History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa, Volume II, Part 1

Author: Downer, Harry E
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1166

USA > Iowa > Scott County > Davenport > History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa, Volume II > Part 1

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HISTORY

DAVENPORT

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SCOTT COUNTY IOWA

HARRY E. DOWNER

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VOLUME II.

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BIOGRAPHICAL

JOE R. LANE.

There is no problem more difficult than character analysis. Psychic research often fails to clearly elucidate the problem and yet there is no truth more evident as the result of careful and analytical contemplation of successful lives than that results have been achieved through intelligence and energy. What special phases of nature causes a man to take up a certain line or lines of activity it is impossible to determine, but in the execution of a clearly defined purpose it is inevitable that unfaltering energy and intelligent appreciation of opportunity must constitute the vital forces. It is these qualities that have carried Joe R. Lane to the eminent position which he now occupies as a man of notable business sagacity and as a political leader whose wisdom and resourcefulness have en- abled him to accomplish seemingly impossible results. His interests are never so self-centered as to exclude active participation in affairs of moment to the community at large, for, on the contrary, he has been an active participant in those activities which have promoted the material, political and social life of the com- munity and which are matters of civic virtue and civic pride.

Mr. Lane was born in Davenport in May, 1858, a son of James T. and Annie J. (Reed) Lane, and a brother of Mrs. Iles. His father, who is mentioned else- where at length in this volume, was long a representative member of the bar and died in Denver in 1890. Passing through consecutive grades in the public schools, Joe R. Lane eventually became a high-school pupil and later attended Knox College at Galesburg, Illinois, from which he was graduated with the class of 1878. He began preparation for the practice of law as a student in the office of Davison & Lane, of which firm his father was the junior partner. Subse- quently he matriculated in the State University Law School, from which he was graduated in 1880, when he became assistant in the office of Davison & Lane, thus continuing until January, 1881, when Charles Davison and Joe Lane, the sons of the respective partners, were admitted to the firm. In the following August, Charles Davison went to North Dakota and in 1889 James T. Lane withdrew from the firm on account of failing health. The relation between the older Davison and Joe R. Lane continued uninterruptedly and in 1893 Charles Davison reen-

HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY

tered the partnership, the firm remaining Davison & Lane until 1900, when the death of the senior member occurred, while two years later Charles Davison also passed away. Mr. Lane was left alone to care for an increasing practice that had already brought him distinction as one of the most eminent representatives of the Iowa Bar. Soon afterward he was joined by Judge Waterman, who resigned his position as a member of the Iowa supreme court to enter into part- nership relations with Mr. Lane under the firm style of Lane & Waterman. A contemporary writer has said in this connection: "Possibly no higher testimonial to the standing, business value and reputation of the practice which Mr. Lane had helped to upbuild and of which he had become the head could be given than is embodied in Judge Waterman's action. Few positions are more earnestly cov- eted; none considered higher in judicial dignity ; scarcely any offer more assured social position or surer and more commensurate recompense than the supreme judgeship, yet Judge Waterman resigned all these to become Mr. Lane's part- ner. Comment would be superfluous." The public voice names this firm as the most prominent in Davenport and one of the most distinguished of the state.

It would be difficult to enumerate all the interests which have felt the stimulus of Mr. Lane's cooperation, keen sagacity and liberal business policy. Banking, manufacturing, lumber and real estate are among those interests which have claimed his time and attention and in furthering his individual interest along these lines he has contributed in substantial measure to Davenport's growth and expansion along normal and healthy lines. He is the president of the Joe R. Lane Investment Company, which erected the Lane office building at Third and Main streets; president of the Building Society of the new Commercial Club; a director of the Davenport Hotel Company; vice pres- ident and director of the First National Bank of Davenport; and finan- cially interested in numerous other commercial enterprises. His labors have constituted a most important feature in the railroad development of this section, for he was treasurer of the Davenport, Iowa & Dakota Rail- road at the time of its construction and was also manager and had charge of the building of the Davenport, Rock Island & Northwestern Railroad bridge, which gave the road entrance to Rock Island and Moline. His realty investments are most extensive and in all of his business connections he has proven himself a man of action rather than of theory.

