Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume II, Part 10

Author: Brigham, Johnson, 1846-1936; Clarke (S.J.) Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1464

USA > Iowa > Polk County > Des Moines > Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume II > Part 10

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In 1884 occurred the marriage of Dr. Will and Miss Millie A. Baldwin, a daughter of Frank M. and Mary (Maxwell) Baldwin. Her father was a pioneer merchant of Story county and a native of New York. Her mother was a daughter of George Maxwell, who held a number of public offices during and after the Civil war and at one time represented Story county in the general assembly. The death of Mrs. Millie Will occurred in 1888 and one son, Frank Arthur Will, born August 4, 1886, survived her. On the 14th of April, 1904, Dr. Will was again married, this union being with Ethel A. Israel, a daughter of Winfield Clayton and Olive (Shearer) Israel, of Des Moines. The first representatives of the Israel family in America spelled their name D'Israeli and they also trace relationship to Israel Putnam. Dr. and Mrs. Will have one daughter, Hortense Olive, born November 30, 1909. Dr. Will is of the Epis- copal faith and was christened by Bishop Lee, Iowa's first Episcopal bishop. He is well known in fraternal, scientific and social circles. In Masonry he is a member of Capital Lodge, No. 110, A. F. & A. M .; Corinthian Chapter, No. 114, R. A. M .; Temple Commandery, No. 4, K. T .; and is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, being a member of Za-Ga-Zig Temple. He also holds membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Knights of Pythias and belongs to the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and the State Historical Society of Iowa as well as the Golf and Country Club of Des Moines, the Hyperion Club of Des Moines and other social organizations. His admis- sion to these societies bespeaks his popularity and indicates the fact that he has a large circle of warm friends. Whenever his arduous and complex profes- sional duties leave him leisure he enjoys meeting with his fellow members of clubs and fraternities or in participating in the investigations of the scientific societies with which he is allied. His interests are broad and varied and few men are better informed concerning the questions of significant and vital im- portance to the community and to the nation at large.

CHARLES F. KEELING.

Charles F. Keeling, one of the leading agriculturists of Allen township, is the owner of two hundred and ten acres of valuable land on section 32 and section 30. His birth occurred in Montgomery county, Iowa, on the 30th of May, 1872, his parents being John and Emma Keeling, natives of Indiana, who established their home in this state in 1852. They reared two children, of whom our subject is the elder.

Charles F. Keeling, who was brought to Polk county in 1875, obtained his education in the common schools of Avon. Throughout his entire business ca- reer he has followed the pursuits of farming and stock-raising in Allen town- ship, making a specialty of shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs. His under- takings as an agriculturist have been attended with a gratifying measure of

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

success and he is now the owner of two hundred and ten acres of land on section 32 and section 30. He always keeps in touch with the most advanced ideas on agriculture and is a practical farmer, whose fields are under a high state of cultivation and whose improvements are modern and substantial.

On the 26th of March, 1896, Mr. Keeling was united in marriage to Miss Clara Krysher, a daughter of Levi and Margaret Krysher, who were natives of Pennsylvania and came to Iowa in 1848, settling in Allen township. Mr. Krysher is now deceased, passing away at the ripe old age of seventy-eight years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Keeling have been born six children, three sons and three daugh- ters, namely : Fern, Marie, Florence, Floyd, Ralph and Russell.

Mr. Keeling is a stanch republican in politics and has held all of the town- ship offices, including those of trustee and school director. His public duties have ever been discharged in a most prompt and capable manner and to the satisfaction of all concerned. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Christian church. He is interested in gold mines to some extent and is widely recognized as one of the substantial and esteemed citizens of his community.

ALFRED WINGATE.

The fraternal orders occupy a prominent place in modern life, and nowhere do they flourish as in the free atmosphere of America. The principles of brother- hood appeal to the best instincts of man, and have found ready response in every part of the country, especially in the larger centers of population. The Masonic order, being the oldest, finds its adherents everywhere, and is one of the im- portant agencies in the promotion of brotherly sentiments in Des Moines, as in all other leading cities in Iowa. Among its honored representatives may be named Alfred Wingate, grand secretary of the Grand Chapter, R. A. M. He was born in Canada, September 15, 1839, and is the son of Asa S., and Charity (Willsie) Wingate, the latter of whom was born in New Hampshire in 1807. The father was also a native of New Hampshire. He was a farmer and came west in 1857, locating in Iowa.

