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 126

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 126

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BURGESS WILSON GARRETT.

Burgess Wilson Garrett, clerk of the supreme court of Iowa, and one of the highly respected citizens of the state, is a native of Van Buren county. He was born February 24. 1872, and is a son of William C. and Rachel Stella (Yost) Garrett. The father was born in Highland county, Ohio, and the mother in Belmont county of the same state. He came to Iowa in 1849 and located upon government land in Van Buren county, where he continued until the '70s, and then moved to Union township, Davis county, finally settling in Decatur county. In 1892 he retired from active labors, about twelve years before his death, which occurred at the age of eighty-one years.

Burgess Wilson Garrett received his early education in the district schools and later was a student one year at Simpson College. He taught school for a short time and then entered St. Joseph's Academy at St. Joseph, Missouri, from which he graduated in 1893. He taught school two years as principal of the Decatur high school after leaving the university, then became deputy clerk of the district court of Decatur county, which position he filled in 1896 and 1897. From 1898 to 1900 he was deputy treasurer of the same county ; in 1898 was a candi- date on the republican ticket for clerk of the district court of Decatur county, but suffered defeat. In 1901 he came to Des Moines as corporation clerk in the office of secretary of state, W. B. Martin, and during the political canvass of the same year was very active in behalf of Albert B. Cummins, candidate for gover- nor. When Mr. Cummins assumed the office of governor in 1902 Mr. Garrett was appointed pardon secretary, a position he filled five and one-half years, until the system of pardons was changed, being superseded by the parole system now in force, when he became secretary of the board of parole in 1907. Mr. Garrett has been for years much interested in the parole system and prepared the blanks and rules which are now used by the Iowa board. He has delivered many ad- dresses before Old Settlers Societies, Christian Endeavor Societies and other organizations in behalf of a system which promises to revolutionize the treat- ment of criminals in this country.

On the 12th of September, 1909, at a meeting of the Iowa State Christian Endeavor Society at Iowa Falls, Mr. Garrett was one of the speakers, each of whom was allotted one hour. Mr. Garrett's hour was from eleven to twelve o'clock, but by accident the clock stopped at eleven-forty-five. This the speaker

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did not notice and he continued until twelve-twenty-five, when he chanced to look at his watch and finding that he had taken more than his allotted time ceased speaking abruptly and sat down. A delegate arose and asked why the speaker had not continued his address. Mr. Garrett explained and by unanimous vote was given time in the afternoon session to complete his address, which required in all two hours and ten minutes. The honor accorded in this instance was un- precedented in the history of the society and indicates that the speaker made a profound impression upon the minds of his audience, who gave him a standing vote of thanks for his address.

On the 15th of April, 1893, Mr. Garrett was married to Miss Rachel Wood- mansee, a daughter of John and Mary Ann (Cook) Woodmansee, of Grand River, Decatur county, Iowa. Her great-grandfather was the second earliest settler in Decatur county. Two children have come to bless this union, namely : Neill, who is sixteen years of age; and Julian Cummins, aged eight years.

Fraternally, Mr. Garrett is identified with the Odd Fellows and the Mod- ern Brotherhood of America. He and his wife are valued members of the Capi- tal Hill Church of Christ, of which he is an elder, being also president of the official board. He has been for years a prominent worker along church lines and is president of the Iowa Christian Convention, the State Missionary Society of the church. For ten years, from 1900 to 1910, he was superintendent of prison work of the Iowa Christian Endeavor Society. Ever a willing assistant in promoting the cause of the oppressed or unfortunate, he has been largely in- strumental in advancing prison reform in Iowa, and is regarded as one of the state's most valued and trustworthy citizens. He is an earnest and convincing speaker and seldom fails to carry conviction of the truth and justice of any cause which he represents. As a public official he is prompt and efficient and in all the details of his life is regarded by those who know him as a model citizen.

In 1911, Mr. Garrett was chosen chairman of the committee on auxiliary cities in the nation-wide Men and Religion Forward Movement, having the organization of Iowa for his particular work.

THE SAYLOR FAMILY.

