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CHAPTER F I V E Landed Gentry zn the Making IiEC AUSE of William Clo,,', promotion of the colony during the winter of 1878-1879, "northwestern Iowa became far more familiar ~ to the politer British ear than it ever had been C) to the American," according to Macmillan s ~ magazine. lOne reason for his success was his understanding of the aspirations of the upper middle class, since he came from much the same background himself and was aware of the plight of younger sons of gentlemen. No youth emigrating to Iowa to become an apprentice farmer or a landowner would climb a notch higher in social position, but William Close made it possible for them to emigrate without compromising their social standing. Therefore he primarily appealed to modestly situated gentlemen, especially clergymen, who were already existing on fairly small inheritances, whose families were frequently large, and whose sons were almost as full of the devil as their fathers were full of God. In the normal course of things these boys might eventually come into an income of only a few hundred pounds a year and were expected to augment it by taking up a socially respectable occupation-the armed services, the church, or civil service. They couldn't afford to marry unless their fiancees possessed incomes of their own. Young bachelors moved about on the good network of railroads to country houses throughout the kingdom and back to London clubs, aimlessly pursuing leisure. This idleness would be beautifully offset by a rugged sojourn in the West of the United States, or by army service in India, or in some other testing place where a boy could become a man by enduring trials of fire of one sort or another-which would build character and toughen moral fiber. Fathers of such lads saw William Close as an attractive model to emulate. He was a famous rowing "Blue" of Cambridge, whose feats on the river were widely known at a time when the mania for sports was reaching its height. Outstanding oarsmen became public personalities, written up in special magazines such as Oarsman's Companion and Rowing Almanac, complete with steel-engraving illustrations. The concept of modern athletic contests and sports journalism came into its own during this period in Victorian England. Among athletes, oarsmen were especially esteemed. The rigorous training produced physiques impressively manly-what a true gentleman should look like. Bodily good health was easily equated with moral strength, for Charles Kingsley's "muscular Christianity" was very much in vogue.2 William's role as a 57 58 GENTLEMEN ON THE PRAIRIE Sunday school Bible class teacher and occasional preacher in the Denison Episcopal Church made his credentials even better. True, he was "in business," but like his father, William found nothing incompatible about being a gentleman and earning an honest living. Get-up-and-go was increasingly viewed as an attractive attribute, honorable in anyone. William's mother told her children that their father never tried to circulate among those "who fancy they belong to a superior class in the social scale." He had too much self-respect to allow himself to be patronized by such persons- "a pride which rebels at the idea, or fashion, that because a man is a merchant, or engaged in trade, he is not fit for the best society in the world."3 But William knew he could promote his colony among those who still adhered to the old class prejudices. The prospective life of a young British landowner in Iowa, which William described to his clients, seemed of a piece with traditional gentry concerns. Owners of farm property the world over were always held in high esteem, and this would surely apply to America as well. A youth might establish a base quite easily, acquire several thousand acres if he wished, provided he came to learn something of how to run a stock farm and supervise overseers. The young squire's removal to Iowa need not be permanent; once the ranch was established , he could return to enjoy the London season or shooting and hunting on country estates and all the other pastimes to which he was accustomedwhere he would meet his friends. William did not present quite such a frivolous interpretation of the proposed emigration, but many of his clients saw it that way. Iowa was only twelve to fourteen days away; a good number of young Britons never forgot that. With money to travel, some of them returned home almost...

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