USA > Iowa > Muscatine County > History of Muscatine County, Iowa, from the earliest settlements to the present time, Volume II > Part 1
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA
FROM THE EARLIEST SETTLEMENTS TO THE PRESENT TIME
BIOGRAPHICAL
Edited by Irvine Berding chiari.
VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
1911 THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING CO. CHICAGO
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 536442 ASTOR, LENOX AND TI! DEN FOUNDATIONS. 1912
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
HENRY WATERMAN MOORE.
The names of some are indelibly written upon the pages of Muscatine's his- tory, but none shine with brighter lustre than that of Henry Waterman Moore, who in every relation of life measured up to the highest standards of manhood and citizenship. As a merchant he was enterprising, progressive and reliable, and his keen insight into possibilities and opportunities enabled him to become a factor in the promotion of business interests which were of inestimable worth in the development of this part of the state. His consideration, however, was not given merely to material things, for intellectual and moral progress also awakened his interest and received his substantial support and cooperation. He was as kindly in spirit as he was honorable in purpose, and as loyal in friend- ship as he was devoted to his family. He was a man earnest, honest and modest to a degree rare indeed, who led a life mainly for others and left to his sons and his friends a memory sweet and abiding.
The Moore family is of English origin, but the ancestral history of Henry Waterman Moore is one of long connection with America, for in the year 1639 John Moore and his wife Elizabeth left their old home at Barchamstead, Hart- fordshire, England, and with their four children took passage on one of the old- time sailing vessels that were weeks and months in crossing the Atlantic. At length, however, the voyage was over and they settled in the colony of Massa- chusetts, becoming residents of Sudbury, Middlesex county. Some land was assigned to him in 1639 and 1640, and a few years later, in 1642 and 1645, he purchased other farms. The line of descent to Henry W. Moore is traced down through Jacob Moore, who was the sixth child of the original American an- cestors. He was born in Sudbury, November 28, 1645, and was there married, residing in his native town until his death in 1690. His second son, Richard Moore, was born September 12, 1671, and following his marriage went with his wife and children to Oxford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, establish- ing his home there about the year 1711. He was the first to fill the position of town clerk in Oxford, and was also one of the first selectmen. He acted as town clerk at intervals for a period of ten years, and was selectman for about fifteen years. He also acted as moderator and town treasurer for several years and in 1721 was chosen the first representative from his town to the general
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
colonial assembly. For a long period he was proprietor of an inn and his third son, Elijah Moore, who was born March 14, 1702, became his successor in busi- ness, being licensed as an innkeeper from 1734 until 1759. He, too, filled the office of selectman for several years, and was well known and prominent in the community. He married Dorothy Larned, a daughter of Colonel Ebenezer Larned, who with his brother Isaac founded the town of Oxford in 1713.
Ebenezer Moore, the fourth son of Elijah and Dorothy Moore, was born September 7, 1751, and soon after attaining his majority followed his cousin, Nathan Moore, to the town of Vassalboro, in what was then the province of Maine. He settled at Brown's Corners, where he engaged in farming and soon afterward he completed his arrangements for having a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Sarah, daughter of Nathan Moore. His prominence in the community is indicated in the fact that he was called to a number of public offices in Vassalboro, including that of selectman, and for twenty-four years, from 1776 until 1800, he took an active and helpful part in establishing the welfare and progress of his city. He also acted as steward for Governor James Bowdoin, of Massachusetts, who was the owner of much land in the province. His son and namesake, Ebenezer Moore, Jr., was born in Vassalboro, October 7, 1777, and in 1800 became a resident of Gardiner, Kennebec county, Maine. There he joined the Gardiner militia company, which in 1804 was divided and a new company formed, of which Mr. Moore served for seven years as first lieutenant. In 1814 the regiment to which he belonged was called to active service to resist a threatened invasion by the British near the north of Sheep- scot river. The troops were on duty for several weeks at Wiscasset and Edge- comb. About 1812 he began the manufacture of paper at Gardiner, Maine, as a member of the firm of Springer, Moore & Company, which afterward be- came Moore, Savels & Company. Ebenezer Moore was connected with this undertaking for thirty years and his sound business judgment was an element in the success of the business. In 1808 he was married to Miss Lucy Smith, a native of Wiscasset, Maine. Their family numbered three sons and five daughters, and the two elder sons, Ebenezer and Asahel, were graduates of Bowdoin College of Maine, one of the oldest and most prominent of the col- legiate institutions of New England. The elder son adopted the profession of law and the latter became a minister of the Methodist church.
