USA > Iowa > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
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IVO Hamilton Lee
HISTORY OF
HAMILTON COUNTY IOWA
-
ILLUSTRATED
Volume II
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1912 . THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
99252B APTAR. IRNON AND TILDLA INLADATIONS R
1941 L
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
A. OW LSWOX AND IUPN FOUNDATIONS
Biographical
COLONEL GEORGE W. CROSLEY.
Colonel George W. Crosley was born in New Haven, Huron county, Ohio, on March 4. 1839, and moved to Illinois with his par- ents when he was four years of age and grew to young manhood in that state. He came to Story county, Iowa, in 1856, and assisted his father in improving the farm upon the site where the town of Ames now stands. Two years later he moved to Nevada, the county seat of Story county, and lived in that section until the outbreak of the Civil war. On May 21, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, Third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and a few days later started out with his com- pany to Keokuk, the rendezvous of the regiment where he was mus- tered into the service of the United States government as first ser- geant. He was subsequently promoted to first lieutenant of his com- pany and later to major of his regiment. He received the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel and later colonel of his regiment for meritorious service in battle. He was active during the entire period of the war and participated in many of the most important engagements. At the close of hostilities he received an honorable discharge and came to Webster City, Iowa, in September, 1865. For a number of years he was engaged in the general merchandise business and served for some time as postmaster under the first Grant administration. Later he was a commercial traveler and afterward engaged in business for six years on the corner east of the Willson House. He took an active in- terest in politics being an ardent republican but did not become a can- didate for any elective office until 1879, when having retired from business, he was nominated and elected sheriff of Hamilton county, which position he held for two terms and was tendered the nomina- tion for a third term but declined. In 1884 he was made warden of the Iowa Penitentiary at Fort Madison and served for six years, re- turning in 1890 to his home in Webster City. Since that time he lias served for six years as a member of the city council and has been actively identified with every movement which had for its object the
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
best interests of the community and the growth and development of the city which has so long been his home and where he expects to spend the remainder of his life.
In 1907 he took up the work of compiling the "Roster History and Records of Iowa Soldiers." Over four years he was engaged in this great work and spent nearly all his time in the office of the adju- tant general of Iowa at Des Moines, in order to have ready access to the military records of the state. The work has been published in six large volumes and constitutes a complete compendium of the mili- tary history of Iowa from the time of its admission to the union in 1846. An immense amount of laborious research and investigation which might well have tested the strength of a younger man was in- volved in the preparation of this work. Since its completion Colonel Crosley has been compelled to retire from active life on account of impaired health.
This sketch is intended to deal only with the important events in the life of its subject without attempting to enter into detail. If asked what was the most important event of his life, Colonel Crosley would promptly reply, "My marriage." Few men have been blessed with so happy a domestic life. While on veteran furlough with his regiment on April 16, 1864, he was united in marriage to Miss Edna M. Ris- don, at the home of her parents, in Hopkinton, St. Lawrence county, New York. Four children were born to this union: George R., Charles C., Charlotte E., and Varick C. The second son, Charles C., died when nearing his tenth birthday, but his mother and other chil- dren are living to comfort and bless Colonel Crosley in the declining years of his life.
VARICK C. CROSLEY.
Varick C. Crosley was born in Webster City on November II, 1875, and is a son of Col. and Mrs. G. W. Crosley. His father is one of the prominent and well known residents of this city and is an honored veteran of the Civil war. More extended mention of Col. Crosley is made in the preceding sketch. The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of his native city and in 1884 upon the election of his father to the office of warden of the Iowa Penitentiary at Fort Madison he removed with his parents to that city where he remained until the spring of 1890, pursuing his studies
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
in the public schools during that time. He returned to Webster City and in 1894 entered the R. N. Woodworth Abstract, Real Estate & Loan office where he remained until the latter part of the year 1898 when he was employed by Hon. J. A. Fitchpatrick who was engaged in the same line of business in Nevada, Iowa. Having received a thor- ough education in his chosen line of activity Mr. Crosley determined ro establish himself in business in his home city. Accordingly he re- turned to Webster City in the spring of 1900 and at once opened an office. Since then he has by the exercise of honorable business meth- ods and persistent industry secured a large and constantly growing clientage and has well earned his reputation as a substantial and re- liable business man. His transactions are not confined to Hamilton county alone, but extend into the adjoining counties and he has estab- lished a wide acquaintance throughout the state. His business con- nections are of the best and highest character. He has attained pros- perity by reason of his experience, industry and centralized activity. His investments have been made judiciously and he is now the owner of a highly productive farm of two hundred and forty acres, located about five miles west of Webster City. He also owns much desirable real estate in the community in which he resides and has a pleasant and comfortable home at No. 732 First street. He is one of the stock- holders and a member of the board of directors of the Farmers' Na- tional Bank and is widely known as a promoter of progressive public enterprises.
