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Rural road names pt. 7: From Vine to Zeller

T-R PHOTOS BY MIKE DONAHEY — Shown recently is a Zeller Avenue sign near the border between Tama and Marshall counties.
Shown recently is a Wallace Avenue/East Main Street Road sign near where the roads intersect in Marshall County.
Shown recently is the road sign marking the intersection of Vine Avenue and East Main Street Road in Marshall County.

Editor’s Note: This is the seventh and final article in a series which began April 29.

It is an effort by the Times-Republican (T-R) to report the biographies of Marshall County residents of the mid to late 1800s whose names are posted on rural avenue road signs.

Last names – or names of former towns and villages – were mandated by the E-911 county system. The names were approved unanimously by the Marshall County Board of Supervisors in a June 16, 1986 resolution.

Joseph Armbrecht –chairman of the board — signed the resolution and it was attested to by Sherrill Snider, county auditor, according to county documents.

Special thanks to county Auditor Nan Benson, her colleague Sara Badger and county GIS director Melanie Ewalt.

They researched and confirmed the original documents were on file and provided copies.

In 1986, county officials used 1847 as a benchmark for avenue names, since the first claim for land in Marshall County near Le Grand was made then according to county archives.

“The (avenue) names were taken from the “History of Marshall County 1878,” sponsored by the Central Iowa Genealogical Society in Albion,” according to county documents. Names used are no reflection on present county residents.”

A further review of county records demonstrated efforts were made to use names of attorneys, businessmen, Civil War veterans, farmers, their wives and other settlers. Also included were those who made significant contributions to the county’s and Marshalltown’s initial development.

A review of resources revealed there were three exceptions to individuals being named.

The first is Lafayette Avenue — which was named for the former town later renamed Albion in 1858.

A second is Oxford Avenue.

It was reportedly named for the former town according to county documents.

However, there was no record of a town, township or village of that name in the county according to Dorie Tammen — library assistant with the Historical Society of Marshall County (HSMC) in Marshalltown.

She researched HSMC’s archives regarding Oxford.

Additionally, she provided photos and other valuable information for other avenue names.

A third is Prairie Avenue — named for the former village of Prairieville near Albion.

Veteran T-R correspondent Garry Brandenburg of Albion was extremely helpful in providing an oral history of Prairieville and submitting photos of a marker identifying its location near Albion.

Resources used for this series have been the “Atlas of Marshall County, Iowa,” Google, “Marshall County History 1862,” “History of Marshall County, Iowa, 1867,” “History of Marshall County, 1878,” “History of Marshall County 1955 by Gerard Schultz,” “The Continuing History of Marshall County 1997,” and “Marshalltown Illustrated.” The latter is not dated and was published as a supplement to the T-R under the supervision of the Marshalltown Retail Merchants Association.

Vine: Farm Wife

No listing for anyone by the name of Vine in the primary resource “The History of Marshall County 1878.” Other HSMC resources were checked without success.

Wallace: Road Supervisor

There are numerous Wallace’s listed in the “The History of Marshall County 1878.” However, there was no listing for a Wallace referenced as a “road supervisor.” Regardless the Google reported “Wallace Avenue in Marshall County, Iowa (passing through the Green Mountain area) is named after the prominent pioneer farming family who settled in the area during the county’s early history, specifically associated with the descendants who farmed near the Green Mountain community.

Accordingly, a William Wallace is cited in one resource as being one of three individuals who platted Green Mountain.

Local historical archives and legal firm records indicate that members of the Wallace family farmed on the west side of the road just south of Green Mountain. Historically, Arley Wilson, an attorney who grew up on a Wallace-owned family farm in the area.”

Zeller: Justice of the Peace and Postmaster

“He was a native of Hocking County, Ohio, who settled in the county,” according to the Atlas of Marshall County and Google.

The avenue is one of the county’s historically named rural roads, with the name stemming from early plat records and the area’s genealogical history.

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