Henry W. Moore, who was born at Gardiner, Kennebec county, Maine, on the 12th of October, 1818, was reared to manhood in his native town and there acquired an academic education. Seeking the broader opportunities for busi- ness offered in the city, he went to New York in the spring of 1836 and secured a position in the wholesale hat and cap store of W. P. Lyon, with whom he remained until his employer failed, during the widespread financial panic of 1837. Mr. Moore then returned to his old home in Maine. but in the spring of 1838 started for the Mississippi valley, influenced by his brother Ebenezer, then of Quincy, Illinois, who was the first mayor of that city. In June of the same year he went to Burlington, Iowa, which was then a part of the territory of Wisconsin. Believing that there was a bright future before the enterprising little village and recognizing that its location gave it many natural advantages, he there embarked in business as a general merchant, forming a partnership with
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
his brother-in-law, Silas Page. He was also engaged in the forwarding and commission business under the firm name of H. W. Moore & Company for three years, but in 1841 the firm failed and Mr. Moore spent the three suc- ceeding years in settling up his old accounts, and also acting as bookkeeper for different merchants of Burlington. He then reentered trade circles in connection with the wholesale dry-goods and grocery establishment of W. F. Coolbaugh, late president of the Union National Bank of Chicago, with whom he was con- nected from 1844 until April, 1848.
At the latter date Mr. Moore came to Muscatine, then known as the village of Bloomington, and here opened a wholesale and retail hardware and iron store, the capital being furnished by his intimate friend, Lyman Cook, president of the First National Bank of Burlington, who, together with W. F. Coolbaugh, his former employer, also supplied him with letters of unlimited credit. Mr. Cook's interest was purchased in 1852, for the business had been established upon a substantial basis and the profits were such as to enable Mr. Moore to become sole proprietor of the business, which steadily increased under his sys- tematic methods and careful control. He was recognized as a man of unfalter- ing purpose, and his sagacity and energy in business affairs brought substantial success. He remained in the hardware business about forty-seven years, selling out to the firm of Bartemeier & Fulliam only a short time prior to his death. He had but recently completed the building for the Van Nostrand Saddlery Com- pany on Front street between Sycamore and Cedar, which they are still occu- pying. He was prominently identified with the commission and other business interests of Muscatine from the time of his arrival in the city until he was called to his final home. He aided materially in encouraging the establishment of manufacturing enterprises, the building of railways, the organization of banks and the advancement of the educational and religious interests of the county. He became one of the incorporators of the Merchants Exchange Bank, the predecessor of the First National Bank, in 1866, and was chosen a member of its first board of directors. Two years later he was elected vice president and filled that office most acceptably for many years, his wise counsel proving a potent element in the successful conduct of the institution. He was also presi- dent of the Muscatine Savings Bank for many years following its organization in 1880, and from 1892 until 1894 was president of the First National Bank as well as of the Muscatine Savings Bank. His resourceful business ability made him a cooperant factor in the successful conduct of many important business concerns whereon has been builded the progress and present prosperity of the county. He was president of the Muscatine Insurance Company from 1852 until 1860. He was the treasurer of the Iowa Construction Company, which built the Muscatine Western Railway in 1873 and 1874. He became one of the original stockholders of the Muscatine Waterworks Company, which was organ- ized in 1875, Mr. Moore continuing in office for many years, and acting as treas- urer of that institution from its inception until his death. He became a stock- holder and director of the Hershey Lumber Company upon its organization in 1875, and in 1879 was one of the incorporators of the Muscatine Oat Meal Company, with which he was actively connected until the spring of 1888, being numbered with those who had voice in its management and control. In 1879
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
he also became one of the organizers and directors of the Muscatine Island Can- ning Company, which was the first industry of this kind established in the county.
