Past and present of Sioux City and Woodbury County, Iowa, Part 1

Author: Marks, Constant R., 1841- ed
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 930

USA > Iowa > Woodbury County > Sioux City > Past and present of Sioux City and Woodbury County, Iowa > Part 1

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GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01084 8387

PAST AND PRESENT

SIOUX CITY

AND

WOODBURY COUNTY, IOWA

HON. CONSTANT R. MARKS, Associate Editor.

ILLUSTRATED

"A People that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote generations."- MACAULAY.

CHICAGO : THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY

1904

"Biography is the only true history." -Emerson.

PREFACE 1299206

Sioux City and Woodbury County have had history in which the people may take just pride. In securing the services of Hon. Constant R. Mark in the compilation of the history. the pub- lishers feel that they have secured the one man well qualified to do justice to the work, and the citizens of the county and city may well be congratulated on the result.

The biographical sketches incorporated with the work are of special interest, our corp of writers having gone to the people, the men and women who have, by their enterprise and in- dustry, brought this county to a rank second to none among those comprising this great and noble state, and from their lips have the story of their life struggles. No more interesting or instructive matter could be presented to an intelligent public. In this volume will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy the imitation of coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by industry and economy have accumulated wealth. It tells how others, with limited advantages for securing an education, have become learned men and wom- en, with an influence extending throughout the length and breadth of the land. It tells of men who have risen from the lower walks of life to eminence as statesmen, and whose names have become famous. It tells of those in every walk in life who have striven to succeed, and records how that success has usually crowned their efforts. It tells also of many, very many, who, not seeking the applause of the world, have pursued the "even tenor of their way." content to have it said of them. as Christ said of the woman performing a deed of mercy-"They have done what they could." It tells how many, in the pride and strength of young manhood, left the plow and the anvil, the lawyer's office and the counting-room, left every trade and profession, and at their country's call went forth valiantly "to do or die," and how through their efforts the Union was restored and peace once more reigned in the land. In the life of every man and of every woman is a lesson that should not be lost upon those who follow after.

Coming generations will appreciate this volume and preserve it as a sacred treasure, from the fact that it contains so much that would never find its way into public records and which would otherwise be inaccessible. Great care has been taken in the compilation of the work and every opportunity possible given to those represented to insure correctness in what has been written ; and the publishers flatter themselves that they give to their readers a work with few errors of consequence. In addition to biographical sketches, portraits of a number of repre- sentative citizens are given.

The faces of some, and biographical sketches of many, will be missed in this volume. For this the publishers are not to blame. Not having a proper conception of the work, some refused to give the information necessary to compile a sketch, while others were indifferent. Occasion- ally some member of the family would oppose the enterprise, and on account of such opposition the support of the interested one would be withheld. In a few instances men never could be found, though repeated calls were made at their residence or place of business.

October. 1904.

THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING CO.

Craig 2. high

BIOGRAPHICAL

CRAIG L. WRIGHT.

Craig L. Wright, lawyer and a counselor of the Republican party of Iowa, has been an in- fluential factor in his profession and in public life, especially in political eireles, since he took up his abode in early manhood in Sioux City to find in the growing west the coveted oppor- tunities for business advancement and success. Much greater eredit is commonly awarded to those who have risen from the depths of pov- erty through stern adversity to the highest place of honor among men, than to those to whom for- tune has been kinder, who were born of hon- orable ancestry and reared in the lap of luxury. The rare example of sons of great men rising as high or higher than their fathers seems to support the notion that there is in this country a sort of hereditary bar to such distinction. This class of young men are not rated by their associates, but in comparison with their dis- tinguished ancestors, and often to bear an il- lustrious name is to invite the shafts of jeal- onsy and envy. As a western editor has ex- pressed it: "If any section of a house still honored rises to greatness he will have achieved it. He will not be born to it or find it thrust. upon him, and he must be very great indeed to overcome the disadvantage of standing in the shadow of the colossal dead." And vet, an honorable ancestry is a precions heritage, a supreme help to the aspiring young man. Of this . Craig L. Wright ean boast and yet his position of eminence at the bar and in the pub- lic life of Iowa is due to his own inherent force

of character, his strong purpose, his unwearied industry and the exercise of his native talents, for he has won his prominence in a calling and along lines where distinction must be gained by individual merit and close personal applica- tion.

