USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > Biographical history of Pottawattamie County, Iowa > Part 74
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Dr. Consigny practiced medicine at Swan- ton Falls, Vermont, for two years. A price of £10,000 cash was placed upon the heads of General Papineau, Dr. Allard and Dr. Consigny, and it required a special pardon from the King of England before they could return to their native land. When this was effected Dr. Consigny returned to the peace- ful pursuit of the practice of his profession at St. Cesaire, taking with him the young bride he had won in the States when a rebel exile with a price on his head. He was con- tent to remain at peace with the Government the remainder of his life. His health was greatly shattered by the vicissitudes through which he passed while attempting his escape from his pursuer. His horse having given out, he was three days and nights in the dense Canadian forests in a rain-storm with- out shelter. Here he contracted rhenmatism, which resulted in his death at the compara- tively early age of forty-five years; and thus a man of brilliant parts and devoted to his family and his country, was sacrificed to the canse of liberty. On account of his health he was obliged to relinquish his profession, and to accept from the Government the ap- pointment of Superintendent of Instruction of Lower Canada. This office he held until his death. to the credit of himself and great sat- isfaction of the people. He was a man of great liberality and broad ideas, and while earning and possessing large means he did not at his death leave more than a comfort- able estate. Dr. and Mrs. Consigny were the
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parents of ten children; four died in infancy and six are now living: Engene A., Lucy, George J., Napoleon B., John F. and Joseph E.
Dr. Consiguy was a man that the biogra- pher delights to honor, possessing great nobleness of character. He was an honored citizen and liboral-minded patriot, a true Christian and indulgent father. To say that he was a dignified gentleman of the old school, would be only to say that he was an educated and cultured Canadian gentle- man. His memory is revered by his de- scendants, and this tribute springing from the heart and lips of his eldest son is but little in comparison with his great worth of char- acter.
His widow is still living, at the advanced age of seventy-nine years, in Avoca. She was born June 2, 1811, at Swanton Falls, Vermont, and after her marriage to Dr. Con- signy resided in Canada for about fifteen years. She hal a natural taste for literature and was a good scholar in her girlhood days, and throughout her life has been a great reader, and to this day retains the memory and mental faculties nnimpaired by time. She has been a consistent and life-long member of the church, and her strength of character has been a great influence in molding the minds of her children. Her father, Ezekiel Goodrich, was a well-to-do Vermont farmer, and lived to the very great age of ninety-nine years, and retained to his last days his cheerful disposition and mental activity. He had all his life been a man of great energy and of very temperate habits. The Consigny family thus blends with French stock and the sturdy solid characteristics of the Vermont pioneers and soldiers, who as " Green Mountain Boys" are famous in Rev. olutionary annals, and the good characteris- ties of the two races who for generations
were opponents in arms were thus joined together.
General Eugene A. Consigny, the oldest son, was born May 15, 1841, at St. Cesaire, Lower Canada, now Province of Quebec. He received the usual common-school education, and then entered the College of St. Ilyacinthe, and graduated with honor. His father died about this time, and young Eugene was ap- pointed in his father's place as Superinten- dent of Instruction for Lower Canada to fill the unexpired term of three months, and though so young in years he filled this im- portant position so well at least that there was no cause for complaint. His father's choice had been that his eldest son should enter the legal profession, and his own inclinations were in the same direction. However, his father's liberality had so encroached upon his estate that the family, although not poor, found themselves in not the easiest circum- stances, and upon Eugene, as the oldest son, devolved the task of assisting his brothers in acquiring an education. After a severe struggle, and actnated by a sense of duty to his mother and family, he gave up his cher- islied plans and entered a mercantile estab- lishment, as a clerk, at Granby, Lower Canada. He remained in the mercantile business as a clerk, engaged by different firms at St. Al- bans, Vermont, and at Montreal for more than four years, and then went to the old home of his mother's youth (Swanton Falls, Vermont), his mother having returned from Canada two years before. Here he was con- nected with the firm of Jewett & Barney, and represented the interests of Colonel Barney, who was at that time a soldier in our great civil war. During this time Eugene had eon- tributed liberally of his earnings to assist his mother in educating her children, and had truly been a mainstay and support to his family. Young Consigny, however, was fired
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with a feeling of patriotism, and although offered a commission by his cousin, Colonel Barney, of Vermont (a gallant Vermont sol- dier who fell at the battle of the Wilderness while bravely leading his brigade), preferred to enlist as a private in Company M, First Regiment Vermont Volunteer Cavalry, going to Burlington, that State, to enlist, and receiv. ing no bonnty The regiment was imme- diately ordered to the front, and Mr. Consigny was engaged in a good many bat- tles and skirmishes, among them Fairfax, Dranesville, Winchester, Lynchburg, Gettys- burg, Fisher's Hill, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Spottsylvania, Petersburg, Five Forks and Appomattox, where Lee surrendered; and here, on the morning of the 9th of April, 1865, he then being Adjutant of the regi- ment, led the last charge made by cavalry in the Eastern army. He received his first pro- motion as Sergeant after a service of a few months, and soon after Orderly Sergeant. He then received the commission of Second Lieutenant, and for gallant and meritorions service on the battle-field he received his pro- motion of First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the regiment-an office much courted by the younger officers. From the battle of the Wilderness at Five Forks, he was detailed on General Hancock's staff, and while on duty was wounded at the battle of Spottsylvania, by a sharpshooter, and was struck by a spent ball on the head. After the war he served three months on the frontier, and was hon- orably discharged at Burlington, Vermont.
