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 169

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 169

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In 1887 Mr. Goughnour was united in marriage to Miss Annie Reitz, a daughter of C. Z. and Elizabeth (Keller) Reitz, natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Iowa and are now living at Maxwell. Mrs. Goughnour was born March 14, 1866, and was the third in a family of seven children. Two children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Goughnour: Roy E., who is now twenty years of age and in the store with his father; and Fay T., who is ten years of age and a pupil in the public schools. Mr. Goughnour, like his father, is a stanch member of the Church of the Brethren and a liberal contributor toward that denomination. Politically he supports the candidates and principles of the republican party. He does not aspire to public office but is serving with very general acceptance as president of the school board. He owes his success to an unalterable spirit of perseverance and a willingness in the past to adapt himself to circumstances until an opportunity opened for a wider field. He is justly regarded as one of the substantial men of the community who can be relied upon at all times to do as he says and who is governed in business and in private life by the teachings of the Great Master.

WILLIAM B. HOWE.

William B. Howe was one of the men whose life was sacrificed on the altar of his country, for at the time of the Civil war he was so severely injured that he never fully recovered and passed away as the result of his wounds. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on the 4th of August, 1840, and was a son of Ebenezer E. and Susan Howe, the former a native of Marlboro, Massachusetts, and the latter of Lansingburg, Pennsylvania. The Howe family was of English origin. Our subject's father served with distinction as a captain in the Mex- ican war and later went to California, where he was engaged in mining and served in the first legislature of that state. He was killed by Indians in what is now New Mexico. In his family were three sons, William B., Ebenezer and Thomas, all of whom are now deceased.

William B. Howe was reared and educated in much the usual manner of farmer boys and when the Civil war broke out he enlisted in Company F, Four- teenth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front. 'He par- ticipated in several hard fought battles, including those at Richmond and An- tietam, and in the latter engagement was severely wounded. He was given up for dead and was allowed to lie on the battlefield for nine days without sur- gical or medical attention. He was then placed in an ambulance and taken to Fredericksburg, where his wounds were dressed for the first time. He re- mained in the hospital six months and was then discharged on account of disa- bility, receiving from the surgeon in charge the intelligence "that his wound would never heal and would eventually cause his death." He returned home and, being unable to resume farming, entered Clear Spring Academy, which he attended for two years. He then engaged in teaching school and after coming to Iowa in September, 1865, taught in Polk City and later in Saylor township, this county, until failing health compelled his retirement. He also served as justice of the peace in that township but eventually had to give up all work. He was an excellent grammarian and mathematician, having mastered the for- mer while confined in the army hospital at Fredericksburg.

In June, 1865, Mr. Howe was united in marriage to Miss Nannie Barnes, who was born in Xenia, Ohio, on the 10th of January, 1844, and is a daughter of John and Parmelia (Gray) Barnes, natives of Pennsylvania and early set- tlers of Ohio. Her paternal grandparents located in Xenia and the maternal in Fort Washington, now Cincinnati. Subsequently her grandfather Gray came to College Hill, Iowa, where he spent his last days, but her grandfather Barnes

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lost his life in a steamboat explosion on the Mississippi river while coming west to look up a claim. Mr. and Mrs. Howe became the parents of the fol- lowing children : William died at the age of twenty-one years. Kingsley Colfax, now east-side postmaster of Des Moines, married Emily Kilborne and has one daughter. A. Clarence, a veterinary surgeon practicing in South Dakota, is married and has two sons. Eleanora Mabel, a physician, is now the wife of Dr. Frank J. Otis, who is at the head of the Tri-City Sanitarium at Moline, Illinois, and is also identified with Battle Creek Sanitarium, while she now has charge of all the correspondence of the latter institution. They also have two sons. Earl E. is a veterinary surgeon practicing at No. 612 Grand avenue, Des Moines.

After many years of suffering Mr. Howe passed away on the 25th of March, 1888, and was buried by his comrades of Kinsman Post, No. 7, G. A. R., in Woodland cemetery. Captain Hull, speaker of the senate, presided at the funeral.

At a regular meeting of Kinsman Post the following resolutions of condo- lence were unanimously passed :

"Resolved, That it is with unfeigned sorrow we have been called since our last meeting to follow the remains of our comrade, W. B. Howe to their final resting place. Another soldier has been called from our ranks to join the picket line beyond the river. Another brave, patriotic spirit has been plucked from its place among us and transplanted to the constellation of the nation's undying dead.

