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 112

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 112

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Dr. Whicher is a republican in politics and while living in New Mexico served as a member of the city council of Carlsbad for five years. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, having held the office of master in the lodge at Carlsbad. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a past noble grand of the Carlsbad lodge. He is likewise a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Red Men, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Episcopal church, being a member of the vestry of St. Paul's church, with which his wife is also affiliated. They are both well known and highly esteemed throughout Des Moines.

LEONARD BROWN.

Practically the entire life of Leonard Brown has been devoted to the profes- sion of teaching, literary pursuits and lecturing. He was born on the 4th of July, 1837, in Syracuse. Indiana, and is a son of Aaron and Margaret M. (Cory) Brown. The father was born in Paris, Maine, on the 19th of January, 1807, and is a direct descendant of Daniel Brown, whose father came to this country from Scotland, his former home being on the Clyde. He settled at Moulton- boro, New Hampshire, during colonial days and later took up arms against the mother country during the Revolutionary war, marching with Colonel Fry and the New Hampshire Volunteers to Boston and participating in the battle of Bunker Hill. He had six brothers, one of whom, Captain James Brown, removed to Zanesville, Ohio, in 1812, and there his son Parlie Brown established the Elkhorn Tavern, which he conducted for many years. Daniel Brown had six sons, two of whom, Jabez and Jonathan Smith, removed to Ohio. The former came from New Hampshire and located in Wooster, Ohio, where he died at an early age, leaving a widow, one son and several daughters. The son, Jabez Brown, came to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1857 and engaged in the jewelry busi- ness. One daughter, Abigail, became the wife of B. F. Frederick, and Hannah married J. E. Jewett, a lawyer of Des Moines before and during the Civil war. Jonathan Smith Brown removed to Zanesville, Ohio, from Paris, Maine, in 1812. He served as sergeant in the American army during the war of 1812 and was at Fort Meigs when it was attacked by the British and Indians. In New Hamp- shire he married Sarah Richards, a sister of James Richards, who was a preacher living near Kenton, Ohio, and was the father of several children, one of his sons being Leonard, for whom Aaron Brown named our subject. Aaron Brown had a sister who married Harvey Buckmister, of Hardin county, Ohio, who for many years conducted the Buck Horn Tavern, located four miles southeast of Kenton, in which city he later engaged in banking. It was in 1835 that the father of our subject removed to Syracuse, Indiana, and for many years he was engaged in freighting flour by team from the mill at that place to Fort Wayne

956

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

and Elkhart. He passed away in Marshalltown, Iowa, in 1879, and his wife, who was born in Ohio in 1820, died in Syracuse, Indiana, in February, 1848.

Leonard Brown acquired his elementary education in the common schools of Syracuse, which he attended until thirteen years of age, and then entered the blacksmith shop of William Shelmadine, where he worked for three years. He enjoyed the work, for his employer was kind to him and permitted him to go to school for three months every winter. In October, 1853, he accompanied his father's family on their removal to Des Moines, where for one year he attended the Des Moines Academy, which was taught by the Rev. J. A. Nash. In 1854 he engaged in teaching and in the year following he went to Burling- ton, Iowa, there entering the Burlington University, where he remained for four years as student and tutor in mathematics. Returning to Des Moines he became associated with his former instructor, the Rev. J. A. Nash, in estab- lishing the Forest Home Seminary, which has since developed into the Des Moines University, the school first being opened in 1860. In 1866-7 Mr. Brown was superintendent of schools in Des Moines and Polk county and in 1875 and 1876 professor of English and literature in Humboldt College. He has spent a great deal of time in the lecture field, speaking on social reform, and at one time he canvassed twenty counties of Iowa, going from township to township speaking on social and political reform. He has also written several books and pamphlets, among them being: Poems of the Prairie, of which there were three editions; Iowa, The Promised of the Prophets; American Patriotism or Memoirs of Common Men; The Rights of Labor; Things New and Old or Christianity and Liberty; The Pending Conflict; Popular Perils; In Occident and Orient, or Equal Rights of Blacks and Whites, and Our Own Columbia that is to be.

On the 7th of November, 1861, in Des Moines, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Mrs. Nannie J. Houston, who is of colonial descent, her people being from eastern Maryland and Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Brown reared ten children : William Harvey, Antoinette, Abby May. Margaret Edith. Arthur Houston, Katie Grayson, Charles Mortimer, Lydia Octavia, Mabel and Claude Decimus.