Like the great majority of our soldiers who fought to preserve the Union and survived, Adjutant Consigny returned to a life of act- ive business, and seeing the great opportuni- ties offered by the West, came to Dubuque, Iowa, by way of Chicago, and engaged in mercantile business for two years, and then went to Cascade, Iowa, and engaged in the
same business. Here our soldier citizen was himself called upon (by Cupid) to surrender, which he gracefully did, September 2, 1869, to Miss Cassie Benham, daughter of Dr. Lucins Benham, formerly a surgeon in the United States Army, and an Ohio man. Her mother's name before marriage was Rebecca Van Horn, and she was of an old Kentucky family. The family circle of General and Mrs. Consigny have been made complete by the birth of two sons, Goodrich L. and Engene F. After marriage General Consigny took his young wife to De Soto, Missouri, and for three years was a frnit farmer. In 1872 he came to Avoca, then a very small town, and engaged in the grain business, and ran the first elevator in Avoca. Since that time Gen- eral Consigny has been identified with the leading business enterprises of Avoca; is a prominent member of the milling firm there, a stock company, and has done a prosperons business. The Centennial Mill Company also own mills at Traey, Missouri, and Avoca. General Consigny is president and manager.
Socially General Consigny is a member of the Knights of Pythias, G. A. R. and Loyal Legion, and he holds the office of Depart- ment Commander of Iowa, to which he was elected by acclamation. At Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at the encampment in 1888, by a rising vote of the convention, the delegates were instructed by resolution to nominate General Consigny as commander-in-chief of the G. A. R., an honor which an old soldier can always appreciate. By virtue of his rank as Department Commander of Iowa, the title of our subject is that of General, which is for life. At the Colonel Redfield Association, Dexter, Iowa, 8,000 soldiers being present, a resolution was ordered sent by wire to President Harrison for the appointment of General Consigny as Commissioner of Pen- sions, in place of Corporal Tanner, Pension
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Agent, a compliment appreciated by our sub- ject, as showing the esteem in which he was held by the old soldiers of his State. At Des Moines, in April, 1890, at the department encampment, he was presented by that body with an elegant jeweled gold badge repre- senting his rank as General, as a slight token of their recognition of his services.
In his political views General Consigny is a Republican, and he represented the Ninth Iowa Congressional District at the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1884. He has filled the office of Mayor of his town, has taken an active interest in the cause of education, and was Trustee of Simpson College at Indianola, Iowa. Being mindful of the ntility of our common schools, he served six years as President of the School Board of Avoca. Both General and Mrs. Consigny are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The oldest son, Good- rich L., is Captain of the Camp Major E. A. Consigny, Sons of Veterans, which camp was named in honor of his father. Ile rep- resents the Centennial Mill Company on the road as a traveling agent, and, although but twenty-one, and the youngest traveling man in the State, meets with assured success. General Consigny is still a comparatively young man, not having reached fifty years, and while the frosts of winter have touched his head with silver, his ereet military form and energetic bearing mark him for many years of active life. As a soldier and a citi- zen he has been an example to younger men, not only in what he has accomplished in de- fense of his country in its hour of need, but in the bright example of temperance and morality. Neither the vieissitudes of camp nor the pleasures of the social reunions have tempted him to indulge in either intoxicating liquor or tobacco, and few there are, born and reared among a social and rather bibulous
people, and who have been accustomed through life to the ease and freedom of the West, can say as much. When the great roll of honor is called, while the achievements of the young soldier who fully offered him- self to his country will be credited to him, his name will be more honored for his con- trol of himself than for his victories in the field.
