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 163

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 163

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Unto Mr. and Mrs. Mann have been born three children. Ben E. was edu- cated in the high school and Highland Park College and is now successfully engaged in the coal and sand business. He married Ollie Winn and has one son, Elton E. Lulu M., who graduated from the Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, is the wife of Dr. Howard D. Gray, a prominent young phy- sician and surgeon of Des Moines, and they have one son, Mann Devier, aged five. Leroy M., Jr., resides in Chicago and is unmarried. The city residence of the Mann family is at No. 1408 Pleasant street. Mr. Mann is a member of the Grant Club and the Commercial Club and has served for two terms as presi- dent of the Real Estate Exchange. Eminently successful in business affairs, his commercial activity finds an even balance in his integrity, keen common sense and broad humanitarianism, which have won for him the honor and respect of his fellow citizens. Coming here in 1884, his residence in this city may be briefly summed up in twenty-eight years of good citizenship.

LLOYD E. MORGAN.

Reared in the drug business, Lloyd E. Morgan, now an established pharma- cist of Ankeny, early became acquainted with the vocation to which he is devot- ing his life and for which he has shown special adaptability. He was born in Adams county, Iowa, April 14, 1882, a son of Fred E. and Jennie E. (Jones) Morgan, natives respectively of Minnesota and Virginia. They were married in Iowa and are now living at Van Meter, Dallas county, this state. The father has been for a number of years well known as a druggist and pharmacist.

Lloyd E. Morgan was the eldest in a family of four children. He received his preliminary education in the common schools and later, for a short time, at- tended the North high school at Des Moines and Highland Park College, graduat- ing in pharmacy from the latter institution in 1906. He engaged as a drug clerk at Shenandoah and subsequently at Essex, gaining practical experience which has assisted him very materially since he entered business upon his own account. In 1909 he opened up an establishment at Ankeny, in which he carries a well selected stock. The business has steadily increased and gives promise of liberal returns upon the investment. Mr. Morgan is a young man of gentlemanly address, thor- oughly qualified for the responsibility which he has assumed, and is very popular in the community.

In 1908 he was united in marriage to Miss Ethel A. Hales, who was born March 13, 1888, a daughter of E. T. and Mabel (Wolf) Hales. The father was

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born in England and the mother in Indiana, and they are now living at Essex. By a previous marriage Mrs. Hales was the mother of two children.

Mr. Morgan is a valued member of the Brotherhood of American Yeomen and politically gives his allegiance to the republican party, accepting its princi- ples as those best adapted for the prosperity of the entire country. He and his wife are firm believers in the Christian religion and are stanch members of the Methodist church. They are both held in high esteem by all with whom they come in contact, and the excellent start which Mr. Morgan has made in business and his reputation as a man of integrity and honor give bright hopes as to his future.

WILLIAM S. LEAVERTON.

Energy and thrift have been strong resultant factors in the success of Will- iam S. Leaverton, who is recognized as one of the capable stockmen and agricul- turists of Polk county. His birth occurred in Van Buren county, Iowa, on the 14th of March, 1867, his parents being James and Lucretia (Nance) Leaverton, the father a native of Ohio and the mother of West Virginia. James Leaverton came to Iowa during pioneer days, purchasing a farm in Van Buren county, which he cleared and improved, continuing its operation until his demise, in Sep- tember, 1908, when he was eighty-five years of age. The mother of our subject still survives at the age of eighty-four and makes her home in Van Buren county.

Reared on the homestead in his native county William S. Leaverton obtained his education in the district schools. After laying aside his school books he as- sisted his father in the cultivation of the home farm until he had attained his majority. In 1888 he left home and went to Nebraska, where he resided for a time, and then returned to Iowa, taking a position on the farm of his brother-in- law in Polk county. He remained there for three years, receiving for his serv- ices twenty dollars per month for nine months, while in the winter he worked for his board. At the expiration of that time he rented land in Jefferson town- ship, which he cultivated for six years, and then by means of constant application and the most rigid economy he accumulated the capital necessary to purchase eighty acres of land, which forms the nucleus of his present homestead. Good judgment and capable management in the direction of his affairs made it possi- ble for Mr. Leaverton to add to his holdings from time to time until he now owns two hundred acres of excellent farm land. He has wrought many improve- ments in his property during the period of his residence here and it is now one of the model farms of the township. He engages in general farming but raises a great deal of stock, keeping thirty head of cattle and seven head of horses, while he raises one hundred and fifty head of hogs.