"Resolved, That in the removal by death of Comrade W. B. Howe, this Post has suffered a loss most severe, the city of Des Moines a good worthy citizen, while to the family of which he was the loved and honored head the loss is irreparable.

"Resolved, That the brave, meek Christian spirit with which our late com- rade W. B. Howe, bore his long suffering from wounds received on the field of battle and from which severely suffering and slowly dying for many years, are worthy of our emulation, and the admiration of every true patriotic soldier.

"Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the journal of this Post and the Adjutant be instructed, to transmit a certified copy to the family of our deceased comrade. R. M. J. COLEMAN, Adjutant."

Mrs. Howe has always been an earnest, active Christian worker, having de- voted much of her time and energy to the mission service. She was converted and united with the Methodist church at the age of seven years, retaining her membership in that denomination until two years ago, at which time she with- drew and affiliated with the Christian church. She is now maintaining a mission at her home on Hull avenue, the entire expense of which she has been sustain- ing for the past three years. The work done there is most commendable and is bringing gratifying returns in the way of awakening an interest in things spiritual. For thirteen years prior to opening the mission Mrs. Howe had con- ducted a Sunday school at her residence, which was discontinued only in June, I9II. She has ever been a woman who has considered her personal ease and comfort secondary to her duty to Him whom she elected to serve and follow when a child.

GEORGE YARN.

The president of the Shackelford Brick Company, George Yarn, who lives on a forty-acre farm in section 2, Saylor township, was born in Sweden on the 14th of March. 1863. He is a son of Lewis and Anna Yarn, also natives of Sweden, who emigrated to the United States in 1864 and located in Illinois, in

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which state Mrs. Yarn was killed in a railroad accident leaving four children of whom the son George was the youngest. Mr. Yarn then removed with his family to Iowa and in 1865 he married Christina Peterson, and they also be- came the parents of four children. Mr. Yarn died in 1878 at the age of forty- nine years, having engaged in agricultural pursuits all of his life.

George Yarn was educated in the public schools of Hamilton county and after laying aside his text books he worked as a farm hand for three years and then removed to Des Moines, where he was employed in the factories for a time. Subsequently he entered the mines and after working there for four years he was made superintendent of mines, which position he held for twenty- two years. In 1910 he engaged in the manufacture of paving, sidewalk building and face brick and is now president of the company of which he laid the- founda- tion. He is also interested in the coal-mining industry and at present fills the position of president of the Bloomfield Coal Mining Company.

Mr. Yarn was united in marriage in 1886 to Miss Helma Anderson, a daughter of Carl Anderson of Hamilton county, this state. Mrs. Yarn was born in Sweden in 1865 and is the second child in a family of six. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Yarn and they are as follows: Arthur, who died at the age of twenty years; Clarence; Mary; Herbert; Albert; Walter; Anna- Louise and Helen, all of whom are at home. The family attend the Swedish Methodist Episcopal church of which the parents are members. Mr. Yarn is a member of several fraternal organizations, his affiliation with the Masonic order being in Home Lodge, No. 370, A. F. & A. M., he is also a member of Capitol Lodge, No. 106, I. O. O. F., and the Modern Woodmen of America as well as the Woodmen of the World.

Ever since acquiring the full rights of citizenship Mr. Yarn has been a strong advocate of the policy of the republican party, believing in the basic principles of that body and its protective policy. He never actively participates in political issues, further than to cast his ballot on election day, as his personal interests require his constant. attention. He is a progressive, enterprising man who is highly regarded in the community where he lives.

R. ELBERT MORRIS.

A native son of Georgia, R. Elbert Morris was attracted to Iowa seventeen years ago and since that time has been closely connected with the development of Runnells, of which he is now one of the most prominent citizens. He was born on a farm near Dalton, Georgia, August II, 1872, and is a son of Rufus M. and Katie (Dowling) Morris, both of whom were born in Georgia. The father was one of the young soldiers of the Confederacy, enlisting in the service at the time of the Civil war, when he was only thirteen years of age. He served for four years and was discharged at the age of seventeen years. After leaving the army he engaged in the newspaper business and conducted papers at Dalton and also at Ringgold, Georgia, proving very successful in this line. However, he gave up the newspaper business and went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, becoming one of the most prominent real-estate men of that city. He is still living there and has now arrived at the age of sixty-three years. The beloved . wife and mother died at Ringgold, January 27, 1887.