The family of which he is a representative was established in Pennsylvania in 1720 by an emigrant from Wales, whose descendants lived in the Keystone state for several generations. John Wright, the grandfather of Craig L. Wright, was born in Pennsylvania and was a mason by trade. In early life he married Miss Rachel Seaman and his death occurred in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1825. His widow survived him for many years and lived in Iowa in its territorial days, her last years being spent in Keosanqua, where her death occurred in 1850. Hon. George G. Wright, the father of Craig L. Wright, was born in Bloomington, Monroe county, Indiana, March 4, 1820, and died at the age of seventy-six years. His pre- liminary education was supplemented by a course of study in the University of Indiana, in which he was graduated when in his twen- tieth year. He read law with his brother Joseph Wright, who afterward became governor of In- diana. He resided in his native state until the early '40s, when he came to Iowa, settling in Keosanqua, where he resided until the early '60s. He then became a resident of Des Moines, but prior to this time he had attained prominence in connection with public affairs in his adopted state. A lawyer by profession,

PAST AND PRESENT OF WOODBURY COUNTY

he was elected judge of the supreme court of Iowa in 1855, and served upon the bench for fifteen years or until 1870, and at different times served as chief justice of the state. On his retirement from the bench he was chosen to the office of United States senator, where he served for a term of six years and then declined a second nomination. On the bench he won marked distinction. A man of unimpeachable character, of unusual intellectual endowment, with a thorough knowledge of the law, patience, urbanity and industry, he took to the bench the very highest qualifications for this respon- sible office in the state government, and his rec- ord as a judge was in harmony with his record as a man and lawyer, distinguished by unswerv- ing integrity and a masterful grasp of every problem which presented itself for solution. He was the best known of the older statesmen of Iowa and his influence was a potent element in shaping the poliey of the commonwealth, in promoting its substantial development and in upholding its intellectual and legal status. He took a deep and commendable interest in Iowa's progress along other lines outside the strict path of the law and was president of the State Agri- cultural Society for several terms, laboring earnestly in its behalf in early days. His early political allegiance was given to the Whig party, and he was the Whig candidate for con- gress when his district comprised the whole southern half of the state. His election as chief justice of Iowa occurred in January, 1855, when he was not yet thirty-five years of age.

Judge Wright was married in Van Buren county, Iowa, October 19, 1843, to Miss Han- nah M. Dibble, daughter of Thomas and Ruth (Gates) Dibble. Mrs. Wright was born in Saratoga county, New York, near the cele- brated springs, and came to Iowa with her parents in 1839. She was a representative of an old New England family that was estab- lished in Connecticut during the colonial epoch of our country's history and from the Charter Oak state representatives of the name removed

to New York early in the eighteenth century. Her death occurred in June, 1898, when she was seventy-four years of age. Judge and Mrs. Wright have five children: Carroll, who is an attorney for the Rock Island Railroad Company at Des Moines; Craig L.,; Mrs. Frank H. Peavey, who died in Minneapolis in August, 1903; Mrs. E. H. Stone, of Sioux City, and George G., who is a broker in Des Moines, Iowa.

Craig L. Wright was born in Keosauqua, Iowa, December 5, 1846, and attended the pub- lic schools there until his fifteenth year, when he entered the college department of the State University, in which he was graduated four years later. The following year he received his diploma from the law department of the same institution at Des Moines and he was a law student in the office of Withrow & Wright at Des Moines until his admission to the bar in 1868. Immediately afterward he came to Sioux City, believing that this new but rapidly developing town afforded a good field for pro- fessional snecess. He entered into partner- ship with William L. Joy, under the firm style of Joy & Wright, a relation that was main- tained until 1884. During the succeeding three years A. L. Hudson was connected with them and at the end of that time Mr. Wright with- drew and practiced alone until 1890, when the law firm of Wright & Hubbard was formed, his partner being Senator E. H. Hubbard. Be- tween the years 1890 and 1896 George A. Yeo- man and T. W. Bevington were also associated with Mr. Wright in law practice. In 1896 A. F. Call was associated with them under the firm style of Wright, Call & Hubbard, and since the withdrawal of Mr. Hubbard from the firm in 1902 the business style has been Wright & Call. In the early history of the bar of Sioux City its attorneys attended court at Vermilion, Elk Point, Yankton, Cherokee and in Monona, Harrison, O'Brien, Osceola and Sioux counties, Mr. Wright having considerable law business at all these points. He has never engaged to