J. WAY, of the firm of W. J. Way & Co., general merchants at Carson, has been a successful business man by his own tact and energy, and also by his social manner he has won for himself many warm friends. IIe commenced here in Car- son in 1880, on a small scale, as a pioneer inerchant at this point, and he forced pros- perity upon his path. His present large and commodious building, erected in the fall of 1889, is 36 x 120 feet in ground area, the first story being fifteen feet high, and here the firm carry a stock of $15,000 to $20,000 worth of goods, doing a business of $20,000 to $40,000 annually.
Mr. Way was born in Menard County, Illinois, October 11, 1860, a son of T. B. and N. J. (Cox) Way, father of English ancestry. His mother was a native of Bonaparte, Iowa. When the subject of this sketch was a small lad, his father engaged in business at Indian Creek, Illinois, and later moved to Winter- set, Iowa. At the age of seventeen he took charge of his father's store, at Chandlerville, Cass County, and still later he was at Clar- inda, Page County, and from that point he moved to Carson, in connection with his ex- tensive mercantile business. He is also operating a large brick-yard.
He was married, December 8, 1882, at Glenwood, Iowa, to Miss Vesta lead, a
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daughter of Captain T. H. Head, who is a prominent citizen of Glenwood. She is a lady of more than ordinary culture, as she graduated at the age of fifteen years, at the Glenwood High School. Mr. and Mrs. Way's children are Leo C., Lynn D. and Philip. In polities Mr. Way is a Republican, and in religion a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Carson.
AMUEL R. COMER, of Walnut, is one of the best known citizens of this thriving towu, and a member of the firm of Comer & Griffith, the only furniture establishment in the town, carrying an ex- cellent, well selecte | stock of $4,000 worth. Mr. Comer was born near Trenton, Grundy County, Missouri, on a farm, May 27, 1850, and received a cominon-school education. Ilis father, Thomas Comer, was from High- land County, Ohio, and from an old Ameri- ean family. He went to Indiana when a young man and married Rachel J. Apple- gate, danghter of Thomas Applegate, of Jasper County, Indiana, an old settler and pioneer. In 1842 Mr. Comer moved to Missouri, and settled in Grundy County. He was a soldier in Company A, Seventy- Second Regiment, Indiana Volunteer In- fantry, and was in service in Kentucky and Tennessee, being in several battles. He re- turned home and died in 1866, his days be- ing shorte iel by exposure. Mr. Comer was an industrious man and respected by all who knew him. He left Missouri on account of the war troubles and died at Delphi, In- diana. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a Democrat in polities.
Samnel R. Comer, the subject of this sketch, was left an orphan, being but sixteen years of age at his father's death, and the care
of his mother devolved upon him. He had gone to Indiana in 1861 with his parents, and engaged on a farm by the month, and thus supported his mother. This he con- tinned until his marriage at the early age of nineteen years, in 1869, to Miss Amanda E. Cappess, daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Cappess, from Ohio, and of American anees- try. They have two children: Henry A. and Hattie E. After marriage Mr. Comer went to Cedar County, Iowa, and farmed until 1879, and then came to Walnut, and engaged in the teaming and dray business, in which he succeeded well. In 1888 he engaged in his present business, in which he has pros- pered, and in which he still continues.
In society Mr. Comer is an Odd Fellow. He is a self-made man, having by his own unaided efforts made his way from the con- dition of a poor boy to that of a representative American citizen, respected by his fellow townsinen and having a highly respectable family.
RSON O. HOTCHKISS, an ex-soldier of the late war and for many years a railroad man, now resides on a farm in section 2, Wright Township, Pottawattamie County, lowa. He bought land here in 1881 and took up his residenee on it in 1888.
