Local contractor’s next project: Power plant at Keokuk, Iowa

The Keokuk power plant and lock and dam opened June 12, 1913. A 100th anniversary open house was held June 27-30, 2013. This photo shows the power plant, which has been generating electricity since its opening in 1913. Photo by Robert Spaun.

Daily Gate City, Aug. 15, 1913: The great completed dam with the power house and new lock are shown in this picture which was taken from the Iowa shore, and is the first of its kind ever printed. It gives a good idea of the immensity of the enterprise. The lock was thrown open to navigation in June 1913, and a boat is shown being locked through, while a second has already passed through and is speeding on northward through Lake Cooper. The power house is a mammoth building which contains hundreds and thousands of dollars worth of the latest electrical machinery used in the development of power. The entire water power plant cost $25,000,000, and is now furnishing power at various points, including St. Louis, Mo. Construction work was begun in January, 1910, and continued until July of the present year. At times as many as 3,000 men were employed. The hydro-electric plant as it stands today is the largest in the world and promises to be a potent factor in changing the industrial map of the United States, turning a rich agricultural valley in a great manufacturing center. (newspapers.com)

MARY LOU MONTGOMERY

Fredrick J. Merchant, the English-born superintendent overseeing the construction of the Hannibal Trust Company building in Hannibal 1909-1910, packed up his bags and moved to Keokuk, Iowa, at the start of 1911.

Hired by the Keokuk and Hamilton Water Power Co., he served as foreman of the contractors during building of the hydro electric plant spanning the Mississippi River between Keokuk and Hamilton, Ill.

The Hannibal Evening Courier-Post, in notifying the community of this citizen’s plans, told its readers in the Dec. 29, 1910 edition:

“He will have under his jurisdiction a large force of men and it will be his duty to supervise the straightening out of the crib and timber work in the canal crossing. There are now about 500 men working on the dam and it is expected that these will be augmented to about 1,500 or 2,000 by spring.”

And a monumental project it was.

Historically, the Mississippi River at Keokuk/Hamilton was shallow and rocky, creating rapids that were not conducive to river traffic during much of the year.

To solve this problem, a canal had been created along the Missouri shoreline, wide enough for a couple of steamboats, from Warsaw south to Keokuk, with a lock at the north end and another lock at the south end. The water in the canal could be raised enough so that two boats could pass through.

Meanwhile, talk about harvesting the energy from the fast-moving rapids began during the late 1800s, but it wasn’t until the early part of the 20th century that planning began in earnest.

Work on the massive construction project - which is still generating power today - began in January 1910.

In order to complete pier work, cofferdams were constructed within the river, which allowed water to be pumped out so that work could be done in the dry.

A precursor to the cofferdam construction was the building of cribs. These cribs, consisting of railroad-tie shaped lumber constructed in horizontal layers, were built on the shoreline, then floated into place in the river.

The “lower portion of each cell is matched with contour of river bed. It uses rock ballast and soil to decrease seepage and sink into place, also known as ‘Gravity Dam.’ It usually consists of 12’x12’ cells and is used in rapid currents or on rocky river beds. It must be properly designed to resist lateral forces such as tipping / overturning and sliding.” (Source: ESC Pile, Global Piling Solutions Provider)

Injury

Just a month into his new job, the Jan. 31, 1911 edition of the Daily Gate City (newspapers.com) reported that F.J. Merchant was injured while supervising the construction of the cribs. The Keokuk newspaper reported that Mr. Merchant was struck in the back by the boom of a derrick.

The accident was described differently by the Evening Times-Republican, Marshalltown, Iowa:

“Ice broke loose in the river and carried the cribs of the powerhouse cofferdams sixty feet down the river. Frederick Merchant, foreman of the works, who was on one of the cribs at the time, had a perilous experience and a narrow escape from being killed. He was thrown against some heavy timbers and seriously hurt, sustaining fractures of several ribs as well as numerous bruises and concussions. He was taken to a local hospital and is in a precarious condition.”

Recovering from his injuries, he continued his work as a supervisor for construction of the dam.

