This cache is being planted to help celebrate the 100th anniversary
of William Salter’s death. Also to remember those who
traveled the Underground Railroad did it without the help of our
GPSr. We hope that those who hunt this today and in the future can
enjoy and celebrate some of the rich heritage SE Iowa has to
offer.
William Salter (1821-1910) was an American Congregational minister,
public orator, social activist and historian.
Graduating from Andover in 1843, Salter and his companions —
the so-called "Iowa Band" — went west to Iowa when it was
only a territory to organize congregations, build churches and
battle sin in all its infinite varieties. They were the single most
distinguished Protestant group of their time, and Salter, through
the years, emerged superior to them all, according to biographer
Philip Jordan.
Salter began his ministry in Jackson County, preaching in the
Maquoketa area. In 1846 he became the second pastor of First
Congregational Church in Burlington, Iowa, and remained senior
minister of this congregation for more than 60 years until his
death in 1910.
According to Jordan, "Salter played a dominant role in transforming
the slovenly community, where filth filled the alleys, pigs
wallowed in streets and cows grazed on the public square, into a
prosperous and cultivated 20th-century Burlington." He was
instrumental in establishing a public library and getting a library
building built. He served as president of the school board. He was
a trustee of the State University of Iowa (now the University of
Iowa), which awarded him an honorary doctorate.
Prior to the Civil War, Salter not only allied himself with
anti-slavery societies, but also operated an Underground Railroad
station to aid slaves fleeing to freedom. Runaways found sanctuary
at his South Hill home and in a hidden room beneath his church.
During the war, Salter visited Union troops as far south as
Atlanta.
Social Gospel theologian George Herron served briefly with Salter
as associate minister in 1892 and 1893, before taking a position as
professor of Applied Christianity at Grinnell College.[1]
A Burlington grade school was named after him, and the
Congregational student center at the University of Iowa bears his
name. Grinnell College, heir to the academic institution founded by
the Iowa Band, reveres the memory of Salter. His portrait hangs in
the Des Moines County Heritage Center, and a portion of his library
is housed at the Burlington Public Library with a number of his
published works.