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 161
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On January 1, 1911, Mr. Hollingsworth resigned his office in the bank and ac- cepted the appointment of general secretary of the Associated Charities in which position he is doing notable work.
P. E. COFFEE.
A most gratifying business pays tribute to the well directed effort of the Iowa Motor Truck Company, which was organized less than two years ago by P. E. Coffee, for the distribution in this state of the Gramm motor truck. This was Dr. Coffee's initiation into commercial activities as ever since leaving college he had been devoting his entire energies to the practice of medicine. He is a native of Tennessee, his birth having occurred in Columbia on the 4th of August, 1882, and a son of W. O. and M. M. (Dodson) Coffee, of Kentucky and Tennes- see respectively, the father having been born in 1864 and the mother in 1866. The family moved to Des Moines in 1897, where the father, who is a physician, has ever since been engaged in the practice of his profession. Five children have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Coffee, of whom our subject is the eldest, the others being : W. E., M. D., H. H., and Eileen, all residents of Des Moines.
Being a lad of fifteen years when his parents removed to Des Moines, P. E. Coffee had practically completed his preliminary education, being at that time a student of the high school. After graduating from the latter he matriculated at Hahnemann School of Medicine in Chicago, being awarded his degree with the class of 1903. Returning to Des Moines he established an office and for five
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years devoted his entire attention to building up a practice, his efforts in this di- rection meeting with well merited success. At the end of that time he organized the Iowa Motor Truck Company, and the excellent business which they have en- joyed from the very beginning pays splendid tribute to the judgment which Dr. Coffee displayed. They are entirely without competition in the field as theirs is the only company in the state. One truck will hold two or three times the amount it is possible to carry on one of the large express wagons, thus dispensing with the services of one or two men, and after the first cost of purchase the ex- pense of maintenance is correspondingly reduced. The realization of these facts by those who have given motor trucks a trial has greatly increased a demand for them and the result has been that the receipts of this firm have doubled during the past twelve months.
On the 3d of October, 1905, in this city was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Coffee and Miss Laura Hammond Rawson, a daughter of Dr. Charles and Mrs. Mary (Blake) Rawson. One child has been born of this union : Mary Ann, her natal day being September 14, 1908. The family attend the Episcopal church and Dr. Coffee is affiliated with the Country and Grant Clubs and the Greater Des Moines Committee.
His political allegiance Dr. Coffee accords the republican party, but as he has never had any official aspirations he does not actively participate in civic affairs, his entire thought and energy being engrossed by his private interests ..
FRANK A. MOORE.
Frank A. Moore, who in 1901 established his present business, is now success- fully engaged in handling investments in orchards and lands. He has made rapid development in this line of business until he is recognized as one of the leaders in Iowa in the specialty he has chosen. He was born in Middleton, New Hamp- shire, July 4, 1857, and is a son of Walter B. H. and Sarah E. Moore, the for- mer born in Middleton, February 22, 1818, while the mother's birth occurred in Concord, New Hampshire, April 6, 1819. The former was a son of Archibald Moore, who served in the patriot army during the Revolutionary war and was one of the prominent men of his day.' That the family has long been represented in America is indicated by the fact that the farm upon which Walter B. H. Moore was born and reared has been in possession of the family for two hundred years. The death of the father occurred in 1870 but the mother still survives and is now living at the age of ninety-two years.
Frank A. Moore completed his education by a course in the Comers Com- mercial College, from which he was graduated in 1877. Following his removal westward to Buchanan, Michigan, he established a plant for the manufacture of furniture and later removed to Rochester, New York, where he organized the Rochester Furniture Company, selling the business at a handsome profit after it had become well established. While upon the road as a traveling salesman, whereby he became well acquainted with various sections of the country he saw the possibilities for judicious investment in real estate and, coming to Des Moines, has since operated in this field, being now vice president of the Midland Farm & Land Company, engaged in maintaining and selling orchards and realty in various parts of the country. The company has a fine suite of offices in the Flem- ing building and is doing a large business, its clients being found in many states of the Union. Mr. Moore has had large experience in meeting people and as an organizer and manager of important business enterprises has shown marked ability. He is a good judge of land values and has great faith in the productive power of land investments. Through years of experience he has demonstrated this faith to be well founded and he therefore ranks high in the regard of practical investors.