Few families were more prominent in the early days in Polk county than the Saylors and none contributed more ably to the organization and upbuilding of the pioneer community. The men were brave and hardy; the women indus- trious and self-sacrificing; and their descendants have inherited many of the noble traits that are so important in determining character and success in life. John B. Saylor and his family were among the first to arrive in the section now known as Polk county. He came in 1845, before the county was organized. The country was occupied by Indians and wild animals and was under military control. Captain Allen, the commandant of the garrison at Fort Des Moines, had the authority to issue permits to settlers, granting them the right to select land for homes provided they would raise supplies for the garrison. A permit was readily secured by Benjamin Saylor, the father of John B., and he selected a spot where he staked out a farm, upon which was later located one of the first settlements of the county. He established his home in the wilderness and he and his family were obliged to undergo privations and loneliness and lack of con- veniences of which we can form little conception today. At the election of the first county officials, April 6, 1846, he was chosen judge of the probate court and held the office for five years. In 1847 a courthouse was ordered built by the county commissioners and they bought a lot for ten dollars where now stands the Union depot, the contract for erecting the structure being awarded to John B. Saylor for the sum of two thousand and fifty dollars. The building was to be of brick two

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stories high and was planned as the most commodious structure in central Iowa. However, the contractor found the labor and materials to be exceedingly difficult to obtain and after proceeding with his work until it came to a standstill, he asked to be released from the contract. His request was acceded to and the building was completed, the total cost being two thousand and fifteen dollars. Saylor town- ship was separated from Des Moines township in 1848 and named in honor of the Saylor settlement. In 1850 Mr. Saylor laid out the town of Saylorville and five years later made additions to its area. It prospered for a while and was a rival of the fort for the location of the county seat, but after the railroad was built through to Ames, passing the town at a distance of two miles, its glory departed and it rapidly dwindled away. During the Civil war Mr. Saylor joined the army as sutler and died at Vicksburg, July 26, 1863. He was a member of the Old Settlers Association and was prominent in church, educational and civil life, being one of the builders of the first Methodist church in the county.

Benjamin Saylor, the father of John B., came to Polk county and settled near his son, soon demonstrating that he was an active and public-spirited citizen. At the county election in 1846 he was chosen as one of the three county commis- sioners and discharged his duties to the general satisfaction of the people. The first meeting of the commissioners was held in a log cabin, April 13, 1846, and one of their first orders was that the eagle side of the half-dollar should be used as the county seal. He was an active member of the Settlers Claim Club, really a law and order league, and ably performed his part in forwarding the interests . f. the county.

Jehu P. Saylor, a half brother of John B., was also one of the early arrivals. He was born in Indiana in 1823 and after arriving in Polk county associated with John B., in furnishing beef and hay for the garrison at Raccoon Forks, as Des Moines was then called. He located on a claim and built a log cabin with one room, in which he took up his residence. In 1848 he was married to Martha A. Bales, a daughter of Sarah and Solomon Bales, who came to Polk county ir 1846 on horseback, driving a herd of cattle and sheep. She was sixteen years of age at the time of her arrival and rode all the way from Tippecanoe county, In- diana, with her mother and other members of the family. She was an educated woman and was a splendid type of the pioneer mother, there being six children in her family. Mr. Saylor opened a dry-goods and grocery store in 1854, the mer- chandise being hauled across the country by wagon from Keokuk. At the time of the Civil war he was unable physically to participate, but he traveled exten- sively in Iowa, raising recruits for the Tenth Iowa Infantry, his efforts bringing on a long and serious illness. In 1870 he sold out and went to Kansas for his health but returned three years later and bought the Carpenter farm, a mile south of the army post, and there made his home until his death, which occurred in 1882. He was an earnest promoter of religion and education and proved one of the capable and progressive men of the early period. These worthy pioneers have . departed but they performed well their mission, and the result is to be seen in the thriving communities and beautiful homes that have made Polk county one of the most attractive sections of the state.

NICHOLAS BAYLIES.