Moreover, Mr. Lane is recognized as one of the most influential members of the republican party. With full recognition of the duties and obligations as well as the privileges of citizenship, unlike many of the men today who are controlling extensive professional and business interests, he finds time for active participa- tion in public affairs upon which hinge the political stability and welfare of the country. As a political leader he has always put public needs and party benefit before self interests. He has served in the ranks from preference and only held office when it has been clearly shown him that it was a duty which he owed his fellow citizens and for which he could obtain no substitute. Several terms he sat in the council as alderman and his labors were always to the advantage of his ward and the city at large. During his term of service in congress, to which he was elected in 1898, he never forgot his allegiance to his state nor his duty to his constituents. He has frequently served as a member of the republican exec-

HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY

utive committee and always to his party's benefit. He holds decided views on public questions and expresses them clearly, cogently and logically when occa- sion demands, but it is always the timely word which he speaks. As a diplomat he has cemented party and business fractures, healed internal dissensions in various financial and political vetures and unified and solidified acute divisions in numerous enterprises where to all appearances such action was hopelessly looked upon. As a political leader he has led his party to victory in ward, city, county and state campaigns and added his share to national victories. And all this he has done without claiming individual credit or demanding personal recog- nition.

Mr. Lane was married in 1881 to Miss Jennie Richardson, a daughter of D. N. Richardson and a native of Davenport. They have three children : Dick R., who is now associated with the firm of Lane & Waterman; Jeanette, student in St. Katherine's school, a private institution; and Reed, who is attending the Iowa State University Law School. Mr. Lane has attained the highest degrees in Masonry, and is also connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He likewise belongs to the Outing Club and the Arsenal Golf Club. He is a member of the Business Men's Association and a patron of the many public beneficiaries which exist in Davenport. He is without sham or pretense, yet there is not the least shadow of mock modesty about him. He stands as a high type of the American business man and citizen, whose ideals are high, whose methods are practical, who is active and energetic in all public and private work and with laudable ambition for his own success displays a helpful and broad- minded interest in public affairs that has constituted his services of wide benefit to the city and state.

EDWIN W. BRADY.

In the years of Davenport's early development Edwin W. Brady became one of its residents and continued throughout his remaining days as one of its repre- sentative citizens, his labors being a tangible element for the growth and better- ment of the community at large. He was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Febru- ary 22, 1826, and was therefore a young man of twenty-eight years when he arrived in Davenport in 1854. Throughout his life he stood for those things which uplift humanity, which advance progress and promote improvement. He was a stalwart champion of the cause of temperance, laboring along practical, effective and far-reaching lines to curb and suppress the liquor traffic. About 1880 he purchased the Blue Ribbon News from Dr. Morgan. This was a journal devoted to the cause of temperance and, changing its name to the Northwestern News, Mr. Brady continued its publication for some time. His sons were in- terested with him in this enterprise and later they founded the Daily Times, with which the father was financially connected. At a still later date the sons went to New York to become stockholders in McClure's Magazine Company and have since been associated with that enterprise, helping to build up the business and make the magazine what it is today-one of the most interesting, entertaining and in-

HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY

structive popular magazines of the country .. When the sons removed to the east the father retired from business, spending his remaining days in the enjoyment of well earned rest.

On the 22d of February, 1860, Edwin W. Brady was united in marriage to Miss Lydia Frances Weaver, a daughter of John Weaver, who died December 9, 1908, at the remarkable old age of ninety-six years. He was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, April 16, 1812, and was there reared and educated. After arriving at years of maturity he was married in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 30th of June, 1837, to Miss Julia Ann Warrington Fuller, who died March 1, 1899, at the ad- vanced age of ninety-three years. For an extended period John Weaver was em- ployed in a wholesale grocery house in Cincinnati and was then appointed post- master of Little Mill Creek by President Polk. He acted as postmaster for four years, serving first at Little Mill Creek and afterward at Ostrander, Ohio. While there he also filled the office of justice of the peace and his opinions were strictly fair and impartial. The year 1853 witnessed his arrival in Davenport, after which time he did not again engage in active business. All of the family lived to an old age. His wife's father was one of the life guard of George Washington and was once shot while serving his country. He recovered his health, however, and lived for some time to enjoy the fruits of his labor, reaching the age of ninety-nine years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. John Weaver were born four children: Mrs. Lydia F. Brady, C. W., Albert and Mrs. Melissa Jennings.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Brady were born six children : Oscar W .; Albert B., who is deceased ; Mrs. Carrie B. Tagge; Edwin B .; Ella F .; and Curtis P. As previously stated, the surviving sons became associated with their father in newspaper publi- cation and, continuing their efforts in the field of magazine publication, all are associated with the conduct and management of McClure's, Curtis P. being the business manager of the magazine.