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On the 17th of March, 1897, Mr. Moore was united in marriage to Miss Kate L. Hewitt, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, a daughter of Albert C. and Mary A. Hewitt, the former a well known wagon manufacturer of that city. He de- parted this life in 1898 and his wife's death occurred about nine years later.
Mr. Moore is a member of Capital Lodge, No. 110, A. F. & A. M., and socially is identified with the Grant and Hyperion Clubs. Since attaining his majority he has given his allegiance to the republican party, believing that its principles are most conducive to the permanent welfare of the nation. He is fond of many kinds of indoor and outdoor sports and is one of the expert amateur billiard players of the city. His business ability and trustworthiness have gained for him a host of friends who have found him at all times to be an honorable gentle- man who never takes advantage of the necessities of others to advance his own interests. He has won a competence by an unconquerable determination and en- ergy and by an established reputation as a man who aims to deal justly with his fellows.
HARVEY INGHAM.
Harvey Ingham, editor of the Register and Leader, was born in Algona, Kossuth county, Iowa, September 8, 1858, the oldest son of William H. and Caroline A. (Rice) Ingham. His father was the second white settler in Kossuth county, locating there in 1854, while his mother came three years later, a bride, in 1857-the year of the massacre at Spirit Lake. His early education was had in a frontier town school and later he was a student throughout the brief period of its existence of Algona College. He graduated from the collegiate department of the State University of Iowa in 1880 and from the law depart- ment of the same university in 1881. He never entered upon the practice of the law but soon bought a half interest in the Algona' Upper Des Moines, a weekly newspaper published in his home county. He edited this newspaper for twenty years, during that time serving a term as postmaster of Algona and a term as regent of the State'University from the tenth congressional district. His name was presented by Kossuth county at the congressional convention at Fort Dodge which met to name a successor to Senator Dolliver when the latter resigned his seat in congress to fill the vacancy in the senate occasioned by the death of Senator Gear. In 1902 Mr. Ingham came to Des Moines to represent the owners as editor of the newly organized Register and Leader and a year later bought his present interest in the newspaper plant.
On the 23d of October, 1894, Mr. Ingham was married to Miss Nellie E. Hepburn, of Des Moines, the oldest daughter of J. Addison and Anna S. (Jor- dan) Hepburn. Three sons have been born of this union : Hepburn, William H. and Harvey, Jr.
HOWARD J. CLARK.
Among the younger attorneys who have attained first rank at the Polk county bar is Howard J. Clark. Mr. Clark came to Des Moines as a young farmer and country school master in 1890, and attended the law department of Drake Uni- versity for two years, graduating in 1892. He immediately began the practice of his new profession in that city, and has since continued there, establishing an en- viable reputation as a lawyer and building up one of the best practices in the city of Des Moines. The elements of his success have been a combination of many circumstances and many qualities of character.
HARVEY INGHAM
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From the active outdoor life of a pioneer farm in western Iowa, and from many generations of wholesome, hardworking, independent thinking ancestors he inherited a splendid equipment of physical health, mental ability and moral char- acter. From these same sources came also good habits and a genius for hard work. Coupled with these were a good share of natural ability and a high sense of duty. It is a saying with him that "the three most needed things in a lawyer are fearless courage, absolute honesty, and everlasting hard work." His fellow attorneys say "If you want all there is in a case brought out, get Clark." Here then we have it, good health, regular habits, high sense of duty, fearless courage, absolute honesty, coupled with mental vigor and a habit of thoroughness, as a basis of a successful professional career. Nevertheless, careers such as his would seem like romances in any other country but ours, where opportunity allows the reshaping of society so rapidly, and where ability and determination always win a place for their possessor.