Mr. Morris of this review received his early education in the public schools of Ringgold and later attended the Benton Academy and Business College at Benton, Tennessee, from which college he graduated. In his earlier years he worked in his father's office where he learned the printer's trade and after leaving school again took up printing, joining the typographical union in Chat- tanooga, Tennessee, where he worked about two years, when he lost his position

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by reason of the linotype machines being installed in the office of the Chattanooga Daily Times. His career as a journeyman printer then began, and he worked at various points in Kentucky, Ohio and Iowa. In 1894 he arrived at Runnells, Polk county, Iowa, and secured employment as a printer, later buying a one- half interest in the Runnells Telegram, of which he is now sole owner. Under his management the paper has become one of the leading publications of the county outside of Des Moines. While conducting his newspaper business he also studied law, taking a one-year course at Highland Park College of Law. Des Moines, after which he matriculated in the Law Department of Drake University, from which he was graduated in 1904, with the degree of LL. B. Having begun the study of law in his native state of Georgia when seventeen years of age he pursued his studies as his finances would permit until admitted to practice. He has practiced at Runnells and Des Moines since 1904 at the same time carrying on his newspaper work. Being the only attorney in the town, he enjoys a lucrative clientage and his newspaper business has proven very profitable. He is one of the prominent property holders of Runnells and is also an active factor in the line of insurance and real estate.

Politically Mr. Morris gives his support to the republican party. He has served as justice of the peace and also as prosecuting attorney for the town of Runnells, to the general satisfaction of the people. He was a candidate at the primary election, in June, 1910, for representative to the state legislature but was defeated. He is not connected with any religious denomination but is friendly to them all and is a generous contributor to worthy enterprises. Active. energetic, capable and progressive, he has attained a creditable standing in his profession and can claim many warm personal friends in Polk county.

W. P. LORD.

W. P. Lord is engaged in business as a dealer in wall paper at No. 421 East Sixth street, Des Moines. His birth occurred at Brodhead, Wisconsin, on the 22d of July, 1866. His father, Levi W. Lord, was born in Canada on the 8th of July, 1836, and in 1842 became a resident of the state of New York. About the year 1858 he took up his abode in Wisconsin, there devoting his attention to general agricultural pursuits. In November, 1866, he came to Iowa and opened up a farm near Iowa Falls, where he has resided continuously since. On the 27th of November. 1862, at Brodhead, Wisconsin, he wedded Miss Adeline Hill, a native of Warren, Ohio, who was born on the 4th of October, 1838, of German parentage. Unto them were born six children, four sons and two daughters, of whom four are still living, namely: W. P., of this review ; Harry L., a farmer residing near Iowa Falls, Iowa; Mabel, the wife of J. W. Woodard, who is with the firm of T. H. Denny & Company of Des Moines ; and Laura, now Mrs. Harry Cunningham, of Jamestown, Pennsylvania.

W. P. Lord obtained his education in the grammar and high schools of Iowa Falls. this state, and afterward followed farming near that place for three years. On the expiration of that period he removed to Kossuth county, Iowa, there maintaining his residence for eight years. At the end of that time, in the spring of 1900, he abandoned agricultural pursuits and took up his abode in Des Moines, where he accepted a position in the factory of the Stoner Wall Paper Company, remaining in the employ of that concern for two years. In 1902 he embarked in business on his own account as a dealer in wall paper at No. 605 East Locust street, conducting an establishment there for about four years under the name of the Lord & Collins Wall Paper Company. Subse- quently he conducted business at No. 519 East Locust street as a partner of the Lord-Woodard Wall Paper Company for three years. His next removal

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was to his present location at No. 421 East Sixth street. He has now been engaged in business at East Des Moines for about a decade and has built up a gratifying and substantial trade.