Mr. Hotelkiss was born in Kane County, Illinois, near Geneva, December 20, 1837. Ilis father, Wallace Hotchkiss, one of the first settlers of Kane County, was born in Tioga County, New York, son of Gillian Hotehkiss. He traced his ancestry back to seven brothers in England, who, on account of their polities and religion, were banished from their native country by the king. The maiden name of Mr. Hotehkiss' mother was Eney Carver. She was born in New York,
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
a descendant of German ancestry. Many years ago the Carver family was a prominent one in Germany in both church and state. They were exiled from that country and came to America. Wallace and Lucy Hotch- kiss located in Kane County, Illinois, about the year 1834 and lived there until 1859, when they inoved to Bourbon County, Kan- sas, where they spent the residue of their lives, the father dying at the age of sixty five years, and the mother in 1880, at the age of sixty-three. Mr. Hotchkiss was a farmer all his life. His political views were those of the Democratic party. He and his worthy com- panion reared a family of eight children, six of whom are living, viz .: Orson O., David, a resident of Kansas; Mary, in Dakota; Alice, in Kansas; and Carver and Nancy, also in that State. Burt, deceased, was a member of a Kansas regiment and served through the war for his country.
The subject of our sketch remained on the farm until he was seventeen years old, re- ceiving his education in the pioneer schools of Kane County. Ile was then employed to carry water for the workmen who were build- ing the Chicago, Burlington & Quiney Rail- oad through Kane County. Some time later he obtained a situation as brakeman on that road, which position he resigned during the Pike's Peak excitement; and with a company he set out for the West. From Pike's Peak he went overland to California, where, for two years he was engaged in mining, ranch- ing and freighting. In 1861 he returned to his home in Illinois, and in September of that year he enlisted in Company A, a cav- alry company which was attached to the Fifty-second Illinois Infantry, Colonel Will- son and Lieutenant Colonel Ed. Joslyn, the latter a prominent lawyer and politician. His company was stationed at St. Louis, where the Captain was Provost-marshal for a
time. Later, with a portion of the Fourth Ohio Cavalry, they acted as body-guard for General Halleek, forming a battalion. From Pittsburg Landing Mr. Hotchkiss was all through the campaign, fighting along the lines to Corinth. Two months and a half he was confined in a hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois, after which he was discharged for general disability. He returned to Kane County, and some time afterward again ob- tained a sitnation as brakeman. Not long afterward his faithfulness, honesty and ability were recognized by his employers and he was promoted to a higher position. In 1867 he resigned to accept a sitnation as engineer on the Northwestern Railroad, then being built through Iowa. He joined the force at Jeffer- son, took charge of engines and the making up of trains, and it was he who took the first passenger engine into Council Bluffs on the Northwestern Railroad. It was No. 33, a wood-burner. Some time after this Mr. Hotchkiss again returned to Aurora, Illinois, and accepted a position as engineer on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. He was afterward promoted, and ran the best passenger engine on the road. It was at- tached to the fast mail train which ran be- tween Chicago and Aurora. During the great strike, February 4, 1888, Mr. Hoteh- kiss retired from railroad life. He had spent thirty years on the road, had inet with many trials and hair-breadth escapes, and at that time he decided to pass the declining years of his life in agricultural pursuits. In the spring of 1888 he built a fine residence, modern style, at a cost of $1,600. Ile also made other improvements on his farm, which comprises 120 acres, and is now pleasantly situated.
Mr. Hotchkiss has been twice married. His first companion was nee Mary McDonald, danghter of John and Lucinda (Vaughn)
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BIOGRAPHIICAL HISTORY
MeDonald. She died in 1867, leaving one son, Frederick, who was a fireman on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and who was killed in March, 1876, at the age of eighteen years. February 10, 1870, our sub- ject wedded Miss Mary Roxanna McDonald, a native of Steuben County, New York. She is a daughter of William McDonald, a sketch of whom will be found on another page of this book), and was fourteen years old when she came with her parents to Bureau County, Illinois. His second union has been blessed with four children: Willie and Wallie (twins), Savilla and Mary.
Mr. Hotchkiss is a member of the Brother- hood of Engineers, Division No. 32, Aurora, Illinois. In politics he is a Democrat. He still retains many of the characteristics of the railroad man; is sincere and ontspoken, cordial and respecful to all.
- H. KNEPHER, a grocer at No. 744 West Broad street, Council Bluffs, carries a stock of some $2,- 500, and his annual sales amount to $16,000. He established his present business in 1878, which he has since successfully conducted. Ile was born in Brownsville, New York, De- cember 23, 1860, the son of H. T. and Mary (Bremmnel) Knepher, the former a native of Germany, and the latter was born and reared in Ohio. They were the parents of six chil- dren, of whom our subject was the third child. His early life was spent in attending school, and when sixteen years of age he e une to Council Bluff's and engaged in the manufacture of cigars, which business he continued two years. He has also made several investments in real estate in this city. He is an active politician, and a stanch supporter of the Democratic party. He was
elected City Alderman in 1888, and re- eleeted in 1889 as Alderman at large. He is a member and treasurer of the I. O. O. F., Hawkeye Lodge, No. 184, and is also a mem- ber of the M. W., Hazel Camp, No. 171.