The subject of this sketch, fourth in lineal descent of the name, was born in Woodstock, Vermont, April 9, 1809, and was the son of Hon. Nicholas Bay- lies and his wife, Mary Ripley, who was a granddaughter of Eleazer Wheelock, D. D., founder and first president of Dartmouth College.

Nicholas Baylies was in his first year when his parents removed to Mont- pelier. He was graduated from the State University of Vermont in 1827, when

NICHOLAS BAYLIES

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eighteen years of age, and admitted to the bar in 1829, after which he entered the law office of Blount & Livingston in New York. Ill health caused him to leave the city a year later and return to Montpelier, where he formed a law partnership with an old classmate, Colonel Jonathan P. Miller, who had dis- tinguished himself in the Greek struggle for liberty. This relation continued for a number of years. During that time he accompanied a brother on a voyage to Brazil. One of the pleasant reminiscences of this period of his life was the occasion upon which he addressed sixty-seven veterans of the Revolutionary war at a banquet tendered in their honor. In 1836 Mr. Baylies removed to Louisiana and established himself in Greensburg, St. Helena parish. In the following years he served in various public capacities. He was government clerk and registrar of the land office and in the latter position was called upon to decipher the old Spanish land grants, for which duty his linguistic ability and education qualified him. Later he was a representative in the state legislature, where he served upon the judiciary committee with the late Judah P. Benjamin, then one of the brilliant lawyers of the state, and was afterward district at- torney and, finally, upon the bench.

In 1842 he married Harriet H. Cahoon, of Lyndon, Vermont, daughter of General William Cahoon (then deceased), who was lieutenant governor of Vermont at one time and immediately prior to his death a representative in con- gress. Mrs. Baylies was a lineal descendant of both Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island, and Mary Dyer, the Quaker martyr.

In 1852 Judge Baylies sent his family to Illinois, where he joined them the following year. He edited a democratic paper, The Pike County Union, for a few years but decided it would be for the best interests of his family to locate permanently in Iowa. In 1858 he removed to Des Moines and the following year to his farm in Walnut township. At that date his farm was the last one on the south side of what is now an extension of Grand avenue; while beyond to the westward for ten miles was the wild, rolling, unbroken prairie. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war his intense Union sentiments caused him to leave the democratic ranks and ally himself with the republican party. He repre- sented Polk county in the tenth general assembly, where he introduced resolu- tions favoring the renomination of Abraham Lincoln, advocated more complete histories of the Iowa regiments and the building of a ship canal connecting the Great Lakes with the Mississippi river. He also took a decided personal stand against a free pass system over public utilities. He served his locality in the various minor official positions of the young and developing section of the country where he lived, being regarded of sound judgment and inflexible in- tegrity. He was appointed to enroll those who were subject to the draft for soldiers in the Union army from Polk county. This necessitated long rides on horseback over unknown roads of uncertain quality, and he was a man no longer young. His disposition was modest and retiring to an unusual degree, and only those most intimate with him understood how very high was his standard of manly simplicity and Christian morality. For more than thirty years he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a leader in local church af- fairs until old age came upon him. His latter years, until eyesight failed, were devoted to literary pursuits, for which his taste and education qualified him. Beside frequent contributions to the local press, he published two books entitled respectively : "Political Controversies between the United States and Great Brit- ain" issued in 1885, and "General Ripley-War of 1812" published in 1890.

He died May 15, 1893, in Des Moines, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. R. R. Peters. He was survived by one daughter and six sons. The wife who had been devoted to him for more than fifty years-one for whom there can be none but words of highest praise-had preceded him to a better world on January I. 1893. One son, C. E. Baylies, M. D., had died in 1888.