Mr. Brown went to the front during the Civil war with Company F, Forty- seventh Regiment Iowa Volunteers, serving for one hundred days. He now maintains relations with his comrades of those days through his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, and in 1855 he became a charter member of Star Lodge, No. I, I. O. G. T., of Des Moines, thus early voicing his views on the temperance question. In politics he was originally a republican, of the Lincoln point of view, but of recent years his views have more nearly coincided with those of the populist party. Mr. Brown believes in the closer unity of mankind, equal rights and the recognition of stronger social responsibilities. A man of high ideals and noble purposes, he has given a large portion of his time to the effort of inculcating a higher and nobler sense of duty and responsibility in both young and old.

JOHN BLAKE.

Among the old settlers in Polk county must be mentioned John Blake, who has lived continuously for almost forty-five years on the farm where he now resides in Madison township. He was born in England on the 21st of Novem- ber, 1832, and is a son of George and Sarah Blake, also natives of that country. where they spent their entire lives and where the father always followed agri- cultural pursuits. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Blake, of whom

957

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

the son John is the eldest. One son and daughter have died and the other daughter is living in England.

Jolin Blake is the only member of his family ever to have become a resident of the United States, but when he reached the age of twenty-four years he decided that the opportunities afforded young men of limited means in America were far greater than in the more conservative country of his nativity, so he emigrated. During the first ten years of his residence in this country he lived in Lockport, New York, but in 1867 he started westward and settled in Iowa, purchasing the forty acres of land on section 24, Madison township, Polk county, which constitutes his homestead. At the time of its purchase the land was unbroken and unimproved prairie, but during the period of his occupancy he has added many improvements and brought the soil to a high state of cultiva- tion, so that it is now one of the valuable properties of the township. He has engaged in general farming and stock-raising and has met with comparative success in both ventures.

Mr. Blake was united in marriage to Miss Martha J. Spurway on the 4th of July, 1868. Mrs. Blake was also a native of England, but came to the United States in 1858, just two years after Mr. Blake's arrival here. Three children were born of this marriage, who are as follows: Robert G., who is married, makes his home in South Dakota. Mary L. married George Denton, a native of Kentucky, and they have four children and live in Seattle, Washington. Beatrice S. became the wife of Charles Campbell, of South Dakota, and they have three children and live in Murdo, that state. On the 9th of August, 1873, the wife and mother passed away and was laid to rest in the Polk county cemetery.

Mr. Blake was united in marriage on the 6th of June, 1874, to Miss Annie Maginn, who had made the journey alone from England in the preceding May. She was born in that country on the 29th of September, 1844, and was the oldest child in a family of four. Seven children were born of this union, as follows : Sarah Jane, the eldest, died in infancy. William Henry married Bertha McLean, of this county, in which they continue to reside, and they have one child. Thomas Garfield died in infancy. Alfred James and Benjamin H. are unmarried and reside at home. John was married to Carrie B. Williams in November, 1910. Kate Blanch died in childhood.

The family attend the Congregational church, of which the parents are mem- bers. Ever since his naturalization Mr. Blake has been an ardent advocate of the policy of the republican party. He always takes an active interest in all local politics and has been elected to various offices. He was a member of the board of education and road supervisor for many years. During the period of his residence here he has won and held the regard of the citizens in his com- munity.

PERRY EUGENE McCLENAHAN.

Perry Eugene McClenahan, who in June, 1911, was appointed to the posi- tion of State inspector of secondary schools of Iowa, has long been connected with educational and literary work, being a frequent contributor to the current magazines. In his work as a teacher he has ever held to high ideals and has utilized every possible means to reach the standard he has set up. His birth occurred in Keokuk county, Iowa, in 1871. The family name indicates his Scotch ancestry, his grandfather, Elijah McClenahan, having been born in Scot- land while in Iowa he became a pioneer settler, taking up his abode near Sigour- ney. Scott McClenahan, the father of Professor McClenahan, was so named in honor of General Winfield Scott. He married Frances Meade, whose parents were also pioneer residents of this state, having settled about two and a half miles north of Sigourney when that district had but few inhabitants.