Along lines which contributed most directly to his own benefit and were im- portant sources of public progress and improvement, Mr. Moore was also active. When the Muscatine Fair Ground and Park Association was organized on the 13th of October, 1886, he was elected its president and so continued until early in the year 1888, when he resigned, preferring to remain simply as one of its directors. In January, 1892, H. W. Moore, associated with Charles Page, I. A. Kerr, N. W. Hine and W. M. Molis, formed the Muscatine Pearl Button Com- pany, which was the first organized company to promote the pearl button in- dustry in Muscatine, which is now the largest pearl button center in the world. What Muscatine would have been without the labors and efforts of Mr. Moore it is impossible to determine. He remained for many years a central figure on the stage of action here and no man contributed in larger or more substantial measure to the growth and upbuilding of the city and county. His efforts were by no means confined to his activities which brought him individual return. His aid could always be counted upon to further movements for the public good, and his influence was always on the side of progress and improvement. In 1852 he became one of the promoters in the building of Trinity Episcopal church, and for many years served as one of its vestrymen. In 1864 he was chosen a mem- ber of the school board, acting as its president for the ensuing two years, and about the same time spent two years as a member of the city council, during which period he exercised his official prerogatives in support of many legisla- tive measures for municipal welfare.
On the 12th of September, 1853, Henry W. Moore was married in Musca- tine to Miss Ellen Stone, a daughter of Calvin R. and Susan (Fitch) Stone, and they were the first couple to be married in Trinity church. Mrs. Moore was born in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, March 21, 1830, and arrived in Muscatine in company with her brother, Charles Stone, in the fall of 1852. Her death oc- curred February 5, 1859. Two sons survived her: Henry Stone, born Decem- ber 21, 1855; and George, who was born January 27, 1859, and died February 8, 1895. A daughter born November 17, 1854, had died in infancy. Mrs. Moore was a devoted Christian woman, holding membership in the Episcopal church, and her many kindly deeds won her the love of all.
The death of Henry W. Moore occurred on the 26th of February, 1894, when he was in his seventy-sixth year. He had been a resident of Muscatine for forty-four years and at first visited the city in 1838. From April, 1845, until May, 1846, he had lived in Wapello, Iowa, and two years afterward he took up his permanent residence in Muscatine. The life record of no resident of Muscatine has been more faultless in honor, fearless in conduct, and stain- less in reputation than Henry Waterman Moore. His name is inseparably as- sociated with the history of the city, and no record would be complete without extended mention of what he did for its upbuilding and progress.
Henry S. Moore, now the only surviving member of the family, resides at No. 716 West Third street. He was reared in Muscatine and pursued his edu- cation in the public schools and in Thomas Brown Academy. On the 7th of
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
October, 1897, he married Miss Genes Johnson, a daughter of Walter and Sarah Frances (Watts) Jolinson. Her grandfather, Robert Johnson, emigrated from the north of Ireland to America. He married Margaret Best, who was of Irish parentage although her birth occurred in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. Their son, Walter Johnson, was born in Harrison county, Ohio, in 1838. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Moore were John and Elizabeth (Ringsby) Watts. John Watts, despite the slight variation in name, was a direct descendant of James Watt, 1736-1819, the famous Scottish steam engine expert. The parents of Mrs. Moore are still living in this county, their home being now about four miles north of Muscatine. Mrs. Moore was born on her grand- father's farm in this county and by her marriage has become the mother of three sons: Henry Wallace, who was born December 3, 1898; Frank Becker- man, born January 17, 1902; and Maurice Watts, born September 12, 1906.
HARRY KERN.
Harry Kern, who is now at the head of the shoe house of B. Schmidt, which was established in Muscatine about forty years ago, still continues the business at No. 115 Chestnut street and is widely recognized as a successful and up-to- date merchant of the city. His birth occurred in Des Moines, Iowa, on the 9th of October, 1877, his parents being Fred and Elizabeth (Hughes) Kern, who are natives of Switzerland and Ireland respectively. The paternal grandfather, Albert Kern, was a native of Switzerland and a carpenter by trade. On coming to the United States he first located in Muscatine, Iowa, and subsequently re- moved to Des Moines, where he passed away at the age of eighty-seven years. His remains, however, were interred at Muscatine. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Rose Weismiller, died when eighty-six years of age. They reared a large family of children, including Fred, Albert, Mollie, Henry, George and Anna. James Hughes, the maternal grandfather of our subject, spent his entire life in County Cork, Ireland. Both he and his wife lived to attain a ripe old age and reared a large family of children.
