DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Reuben Gaines' memoir, undated

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Page 51

PAGE 51. Buxton
harnessed or strapped to the mules stern and which is commonly called the "but stick" and the mule driver hooks the other end to the front of the car; then the driver places one foot on the extended portion of the car; then the other foot on the tail chain; now he has one hand on the mules rump and the other hand at the top of the car for support and balance. When a driver with his load is enroute to the bottom where the cage is located; and just before he arrives at his destination he bends down and unhook the chain and gives the command the mule and the driver goes through a hole in the wall which is known as a "Break Through" and then he is in another entry where he hooks on to anoth string of empty cars and is again on his way for distribution. To have seen this in person was quite an experience. My family lived in Muchakinock only for a short time. Around the turn of the centry the mines at Muchakinock began to play out. The Consolidation Coal Company that owned the mines began to look over their options on new coal fields for development. They found what they were looking for in Northern Monroe County about 10 miles North of where Albia is located. This town was to become Buxton, and named after the superintendent of the coal Company with one of the largest and most well known of the coal camps. Since there was sincere talk of moving the town my father Reuben Gaines Sr. decided to buy two forty acre plots near the soon to be constructed town. They were purchased for fifty dollars an acre. One forty acre plot was just directly across the county line from Buxton and was the section to be known in the histor of the area as Gainstown. In Oct. of 1900 we moved from Muchakinock to Buxton. At the time only five families were there. The farm that my father bought was in Mahaska County and on the County line just across the road or Highway was Buxton in Monroe county. Reuben Gaines Sr. built a Barber Shop which was only ten inches from the Monroe County side of the county line because at some early time the road had been changed from the county line and left a few acres of the Gaines land bordering the Consolidation coal companies line. The location was excellent so a small town was built and along about 1912 - 1915 Gaines town was on the Iowa Map. Gainestown grew rite across the road as Buxton grew and it was a small town without any post office but the businesses there were numerous Gaines Sr. sold a few front lots and a few acres to B. F. Cooper,- a Pharmacist who built a drug Store; grocery store and dance hall. Buxton was often called a rough town; even a violent Town and I agree that its repuration was properly deserved. Buxton was just as violent as any of the western towns you have seen on TV but with one semular difference by using horses to commit violence in the far west it was a talking and walking violence in Buxton. Nine tenths of the people were "God fearing people" and there were churches of many denominations all about the town and it is inconceivable how a few dozen people can have a town classified from good to bad by their violent action. The Coal

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PAGE 51. Buxton harnessed or strapped to the mules stern and which is commonly called the "but stick" and the mule driver hooks the other end to the front of the car; then the driver places one foot on the extended portion of the car; then the other foot on the tail chain; now he has one hand on the mules rump and the other hand at the top of the car for support and balance. When a driver with his load is enroute to the bottom where the cage is located; and just before he arrives at his destination he bends down and unhook the chain and gives the command the mule and the driver goes through a hole in the wall which is known as a "Break Through" and then he is in another entry where he hooks on to anoth string of empty cars and is again on his way for distribution. To have seen this in person was quite an experience. My family lived in Muchakinock only for a short time. Around the turn of the centry the mines at Muchakinock began to play out. The Consolidation Coal Company that owned the mines began to look over their options on new coal fields for development. They found what they were looking for in Northern Monroe County about 10 miles North of where Albia is located. This town was to become Buxton, and named after the superintendent of the coal Company with one of the largest and most well known of the coal camps. Since there was sincere talk of moving the town my father Reuben Gaines Sr. decided to buy two forty acre plots near the soon to be constructed town. They were purchased for fifty dollars an acre. One forty acre plot was just directly across the county line from Buxton and was the section to be known in the histor of the area as Gainstown. In Oct. of 1900 we moved from Muchakinock to Buxton. At the time only five families were there. The farm that my father bought was in Mahaska County and on the County line just across the road or Highway was Buxton in Monroe county. Reuben Gaines Sr. built a Barber Shop which was only ten inches from the Monroe County side of the county line because at some early time the road had been changed from the county line and left a few acres of the Gaines land bordering the Consolidation coal companies line. The location was excellent so a small town was built and along about 1912 - 1915 Gaines town was on the Iowa Map. Gainestown grew rite across the road as Buxton grew and it was a small town without any post office but the businesses there were numerous Gaines Sr. sold a few front lots and a few acres to B. F. Cooper,- a Pharmacist who built a drug Store; grocery store and dance hall. Buxton was often called a rough town; even a violent Town and I agree that its repuration was properly deserved. Buxton was just as violent as any of the western towns you have seen on TV but with one semular difference by using horses to commit violence in the far west it was a talking and walking violence in Buxton. Nine tenths of the people were "God fearing people" and there were churches of many denominations all about the town and it is inconceivable how a few dozen people can have a town classified from good to bad by their violent action. The Coal