Alfred Wingate, the only child of his parents, received his preliminary edu- cation in the common schools of Canada and New York state, subsequently becoming a student in one of the eastern academies. At eighteen years of age he came with his parents to Iowa, and in 1858, began his active career in the mercantile business at McGregor, continuing in that line for eleven years, dur- ing which time he gained a large amount of knowledge concerning men and affairs, which has been of practical benefit to him in the years that have since elapsed. Coming to Des Moines in 1880, he entered the service of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, as general agent. In 1886, he retired from rail- way employment, and since that time has been grand secretary of the Grand Chapter, R. A. M., of Iowa, filling the position with an ability that has met the hearty approval of his brethren throughout the state.

On the 23d day of October, 1865, Mr. Wingate was united in marriage to Miss Josephine Biffle, born in Ottawa, Illinois, January 1I, 1850. The father, Peter Biffle, departed this life while his daughter was in her infancy. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wingate, namely: Florence, of Des Moines, who married Luther Warren, now deceased; Allie Grace, the wife of Rufus L. Chase, Jr., of Des Moines; Clara Blanche, who is now society re- porter for the Daily News; and Harry A., at home. Mr. Wingate is politically identified with the republican party and is a stanch believer in its principles and in the ability of its leaders to carry the country through any emergency that may arise. As a Mason he holds membership in Capital Lodge, No. 110, A.

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

F. & A. M., Corinthian Chapter, No. 14, R. A. M., Alpha Council No. I, R. & S. M., Temple Commandery, No. 4, K. T., and Des Moines Consistory, No. 3, A. A. S. R.

Mr. Wingate is a man of many genial social characteristics and he has a host of friends, many of whom are not connected with any fraternal organiza- tion. By a life of probity and helpfulness he many years ago became a promi- nent factor in the affairs of the community. His efforts have always been directed on the side of right and progressiveness, therefore he is justly accorded a high place in the estimation of those who know him.

TACITUS HUSSEY.

Over half a century ago, November 9, 1855, to be exact, Tacitus Hussey arrived at the spot now occupied by Des Moines, and little did he imagine that he would live to see the frontier settlement grow into one of the most flourish- ing and beautiful cities of the west. He was actively connected with its busi- ness interests for many years and is now retired and enjoys in an unusual degree the respect of the entire community.

He is a native of Terre Haute, Indiana, born October 10, 1833, being a son of George and Mary (Brockway) Hussey. The father served as second lieu- tenant of the garrison that defended Fort McHenry at Baltimore, Maryland, September 14, 1814. He was personally acquainted with Francis Scott Key, who wrote the Star Spangled Banner the morning the siege was raised. He was born in Baltimore and became an Indian trader at Vincennes, Indiana, later engaging in farming in Vigo county, Indiana. The mother was born at Sche- nectady, New York, and came west with a wagon train, riding the entire distance to Indiana on horseback. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Hussey the eldest son is now living at Terre Haute and is the oldest banker in the state of Indiana.

Tacitus Hussey received his preliminary education in a log schoolhouse in Vigo county, which he attended during the five winter terms of three months each. In his early manhood he entered the printing office of the Terre Haute Journal and there completed his trade as printer in 1855. Being attracted to the great west he came to Fort Des Moines the same year and has since con- tinuously made his home at this place. He worked as a printer in the offices of the Iowa Statesman and the Citizen, later becoming foreman in the publish- ing house of Mills & Company. In 1864 he assisted in organizing the printing and bookbinding firm of Carter, Hussey & Curl and continued actively in busi- ness until April, 1901, since which time he has lived retired.

On the 18th of August, 1859, Mr. Hussey, at Des Moines, was married to Miss Jennie Clement, a daughter of Rev. Asa and Rosetta Clement, both of whom were natives of Poughkeepsie, New York, the father having been a class- mate of Franklin Pierce in college. Politically Mr. Hussey ever since arriving at voting age has given earnest support to the republican party and fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order.