In June 1912, F.J. Merchant was married to Keokuk native, Miss Alice Loretta Welsh, in the rectory of St. Peter’s Catholic Church. He took two weeks off from work so that he could take his new bride on a rail trip to the Eastern states. Upon their return, they settled into housekeeping at 320 N. Second Street, Keokuk.

Six months later, the newlyweds left Keokuk for Mexico City, Mexico. The Daily Gate City on Jan. 8, 1913, reported that Merchant, “accepted a responsible position with the firm of Jacobs and White, of New York City. The firm is now engaged in building a water works plant and doing a large tunnel contract and Mr. Merchant will have charge of the carpenters.”

Six months later, Mr. and Mrs. Merchant arrived back in the United States aboard the American ship, SS Morro Castle. The ship left Veracruz, Mexico, and arrived in New York City on June 14, 1913. They stayed for a time in Keokuk, visiting with friends and family.

At the end of April, 1915, Mr. and Mrs. Merchant were on the move again, this time to Grand Mere, Quebec, Canada, where Mr. Merchant was employed by the Laurentide Company, producers of pulp and pulpwood. At the time, the Laurentide company was constructing a new power house which would ultimately convert the old pulp and paper plant, allowing it to be operated by electricity. (The Financial Post of Canada, Aug. 7, 1915)

A major hydroelectric dam was built on the nearby St. Maurice River in 1916.

They were living in Grand Mere in June 1918, at the time of the death of Mrs. Merchants’ father, Henry T. Welsh, who until that time lived in Keokuk.

They returned to Keokuk in January 1920 to visit with Mrs. Merchant’s mother.

Untimely death

The 1921 census locates Fred Joseph Merchant, age 40, as an inmate of the Protestant Hospital for the Insane, located in the borough of Verdun in the city of Montreal, Quebec.

He died Nov. 24, 1921, and his body was returned to Keokuk, where he was buried in Oakland Cemetery.

His widow, Alice, married Orrin Louis Sohl (1881-1945), a Keokuk dentist. They had one daughter together. Alice died Dec. 4, 1978, age 91, Keokuk.

While in Hannibal

F.J. Merchant sang first bass with the Apollo Club, performing in a concert in May 1910 at Hannibal’s Park Theater.

Active members of the Apollo Club were, at the time:

First tenors: George W. Brashears, P. Burch, J.F. Evans, Lucian McClain, W. Mirtzwa and W. Nicholson.

Second tenors: W.C. Averill, C. Bundles, V.V. Jones, C. Peterson, A. Rose, and A. Van-Steenberg.

First bass: D.V. Blaney, H.. Cornell, W. Gilbert, J.M. Mathews, F.J. Merchant, Earl Roberts and G.D. Yoakum.

Second bass: J. Brown, C.H. Caler, A. Carter, C.J. Charnstrom, R.B. Isbister, Joe Lake, J.W. Remley and A. Ross.

This is a recent photo of the transmission lines in Pike County, Ill., that deliver power from Keokuk to St. Louis, Mo. The Aug. 15, 1913 edition of the Daily Gate City newspaper explains: Power is being transmitted south to St. Louis. The 110,000 volt transmission line to St. Louis is 144 miles long. This transmission line runs on a private right of way 100 feet wide, partly over the flat Mississippi bottoms, and partly over the the rolling agricultural or timbered country. It crosses the Mississippi river twice and the Missouri River once, by long spans of special construction. The towers which support the transmission line are four legged steel structures similar in construction to the familiar windmill tower but much heavier and stronger. They are of two types, stand and anchor. (newspapers.com)

Photo 223. H.M. Anschutz documented the construction of the Hydro-Electric plant on the Mississippi River between Keokuk, Iowa, and Hamilton, Ill. This shows work on the abutment between the power house and lock. Sept. 17, 1912. Photo contributed by Robert Spaun.

Photo 254. H.M. Anschutz documented the construction of the Hydro-Electric plant on the Mississippi River between Keokuk, Iowa, and Hamilton, Ill. This shows setting the intake valves for the lock. October. 15, 1912. Photo contributed by Robert Spaun.

Photo 224. H.M. Anschutz documented the construction of the Hydro-Electric plant on the Mississippi River between Keokuk, Iowa, and Hamilton, Ill. This shows draft tube forms for the two units of the Lock Power House. Sept. 17, 1912.