On the 8th of September, 1887, at Iowa Falls, Mr. Lord was united in mar- riage to Miss Fannie M. Follett of that place. They have two children: Lucy Jane, who is the wife of John T. Martindale and makes her home at Highland Park, Des Moines; and William Earl, a young man of twenty, who is still at home. Mrs. Martindale has one child, Dorothy, who was born on the 22d of August, 1910. Mr. Lord's fraternal relations are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Red Men, the Brotherhood of American Yeomen and the Court of Honor. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Pilgrim Congregational church, to which his wife also belongs, taking an active part in its business and social affairs.

R. PHILL PARRIOTT, M. D.

Dr. R. Phill Parriott is numbered among the younger representatives of the medical profession in Des Moines, yet his years do not seem a bar to his prog- ress. He is accorded a practice and professional honors which many an older member of the profession might well envy. Study abroad has supplemented his preliminary professional training here and, with marked understanding of the scientific principles which underlie his work, he stands today with those who have already won success and to whom the future is bright with promise. He was born near Grimes in Polk county, Iowa, May 3, 1873. His father, Adam H. Parriott, was a native of Indiana, and on coming to this state settled in Polk county in pioneer times. He secured a tract of land which he converted into a good farm, cultivating it successfully until 1883, when he retired from active business cares and is now quietly spending the evening of his life in Des Moines, having reached the age of eighty-five years. He was married in Indiana to Miss Sarah Hull, a native of Toronto, Canada, and Dr. Parriott is the youngest of their family of five sons and one daughter, of whom four sons are now living. Three of the children were born in this county. From early days down to the present time the name of Parriott has figured prominently in connection with the progress and development of this part of the state and in association with its political and moral advancement. When Polk county was but sparsely settled the father was called to the office of justice of the peace, in which he served for many years. He is a member of the Methodist church and has ever been a most highly respected man, his entire life conforming to his exalted standards of manhood and citizenship.

Dr. Parriott pursued his education in the schools of Polk county and of Des Moines and then took up the study of medicine in Drake University, where he completed his course and won his degree on the 6th of April, 1898. He located for practice in Menlo, Iowa, but sought the broader opportunities offered in the larger city, removing to Des Moines on the Ist of July, 1899. Here he has been in practice continuously since, and through the intervening period of twelve years he has firmly established himself in public regard and also won the recognition of his fellow practitioners through his ability and close conformity to professional ethics. He has taken post-graduate work in Chicago, and in 1910 spent some time in Europe, studying in Berlin and London. He is a member of the county, state and national medical societies and served on the staff of the Methodist Hospital for a number of years. In addition he enjoys a large private practice, which has constantly grown in volume and importance as he has given proof of his ability and promoted his efficiency by study under some of the eminent physicians and surgeons of the old world as well as by

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private research and investigation. He is a constant student of all the contri- butions to medical literature and thus is conversant with the latest discoveries in the world of medical research and the most modern methods of practice.

Dr. Parriott is a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to Pioneer Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Des Moines Consistory and Za-Ga-Zig Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and other societies, which class him with their valued, popular and representa- tive members.

HON. L. G. KINNE.

L. G. Kinne is the only Iowa democrat that has ever been honored by elec- tion to the supreme bench of the state. Throughout the course of his life he ever stood as the champion of the interests which further the welfare of the community, state and nation. Brilliant but unpretentious, he was a man in whose professional and private life there was no guile and who came to stand at the bar and to the public as the embodiment of legal knowledge accurately applied and of fidelity in citizenship which found its expression not only in active support of progressive public measures but also in the inspiration which his life afforded his fellowmen for more faultless integrity, nobler purpose and higher living.

A native of the Empire state, he was born in Syracuse, New York, November 5, 1846, and in his native state he pursued his education through consecutive grades in the public and high schools. In 1865 he matriculated in the Univer- sity of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he pursued his literary and law course, being graduated from the law department with the class of 1868. The same year he was admitted to the bar and located for practice in Mendota, Illinois, where his ability won him recognition in a large clientage. He remained there until September, 1879, when he removed to Toledo, Iowa, where at different times he practiced in partnership with D. D. Applegate, H. J. Styer and G. R. Struble. The law work of the different firms was important and brought him prominently before the public in his connection with litigated interests that attracted widespread attention. His ability as a lawyer was pronounced. · He prepared his cases with notable care and precision, seemed never to lose sight of any detail, no matter how slight, and at the same time gave due relative prominence to the important feature of the case upon which the decision al- ways turns. His reasoning was sound, his decisions logical and his arguments were a clear, forceful presentation of the facts and the law applicable thereto.