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The following extract from an editorial in the Iowa State Register imme- diately after Judge Baylies passed away, gives expression to the esteem in which he was held. "From 1809 to 1893 is a long span of life. Judge. Nicholas Bay- lies lived through these eighty-four years of American history. He was born under the very shadows of the Revolution and died when the war of the Re- bellion had already become a memory. He came of good and patriotic stock. His ancestors had helped to make the state of Vermont and his father was a judge of the supreme court. Judge Baylies traveled much and came in contact with life in all sections of the country. We find him in Washington, in New York, in Brazil, where he went to accompany an invalid brother, in Louisiana, in Illinois and finally in Iowa, to which state he gave the maturer years of his life, both by example and precept, teaching the highest moral and civil virtues. He was early in his life a democrat, one of the strictest of his sect, but after a long residence in the south, reaching from 1836 to 1853, he saw the trend of southern sentiment and became one of the fathers of the repub- lican party. Judge Baylies was a man who was loved and respected and in his old age revered by all who knew him. He reared a family which is an honor to himself and to his country. He was faithful to every trust that was reposed in him and steadfast in his friendship and immovable in his advocacy of what he held was right before God and man. In his death Polk county lost one of its most respected residents, one of those who came here when Des Moines was still a straggling village and never lost faith in the magnificent state which has learned to honor them and will forever revere their memories. Peace be to the remains of this revered old man who died yesterday, and may this state and country never outgrow the simple habits and sterling virtues which he glorified and exemplified in his life."

SIDNEY A. FOSTER.

In 1884, during the session of the twentieth general assembly, there was born into the mind of the subject of this sketch, the fact that west of the Mississippi river there should be a mutual old line level premium life insurance company. In October of that year he began at Marshalltown the organization of the Royal Union, and Mr. Foster's services have been continuous as one of the executive officers from the beginning.

Mr. Foster was born on a farm in Wirt township, Allegany county, New York, May 17, 1849. The panic of 1856-7 stripped the prosperous parents of a goodly estate; in 1858 the mother died and in his tenth year, young Foster found himself choring for his board and going to school as opportunity pre- sented itself. In 1865, Mr. Foster, as a sixteen year old boy, came west and settled in Adams county, Wisconsin. There in 1866, he began his apprenticeship in a country printing office. In 1869 Mr. Foster visited Iowa and Des Moines, and in the early 'zos became a resident of the state of Iowa, and until 1884 was publisher and editor of the Mitchell County News and later the Worth County Eagle.

Mr. Foster is a republican in politics. He voted for Grant for president and has never wavered from a straight line-a "stand patter." His services have been in frequent demand as a campaigner, his logic well reinforced by an inexhaustible fund of humor. Mr. Foster is the author of that axiom "In all that is good, Iowa affords the best." For ten years, he served the city of Des Moines on the board of park commissioners, and began the fight for the develop- ment of the river front. To put it mildly, the citizens of Des Moines owe as much to Mr. Foster as to any one man for the public park system. At the time the system was worked out there was more or less opposition to the pur-

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chase of so much outlying land for parks; but Mr. Foster has lived to see his policy amply vindicated. No better investment was ever made by the city than in these same outlying parks. The many thousands who visit them annually, attest the popular appreciation of the policy of the park commissioners, of which body Mr. Foster was most of the time president.

EDWARD L. WEGENER.

Edward L. Wegener, one of the foremost citizens of Valley Junction, who is now engaged in the coal and ice business, was born in Dubuque, Iowa, on the 24th of September, 1873. He is a son of Theodore and Lena (Zugenbuehler) Wegener, the father a native of Holland and the mother of Switzerland. They came to Iowa in 1870 and located in Dubuque, where the father engaged in the hotel and liquor business for one year and then removed to Vail, this state, where he followed the same occupation. They had been residents of Vail for several years when Mr. Wegener bought a section of land in Nebraska, upon which they lived for four years and during the period of his occupancy he improved and developed his farm until it became one of the valuable properties of that district. Having acquired a competence sufficiently large to enable him to withdraw from active business he retired to Des Moines, where he was living at the time of his death in 1892. Mrs. Wegener still survives and makes her home with her son Edward.