He is well known in fraternal circles, holding membership in Acacia Lodge, No. 176, A. F. & A. M., of which organization he is past master. He belongs to the Royal Arch Masons and the Knights Templar of Webster City and is prominent in the affairs of the Za- Ga-Zig Shrine Temple of Des Moines. He belongs to the Webster City Outing Club and holds membership by inheritance from his father in the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He joined the First Congregational church of Webster City at the age of sixteen and still retains his membership. In politics he has affiliated with the republican party since he attained his majority, but is very tolerant toward those who hold different political views from his own. While taking an active interest in local, state and national affairs he has never sought nor held any public office.
On September 15, 1906, Mr. Crosley was united in marriage to Miss Gladys Call Whitley, a daughter of Dr. F. E. and Cora (Call) Whitley, and a granddaughter of Rev. and Mrs. L. N. Call. Mrs. Crosley was born at Traer, Iowa, on October 29, 1883, and is a
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
graduate of the Webster City high schools and of the State University at Iowa City. Mr. and Mrs. Crosley have one daughter, Mary Elea- nor, who was born on October 24, 1908. Our subject and his wife occupy a prominent position in the social and intellectual life of their community and their pleasant home is noted for its hospitality not only among their friends in Webster City but among guests from other towns and cities in the state.
HARTVIG M. SPARBOE.
Webster City has conferred upon Hartvig M. Sparboe the highest honor within her gift, having called him to the office of mayor for the second term. He has been actively and helpfully interested in municipal affairs for a number of years and looks at vital questions relative to the city's upbuilding and the man- agement of its business interests in a practical yet progressive way. His own life history serves as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others, for Mr. Sparboe is a self-educated and self-made man whose advancement is due to the wise use he has made of his time and opportunities and not to any fortunate com- bination of circumstances. He was born in Norway, March 5, 1867, and was only three years of age at the time of the death of his father, Anthony Sparboe, who passed away in 1870, three days before the birth of his youngest son, leaving the widowed mother, who in her maidenhood bore the name of Bergitte Karoluson, with four sons. In 1873, with her little family, the eldest being then ten years of age and the youngest a little more than two years, she came to the United States and was also ac- companied by her mother. After landing on the eastern coast they made their way direct to Hamilton county, Iowa, and settled in Scott township, where Mrs. Sparboe still makes her home upon the farm which was purchased for her by her sons, who display the most filial love and devotion to the mother who made every possible sacrifice during their childhood for their benefit. She has now reached the advanced age of eighty-three years. Her surviving sons are : H. M .: John H., who is living at Ellsworth, Hamilton county, and is a farmer owning four hundred and eighty acres of productive land : and Carl, who owns two hundred and
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
forty acres near Ellsworth, whereon he is engaged in breeding shorthorn cattle.
The financial condition in which the family was left com- pelled Hartvig M. Sparboe to work whenever it was possible for him to do so, and thus his educational opportunities were some- what limited. He pursued his studies during the winter terms of school in Hamilton county but was not satisfied with the edu- cation there acquired and bent his effort toward the attainment of means which would enable him to continue his studies. At length he entered St. Olaf's College at Northfield, Minnesota, and afterward the Dexter Normal School at Dexter, Iowa. He thus qualified himself for the profession of teaching, which he followed during the winter months after he reached the age of seventeen years, while the summer seasons were devoted to farm work. The money thus acquired enabled him later to enter Cal- anan College at Des Moines and he afterward became a student in the Iowa Business College of that city, from which he was graduated in the class of 1890. Later he taught stenography in the Iowa Business College for one year, after which he joined his brother, O. A. B. Sparboe, in opening and conducting a busi- ness college in Story City, Iowa, known as the Story City Busi- ness College, in 1891. Two years later because of the ill health of the brothers they sold the school and O. A. B. Sparboe traveled for his health but finally passed away in Europe in 1898. Hartvig M. Sparboe went to Minneapolis for hospital treatment and after a two years' residence in that city returned to the home farm in Hamilton county, devoting his attention to general agricul- tural pursuits until he was appointed deputy county treasurer under P. Mathre. He filled that position from January 1, 1898, until January 1. 1900, but continued to work in the county treas- urer's office in collecting delinquent taxes for the county until January I, 1901. He was then appointed bookkeeper for the First National Bank of Webster City and after two years was made cashier of the Webster City Savings Bank. He acted in the latter capacity for two years and since that time has been continuously engaged in the life insurance business, in which connection he has secured a large clientage.