He has taken an active interest in the Commercial Club and was its treasurer for twenty years, being at the present time an honorary member of the Golf and Country Club, the Des Moines Archery Club and the Hyperion Club. He is also a valued member of the Central Presbyterian church, with which de- nomination he has been connected since November 9, 1855.

As a writer he has been favorably known for more than forty years. He began contributing to the press in 1866 and is especially recognized as a writer of verse and reciter of his verses, being designated as the James Whitcomb Riley of Iowa. He is the author of The River Bend and Other Poems; History of Steamboating on the Des Moines River; History of the Central Presbyterian

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

Church; and the songs: Iowa, Beautiful Land, The Old Flag, My Country, Oh My Country, and many others. Iowa, Beautiful Land is the favorite song of all Iowa associations, wherever they may be, and is sung in the schools and colleges of the state on Iowa day.

In his earlier years Mr. Hussey was familiar with pioneer scenes. He has been an eye witness of the great development in Iowa and has been personally acquainted with its prominent men almost from the establishment of the capital at Des Moines, and few are better informed as to its history or have been more interested in its growth. Always a willing and efficient worker in behalf of the public good, he well deserves the high esteem in which he is held throughout his adopted state.

GEORGE YEAGER.

It is only when a crisis occurs in the maintenance of law and order that the ordinary individual stops to consider the importance of a well organized police system in which the most thorough discipline is maintained, combined with un- faltering loyalty to duty on the part of those who constitute the police force. Police protection withdrawn what would happen in our cities? The results would be appalling. It is, therefore, of the greatest moment that capable men be at the head of this department and a worthy official was found in George Yeager, who on the 6th of April, 1910, was appointed to the position of chief of police. He was born in Strassburg, Alsace, September 26, 1864, a son of George and Catherine (Woolyoung) Yeager, who were also natives of Strass- burg. The year 1880 witnessed the arrival of the family in Burlington, Iowa, where they resided for some time, and afterward removed to Perry, Iowa. Later the father died in Adel, Iowa.

George Yeager acquired his education in the schools of Alsace. He was a youth of about sixteen years when the voyage across the Atlantic was made and in 1885 he came to Des Moines, where he secured employment in connec- tion with a bakery business. Later he was employed in a coal and feed yard and so continued until 1900, when he became connected with the police force of this city, being appointed desk sergeant, which position he filled for one year. He was then promoted to the detective department, wherein he continued until 1906, when he was offered and accepted the position of claim agent with the Des Moines City & Interurban Railway Company. He proved capable in that connection and was retained in the position until the new city government was elected when he was tendered and accepted the office of chief of police on the 6th of April, 1910.

Mr. Yeager has been very actively identified with organized labor and while working at the baker's trade he served for one term as president of the trades and labor assembly. He has also been prominent in republican politics and for one term was secretary of the republican central county committee. He re- mained an active factor in politics up to the time of his connection with the police force, acting as a member of the central committee for many years and giving his time and service for the benefit of his party without seeking office or remuneration. His present appointment to the position of chief of police came to him unsought and was a merited recognition of his ability and trust- worthiness.

Mr. Yeager is married and has a family of four children. He belongs to Home Lodge, No. 370, A. F. & A. M., and to the Christian church, associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and the principles which govern his conduct. Well educated, in a foreign land and at first handicapped by the lack of a knowledge of the English language, he soon overcame the

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difficulties imposed thereby and with the passing years has made himself felt as a power in political and industrial circles, at all times using his influence for the adoption and promotion of those measures and movements which are elements in good government and progressive citizenship.

EDWIN RUTHVEN CLAPP.

Edwin Ruthven Clapp was born in the town of Casenovia, Madison county, New York, May 30, 1827. He was the son of John and Lucy Hanson Clapp, both of whom were born in Deerfield, Massachusetts. John Clapp was born May 21, 1793. His death occurred near Mount Pleasant, March 6, 1837, at the age, of forty-three years. Lucy Hanson Clapp was born January 10, 1798, and died in Des Moines, Iowa, May 21, 1879, aged eighty-one years.

The Clapp family is of Scottish origin. Edwin E. Clapp, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was the original American ancestor. John, the father of Edwin R. Clapp, had a loyal memory for the "Land o' Cakes," which was shown by the naming of his four children. The eldest of the four was named William Wallace; the second, Edwin Ruthven; the third, Helen Marr, and the youngest, Robert Bruce.