Fred Kern, the father of Harry Kern, learned the trade of a brick mason in Switzerland and after emigrating to the United States about 1855 he followed that occupation in Muscatine, Iowa, for a short time. He then removed to Des Moines and has there resided continuously since, being successfully engaged in business as a contractor. It was in that city that he wedded Miss Elizabeth Hughes, by whom he has twelve children, eleven sons and one daughter, as fol- lows: Fred; Albert; John; Charles; George; Harry; Henry; Robert; Frank; Joseph; Barney; and Rose, the wife of Charles Reams. The parents are de- voted communicants of the Catholic church.
Harry Kern was reared in Muscatine by the Hon. Bernhard Schmidt, long a prominent shoe merchant and twice mayor of Muscatine. He attended the public schools in the acquirement of an education and when fifteen years of age began clerking in the shoe store of Mr. Schmidt. When that gentleman died, on the 27th of March, 1909, he became his successor and still continues the business at
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
the old location and under the old style of B. Schmidt, which concern was estab- lished about forty years ago. A man of excellent business ability and sound judgment, Mr. Kern is now conducting the enterprise in a manner that insures the continuance of the extensive patronage which the house has long enjoyed.
On the 30th of May, 1899, Mr. Kern was united in marriage to Miss Eliza- beth Schmidt, a native of Davenport, Iowa, and a daughter of Henry and Anna (Oedamer) Schmidt, who were born in Germany and Iowa respectively. Her father was a brother of Bernhard Schmidt. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Schmidt took up their abode among the early settlers of Muscatine and afterward removed to Davenport. Both are now deceased, the former passing away in Dallas, Texas, while the latter's demise occurred in Muscatine. Their children were three in number, namely : Anna, the wife of Sherman Springer, of Muscatine; Mrs. Kern; and Barney, who is now serving in the United States navy. Mr. and Mrs. Kern have two children, Erial and Truman.
In politics Mr. Kern is a democrat, while fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to Iowa Lodge, No. 2, A. F. & A. M .; Washington Chapter, No. 4, R. A. M .; and Webb Council, No. 18, R. & S. M. He is also a member of the Commercial Club, the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Royal Arcanum, the Retail Clerks Protective Association and the Muscatine Launch Club. He is a Spanish- American war veteran, having served in Company C, Fiftieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry from April 26, 1898, to November 30, 1898, when he was mustered out at Des Moines. At present he is regimental quartermaster of the Fifty-fourth Iowa National Guard, having been a member of the guard for twenty years. Both he and his wife belong to the Presbyterian church and take an active and helpful interest in its work. Mr. Kern has attained a gratifying measure of suc- cess for one of his years and, moreover, has won the regard of all with whom he has come in contact by reason of his upright and honorable methods in all the varied relations of life.
ISRAEL LEWIS GRAHAM, M. D.
Israel Lewis Graham, M. D., deceased, was born at Canton, Hartford county, Connecticut, February 11, 1823. After receiving his early education at Canton Academy and at the academy in Amherst, Massachusetts, he began the study of medicine with his uncle, Dr. F. B. Graham, at Hitchcocksville, Connecticut. He studied one year with Dr. Woodruff at New Britain, Connecticut, and one year at the Eye and Ear Infirmary in Hartford. He attended the course of lectures in 1845-6 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city and the clinical course at the City Hospital, and graduated from the University of the City of New York in 1847.