On the 5th of April, 1891, Mr. Leaverton consummated his plans for a home by his marriage to Miss Bertha Shafer, a daughter of Herman and Augusta (Hotchkiss) Shafer, natives of Ohio and New York respectively. Her father, who was a farmer, removed from Missouri to Iowa at an early day, settling on a farm in Polk county, in the cultivation of which he engaged until his demise, which occurred in September, 1891. Her mother, who is sixty-two years of age, is now residing in Granger, Iowa. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Leaverton have been born three children : Robert H., Ruby Lucretia and Martha Irene.

Mr. Leaverton is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Granger, and he and his family affiliate with the Christian church. Ever since age conferred upon him the right of suffrage he has given his political support to the candidates of the democratic party, and although he has never sought pub- lic honors he is now serving as a member of the board of school directors. Dur-

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ing the long period of his residence in Jefferson township Mr. Leaverton has be- come known not only as a competent agriculturist but a man possessing more than average business sagacity, to which qualities his success is very largely at- tributable.

VOLTAIRE P. TWOMBLY.

The name of Voltaire P. Twombly is inscribed high on the roll of Iowa's hon- ored and distinguished sons. He was born February 21, 1842, near Farmington, Van Buren county, when this state was under territorial government. His father, Samuel Tuttle Twombly, was born February 3, 1817, in the town of Madburry, now Dover, New Hampshire, but was reared and educated in Maine. On re- moving westward he engaged in teaching school in New Harmony, Indiana, and later in Natchez, Mississippi. He afterward removed to Salubria, Van Buren county, Iowa, where he formed the acquaintance of and married Miss Dorothy Carter Wilder in 1840. She was born June 16, 1819, in the town of Westminster, Worcester county, Massachusetts, and was there reared and educated. With her sister's family she went to Salubria in August, 1838. Two years after she be- came the wife of Samuel Tuttle Twombly he passed away in Van Buren county in September, 1842. His wife long survived him, her death occurring at Keosau- qua, Iowa, in 1896.

Voltaire P. Twombly acquired his education in the common schools and in Lane Academy of Keosauqua, and also attended a commercial school at Burling- ton, Iowa, from August until December, 1865. He was engaged in business at Ottumwa, Iowa, as a flour merchant from that date until December, 1867, and in January, 1868, turned his attention to the milling business at Pittsburg, Van Buren county, where he remained until April, 1876. In the latter year he became a merchant of Keosauqua and was thus identified with its commercial circles until 1880, when he was called from private life to accept the office of county treas- urer of Van Buren county, which position he filled for four years, and upon his retirement from that office, in 1884, he became mayor of the city. Still higher political honors awaited him, however, for in January, 1885, he became state treas- urer, which position he filled by reelection until January, 1891. An irreproachable record as a public officer commended him to the confidence and support of the public when, on his retirement from the position of state treasurer, he entered the field of banking, assisting in the organization of the Home Savings Bank of Des Moines, of which he was a director and president from June, 1891, until January, 1901. In October of the latter year he became half-owner and financial manager of the Capitol Hill Granite & Marble Works, remaining actively at the head of the business until June, 1905, since which time he has not taken part in the management of any business interests.