Mr. Clark was born January 9, 1868, in Cass county, Iowa, the son of Riley P. Clark and Juliet (Davis) Clark, the father a native of Circleville, and the mother of Marietta, Ohio. They are both of English extraction, his father's people being one of the established families of Delaware and his mother tracing her an- cestry back to Governors Dudley and Bradstreet, who located in the colonies prior to 1630. The father, a successful farmer and stockman, moved to Iowa in 1865, locating in Cass county. Mr. and Mrs. Clark were the parents of five children: Helen L., wife of L. Ramboz, of Colorado; Hardy M., a resident of Bemidji, Minnesota ; William Porter Davis, of Denver ; Riley P., Jr., who is living in Au- dubon, Iowa; and the subject of this review.
On the 25th of September, 1894, at the age of twenty-six, Mr. Clark married Miss Florence Graham of Cass county. Mrs. Clark is a daughter of Andrew H. and Rose B. (Marker) Graham, the father of Scotch and the mother of Welsh and Scotch extraction. They removed to Iowa from Pennsylvania, locating near Atlantic in 1870. Mrs. Clark's father is engaged in farming and stock-raising. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Clark: Howard J., Jr .; and Helen Louise. The family attend the Congregational church, of which denomination Mrs. Clark is a member. Mr. Clark is a member of the Masonic order, an in- fluential member of the Grant club, and the Golf and Country Club.
He has actively participated in civic affairs, and has given much time to the consideration of all public questions and to the furtherance of the interests of those he has thought were devoting themselves to the public interests. Mr. Clark is a republican and he has been active in local and state politics. His name has from time to time been mentioned in connection with court, congressional, and even senatorial honors. but he has never become a candidate, and has contented himself with activities in the interest of others.
YOUNKER BROTHERS, INC.
Among the commercial institutions in which this city may take wholesome pride is the department store of Younker Brothers, Inc., at the northwest corner of Seventh and Walnut streets. Not only for the early date of its establishment and the prominent place it has attained among concerns of its kind in the state is it worthy of note, but the progressive policies and public spirit manifested by its proprietors at all times throughout its existence have been a potent factor in the upbuilding of the city. The business was founded in 1856 at Keokuk, Iowa, by Lytton, Samuel and Marcus Younker, three brothers who had come to this coun- try from Germany and located in that city a few years before. The business of Younker Brothers, retail dealers in dry goods, was conducted at Keokuk until after the death of Samuel Younker, who was the active head of the firm, in 1879,
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when it was discontinued. In the meantime, realizing the limited possibilities for the expansion of the business in so small a town, they sought a more prom- ising field and established a branch house in Des Moines in October 1874. This at the beginning occupied a small store, twenty-two by sixty feet, near the corner of Sixth and Walnut streets. During the thirty-seven years of its career it has not only kept pace with the city's steady growth but has gained the front rank among its retail houses. The business now occupies a beautiful and spacious structure at Seventh and Walnut streets, erected by them in 1899, and practically doubled its space by addition in 1909. In 1904 the business was incorporated and the present officers are as follows : Herman Younker, president; Aaron Younker, vice president ; N. M. Wilchinski, secretary, and Ira M. Younker, treasurer.
Throughout the existence of the concern the policies originated by its founder, Samuel Younker, have been faithfully adhered to. The several members of the family who have been identified with the administration of its affairs have worked together harmoniously for the success of the enterprise and one of the principal reasons, other than its own business policy, to which their success can be largely attributed, inasmuch as the growth of any community reflects upon that of its in- dustries, is that of public spirit, which they have shown at all times. They have given their moral and financial support to every undertaking for the advancement or betterment of the city, to all charitable movements and to every worthy cause.