Edwin R. Clapp's father moved from Deerfield to Madison county, New York, about the year 1825, and in a few years thereafter became a resident of Kirkland, Ohio. Thence the family came by team to Iowa in 1837, settling on a little claim of eighty acres near what is now known as Mount Pleasant, Henry county. The journey to Iowa was somewhat unique. They had lived at Kirk- land about three years. The father, hearing of the then "Great West," and hoping to better his condition by a removal thither, packed his goods in a wagon and started for Cincinnati, Ohio. The journey was not unlike the pilgrimages of hundreds of others who had determined to come west. They camped out at night, cooked and ate their scanty meals in the open air, as houses on the route were not very near together. When they arrived at Cincinnati, they took passage on a steamship down the Ohio river and up the Mississippi to Quincy, Illinois, where the boat was stopped by ice, and a halt had to be made. It was here that the father was taken sick, and the scanty stock of money was fast running out. When he became well enough to travel, the journey was resumed, in March, by wagon. They crossed the Mississippi in, a ferry-boat at Fort Madison and arrived at their destination, near Mount Pleasant, in March, 1837. The father died on the sixth of March, 1837. As soon as the family arrived, the settlers, as was their custom in those days, assembled and put up for them a cabin on his claim and welcomed him to Iowa territory.

After the father's death, there began a struggle for existence. The country was new and supplies were not to be had, even if there had been plenty of money to buy. A little patch of ground was cleared near the cabin, and the two boys went to work with might and main to get a living. The mother was a true pioneer and worked night and day to keep her little family together and succeeded nobly. Mrs. Clapp married John Lewis in 1845. She has written her life's history in the hearts of her children and all who knew her. She died in Des Moines at the age of eighty-one. Grandma Lewis, the name by her second marriage, is remembered by all the older settlers. She died at the home of her son, Edwin R. Clapp. With filial love, in due time, the body of John Clapp, the father, was removed from Mount Pleasant and sleeps in the family lot in Wood- lawn cemetery.

There were no educational facilities in Mount Pleasant at that time, except, perhaps, in the most primitive way, so Edwin received only two terms of winter school in a log schoolhouse. This school was not different from other frontier

EDWIN R. CLAPP

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

schools in the west at that early date. However, it was presided over by Pro- fessor Howe, who afterward became well known in Iowa as an instructor and who was much beloved by all his pupils. William Wallace Clapp was seven years older than his brother, and on him rested the burden of taking care of the family, in which his younger brother Edwin, bore no little part.

In the year 1841, Mr. Clapp's mother sold her claim and moved to Mount Pleasant with the hope that employment might be found for herself and sons. Edwin found work at the Henry Hotel, kept by B. C. Tiffany, at four dollars per month. His duties were various, from building fires and furnishing fuel to currying and feeding the horses of travelers who were looking the country over for locations. There was not much style put on by the Henry House in those days of ox teams. Hungry stage drivers, merchants, lawyers and teamsters sat down to the table together, and scullions, chambermaids and stable boys waited on them all.

Mrs. Clapp, having married John Lewis in 1845, made a change in the life of the boys a little later. William Wallace came to "Fort Des Moines" in 1845 and started a grocery and supply store, and was followed by his brother Edwin in 1846. There were no public conveyances in those days, so there were only three modes of travel available-by team, on horseback or on foot. Edwin pluckily started out on foot, with such help as he could get from occasional teamsters, carrying his valise, not very plethoric in its proportions. But there were unbridged streams to cross, and only three houses between Oskaloosa and the "Raccoon Forks." These were, as remembered, Sam Peet's, at Black Oak Grove, just below Pella, on the Muchachinock creek. "Sam," as he was familiarly called, kept a kind of a tavern and fed everybody who came along, giving them beds as long as the house would hold them, and the rest camped out in the yard and slept on straw, with the sky for a quilt, unless they were fortunate enough to have brought blankets with them. The next stopping place was kept by Adam Toole, near where Monroe now stands. Then came "Uncle Tommy" Mitchell, whose house was open to travelers. He was the prince of all Iowa men and could take care of more people and keep them in better humor than any man in the "Territory of Wisconsin." His pioneer tavern was on Camp Creek, in what is now Camp township on the old stage road. On this tavern, passing hungry men and women placed their hopes of a good meal and were seldom disappointed.

