06/09/2022
J. M. Eldridge, Land & Loan Office - 1878
Jacob Mullen Eldridge was one of the most important land owners, speculators and developers in the early days of Davenport and the surrounding area. For many years leading up to his death in 1902, he was considered the "Encyclopedia of Local History," being one of the oldest remaining members of the Old Settlers' Association. Although the cluster photo of the "Old Settlers of Scott County Iowa," which was produced in 1866, credits the year 1836 as his arrival in Davenport, he did not come here with his father at that time, as one might suppose, but rather later, by himself, in 1845.
Jacob was born in Haddonfield, New Jersey, on November 20, 1824. His mother died when he was four years old, so he was sent off to live with his grandparents. Jacob's father, Duncan Campbell Eldridge, remarried, and came to Davenport in 1836, the very year it was platted, and he was obviously one of the earliest pioneer settlers of the town and ran a grocery and general store.
When Jacob was only 13, his grandfather passed away and he was left to his own devices for survival. He acquired work as a teamster, and soon owned a team of his own. He then clerked in a store, and started a business of his own. Impressed with the news and prospects of his father's adopted home of Davenport, Jacob sold his business in 1845 in order to secure funds to move West. Jacob arrived in Rock Island on December 23, 1845, after a hard 2-months' journey from Philadelphia, and spent Christmas eve in Davenport.
The following spring Jacob returned to the East to settle up his business affairs there, and was back in Davenport again in the fall. He purchased land three miles northeast of the city, constructed a home and set up an orchard farm. He paid $1.25 an acre for the land, and in 1874 sold it at $125 an acre! He named Jersey Ridge Road after his birthplace, i.e., Haddonfield, New Jersey.
Jacob Mullen Eldridge joined the Sons of Temperance in Iowa, in 1847, and at the time of his death was its oldest survivor. He married Mary Louise Woodward on June 1, 1848, in Davenport. Sadly, she died in December of 1849 after only 18 months of marriage. On July 25, 1851, Jacob married Mary High Williams.
Jacob was one of the first land agents in the area and by March of 1851, was extolling the virtues of Davenport and advertising land for sale in the newspapers of New York City and Washington, D.C. It was at that time that he purportedly advised his readers to "Go West, Young Man," a famous phrase later credited to Horace Greeley.
In 1855, Mr. Eldridge and Hiram Price were delegates to the convention held at Iowa City, which organized the Republican party in Iowa. He was also a delegate from Iowa to the convention of the so-called liberal Republicans that nominated Horace Greeley for the presidency in 1872.
Not only was Mr. Eldridge a land agent, but he purchased and sold businesses like investors flip houses today. Between 1857 and 1859 he purchased and sold C. Lesslie's Grocery and Dry Goods Store, J. W. Wiley's Grocery, Wilson & Harley's Grocery, Fearing's Hat and Cap Store, Mr. Barrow's Stove Store and W. J. Grigg's Boots and Shoes Store. In 1857, he also bought out the dry goods house of Mr. Harris, on Brady Street between Front and Second streets, which he then ran himself for a while until entering a partnership with A. F. Williams. The business became the Eldridge & Williams grocery in 1860, which Mr. Eldridge sold to Mr. Williams in 1861.
By 1860, Jacob moved his family into the city because his farm was not lucrative and his six children needed an education. The family first lived on the northwest corner of Farnam and Ninth streets.
Jacob was a leading member of the Christian Church and a staunch supporter of the various improvements of Davenport including the railroads and street car lines. He was prominent in the movement that extended the Chicago & Rock Island road to the river and across the state of Iowa as the Mississippi & Missouri. The two roads later consolidated, becoming the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific. He was also a member of the company that secured the franchise for the second railroad bridge.
Jacob continued to make land and railroad development his business for the rest of his life and dabbled as an insurance agent as well. He owned thousands of acres of undeveloped land in Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakota Territory. On July 2, 1871, he laid out the town of Eldridge Junction, which became Eldridge, Iowa. The town of Eldridge, North Dakota also bears his name and was the center of large interests in real estate he once held.
Mary H. Eldridge passed away at the age of 56, on June 10, 1885, after suffering from nervous prostration for about five years. At that time their residence was at Sixteenth and Farnam streets. Jacob then married Miss Agnes Smith on September 28, 1886. Jacob died in the 1530 Farnam Street home, on June 8, 1902.
Jacob's step-sister, Sarah E. Eldridge, had the distinction of being the first white girl born in Davenport (1837).