An interesting chapter in the history of Voltaire P. Twombly covers his service in the Civil war. He enlisted April 24, 1861, under the first call for troops to suppress the Rebellion, issued by President Lincoln, and was mustered into the United States service, May 27, 1861, at Keokuk, Iowa, as a private of Company F, Second Iowa Infantry. In October of that year he was promoted to the rank of corporal and assigned to the color guard. He took part with the regiment in a charge upon the Rebel works at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, on the 15th of Feb- ruary, 1862, carrying the colors into that stronghold after the color sergeant and four corporals had been .shot down. For this he received honorable mention in the report of Colonel Tuttle. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry at Fort Donelson and on the 16th of February, 1862, he was pro- moted to the rank of sergeant and acting color-sergeant, as such carrying the colors of the regiment during the battle of Shiloh, on the 6th and 7th of April,

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1862. During the advance upon and capture of Corinth, Mississippi, and until August 1, 1862, he acted as second lieutenant of his company and received a commission in that rank, dated August 1, 1862. As such he took part in the bat- tle of Corinth, October 3d and 4th, and was severely wounded; was also in the Atlanta campaign from the Ist of May to the Ist of September, 1864; was wounded in the battle of Jonesboro, Georgia, on the 3Ist of August of that year ; was promoted first lieutenant and adjutant in June, 1864, and captain on the IOth of November following. He participated in the celebrated march from At- lanta to the sea, and on north through the Carolinas as acting assistant inspector general of the brigade, and was present at the surrender of the Rebel forces, un- der General Joseph E. Johnston, at Raleigh, North Carolina. He then proceeded on the march to Washington and participated in the Grand Review at the close of the war. He was then transferred to Louisville, Kentucky, was mustered out of service, July 12, 1865, and received his final discharge, July 20, 1865.

It was less than a year after his return from the army that Captain Twom- bly was married, on the Ist of May, 1866, to Miss Chloe Agnes Funk, a daughter of William and Susan E. Funk, and a native of Doylestown, Ohio, born February 9, 1845. She went with her father's family to Van Buren county, Iowa, in 1848, and was educated in the common schools and Lane Academy of Keosauqua, and in the Denmark Academy of Lee county, Iowa. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Twombly was born a daughter, Eva, whose birth occurred at Keosauqua, November 10, 1878, and who is now the wife of Clyde W. Jeffries. They have one child, Marion Louise, born January 29, 1910.

While in the army, at which time age conferred upon him the right of fran- chise, Captain Twombly began voting with the republican party and has never seen reason to change his political allegiance. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1866 and is still prominently connected with the Union forces of the Civil war as a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a past post commander and past assistant quartermaster general of the Depart- ment of Iowa, G. A. R., belongs to the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, Commandery of Iowa, and has held the office of recorder and commander. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church. Prom- inence and honors have come to him, but they have been worthily won and have been worn with becoming modesty.

HON. BERYL F. CARROLL.

Hon. Beryl F. Carroll, the eighteenth governor of Iowa, is the first native born Iowan to hold that office. He was born on a farm in Davis county, March 15, 1860, where his parents had located in 1854, having removed to Iowa from Ohio in 1853. The present governor is the twelfth in a family of thirteen children, nine of whom are still living. He attended a country school in Davis county and later pursued his studies at college in Bloomfield. In 1884 he was graduated from the Missouri State Normal at Kirksville, Missouri, and he taught in the graded schools of that state for five years. On the 15th of June, 1886, he married Miss Jennie Dodson, and they now have two sons.

In 1889 Governor Carroll located at Bloomfield and for two years was en- gaged in business with his brother. In 1891 he became editor of the Davis County Republican, which paper he continued to publish until the fall of 1902. He was district elector for the sixth congressional district of Iowa in the electoral college of 1892 and in 1895 was elected state senator from the counties of Ap- panoose and Davis. He served in the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh assem- blies. In 1902 he was elected auditor of the state and held that office three terms. In the June primary, 1908, he received the republican nomination for

GOV. BERYL F. CARROLL

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governor of Iowa and was elected at the November election, being inaugurated January 14, 1909. He was renominated at the June primary in 1910 and re- elected at the June election.

Governor Carroll is recognized in other states as an insurance expert and is constantly being communicated with by the insurance departments of other states. He is one of the very few elected governors who is not a lawyer. He holds a degree of LL. D. from Simpson College and is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. His administration has been marked by the reorganiza- tion of many of the state departments for the purpose of increasing their effi- ciency and preserving greater economy.

WILLIAM HOUSTON SMITH.