Mr. Kinne continued in active practice until 1876, when a majority of seven votes made him judge of the district court of the seventeenth judicial district. The election was certainly a most complimentary one, for the district is strongly republican in politics and though he was a radical democrat, he ran far ahead of his ticket, his support exceeding that of his opponent by a vote of seven. In 1876 he was elected a delegate to the democratic national convention. The following year he resigned his judgeship to turn his attention to the field of journalism, becoming editor of the Des Moines Daily Leader. He ejected new life and vigor into the paper, but the people of his judicial district were not content that he should retire to private life, and in November reelected him to fill the vacancy which had been caused by his own resignation-a circumstance unprecedented in the history of the courts of the state. Although many had opposite political opinions, they gave to him generous and warm-hearted support in his office of judge, the duties of which he administered with marked success and unquestionable impartiality. His mind was particularly of a judicial cast and, with an ability to take an impartial view, there was nothing that entered

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as a variable or disturbing element in his decisions. In June, 1881, Judge Kinne became his party's nominee for the office of governor but was defeated by Buren R. Sherman, with whom he again contested for that high office in 1883 with a like result. In 1882 the democrats of the nineteenth legislature nomi- nated him for United States senator. Where a question of party honor was not involved the people always gave evidence to Judge Kinne of their loyalty and their appreciation of his judicial service. In 1890 he was again elected judge of the district court by unanimous vote, no candidate appearing against him. In 1891, when the democrats met in state convention at Ottumwa, he was named for judge of the supreme court. This was during the first term of Gov- ernor Boise. The return indicated a democratic victory, Judge Kinne's judicial district giving him over one thousand majority, evidencing an immense. growth in his popularity over the majority of seven given him in 1876. He served until January 1, 1897. He was renominated in 1897 but the republican forces had fallen again in rank and file and he was defeated by S. M. Ladd. He then returned to general practice in the courts. To him had been accorded the honor, however, of election to the supreme court-the first democrat so chosen since the organization of the state.

His services on the bench by no means comprise the extent of Judge Kinne's important work in behalf of Iowa. For several years prior to 1889 there was more or less complaint by the people because of the enormous expense, loose- ness and extravagance in the management of the several state institutions, con- trolled as they were by boards of trustees, visiting committees, regents and agents with no uniformity of system or real responsibility to the state for their conditions. During Judge Kinne's candidacy for governor in 1881 he advocated placing the state institutions under the control of a single board of commission. Some of the governors later urged upon the legislature the necessity for some action. Governor Boise supported such a course during his two terms and Judge Kinne, who was elected to the supreme bench on the ticket with him, gave the governor very active support. Meanwhile public sentiment was crystalizing for reform and in response thereto the twenty-sixth general assembly elected a joint committee of one senator and two members of the house to visit the state institutions, investigate the reports of trustees and officers, their books and records, and report to the next general assembly. The report was forthcoming on the convening of the twenty-seventh general assembly, its findings showing that there was evidence of abuses. In this connection the Register and Leader of Des Moines wrote some years aferward: "Every habitué of the old state- house in the 'zos was familiar with the lobbies from the institutions. At every session of the legislature the trustees and regents came to Des Moines, stopped at the best hotels, week after week, the state paying the bills, and swarmed around the state-house to lobby the senators and representatives from districts in which their institutions were located, to secure the largest appropriation pos- sible and most favorable legislation. The outcome of it was that early in ses- sion the senators and representatives got together, and taking the largest amount of funds available for the coming two years' period, parceled it out, a fixed sum to each institution, which was to be unchanged and all appropriations for other purposes made subject to their allotment. When that was secured it was to be a free fight for what was left of the state revenue. The compact was known as the 'appropriation ring,' and it practically controlled all legislation upon important measures. I recall a bill which Bell and Hackney, architects of the new capitol, successors to Piquinard, the original architect, deceased, had prepared for the seventeenth general assembly, asking authority to change the plans of the building so as to add four small domes, and an appropriation of seventy-five thousand dollars for their construction. In the house the bill was in charge of Tom Updegraff, of Clayton county, who very soon found himself solidly opposed by the 'ring.' He stood up against it several days but finally got wrathy and let loose with such force a battery of invective, sarcasm and

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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 169

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