The death of Mr. Brady occurred on the 16th of January, 1909, and thus passed from Davenport one whose record was of benefit to the city in many. essential ways. He placed a correct valuation upon life, its purposes and its oppor- tunities and was never a self-centered man who found his happiness in the ac- quirement of success to be used alone for his own efforts, but on the contrary knew that joy which comes of service for others, and from practical, effective effort for the world's uplift.

JAMES E. LINDSAY.

Prominent for many years among the mill operators of the Mississippi river were James E. Lindsay and John B. Phelps, who as Lindsay & Phelps were for nearly forty years connected with the manufacture of lumber at Davenport.

James Edwin Lindsay, the subject of this sketch, was born at Schroon, Essex county, New York, April 12, 1826. His ancestors came from Scotland in 1731 and settled at Argyle, New York. His great-great-grandfather was Donald Lindsay, who was interested in the grant which was extended to Laughlin Camp- bell and was one of the hundred founders of that early Argyle community. His

D. F. Lima dawy

HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY

training between 1826 and 1847 terminated with one year's schooling in civil en- gineering at Norwich, Vermont. His father was a hotel keeper, farmer and lumber manufacturer combined. Young Lindsay worked at measuring and the hauling of logs at his father's mill, a water power affair propelled by the old style "flutter wheel." This sawmill was facetiously called the "Thunder Shower Mill" on account of its utter inability to operate unless a frequent rain would kindly fill the small creek dam from which it drew its water power. Young Lindsay was in an atmosphere that was apt to make him a lumberman and in- cluded among his neighbors Israel Johnson, the inventor of the much used "mu- lay" saw, and Philetas Sawyer, the long time prominent lumberman and for many years United States senator from Wisconsin. Logs in those days meas- ured about two standards to the log, a standard, according to Dimock's rule, being measured on the basis of thirteen-foot log, nineteen inches at the top end. They were made up of perhaps twenty-five per cent clear at fifty dollars a thousand; twenty-five per cent second clear at forty dollars; twenty-five per cent select at twenty dollars; and twenty-five per cent common. worth fourteen dollars. Be- fore his twenty-first birthday anniversary young Lindsay already had some ex- perience in the logging business in partnership with his brother-in-law John Tompkins. The firm was named Lindsay & Tompkins and existed for four years.

In the fall of 1856, the year he was thirty years old, he came west, and with his savings and what had been entrusted to him, secured about seven thousand dollars worth of lands through land warrants in the Black River Falls (Wis- consin) country.

In March, 1861, Mr. Lindsay located permanently at Davenport, Iowa, and his Black river timber was logged and rafted to Davenport, where it was sawed into lumber by the thousand at the mills at that place. He had formed a part- nership with E. Harris, of Queensberry, New York, the understanding being- as above referred to-that Mr. Lindsay was to come west and look about and take an interest in whatever looked most favorable. The absolute trust of his partner in Mr. Lindsay's judgment seems to have colored his subsequent career. He had not only his own interests to further but also had absolutely in his keep- ing the interests of another. This tended to make him conservative, and he has always been a conservative man. This conservatism, however, should not be misjudged, for he has ever had an aggressive and enthusiastic confidence in the future values of timber lands.

Later in 1861 Mr. Lindsay secured a lease of the Renwick mill in Daven- port. Shortly afterward John B. Phelps bought Mr. Harris' interest and the firm became Lindsay & Phelps, and it has so continued-barring its incorpora- tion in 1890-for nearly fifty years. In 1866 Lindsay & Phelps built a mill at Davenport. It started with a circular saw; a gang saw was added in 1867, at that time the only gang mill in this section of the country ; and later, in 1880, a band mill was added and other necessary machinery for a more modern plant. The mill at Davenport continued in operation until the close of the season of 1904-a period of thirty-nine years. The corporation of Lindsay & Phelps Company is still being maintained, the present officers being J. E. Lindsay, presi- dent; R. E. Lindsay, vice president; Fred Wyman, secretary and treasurer ; and

HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY

George F. Lindsay, assistant secretary and treasurer. John B. Phelps, Mr. Lindsay's long time partner, died in July, 1900.