Mr. Sparboe has made an excellent record in public office. He has not only served as deputy county treasurer but in the fall of 1907 was appointed to fill a vacancy in the city council for the term ending April 1, 1909, when, having been elected
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
mayor, he entered upon that position and at the close of his first term was reelected in 1911. He is therefore the chief executive of the city at the present time. His reelection came to him as the indorsement of the work of his first term, which was characterized by various needed reforms and improvements. with a careful businesslike administration of municipal affairs. He does not bar progress with useless conservatism and yet he carefully safeguards the interests of the city in the matter of public expenditures. He has made an excellent record as presi- dent of the Iowa State Drainage Association and is deeply inter- ested in matters relating to the waterways and the conservation interests of the commonwealth.
Mr. Sparboe was married June 3, 1893, in Webster City, to Miss Gertrude Logan, a daughter of Christian Logan, of Roland, Hamilton county, who was one of the pioneers of this part of the state and is still living on the old home farm. Mr. and Mrs. Sparboe had been friends from childhood. They became the parents of four children but their first born, Bergitte, whose birth occurred March 26, 1894, died at the age of four months. The others are : Ole Anthony, born December 26, 1898; Thelma, born May 31, 1901; and Jerome, born January 21, 1904. The family live at No. 1000 Boone street. They attend the Christian Science church, of which Mr. Sparboe is a member, and he furthermore has membership relations with the Country Club and also with the Webster City Commercial League, of which he is the secretary. He is actuated in all that he does by a spirit of enterprise and it is well known that his cooperation can be counted upon to further any movement for the general good. The consensus of public opinion places him in an enviable posi- tion in the regard of his fellow townsmen both in his business relations and in his citizenship. He was elected President of Iowa State Drainage Association in 1911, and reelected in 1912.
JULIUS M. JONES.
Julius M. Jones, one of the venerable and highly esteemed citizens of Hamilton county, took up his abode here in the spring of 1856 and has remained within its borders continuously since with the excep- tion of two years' residence in Chicago. He bore his part in the
Queive the force At Eighty Scars
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
work of early development and upbuilding and through the able di- rection of his business interests won a handsome competence that now enables him to spend the evening of life in well earned ease. For many years he was successfully engaged in general merchandising at Webster City and he likewise held the office of president of the Farmers National Bank, of which institution he was one of the or- ganizers and of which his son is now at the head. His birth occurred in Milford, Massachusetts, on the 16th of February, 1832, his par- ents being John and Melinda (Chamberlain) Jones, the former of Welsh ancestry. The maternal grandparents of our subject were Nathaniel and Permelia Chamberlain.
Julius M. Jones was reared to manhood on the farm where he was born and supplemented his early education by a course of study in the Milford high school. In the spring of 1856, when a young man of twenty-four years, he came to Iowa and Webster City, becom- ing a sawyer in the old steam mill that stood on the east side of town, near Bank street, just east of the track of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. This mill, in which he owned a small interest that he had bought on time, was a factor of the first conse- quence in the early development and settlement of Webster City and Hamilton county. Mr. Jones worked in the mill until the autumn of 1858, when he was elected clerk of the district court, to which posi- tion he was reelected and in which capacity he ably served for six years. As candidate for a third term he received the unanimous vote of the county, and he was nominated without opposition for still another term but the following day received from Abraham Lincoln the appointment of major and paymaster in the army. He was sta- tioned at Louisville, Kentucky, until the cessation of hostilities be- tween the north and the south. Of this period of his life Charles Aldrich has written as follows: "His bond was fifty thousand dol- lars, which some of his neighbors and friends made up among them- selves without any consultation with him. At one time his pay- master's safe contained nearly a million of dollars. In the ordinary dis- charge of his duties under the government he seldom came into the possession of more than about four hundred thousand dollars; but this large sum was placed in his keeping by one of his old friends who had known Major Jones in his early boyhood-a Mr. Walker, an agent of the state of Ohio, to receive the pay of soldiers in the field and take the money home to their families. Mr. Jones was only individually responsible for the money and its loss would in no way have affected his bondsmen. I mention this fact merely for the pur-
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
pose of stating how implicitly he was trusted by one who had only known him in years long gone by, as a boy. Walker was compelled to go across with Sherman in the latter's march 'from Atlanta to the sea,' and the money remained in the safe of Paymaster Jones some three months. When Walker finally 'got around' to take charge of his great trust every dollar was forthcoming and the families of Ohio soldiers were only inconvenienced by a few months' delay in receiv- ing their money."
After the close of the war Major Jones was engaged in the whole- sale stoneware trade at Chicago for two years, on the expiration of which period he returned to Webster City and has here resided con- tinuously since. For many years thereafter he devoted his attention to general merchandising, being first associated for two years with Kendall Young. After the retirement of the latter he continued in the business for about fifteen years and during the last five years of that period was associated with Cyrus Smith. Owing to failing health he then retired for a time from active business pursuits and devoted his attention to the supervision of his farming interests. In financial circles he was also prominent, being one of the organizers of the Farmers National Bank and directing its affairs as its president until his son, Robert Emmons Jones, became the chief executive officer of the institution. His business record is one of which he has every reason to be proud and he richly deserves the American title of a self- made man. Coming to Webster City with little or no means, he made his way steadily upward by dint of hard labor, close economy and unfaltering perseverance.