William Houston Smith, president of the Elaterite Paint & Manufacturing Company, has developed a business in this connection which has grown to ex- tensive proportions and covers a wide territory.

Mr. Smith is a native of Albany, New York, born October 31, 1859. His father, John Smith, a native of Belfast, Ireland, came to America in his boyhood days, settling in Albany where he engaged in the manufacture of shoes through- out his remaining days, passing away a few years ago when seventy-two years of age. His wife, who in her maidenhood was Catherine Houston, was a native of Scotland and in her girlhood days came to the United States. She died nineteen years ago at the age of sixty-three. Both were descended from an- cestry largely connected with the leading professions.

William H. Smith was the second in a family of eight children and the pub- lic and high schools of Albany provided him with his educational advantages. At the age of eighteen years he became connected with the engraving business at Albany, there learning the trade. While still a resident of the Empire State he became a member of the Tenth Regiment of the New York National Guard, holding the rank of major when he resigned. He was also connected with the Albany Military Academy as an instructor in tactics, devoting certain days of each week for a short time to that work. After two years' connection with the engraving business he removed westward to Chicago to accept a position with R. G. Dun & Company and a year later was transferred to the Des Moines office as assistant manager at this point. Two years later he resigned the position to go upon the road for the wholesale furnishing goods and notion house of George White & Company of Des Moines, for whom he traveled about twenty years. This brought him wide experience and at the same time stimulated his determination to some day engage in business on his own account. In the spring of 1905, feeling that conditions were favorable for carrying out this long cherished hope, he joined Frank M. Carroll in the organization of the Elaterite Paint & Manufacturing Company, of which he has since been the president. They established a plant for the manufacture of paint from elaterite carbons, and the Elaterite paint has since won a reputation and gained a sale that has enabled them to establish branch offices throughout the United States and also in Toronto, Canada, while their sales extend to all parts of the civil- ized world. Mr. Smith's ability as an outside man and his partner's ability in the development and organization of systematic business methods in the office have constituted the most potent features in their success, the efforts and labors of one ably supplementing and rounding out the work of the other, thus con- stituting this a strong and resourceful firm. They are also interested in mining in the west, producing their own minerals for the manufacture of their paint products. Gradually their business has developed along substantial lines, its

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ramifying trade interests reaching out farther and farther until the enterprise is one of the most extensive and important in Des Moines.

On the 9th of January, 1884, Mr. Smith was married at Quaker Springs, New York, to Miss Minnie E. Losee, a daughter of Thomas and Nancy (Lang) Losee, of that place. They now have one child, Frances Louise, who is a grad- uate of the West high school of Des Moines and now a student in the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The family reside at No. 693 Nineteenth street in Des Moines, where Mr. Smith owns a commodious and attractive home, and in addition has a pleasant summer residence at Lake Okoboji. Mr. and Mrs. Smith hold membership in the Congregational church and he is well known in fraternal and social relations. For a number of years he has been a director of the Iowa State Traveling Men's Association, of which he was an early member and of which he served for three years as vice president. He belongs also to the Masonic fraternity, and has attained the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite and the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He has likewise crossed the sands of the dessert with the nobles of the Mystic Shrine and has member- ship relations with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen. In more strictly social lines his membership is with the Grant and Hyperion Clubs. In politics he is a stanch republican and, while never an aspirant for office, takes a citizen's interest in the welfare and success of his party and has been a delegate to its state conventions. He is one whose life has been filled with "ceaseless toil and endeavor" and such has been his rugged honesty of purpose, independence in thought and action and his in- tegrity and honor, that he has won the respect and confidence of all with whom business or social relations have brought him in contact. His motives have been of that ideal order that practically make his life a consecration to duty and to the measure of his possibilities for accomplishing good.

HENRY F. GARVER.