PAST AND PRESENT OF WOODBURY COUNTY

any great extent in the practice of criminal law, but has devoted his energies to other de- partments of jurisprudence and has gained fame as a counselor. He has given much of his time to the preparation of law briefs for the appel- late court and his been regarded as a deep and thorough student of the law and one who has comprehensive and accurate knowledge of many of its branches. His practice has been of a varied character in civil law, sometimes acting as the counselor and advocate of corporations and again as their opponent. During the days of Sioux City's rapid growth, when it was undergoing what is known in modern parlance as a "boom," Mr. Wright was the counselor who assisted in organizing the corporations which did business here, probably doing more of such legal work than any other lawyer. Among the many which, as attorney, Mr. Wright organized were the old Sioux City Cable Rail- road Company that built its line on Jackson street, the elevated road operated under the name of the Sioux City Rapid Transit Com- pany, the Union Stockyards Company, the Sioux City & Northern Railroad Company, the Terminal Railroad & Warehouse Company, the Pacific Short Line, and the Northern Land Company. He has ever had a distinctively representative clientage. He is felicitons and clear in argument, thoroughly in earnest, full of the vigor of conviction, never abusive of ad- versaries, imbued with highest courtesy and yet one of the most able practitioners at the Iowa bar, an opponent whom the weaker lawyer dreads to meet and whom the stronger repre- sentative of the profession regards as a foe for whom he must put forth his best preparation.

In politics Mr. Wright has held much the same position that he has held in the law. He has been the manager and adviser and while his plans have shaped many campaigns and he has always been closely identified with polities, laboring earnestly and unceasingly for the in- terests of his friends, he has never sought or de- sired political honors or emoluments for him-

self. The only political position he has ever filled was that of city attorney, in which office he served in 1870 and 1871.

In 1873 Mr. Wright was married to Miss Kate P. Van Dyke, the wedding being cele- brated at Keokuk. Two children have been born unto them: Wilfred L., who is now man- ager of the New York office of the Bethlehem Steel Works of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and Mary L., who is now a student in an eastern college. In business circles and in public life Mr. Wright is rather austere in manner, there being about him a dignity which forbids fa- miliar approach. In private life, however, he is described as a most companionable gentle- man, genial, society-loving and a prince of story tellers. His attention from early man- hood, however, has been directed to his pro- fession and he is at home in all departments of the law, from the minutiæ in practice to the greater topic wherein are involved the con- sideration of the ethics and philosophy of juris- prudence and the higher concern of public policy, but he is not learned in the law alone, for he has studied long and carefully the sub- jects that are to the statesman and the man of affairs of the greatest import-the questions of finance, political economy, sociology-and has kept abreast of the best thinking men of the age.

LEWIS B. JENNESS.

Lewis B. Jenness, the popular postmaster of Danbury and editor and proprietor of The Dan- bury Review, is a native of this section of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Monona county on the 23d of December, 1871. He is a son of M. J. P. and Rachel (Wilcox) Jenness. For forty years the father has engaged in auction- eering and has cried more sales than any other man in northwestern Iowa.

The elementary education of Lewis B. Jen- ness was obtained in the common schools near

PAST AND PRESENT OF WOODBURY COUNTY

his boyhood home and was supplemented by a platform. The career of Professor Stevens as normal course. On the 30th of September, an educator has been one of continuous and consecutive advancement and each forward step has opened to him a wider field of labor and broader scope for the exercise of his native talents and acquired ability. 1894, Mr. Jenness was united in marriage to Miss Maud C. Adams, a native of Vermont, and they have become the parents of three chil- dren, two sons and one daughter, namely: Joyce, born July 6, 1896; John C., born Janu- ary 28, 1899; and Randolph, born November 16, 1901.