On the 4th of March, 1869, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Fisher, a native of West Medway, Massachusetts, and the oldest daughter of Elias T. and Martha B. (Ellis) Fisher, of that place. They became the parents of three children, only one of whom is living, Robert Emmons, who is a graduate of the State Uni- versity of Michigan and who was formerly the vice president of the Farmers National Bank. As above stated, he is now the president of that institution and enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the suc- cessful and representative business men of Webster City. Mrs. Jennie (Fisher) Jones passed away at her home in Webster City on the 3d of November, 1909. at the age of sixty-seven years, after a linger- ing illness. The following is an extract from an obituary notice printed the next day: "Mrs. Jones was a pioneer woman here, widely known and esteemed highly for her inany excellent qualities and lovable traits of character. More than two years ago she was taken
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
with creeping paralysis, which the best of medical assistance could not subdue. She was given treatment in Chicago, but returned home with no hope of recovery. She was a patient and cheerful sufferer, yet the final simmons came as a sweet relief." We also quote in part the funeral address of Rev. F. O. Thrush. * We are met here this afternoon dominated by the vision of a Christian character, the vision of one in all the grace and charm of womanhood, who has passed from the scenes of our earthly life. Her going was as the flashing of angels' wings as the shining gates opened and she passed into the heavenly city. Mrs. Jones was born of Christian parents, the daughter of a New England deacon. In that Christian home she grew to womanhood. It is fair to presume that that home was the great force which determined her character and influenced her whole life. At the age of twenty-five she was united in marriage to Julius M. Jones and came to Webster City, where she lived for about forty- two years. She was widely known in the city and entire community. * We remember her as the perfect lady everywhere and al- ways. I use that word 'lady' not in the ordinary and conventional sense. I never mean to use it in that sense, and certainly I could not on this occasion. She had the necessary refinement and gentleness of a true lady. Her refinement and gentleness appeared when meeting the high or the lowly, the rich or the poor, the educated or the un- educated, her social equals or inferiors. Her manner and attitude were always those of the perfect lady. This was the secret of her power to make friends. It has been said that one must be divinely souled in order to make friends and that one so constituted need not pass through life friendless. Then our departed friend must have been divinely souled to an unusual degree, for her friends were legion. She who presided in this house made it a home-a refuge from life's cares, an inspiration for life's duties, and an inner sanctu- ary for life's confidences. While such women preside over our homes we need not fear that this sacred institution will lose its power for good. I am certain that it cannot be construed other than fitting that I should speak at this time of her passion for the best things in literature, for there are present here this afternoon those who. for many years, were associated with her in reading and study. . \bout twenty-one years ago a few of the women of Webster City mnet and organized the Wednesday Club. Mrs. Jones was one of those women, and the club has maintained its organization for more than a score of years, and to the time of her invalidism she was a faithful and dili- gent reader in all the various departments of work the club under-
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
took. She thus became widely read in all the best things of literature. * As I stand here in this beautiful home, now that she is gone, and have a vision of her who presided here, I am in no sort of doubt of what things are worth while; it is worth while for a woman to be a lady, and a man to be a gentleman; it is worth while to have the friendly nature, so that friends will gather about you to bless you in health, comfort you in sickness, and hold you in affectionate memory when you are gone. It is worth while for a noble man and a pure woman, guided by love, to establish a home and bring up a family, and find in that home the center for all life's activities, and the oppor- tunity for the expression of the very best there is in them. It is worth while to have the trained mind and the cultured heart and spend much time with the great authors, for then you are associating with the true royalty of earth-the men and women who have five talents. It is worth while to seek to develop the spirit of benevolence that looks upon all sentient life as affording an opportunity to do good and bless. It is worth while to live in the faith of things unseen, and not be shut up within the narrow circle of things seen and handled, for life ever looks out upon the Infinite and Eternal. * I spoke of Mrs. Jones' desire that 'Thanatopsis' should be read to her. When living, her modest spirit would have resented the application of those last words of the great poem to her life and character. But now that she is gone, we, her friends, gathered in this home conse- crated by her pure life and inevitable sufferings, may freely and truth- fully make such application :
" 'So live that when thy summons comes to join The innumerable caravan, which moves To that mysterious realm, where each shall take His chamber in the silent hall of death Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night. Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed, By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.'"
The following is a tribute by the Wednesday Club: "Among the many whose hearts have been saddened by the death of Mrs. Jones there are few, surely, who will more truly mourn her than the mem- bers of the Wednesday Club; with whom she had been associated for twenty-one years of study and loyal friendship. Her warm interest
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