Mr. Lindsay's confidence in pine timber was of the broader kind, and as early as 1882, with his close friend and associate, C. R. Ainsworth, of Moline, Illinois, he personally located the first holdings of the Lindsay Land & Lumber Company in Arkansas. Perhaps it may be due to Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Ainsworth that they be called the pioneer northern lumbermen in Arkansas, and surely they were among the earliest to purchase timber lands in that section. The company's first officers were J. E. Lindsay, president; C. R. Ainsworth, vice president ; J. B. Phelps, secretary ; William Renwick, treasurer. The late Hon. D. N. Richard- son, a newspaper man and close associate in those early days of investment in the south, asked Mr. Lindsay in conversation one day, "Is there a chance for an outsider to put some money in your southern timber company, Mr. Lindsay?" "Not for you, a newspaper man," was the reply, "for it takes long patience and years of constant outgo of money to work out a proposition of this kind, and you who are accustomed to annual dividends would lack the 'sand' to stay with such a proposition." Without hesitancy Mr. Richardson replied, "We have the sand and only ask you to make the opportunity." Mr. Richardson went in and up to the time of his death that quality of sand first shown was ever apparent.

Resulting from Mr. Richardson's enthusiasm later came the Richardson Land & Timber Company, with D. N. Richardson as its first president. The present officers are J. J. Richardson, president; Fred Wyman, vice president; and M. N. Richardson, secretary and treasurer. The directors are J. E. Lindsay, Rebecca Renwick, J. J. Richardson, Fred Wyman and J. B. Richardson. This company made purchases in Little River, Dalls, Sevier and Howard counties, Arkansas, and later extended its operations into Mississippi. At one time its holdings amounted to one hundred and fifty thousand acres in Arkansas At this time it owns nearly fifty thousand acres in Mississippi.

In 1884 when Renwick, Shaw and Crossett went north to Cloquet, Minne- sota, and organized the Cloquet Lumber Company with George S. Shaw as its manager, Mr. Lindsay and Mr. Phelps became members of that company, Mr. Lindsay now being a director.

The big trees of the Pacific coast next attracted Lindsay & Phelps' atten- tion and, associated with Weyerhaeuser & Denkmann and the Richardson inter- ests, they organized the Sound Timber Company on December 23, 1899. The officers are J. E. Lindsay, president ; Fred C. Denkmann, vice president; George F. Lindsay, secretary and treasurer; and with F. Weyerhaeuser, Joe R. Lane and M. N. Richardson form its board of directors. This company owns some- thing over fifty thousand acres of fir, cedar and spruce in Skagit, Snohomish, Whatcom and King counties, Washington, and Lane county, Oregon.

Interest was again directed to the south in 1901, and Mr. Lindsay, with Weyerhaeuser & Denkmann, the Laird, Norton Company, Dimock, Gould & Company, and the Richardson interests, formed the Southland Lumber Company on May 4 of that year, for the purchase of timber lands in Louisiana. Its offi- cers are : F. E. Weyerhaeuser, president ; F. C. Denkmann, vice president ; George F. Lindsay, secretary and treasurer; Fred Wyman, assistant secretary and treas- urer. The directors are F. Weyerhaeuser, E. P. Denkmann, H. A. Ainsworth,

HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY

J. E. Lindsay, F. S. Bell, F. H. Thatcher, Fred C. Denkmann, Calvin Ainsworth, Joe R. Lane, M. N. Richardson and Fred Wyman. The present holdings are in southwestern Louisiana and approximate one hundred and thirty thousand acres of longleaf yellow pine.

The Southern Lumber Company of Arkansas was organized January 28, 1902, by Weyerhaeuser & Denkmann, Dimock, Gould & Company, the Richard- son interests and J. E. Lindsay, purchasing the holdings of the Lindsay Land & Lumber Company, previously referred to, and has at the present time a sawmill in active operation at Warren, Arkansas, and seventy thousand acres of short- leaf yellow pine. The officers are F. E. Weyerhaeuser, president; E. P. Denk- mann, vice president ; George F. Lindsay, secretary; Fred Wyman, treasurer ; N. H. Clapp, Jr., assistant secretary and treasurer and general manager. The directors are F. Weyerhaeuser, C. H. Ainsworth, J. E. Lindsay, F. E. Weyer- haeuser, E. P. Denkmann, Calvin Ainsworth, Joe R. Lane, Fred Wyman and M. N. Richardson.