Fraternally Mr. Jenness is a member of the Masonic order, being made a Mason in 1901, and also belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge and encampment. In politics he is an ardent Re- publican and has taken quite an active interest in public affairs. On the 1st of July, 1901, he was appointed postmaster of Danbury, which office is of the fourth class, and he has since acceptably filled that position. He is pro- gressive and public-spirited and both personally and through the columns of his paper does all in his power to advance the interests of his town and county.

WILLIAM M. STEVENS.

William M. Stevens, the superintendent of the public schools of Sioux City, has for a num- ber of years been identified with educational interests here and to his zeal, enterprise and ability is largely attributable the high stand- ing of the schools at the present day. Education is the basis of industrial success, for withont the hand disciplined to execute and the mind trained to plan and direct the industrial or- ganization the modern commonwealth could not exist. The state recognizes this not only in its watchful care and endowment of its common schools, but in the higher institutions of learn ing that have been established for both mental and manual culture, and there is no greater work to which the individual may direct his labors than that of teaching, whether it be from the schoolroom, the pulpit or the lecture

Professor Stevens was born in the town of Sutton, New Hampshire, November 27, 1852, and at an early age he entered the preparatory department of the New London Literary & Scientific Institution, where on the comple- tion of a regular course he was graduated with valedictorian honors in the class of 1874. That was then one of the best educational institu- tions of New England. He thoroughly pre- pared himself for his life work of teaching by studying with such well known educators as Dr. Harris, Dr. G. Stanley Hall, Madam Krause, Colonel F. W. Parker and others who have won note in the field of educational labor. While pursuing his own course he engaged in teaching in graded schools during the winter months. Following the completion of his col- lege work he pursued special courses in the sci- ences at the School of Technology in Boston, studying philosophy under Dr. W. T. Harris, the history of education and psychology under Dr. G. Stanley Hall and kindergarten methods under Madam Krause, of New York. He also studied pedagogy and psychology under Colonel Parker, of Chicago. Since that time he has filled various positions as principal of large grammar schools and high schools and each change that he has made has indicated promo- tion and advancement. In the fall of 1874 he was elected principal of the high school of Han- cock, New Hampshire, and superintendent of the town schools and on his retirement from that position a local paper commented as fol- lows: "We regret to say our highly respected principal, W. M. Stevens, has been called to Manchester, New Hampshire, as the principal of the West Manchester schools." His success during the five years in which he filled the lat-

W. M. STEVENS.

PAST AND PRESENT OF WOODBURY COUNTY

ter position is best told in the words of the the Sioux City public schools, in which capacity . Manchester Union: "We were shown to the he has since been retained. different rooms and in each the brightest look- Professor Stevens was married July 22, 1878, to Miss Fannie Townsend, a daughter of Samuel Townsend, of New Hampshire, who is a farmer and stock-raiser. They have three children: Clyde, Ruth and Earl, who are at- tending the public schools of Sioux City, Clyde being now a student in the high school. Pro- fessor Stevens and his wife hold membership in the Unitarian church and he has membership relations with the Masonie fraternity, the An- cient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Brotherhood and the Fraternal Union. His political allegiance has been given to the Re- publiean party and he feels a publie-spirited interest in the welfare and progress of city, state and nation. In the line of his profession he is connected with the National Teachers' Association and he is a member of the executive council of the Iowa State Teachers' Associa- tion. He has fully kept in touch with the best thinking men of the age in the line of his pro- fession and also along lines of thought touch- ing the general interests of society. He is a recognized factor in the higher social circles in Sioux City and is a man of broad culture and scholarly attainments who has, moreover, an abiding charity and deep sympathy that have gained him the respeet and confidence of his fellow men. ing pupils were seen, their smiling faces at- testing the popularity of their principal, W. M. Stevens, who, we are sorry to say, is about to enter a much larger field of educational work in Quiney, Massachusetts." Concerning his work in the latter place, report for 1882 or 1883 contains the following: "Mr. Stevens has ae- cepted a position in Somerville, Massachusetts, at an advance of sixty per cent on his present salary. His work in Quiney has been highly acceptable and wholly satisfactory to all con- nected with the schools and to the citizens." At each transition stage in his career Professor Stevens has taken up his work with renewed courage, zeal and energy, and often the difficul- ties of his different positions have seemed to serve as an impetus for renewed ef- fort. On leaving Somerville, he accepted the superintendeney of the schools on Staten Island, New York, where again he was given a largely increased salary and again he won the favorable comment of the press, the Staten Island Star saying: "Superintendent W. M. Stevens is beyond all doubt the man for the place. Understanding thoroughly the system he was brought here to introduce, his eminent executive ability enables him to dem- onstrate every department of school work effi- ciently and impartially."