For over forty years the Garver family has been prominently identified with the business interests of Des Moines and today Henry F. Garver as president of the Enterprise Mining Company is regarded as one of the leading business men of the city. He was born in Williams Center, Williams county, Ohio, September 25, 1858, and is a son of George A. Garver, who died in Des Moines on the 25th of July, 1909. The father was also a native of Ohio, his birth oc- curring in Tuscarawas county, April 18, 1834, and he was of Swiss origin. De- ciding that the west held more advantages than the older states, he came to Iowa in 1871, settling at Des Moines on the 18th of April, that year. For some time he was engaged in the hardware business but later turned his attention to coal mining, becoming one of the early operators in Polk county. In early man- hood he married Miss Barbara R. Fusselman, who was born in De Kalb county, Indiana, August II, 1838, and was of German descent. Her parents were early settlers of De Kalb county. She passed away a few weeks prior to her hus- band, dying on the 6th of June, 1909. To them were born four children, namely : Henry F., of this review ; Ida M., who was born August 2, 1860, and died Sep- tember 25, 1861 ; Carlton M., who was born in Williams county, Ohio, January I, 1862; and Arthur, who was born August 10, 1878, and died in 1880. During his residence in Des Moines the father was regarded as one of the city's most influential business men and at his death the council adopted the following' reso- lutions introduced by Mayor Mathis :

"Whereas the newspapers chronicle the death of George A. Garver, a pioneer resident of the city of Des Moines and a former member of the city council, be it 'Resolved by the city council of the city of Des Moines, that in the passing

MR. AND MRS. GEORGE GARVER

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of George A. Garver the city of Des Moines has lost an honored and respected citizen and one whose public and private career has contributed largely in its development and progress.' Be it further 'Resolved, that in recognition of his services to the citizens of Des Moines, a copy of these resolutions be spread upon the journals of the proceedings of this council.' "

Henry F. Garver was about thirteen years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Polk county. He attended the public schools of East Des Moines and also the Des Moines high school and for two years pur- sued his studies in the Baptist University of Des Moines. Laying aside his text- books at the age of seventeen years, he entered his father's employ, the latter being then engaged in the hardware business, being the founder of the Garver Hardware Company. Our subject continued to devote his attention- to that business for three years, or until it was sold to his uncle John A. Garver, at which time he and his father turned their attention to the coal-mining business, and he has since devoted his time and attention to that industry. At the time of his father's death he became his successor as president of the Enterprise Coal Mining Company, operating mines in Douglas township, Polk county, and em- ploying on an average of five hundred men.

Mr. Garver was married in Fort Scott, Kansas, to Miss Winifred J. York, who was born in Byron, Illinois, January 4, 1866, and was a daughter of Colonel A. M. York. She died in Des Moines on the 21st of August, 1905. Two chil- dren were born to this union: York Arthur, who was born June 24, 1887, and died in Des Moines on the 12th of May, 1888, and Jean J., born August 28, 1892, at No. 715 Sixteenth street, Des Moines, who is a graduate of the West Des Moines high school and is now attending Smith College at Northampton, Mas- sachusetts.

The family hold membership in the Christian church and Mr. Garver is also identified with the Knights of Pythias and the New Des Moines Club. By his ballot he supports the men and measures of the republican party but has never been a politician in the sense the word implies. He is a man of good business and executive ability and in his undertakings has met with well deserved success.

CARLTON M. GARVER.

Carlton M. Garver, secretary of the Enterprise Coal Mining Company, is the younger of the two surviving members of a family of four born unto his parents, George and Barbara R. (Fusselman) Garver, his birth occurring in Williams Center, Williams county, Ohio, on the Ist day of January, 1862. The parents migrated to Iowa, locating in Des Moines, on the 18th of April, 1871, where the father engaged in the hardware business.

The education of Carlton M. Garver was acquired in the public schools of East Des Moines, from the high school of which city he graduated with the class of 1878. Following the completion of his studies he entered the employ- ment of his father, with whom he was identified for several years in the business of mining coal, withdrawing from the company in 1884 to go to Wyoming, where he remained several years. Mr. Garver returned to Iowa and at the commencement of the Spanish war enlisted in Company C of the Fiftieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He served throughout the war in that regiment and was mustered out of the service on November 30, 1898. During the period of the trouble in the Philippine islands he served four years in the United States transport service, two years on the U. S. S. Sheridan and two years on the U. S. S. Thomas.

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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 163

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