Dr. Graham then practiced five years at Bristol, Connecticut, where he also was surgeon for the Bristol Copper Mine, removing from there to Hudson, Ohio, where he remained for two years as physician and druggist. He then returned to Connecticut and engaged in the same business in New Haven, until he removed to Muscatine in August, 1855. His brother, James E. Gra-
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ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
ham, born at Canton, Connecticut, November 22, 1827, came here about the same time, and in the fall of 1855 they established themselves in the drug business in a two-story frame building which then stood on the north side of Second street between Cedar and Walnut, nearly opposite the old Masonic hall. At that time Dr. Graham boarded at the Clover House and his brother James at the Irving House. They soon moved to the brick building at 224 Sec- ond street, now 305 East Second street, three doors east of Cedar street. For the first five years, the style of the firm was J. E. Graham, which was changed to Graham Brothers, and in 1868 they moved their stock of goods to the brick building which they had purchased three years previously, at the northeast cor- ner of Second and Cedar streets. The father of Dr. I. L. and James E. Graham, Israel W. Graham, was for twenty years a resident of the county. He was born February 25, 1795, at Canton in Hartford county, Connecticut, where his an- cestors had lived for several generations, and moved to Muscatine county in 1856, together with his wife, Permelia Ensign Graham, who was born in Pitts- field, Massachusetts, in 1799, and a daughter, Almira P. Graham, born at Can- ton, Connecticut, July 30, 1819. The family, with the exception of Dr. I. L. and James E. Graham, who came to Muscatine the previous year, located on a farm three miles north of this city on the graded road, where I. W. Graham died December 19, 1876, his wife having preceded him in death August 11, 1870. Almira P. Graham married in 1859, Sylvester C. Hoyt, son of David Hoyt, one of Muscatine's early citizens, and moved to Griggsville, Pike county, Illinois, where she died January 4, 1874. James E. Graham, the younger brother, re- tired from the firm of Graham Brothers, April 24, 1872, moving to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and later to Woodstock, Illinois, where he died April 29, 1894, leav- ing a wife, formerly Alice M. Sherfey of this county, whom he married at Muscatine, November 20, 1867, now a resident of Chicago, Illinois, and two sons, Howard E., born in 1869, and Harold W., born in 1888. A daughter, Alice M., was born in 1874 and died in 1891. After James E. Graham with- drew, the business was carried on by Dr. I. L. Graham, and in this he was actively engaged to the time of his death, from apoplexy, December 3, 1886.
On the 11th of December, 1861, Dr. Graham was married in Cromwell, Con- necticut, to Mrs. Agnes M. Bronson, the widow of Roswell Bronson, M. D. Her birth occurred in Cromwell, August 19, 1831. She was a daughter of Captain James Butler, Jr., and a granddaughter of Captain James Butler, Sr., both of whom were commanders of sailing vessels which sailed from the Connecticut river to West Indian and Mexican ports. After attending the public schools in Cromwell she entered Mount Holyoke Seminary at South Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1849, and continued her studies there until illness compelled her to desist. She was united in marriage at Oxford, Connecticut, November 3, 1852, to Roswell Bronson, M. D., whose death occurred December 14, 1855. Of this union was born one son, John, September 19, 1855. who died at the age of eleven months. In 1858 Mrs. Bronson went to Griggsville, Pike county, Illinois, as an instruc- tor in the public schools, which were then under the supervision of Professor William Chamberlain, a relative. She remained until 1861 and there met Dr. I. L. Graham, who was visiting his sister, Almira P. Hoyt. Mrs. Bronson re- turned to her home in Cromwell, Connecticut, and after her marriage at that
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
place to Dr. Graham she removed to Muscatine with her husband, who had been in business here during the previous six years. She continued to make this city her home until her death January 6, 1911, after a long illness, during which she possessed a wonderful degree of patience. She was a woman of refined char- acter, an extensive reader and was fond of her home. At the time of her death she had lived continuously in the residence on the northeast corner of Iowa avenue and Fifth street, which was built by Dr. Graham in 1868. During the greater part of her life here she was a member of the First Congregational church and was an earnest worker in the Woman's Mission Circle of that denomination.
Dr. Graham and his wife had four children, all of whom were born in Mus- catine. The two eldest, James Butler, born August 25, 1863, and Ida, born Jan- uary 4, 1865, died in infancy. Mary, who was born August 5, 1866, was mar- ried September 18, 1894, to Jolin A. Robbins and died December 20, 1897, being survived by her husband and two children, Agnes and Mary G. Dr. Graham's son, Edward Louis, born December 11, 1867, has continued the drug business at the same location since his father's death, having taken a course at the Chicago College of Pharmacy, from which he was graduated with the class of 1889.
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