Edward L. Wegener attended the public schools of Vail and remained under the parental roof until he had reached the age of fourteen years, when he went to Omaha. He remained in the latter place but a short time and then went to the gold mines of Colorado. He followed mining for seven years and return- ing to Des Moines to see his parents learned that his father had been dead for several years. He decided to remain at home with his mother and obtained work in Valley Junction at one dollar and fifty cents per day, walking to and from Des Moines every day. During the winter he worked in the coal mines at Des Moines and in the spring began driving a beer wagon for Lorenz Ill. He con- tinued in this work for one year and then took an inside position with Mr. Ill but after eight months he removed to Valley Junction. On the Ist of Novem- ber, 1900, he opened the St. Joe Hotel and bar, being identified with this until the Ist of February, 1910. In 1908 he embarked in the coal and ice business and this increased so rapidly that it required his entire attention, making it necessary for him to give up the hotel. Mr. Wegener has been persevering and careful in the management of his affairs and the result is that he today owns his own yards and ice houses and employs fifteen men and eight teams in the conduct of his business. His receipts average more than three hundred dollars per day. He was a stockholder in the First Valley Junction Savings Bank but he sold his interest in June, 1910 ,and he is the owner of four business houses, all of which are bringing in a good rental, and a fine residence on the corner of Fourth and Railroad streets. .

It was on the 15th of November, 1908, that Mr. Wegener and Miss Louise Ill were married. Mrs. Wegener is a daughter of Carl and Amelia (Hugel- man) Ill., natives of Germany, who came to this country and located in Burl- ington. Iowa, in 1865. Mr. Ill entered a brewery when a young man and was identified with that business up to the time of his death in July, 1895. His wife passed away on the 26th of November, 1898. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wegener: Lorenz J., who is eight years of age; and Edward C., who is now in his third year.

Mrs. Wegener is a member of the Roman Catholic church, and Mr. Wegener is fraternally identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, being a

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life member of Lodge No. 98, of Des Moines. Ever since age conferred upon him the right of suffrage he has been a strong advocate of the principles of the republican party, and although he never actively participates in politics he meets the requirements of good citizenship by casting a vote for the candidates of his party on election day.

HENRY H. CORNICK.

The Civil war attracted to the Union army thousands of the promising young men of the north, who freely offered their lives in defense of their country and in support of principles which they believed to be essential to human progress. Looking back from the standpoint of fifty years it is the concensus of opinion among the best minds that they were right and their sacri- fices were not in vain. Among those who wore the blue was Henry H. Cornick, who for many years past has been a leading citizen of Des Moines. He was born in New York state, August II, 1846, and is a son of Henry Cornick, a blacksmith and farmer who came to Iowa with his family in 1860 and located in Buchanan county. He had four sons, all of whom served their country in the Civil war and all are still living, our subject being the youngest.

Mr. Cornick had limited educational advantages during his early years but has made the most of his opportunities and has been an apt student in the great school of life. At the beginning of the Civil war he was too young to enlist but in 1864, at Dubuque, became a member of the Twenty-seventh Iowa Volun- teer Infantry, and was sent to the front, joining his regiment at the mouth of the Red river. Two days later he was in his first fight and when his command returned to Memphis, took part in two raids, one to Tupelo and the other to Oxford. Later he participated in the battles of Nashville, Fort Blakely and Spanish Fort. On the second day of the engagement at Nashville he was wounded and for three months was confined in a hospital, after which he rejoined his regiment at Dalpin Island and from there went to Fort Blakely and Montgomery, Alabama. From the latter place he proceeded to Selma, Alabama, where he was transferred to the Twelfth Iowa Infantry, the Twenty- seventh being discharged at Memphis. Mr. Cornick was ordered on detached service and was stationed at Union City, Tennessee, when discharged, in the spring of 1866.

While in the army he sent his money home to his father and on his return it was given back to him, his father proving a true and faithful conservator. For a short time Mr. Cornick assisted his father in the blacksmith business in Buchanan county and later followed the same occupation in Des Moines for a number of years, during which time he invested his savings in farm lands which he foresaw would greatly increase in value. About 1885 he began to devote his entire attention to buying and selling stock, using his land for graz- ing and feeding purposes. He retired from active business in 1905 although he still deals to some extent in property. He is now one of the wealthy men of Des Moines.

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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 126

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