Mr. Knepher was married April 4, 1885, to Miss Rena Berger, daughter of R. C. and Mary Berger, and who was born in Ohio, but reared in Brownsville. They have had two children, both of whom are deceased. Mr. Knepher is a member of the Board of Trade, and has been a liberal endorser of anything that pertains to the good of the city.
W. MIKESILL, proprietor of a general store at 2300 West Broadway, Council 0 Bluffs, established his business in Sep- tember, 1888, and carries a stock of some 82,500. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, in November, 1829, the son of John II. and Phobe (Birch) Mikesill, natives of Virginia and New York, and of Scotch and Irish de- scent. They had a family of eight children, five of whom are still living. Our subject, the third child and the only one residing in this State, was brought up on a farm and educated in the common schools. In 1840 he came to Iowa with his parents, loeating in Marion County, where he grew to man- hood, and where his parents died. When he was twenty years of age he engaged in the mercantile business at Red Rock, Iowa, and in 1851 took a trip to California, passing through Council Bluffs. He remained in that State some eight years, and was engaged in mining, mercantile business, and also operated a water ditch for mining purposes. In the spring of 1860 he returned to this State, where he remained until 1870, when he again started for California, but stopped at Council Bluffs, where he has since re-
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mained. He first engaged in the stock busi- ness, but drifted into real estate, which he continued two years. In 1888 he commenced his present business, and has since acquired considerable property. His home is at No. 2206 Avenue A. Politically he has always been a strong supporter of the Demoeratie party, and in the spring of 1890 was elected Alderman of the Sixth Ward.
Mr. Mikesill was married in 1861, to Miss Catherine Alley, a native of Indiana, but was reared in Iowa. They have a family of six children: Uba, wife of John Clatterbuek ; Robert P., deceased; Caroline J., wife of Ira Benge, of Council Bluffs; Bettie, at home; William J., Donnelly C., Jolin W., and Hor- ace, deceased. The mother is a member of the Christian Church, while the father holds to the Spiritualistie faith.
OUNCIL BLUFFS LUMBER COM- PANY, 900 South Main street, corner of Ninth avenue, are dealers in lumber, lime, coal, etc. Incorporated 1887, with a cash capital of $25,000. R. Stevenson, Presi- dent; M. J. Irons, Vice-President; II. Ste- venson, Secretary and Treasurer. Sales amount annually to $120,000 to $130,000, retail. Their stock includes all kinds of building material and all kinds of coal.
Mr. H. Stevenson was born in Oslıkosh, Wisconsin, December 24, 1859, the son of Hugh and Charlotte (Seelye) Stevenson, natives of Canada, and of Scotch descent. His father died in Nebraska in 1887, aged sixty-five years; and his mother is still living in Ansley, Custer County, Nebraska. In their family were eight children, all of whom are living excepting one.
Mr. Stevenson, our subject, the third child in the above family, lived in his native State 45
until he was nineteen years of age, and at- tended the normal school. In 1878 the family removed to Nebraska, where the boys engaged in the rearing of live-stock, a busi- ness called "ranching." These sons were: Renfrew, now the president of the Council Bluffs Lumber Company; Robert, who is now engaged with the H. Stevenson Lumber Company, of Ansley, Nebraska; and our subject, Henry. After two or three years' ranching, they engaged in the lumber busi- ness at Riverton, Nebraska, a short time, when Robert went to Franklin, the same State, and opened a lumber yard, and Heury went to Orleans and opened a yard there under the title of The H. & R. Stevenson Lumber Company. After following the busi- ness there for two or three years, and estab- lishing yards at Long Island and Almena, Kansas, he, with his brother Robert, con- solidated with their father and formed the H. Stevenson Lumber Company at Fuller- ton, Nebraska, with yards at Genoa, Ansley and Berwin, same State, and this company still exists, now owned and controlled by six brothers: Renfrew, Henry, Robert, Brougham, Scotia and Stymert, Robert being the man- ager.
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