Samuel Younker, the founder of Younker Brothers, was born in Lipno, a small town in northern Germany, in the fall of 1837. There he received a good education and at the age of fifteen accompanied by a younger brother, Marcus, came to America, in 1852, and located at Keokuk, Iowa. In 1856 he and his brothers established a retail dry-goods business at that place, to the management of which he devoted his entire attention until his death in 1879, at the age of forty-two years. He was married, in New York, in October, 1863, to Ernestine Falk. She died at Chicago in April, 1909. To Samuel and Ernestine Younker six children were born, of whom five survive: Aaron Younker; Nettie, the wife of C. P. Monash, of Chicago; Falk J. Younker, a member of the firm at Des Moines; Isaac Younker, retired, who resides in New York city ; and Gertrude Younker of Des Moines.
Herman Younker, president of Younker Bros., Inc., was born at Lipno, Germany, in 1854. He came to America about 1870 and entered the employ of Younker Brothers, dry goods, at Keokuk, founded by his older brothers, Lytton, Samuel and Marcus, in 1856. In 1874 he was sent to Des Moines to open a branch house there and was given charge as manager. When the business was in- corporated in 1904 he became the president, which office he still retains. Since 1893 he has had charge of the New York office of the firm and resided in that city. Herman Younker was married in New York city in 1882 to Julia, daughter of David Marks. They have one son, Ira M. Younker.
Aaron Younker, the local head of the firm of Younker Brothers, was born at Keokuk, Iowa, July 24, 1864, the eldest son of Samuel and Ernestine (Falk) Younker. He received his education in the public schools of Keokuk and at the age of fifteen entered the dry-goods house of Younker Brothers. In 1892 he be- came a member of the firm and a year later, upon the removal of his uncle, Her- man Younker, to New York, took charge of the local management of the busi- ness. Upon the incorporation, in 1904, he was elected vice president. During his connection with its management since 1893 the business has enjoyed a rapid growth from a store with fifty employes to an institution with five hundred em- ployes. Toward the accomplishment of this success he has given his undivided attention, to the exclusion of any other business interest with the exception of taking care of considerable real-estate holdings in Des Moines and elsewhere.
Aaron Younker is a member of the Commercial Club and has always taken an active interest in all movements tending to the upbuilding of the city. He is in- dependent in politics and is a member of the Jewish congregation. He married,
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in Chicago, January 10, 1906, Miss Laura Alshuler, a daughter of Charles Al- shuler, of Racine, Wisconsin. They have three children, Edward Samuel, Helene Frances and Richard Paul.
CHARLES KOENIGSBERGER.
Charles Koenigsberger is a native son of Des Moines, born December 22, 1860, and is a descendant of one of the most prominent and influential families of this city, where he has attained an enviable position in the business world. After ob- taining such education as was afforded by the public schools he became associated with his father, who was at that time engaged in the harness business in East Des Moines. After ten years the latter retired from active work and the con- duct of the business devolved upon his son, who has continued it along the same lines of honest methods and strict integrity that characterized his father. Not only has he applied his time and attention to the harness business, but has suc- ceeded in other commercial lines and today possesses some very valuable real- estate holdings, and is considered one of the soundest men, financially, in Des Moines.
He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Filman) Koenigsberger. His father was born in April, 1829, and came to Des Moines in 1855, at a time when the present city was but a sparsely settled village. He engaged in the harness business and by thrift and industry built up a splendid enterprise to which his son later succeeded. His wife, who was born in Pennsylvania in November, 1837, is a member of an old and well known eastern family. They are now living at their home in Des Moines, enjoying in retirement the well earned fruits of their early labors.
Charles Koenigsberger was married October 4, 1887, at East Des Moines, to Miss Carrie Henderson, and they are the parents of three children, namely : Guy, born September II, 1888, who is a graduate of the East Side high school and is associated with his father in business ; Ruth, who was born October 29, 1891, and is also a graduate of the East Side high school; and Gretchen, who was born July 21, 1898, and is now attending high school.
In politics Mr. Koenigsberger is a stanch republican. He attends the Congre- gational church and fraternally his connections are with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is popular socially and takes an in- terest in all kinds of athletic sports, especially golf and fishing.
