton. They were married for nearly 64 years.

At Iowa State, Baer’s class started the AG ED 450 farm. He taught high school agriculture and sponsored Future Farmers of America in Keota and Waukee. He was also very active in our community, serving on the school board and town council, as well as being an active member of Waukee United Methodist Church. He was passionate about soil conservation practices and once served as president of the Iowa Fertilizer and Chemical Association.

Lewis Baer passed away on September 29, 2007. He is laid to rest at Resthaven Cemetery in West Des Moines.

Waukee History: Lewis Addison Grant

March 8, 2017 by admin

Many of us already know that Waukee was founded in 1869, when General Lewis Addison Grant and Major William Ragan purchased 320 acres of land from Cyrus W. Fischer. But how much do you know about these men? Let’s take a closer look at the life of Lewis Addison Grant.

Grant was born to James and Elizabeth Wyman Grant on January 17, 1828, in Winhall Hallow, Bennington County, Vermont. The youngest of 10 children, he attended school at the Academy at Chester in Townsend, Vermont until he was 16 years old. He also taught school for five years while he studied law. He passed the bar in 1855 and practiced law in Bellow Falls, Vermont.

Grant married S. Agasta Hartwell on March 11, 1857. The couple welcomed a daughter named Augusta Sarah in 1859. Unfortunately, his wife passed away on January 27, 1859. Lewis remarried four years later to Mary Helen Pierce—a niece of President Franklin Pierce. Together, they had two sons, Ulysses Sherman, born in 1867, and James Colfax, born in 1869.

Grant left the firm of Stoughton & Grant to enter the Army at the onset of the Civil War. He was commissioned major of the Fifth Vermont Infantry Volunteers which was mustered into service on September 16, 1861 at St. Albans, Vermont to serve three years.

According to war department records, Major Grant participated in several important battles with his brigade in the confederate army, including those in Yorktown on May 5, 1862; Golding Farm on June 28, 1862; Savage Station on June 29, 1862; White Oak Swamp on June 30, 1862; and Fredericksburg from December 13-14, 1862. In the position of Brigade Commander or Division Commander, he battled Fredericksburg and Salem Heights from May 3-5, 1863; Gettysburg from July 2-3, 1863; and many more.

“The battle at Salem Heights, Virginia, on May 3, 1863, was the first taste of combat leadership for Colonel Lewis Grant, who had assumed command of his brigade only two and one-half months earlier. He was cited for his heroic leadership in that action wherein, having already crossed the river, he deployed his men along Hazel run, outside Fredericksburg. The Confederate army poured out of the city and attacked the Union forces near Salem Church, where Colonel Grant led his men is a brave defense during which he was himself wounded. His forces held throughout the night, enabling the Sixth corps to cross the river the following morning.”

Grant was honorably discharged as a Colonel on May 20, 1864. He then accepted an appointment as Brigadier General of Volunteers. The same year, he was commissioned Major General of United States Volunteers for gallant and meritorious service in the campaign before Richmond, Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. From June 18 to July 10, 1864, he and his men were at the Siege of Petersburg; from Dec. 1864 to April 1865, they were at the assault on Petersburg; and from April 2-6, 1865, they were at Sailor Creek.

Our General Grant was a distinguished officer and a commander of the famed Vermont Brigade. Honorably discharged on August 24, 1865, he was approached to accept another commission in July of 1866. After four years of serving, he declined the honor, preferring to live a private life.

After his discharge, General Grant resumed practicing law in Moline, Illinois and later, in Des Moines.

In 1869, his land investment company, Grant, Ragan and Co., planned and laid out our Waukee. General Grant’s business ventures led him to the Twin Cities. His real estate interests in the Twin Cities eventually demanded more of his attention and he and his family moved there.

From 1890-1893, he served as Assistant Secretary of War. During six weeks of this time (Nov. 5, 1891 to Dec. 17, 1891), he served as Acting Secretary of War, under President Benjamin Harrison, until Secretary Elkins entered office. On May 11, 1893, General Grant received the Medal of Honor for his part in the Battle of Salem Heights.

Lewis Grant died at the age of 90 on March 20, 1918, in Minneapolis. He is buried at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

Waukee History: Area Coal Mines & The Community

November 5, 2016 by admin

In 1883, a group of Waukee businessmen first gathered to discuss the possibility that there may be coal in the area.

In 1919, a man named Mr. Harris began the undertaking of starting the area’s first coal mine.

In 1920, The Harris Coal Mine was established. A 417-foot mine shaft was dug and proper infrastructure was completed. The Harris Mine was located two and a half miles northeast of Hickman Road in Waukee. The mine closed in 1927.

The Shuler Coal Company operated from 1921 to 1949. It employed up to 500 men and used 32 mules. It was located on Douglas, about three-quarters of a mile east and slightly north of the Harris Mine—across the street from where Shuler Elementary School is today.

The work in the mines was very dangerous and required hard physical labor. Dangers included cave-ins and exposure to exhaust gases from carbide lamps. The working environment inside the mines was cramped, dark and dusty, and the temperature varied depending on the depth of the shaft. Small tools were used to put timbers in place to help prevent cave-ins. A siren would go off in the camp to alert workers and residents of accidents in the mine.

Carbide lamps were the main source of light inside the mines. Hand drills were used to place dynamite in coal veins, and the blasting was done mainly at night so other workers would not be in the area. In the morning, workers would break the coal into 20- to 50-pound pieces to be loaded into coal cars and brought to the surface. Mules pulled the coal carts to elevators, which brought the carts up to the surface. One of these mules was named Pete (pictured). Pete the mule worked for 28 years at the Shuler Mine. He eventually lost his eyesight from being in the dark for so many years, but regained it after his retirement.

The mines provided an economical opportunity for immigrants from Italy and central European countries. The Shuler Mine Camp had family housing, a gas station used for fuel and car repair, a general store, a tavern and a school for the miners’ children. The families were sustained by seasonal gardens, fish, wildlife and items sold at the general store. Miners would gather inside the store and tavern to socialize.

The Shuler Camp had many activities for everyone, from music groups to a baseball team. Accordion music was very popular. In the summertime, swimming in area gravel pits was a favorite activity among the children. Many of them would attend Bible camps in the summer, as well.

When the Shuler Mine closed in 1949, foreman Donald Cruikshank (pictured) was the last man out. He worked his entire adult life in the coal mining industry.