Mr. Lindsay is still active in business, keeping in touch with the affairs of the companies with which he is connected, and spending several hours daily at his office. Local enterprises have always received the strong support of Lind- say & Phelps, and Mr. Phelps was before his death, and Mr. Lindsay now is, identified with many local organizations.

Mr. Lindsay married in 1858 Mary Helen Phelps at Schroon River, Essex county, New York. Three children were born of this union; Ralph E. Lindsay; Mrs. Fred Wyman, who died in 1905; and George F. Lindsay. Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay have two grandchildren, Edith Helen Wyman and Edwin Blair Lindsay.

Mr. Lindsay has always manifested a deep interests in the religious and charitable institutions of the community. He is identified with the Baptist church, having been one of its most loyal supporters for many years. His interest in young men was evidenced by his liberal contribution to the Young Men's Chris- tian Association.

The results of environment are very apparent in a man of Mr. Lindsay's character. Long years of association with kindly mother nature as exemplified in her vast forests have intensified in him those inherent qualities which are characteristic of the grandest forest growth. Their physical qualities find their counterpart in his mentality-strength of purpose, uprightness of character and those other admirable traits which are typified by the giants of the forest and the stalwarts among men. He has a minute knowledge of lumber and logs which always he is glad to share generously with his friends and of which they par- take with the utmost confidence in his judgment, notably in his home city, the center of a great lumber interest, where and in the adjoining cities of Rock Is- land and Moline between the members of the Lindsay & Phelps Lumber Com- pany and all competitive lumber and logging interests in the three cities Mr. Lindsay's thorough knowledge and sterling character are well known and highly honored.

While of a modest and retiring disposition, one's first impression of Mr. Lindsay, unconsciously conveyed by him, is that of personal dignity; yet he is always approachable. He is never hasty in judgment and his decisions are al- ways the result of intelligent deliberation. Perhaps the only voluntary exercise

HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY

of his innate qualities that needs restraint is his ready generosity, his practical sympathy for misfortune. In the sense that makes the characteristic a strongly commendable one, he is one of the most conspicuous figures in the lumber in- dustry of the middle west.

EMANUEL PHILLIP ADLER.

Emanuel Phillip Adler, as president of the Lee Newspaper Syndicate, repre- sents that spirit of organization and coordination of forces that constitutes one of the most forceful and vital elements in the business life of the times. It is but another expression of the truth of the old adage that "in union there is strength," for with combined interests the expenditure of time, labor and ma- terial is reduced to a minimum in the accomplishment of maximum results. Bending his efforts to administrative direction and executive control as head of the Lee Newspaper Syndicate, Mr. Adler has justified his adoption of the print- ing business as a life work, for in this field he has advanced from a humble position to one of leadership. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, September 30 1872, and was taken to Ottumwa, Iowa, by his parents, P E. and Bertha Adler, in 1874. His youthful days were therefore passed in this state, and in Ottumwa he pursued his education in the common schools to the age of fourteen years, when he began learning the printer's trade. He afterward secured a position in a Chicago newspaper office as "sub" when seventeen years of age, and later, returning to Ottumwa he secured a position as printer on the Ottumwa Courier. In 1894 he was given a trial as "cub" reporter on the Courier and proving his worth was promoted from time to time serving successively in the position of editor, managing editor and business manager. In 1900 A. W. Lee, publisher of the Courier, purchased the Davenport Times and established the Lee News- paper Syndicate, and in January, 1901, Mr. Adler was sent to Davenport as pub- lisher of the Times. The policy which he inaugurated in its management made it one of the profitable journals of the state and the evidence of business ability which he thus displayed led to his election to the presidency of the syndicate upon the death of Mr. Lee in 1907. Five daily papers constitute this syndicate: the Davenport Times ; the Ottumwa Courier; the Muscatine Journal; the La- Cross Tribune ; and the Hannibal Courier-Post.

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History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa, Volume II, Part 1

Author: Downer, Harry E Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Number of Pages: 1166

Author: Downer, Harry E
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1166