958

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

The family resided upon a farm in Keokuk county, Iowa, and there Professor McClenahan spent his youthful days upon the farm and attended the country schools until eight years of age, when, in 1879, his parents removed to Delta, a small town in Keokuk county. There the. son entered the graded schools and subsequently became a pupil in the high school but did not graduate there. In 1884 his father returned to the old home farm, but in less than a year the family became residents of Wellman, Iowa, where Perry E. McClenahan again became a high school student. He did not graduate, however, as the course was only an elementary one. In the winter of 1890, when nineteen years of age, he took up the profession of teaching, securing a little country school in Washington county. This was the beginning of his activity in the educational world, activity that has constantly broadened in its scope and importance. The same year his mother died and he and his father afterward removed to Oskaloosa, Iowa. About that time Professor McClenahan accepted a position as teacher at Roches- ter, Mahaska county, and soon was given a better position in connection with the Quaker school at Coal Creek, Keokuk county. At the end of the school term Professor McClenahan entered the state normal school at Cedar Falls, now called the State Teachers College, and after two years devoted to a college course was made superintendent of schools in Baldwin, Iowa, in which capacity he served two and a half years. After resigning there he once more entered the State Normal College from which he was graduated in 1898, receiving his B.Di. degree. The following year was devoted to a post-graduate course of study and in 1899 he won his M.Di. degree. Beside his college work Professor McClenahan was captain of the College Militia and also business manager of the college paper called the Normal Eyte.

In 1899 Professor McClenahan was united in marriage to Miss Alta Birdsall, daughter of Oliver and Anna Birdsall, of Cedar Falls, whose father was a pi- oneer of Benton county, Iowa, having removed to Cedar Falls a few years before in order to educate his daughters Alta and May. Professor McClenahan was made superintendent of schools in Milo, Iowa, in the year in which he was mar- ried and held that position for two years, his wife acting as assistant principal during the first year. In 1901 he was called to the superintendency of the schools in Winterset, Iowa, and it was during his residence there that his first child, a daughter, was born, in 1903. While the Winterset schools were under his super- vision he inaugurated decided changes in the system of teaching and succeeded in placing the schools on the accredited list. In 1904, however, he resigned .his posi- tion there to again become a student, entering the University of Iowa in which he won his Ph. D. degree in 1905. The following year he pursued a post-graduate course and received his Master of Arts degree in 1906. During the last year of his school work he was manager of the school paper called the Daily Iowan. He was also instructor in the department of economics and for three months taught in the State Teachers College. He also edited the Cedar Falls Globe for a year. After his graduation he taught for two years in the College of Agri- culture and Mechanical Arts, located at Las Cruces, New Mexico, and while there located he also made a special study of the habits, customs and history of the Pueblo Indians of the Missilla valley.

In 1909 Professor McClenahan returned to Des Moines and spent six months inspecting high schools in the interest of the Highland Park College, and when Mr. Hanna resigned to become mayor of Des Moines Professor McClenahan took up his line of work as dean of the liberal arts department. In June, 191I, he was appointed state inspector of secondary schools of Iowa and entered upon his duties on the Ist of August following. He has been a frequent con- tributor to the magazines and papers of the country, his chief topic being the Pueblo Indians, with whose history, customs and manners he is thoroughly famil- iar, having done much original research work in that line.

959

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

Professor McClenahan was a charter member of Mystic Tie Lodge No. 42, Knights of Pythias, at Baldwin, Iowa, but is now a member of Lotus Lodge No. 48, at Winterset. He is likewise a member of the Fraternal Order of Elks, but while he has appreciation for social affairs his interest centers chiefly in his home and in his professional duties. He has every reason to be proud of his three daughters, Dorothy, Ruth and Genevieve, to whom he has given good educational privileges. His work has made him popular with the student's in the different schools with which he has been connected. He is a supporter of athletics and has ever been in sympathy with the young men in their efforts to make athletic records for the colleges with which they are connected, yet never for a moment has he sacrificed the high standard of mental development which he has always advocated. In fact his views of the profession which he has made his life work are of a most progressive character and his labors have ever tended in that direction.

FRANK R. STEHM.