Mr. Clapp describes the surroundings of the muddy little settlement-the "Raccoon Forks"-as he first saw it, as picturesque and beautiful in its wild- ness. There were, perhaps, one hundred people in the village at this time. The Indian title expired on the IIth of October. 1845, after which all lands and lots could be claimed and "proved up" later. There was only a squad of soldiers left to guard the government property until it could be disposed of and to keep order until a civil government was established. When Mr. Clapp came to Des Moines in 1846 his first work was running a ferry-boat at ten dollars a month. This was not a very agreeable job, as it required constant attendance at the boat, whether there was any business or not. This work lasted until the river froze over and the public had a safe and free bridge of ice until the "break-up" in the spring.

Mr. Clapp's father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. John Lewis, had moved to Brighton, Washington county, Iowa, and thither he went to spend the winter, not in idleness but in search of employment, which he found in great abundance during the winter he spent there. Mr. Clapp always claimed "Fort Des Moines" as his home, no matter in what part of the state he found employment. It was a spot he looked to as a place where he would finally settle down and where he had determined to live all his life. He carried out his ideals in a way seldom accomplished by young men struggling for an honored place in the world.

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In 1847-8, with his savings and the verbal indorsement of his step-father, of whose memory he always spoke in the most affectionate way, he procured a team and wagon, and, entering into partnership with Jesse Metz, at Lancaster, Keokuk county, he began hauling goods from Burlington. Mr. Clapp bought the goods, hauled them, and Mr. Metz sold them, the profits being divided in a satisfactory way. The distance from Burlington, Iowa, was about fifty miles, and many trips were made in the course of a year. Later he bought a lot of flour and carried it about the country, selling it to the settlers, who were very glad to have the supplies brought to their doors in this unexpected way. Trips extended to Knoxville and sometimes as far up as Des Moines. This business was so profit- able that in a season or two he was out of debt, fulfilling Father Lewis' verbal promise to the owner of one of the horses, who was a little doubtful about sell- ing it on credit.

In 1849 Mr. Clapp contracted with a party of surveyors then encamped on Four Mile creek, to haul them to Keokuk. This was in December, and the ther- mometer was in the neighborhood of twenty degrees below zero and the snow very deep. When he got as far as Tom Mitchell's on the journey, he found that it was going to be impossible to get through with a wagon without great difficulty and engaged Tom Mitchell to take them to their destination in a sled, as that was the only safe means of travel across the trackless prairie through the deep snow of mid-winter. Seeing that wagons were handicapped in deep snows, Mr. Clapp went at once to Washington county and made as good a sled as it was possible to make with the tools and material at hand, and, when com- pleted, he was ready for any emergency.

The winter's work of Mr. Clapp had been fairly profitable and been mixed with pleasure. No matter how busy men are there is always time for falling in love with a pretty girl, courting and marrying her as soon as circum- stances will permit. The winter evening frolics to which Mr. Clapp carried his best girl behind him on horseback, had borne fruit, and they became en- gaged lovers.

On the evening of April 4, 1849, there was a quiet wedding in the southeast part of Washington county, where Edwin Ruthven Clapp and Miss Emily J. Boughton were made husband and wife. Very soon thereafter the newly wedded pair began preparations for stepping out of the old home into the new. They came to Fort Des Moines by team and found a home in one of the pioneer cabins and began life in earnest. The bride was born in Chenango county, New York, and came to Iowa with her parents early in the settlement of the terri- tory. Five children were born of this union: Helen, became the wife of Milton Forster of Des Moines. Ella became the wife of W. L. White. Ida married Lewis C. Smith and was formerly a resident of North Des Moines but now lives in California. Edwin B. died at the age of five, and John W. at the age of twenty-four years. The death of the wife and mother occurred on the 25th of March, 1869.

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Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume II, Part 10

Author: Brigham, Johnson, 1846-1936; Clarke (S.J.) Publishing Company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 1464

Author: Brigham, Johnson, 1846-1936; Clarke (S.J.) Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1464