W. W. WITMER.
There are few men who have been identified with the growth of Des Moines for so long a term of years or have been in so great a measure responsible for its development through the foundation and promotion of so wide and varied a range of enterprises as has Mr. W. W. Witmer. Coming to this city when it was scarcely more than a village, he exerted the influence of an able journalist during its formative period, and for nearly forty years has figured prominently as a leader in the business and civic affairs of this community.
William Wirt Witmer was born in lower Northumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, April 6, 1843. a son of George and Catherine Wirt Witmer. Both parents were descendants of German emigrants who came from the upper Rhine region in the early part of the 18th century. They were of the blood which developed eastern Pennsylvania. and the mother belonged to the family which produced the celebrated lawyer, William Wirt, attorney general of the United States for a term of twelve years, and prosecutor of Aaron Burr. On the father's side the
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ancestors were probably of Huguenot origin, and on both the paternal and ma- ternal sides were tillers of the soil. The father of our subject, who was born in 1798, lived to the age of 78 years, while the mother, born in 1800, passed away at the age of 85. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom our sub- ject was the twelfth. In 1867 they removed from Pennsylvania to Iowa, when the younger members of the family decided to go west. Two facts regarding the Witmer family are of interest for the reason that they are very unusual. First, that the average age attained by the various members of the family has exceeded the allotted three score years and ten; and, second, that no member of the family either near or remote, has ever been known to have been the defendant in a prosecution of any kind.
With the exception of his school days William Wirt Witmer spent his boyhood on his father's farm until the age of twenty-three years. He received his early education in the public school and in private academies, and his collegiate course in Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg. His college course, however, was inter- rupted by his enlistment in the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment, Pennsyl- vania Volunteer Infantry, with which he served during the latter months of the Civil war. After being mustered out in August, 1865, he took up the study of law, entering a private course at New Bloomfield, the county seat of Perry county, Pennsylvania, where he was admitted to the bar in January, 1867. In April of that year Mr. Witmer came to Iowa, locating at Muscatine, where he engaged in practice until the summer of 1872. He then removed to Des Moines, and, purchasing an interest in the Des Moines Leader, became its editor, continu- ing in that position until 1882. In the hands of Mr. Witmer this paper soon be- came one of the most powerful supporters of the democratic party in this sec- tion. At the time of his assuming charge the prejudices against the democratic party were so strong that Mr. Witmer found it very difficult to get business into a democratic office. The merchants of the city candidly said they did not want to advertise in a democratic paper or patronize a democratic printing office, but by a courageous and honorable course throughout he succeeded in establishing, after much tribulation, a successful and valuable newspaper. In 1874 Mr. Wit- mer began the agitation of the movement for tariff revision, and in 1876 was made the candidate for district presidential elector. In the campaign between Samuel J. Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes he canvassed the district, arguing the tariff question almost exclusively, and it was largely through his influence that the movement in favor of tariff reform got its early start in this state and throughout the west. He was one of the early members of the American Free Trade League of New York, which was later merged into the Reform Club, and in that way became associated with the leading moving spirits in the tariff reform movement which was started in the campaign of 1876, but which steadily de- veloped here and there throughout the country, and nowhere so rapidly as in Iowa and other western states.
The efforts which Mr. Witmer was making in the field of reform attracted wide attention and comment, and won for him the warm regard of many of the most profound students of political economy of the day. This enabled him to organize a force of contributors for the Leader which was rather unusual, in- cluding such names as Professor William C. Sumner of Yale, Professor Arthur Latham Perry of Williams College, Professor Taussig, J. Sterling Morton, Thomas G. Shearman, and Henry Ward Beecher. With the growth of his re- sponsibilities Mr. Witmer found a most valuable assistant in a young man who was born and raised in Henry county, and who made a reputation almost un- equaled as a writer upon economic questions. This was Henry J. Philpott. Mr. Witmer first found value in Mr. Philpott's communications to the Leader, and later employed him as assistant editor, and it was largely by the assistance of Mr. Philpott, and the staff of eminent correspondents whom he had associated with him, that he succeeded in giving character and reputation to the paper.
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