The country owes a lasting obligation to inventors who have produced the wonderful machines which have assisted so greatly in the unparalleled advance of the last fifty years. In the list of successful inventors should be named Frank R. Stehm of Des Moines, whose brick machines promise to revolutionize the brick making industry. He is a native of Des Moines, born April 9, 1871, a son of Fred and Mary (Adlefinger) Stehm, both of whom were born in Berlin, Germany. The father came to Des Moines in 1859, being then eighteen years of age, and later established himself in business in this city. He enlisted from Iowa in the Union army and served with highest credit in the Civil war. There were four children in their family, namely: Fred C., of Des Moines ; John W., who is married and also lives in Des Moines; Frank R., the subject of this review ; and Albert, who is deceased.

Frank R. Stehm received his early education in the common schools and later became a student of the Des Moines high school, graduating with the class of 1887. He then pursued a course in the Iowa Business College and after leav- ing that institution engaged in the cement and concrete business for a number of years with his father. From his early boyhood he possessed unusual mechanical and inventive ability and at twelve years of age made a wooden machine for the manufacture of brick. He devoted years of application and study to the production of a machine upon a large scale and recently perfected one that weighs seventy-three thousand pounds and is recognized as the heaviest machine for any purpose in the world today. In the course of the development of this great project Mr. Stehm filed one hundred and nineteen original claims in the patent office at Washington, and did not examine even a catalogue or a book pertaining to the subject while engaged in this important work. The process of which he is the inventor is accepted by many manufacturers as being unques- tionably in advance of all others that are known. Through the assistance of this machine six men may produce forty thousand brick in a day, thus revolution- izing the industry. The machine sells for fifty thousand dollars, the original company to receive ten per cent of the stock of all companies formed, and also five per cent royalty on the sale of brick, the price being established by the parent company. The demand for the machine comes from all leading countries of the world and orders are now estimated to be five years ahead of the supply.

In 1892 Mr. Stehm was united in marriage to Miss Kate Munzenmaier, who is a native of Des Moines and a daughter of John Munzenmaier, now deceased. Three children came to bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Stehm, namely: Ruth, Marie and Louise. Mr. Stehm devotes his attention mainly to his business but

960

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

finds time to perform his duty at the polls and votes in support of the principles and candidates of the republican party. He is a sincere believer in the authority of the Bible and is a valued member of the Lutheran church. Fraternally, he is identified with the Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. At forty years of age he has launched his great invention and has accomplished a work which in the opinion of many will make his name memorable in the annals of one of the greatest industries of the country. Genial in manner and sincere and true in all relations of life, he has many friends who wish him every possible success in his great undertaking.

HILL MCCLELLAND BELL, A.B., A.M., LL.D.

Hill McClelland Bell, president of Drake University, one of the foremost educational institutions of Iowa, was born near Martinsburg, Licking county, Ohio. on the 19th of June. 1860. The name of Bell is one that appears fre- quently in the records of the early history of the settlement of this country. Abraham Bell, who is given as the founder of the family in New England, dwelt at New Haven, and issue from his line settled in Roxbury and other Connecticut towns .. Philip Bell became the head of the family in Massachu- setts, living in Boston. The descendants of Samuel Bell, of Chester, England, with a number of the Connecticut family of that name, removed in 1692 to the territory west of the Delaware river, which was included in the grant of land made to William Penn by Charles II, and upon which the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Delaware were established.

Of this branch of the family the earliest ancestor of whom we have authentic record is James Bell. he being of the fourth generation. He took up a "Toma- hawk Claim" in what was then northwestern Virginia, but is now Greene county, southwestern Pennsylvania. He moved there from the Shenandoah valley, which is probably where the Bells first settled, as several by that name. still reside there. The date of his birth is given as 1735, while that of his death is not known. He was of Scotch-Irish descent.

His son, James Bell, Jr., was born about 1765 in Greene county, Pennsyl- vania. He married Elizabeth Hayes and emigrated to the vicinity of Utica, Ohio, where he died about 1860. John Bell, the grandfather of our subject, was also born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, his birth occurring in 1802. He married Miss Mary Harrison and later removed to (St.) Louisville, Ohio, where he passed away in 1865. The father, James Harrison Bell, was born in Licking county. Ohio. April 18, 1835. He was married there and in 1865 came to Jasper county, Iowa, where he remained actively engaged in farming until called to his final rest in 1910. In February, 1859, he wedded Miss Elmy Ann Cooper at Lone Pine. Pennsylvania. Miss Cooper was of English lineage, her father, Moses Cooper, being a native of New Jersey. Her mother was Christiana Young, a native of Pennsylvania and of German ancestry. It is believed that Professor A. Graham Bell. Governor Bell of Vermont, General Bell of Colo- rado, General Bell at Manasses, J. J. Bell, the author, and Lillian Bell, also a writer, are descended from this lineage.