Business interests brought Professor Stevens to Sioux City in 1886 and here he has been well known as a factor in educational circles and his efforts have been far reaching and bene- fieial in the promotion of the school interests. In 1889 he was chosen a member of the board of directors of the city schools and aeted in that capacity until 1892. He served as princi- pal of the Armstrong school for four years and was then principal of the Hopkins and Smith schools for three years, while in January, 1901, he entered upon the duties of superintendent of

JAMES BAYNAM.

In the year 1886 James Baynam became a resident of Woodbury county and is now en- gaged in general farming on section 22, I'nion township, where he owns and operates eighty aeres of land, pleasantly located within two miles of Correctionville. Among the adopted sons of Iowa that England has furnished to the new world he is munbered, his birth having occurred in Monmouthshire on the 15th of June, 1857. He spent the first fifteen years of

PAST AND PRESENT OF WOODBURY COUNTY

his life in his native land and during that time enjoyed good educational privileges. In 1872, however, he bade adieu to friends and native country and with an uncle came to America, loeating in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He there began working in a foundry, in which he was employed for two years, after which he turned his attention to farm work. Later he was en- gaged in the manufacture of grain eradles and also continued as a farm laborer, being in the employ of one man for seven years. He came to Iowa in the spring of 1882, loeating first in Ida county, where he secured a traet of land, upon which he began farming on his own ac- count. He was married in that county and when three years had passed he removed to Woodbury county and operated a rented farm for two years. He located where he now resides in 1888, broke the fields, fenced the place, erected buildings and made many other impor- tant improvements. His farm at first eom- prised but forty aeres, but later he added to this traet and now has a good place of eighty aeres. He also farms another traet of one hun- dred and twenty aeres and as an agrieulturist he is well known because of his praetieal and progressive methods. He has planted fruit and shade trees, has added many modern equipments, and in addition to the production of the cereals best adapted to soil and elimate he is engaged in the raising of stoek, and both branches of his business are proving profitable.

In Ida county, Iowa, in March, 1883, Mr. Baynam was united in marriage to Miss Mag- dalena Pierce, a native of Ireland, born in County Fermanagh. There her girlhood days were passed and when a young lady she made the voyage to the new world and took up her abode in Ida county, this state. Two children have been born of this marriage, John J. and Emma Margaret. The parents attend services at the Methodist Episcopal church but are not identified with any religious organization through membership relations. He exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and

measures of the Republican party and has served as township trustee for six years. He has been school director for eight years, is the present ineumbent in that office and has twice served on the school board. His residence in Iowa covers twenty-two years and during that period he has conducted a profitable business as a farmer. He had no capital with which to start out in life when he came to the west, but he realized that labor is the basis of all success and upon that safe and sure foundation he has builded his prosperity. Frugality, energy and strong purpose have been salient factors in his career. He and his wife are numbered among the hospitable, social people of Union town- ship and have gained many warm friends there.

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Past and present of Sioux City and Woodbury County, Iowa, Part 1

Author: Marks, Constant R., 1841- ed Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 930

Author: Marks, Constant R., 1841- ed
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 930