Hill McClelland Bell attended Hazel Dell Academy, Newton, Iowa, in 1882, and Western Normal College in 1883, 1885, 1886 and 1887. His collegiate courses began in Drake University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1890 with the degree of A. B., the higher degrees being conferred upon him as follows: A.M., Drake University, in 1899, and LL.D., Simpson College. in 1905. In 1906 he was a student in the University of Nebraska. He served as principal of schools in Lynnville, Iowa, in 1883 and 1884; was superintendent of schools in Kellogg, Iowa, 1885-1888; professor of mathematics in Callanan

HILL M. BELL

963

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

College of Drake University, 1888-1890; professor of English in Highland Park College, 1890-1894; professor of English and pedagogy in Lincoln Normal University, 1894-1897; president, 1895-1897; member of committee of selection of Rhodes Scholarship in Iowa, 1903; member Iowa Educational Council, 1889- 1891 and 1908; president Iowa State Teachers Association, 1910; trustee, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1905; professor of pedagogy and dean of Normal College, Drake University, 1897-1902; vice chancellor, 1900-1902; dean of College of Liberal Arts, 1902-1903; since which time he has filled the office of president. President Bell's services throughout his association with Drake University have been of a character most creditable. He has put forth every possible effort to bring Drake University to the highest standard of quality and perfection and owing to the increasing popularity and attendance feels repaid in the fullest measure. In 1903 the attendance num- bered one thousand five hundred and ninety-three, while the rolls of 1911 bear the names of one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven students.

At Newton, Iowa, on the 2d of September, 1886, was solemnized, by the Rev. Dickinson, the marriage of Dr. Bell and Miss Edith Luella Orebaugh, a daughter of Samuel Orebaugh, who for many years was a resident of Kellogg, now residing in Arkansas. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bell have been born six chil- dren : Jessie, who was born October 30, 1887, and died February 3, 1891; Hugh Samuel, born November 26, 1891; Ruth, born October 30, 1895; Ralph James, born August 12, 1899; Craig Paul, born July 27, 1900; and Ross Mark, born October 2, 1902.

Socially Mr. Bell is affiliated with the University Club of Des Moines, Uni- versity Club of Chicago, and fraternally, with the Knights of Pythias of Des Moines.

JEREMIAH SWIFT.

Among the soldiers of the Civil war who established homes in Polk county and have now passed to their reward should be named Jeremiah Swift, of Beaver township. He was born in Orange county, Vermont, October 7, 1835, the son of Joseph and Nancy (Seavy) Swift. The parents were members of old Massa- chusetts families and traced their origin to England. The father engaged in farming and spent his entire life in Orange county. He died in 1863 at the age of sixty years, his widow passing away a few years later. Their bodies were deposited in an old burying ground of the neighborhood. There were three children in the family: Elizabeth, who married Reuben Morris and is now deceased; Minnie, now the wife of George Roberts, of Orange county, Ver- mont ; and Jeremiah, of this review.

Jeremiah Swift received a good education in the public schools and continued upon the home farm until after reaching his majority. In the spring of 1857, having decided to seek his fortune in the west, he traveled by rail to Iowa City, Iowa, and then took the stage for Newton, Jasper county, continuing on foot the remainder of the journey until he reached the home of Thomas Mitchell, familiarly known as "Uncle Tom," after whom Mitchellville was named. He engaged as a farm hand under Mr. Mitchell until the autumn of 1858 and then in company with two companions started with an ox team for Kansas, intending to locate there. However, he was not pleased with the outlook and returned to Mitchellville, reentering the service of his old employer with whom he con- tinued until July, 1862. In the meantime the great Rebellion was in progress and on August 9, 1862, Mr. Swift enlisted in Company C, Twenty-third Iowa Infantry, under Colonel William H. Dewey. On the 19th of September follow- ing the company was ordered south and marched to Eddyville, Iowa, then traveling by rail to Keokuk and thence by steamer to St. Louis. Private Swift Vol. II-47

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 112

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