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 53
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At the time of the Civil war he enlisted in the Sixty-fourth New York Volun- teers as hospital steward and served during the entire period of the rebellion. He was with the Army of the Potomac, and later with the Army of the West. participating in the battles of Gettysburg, Antietam, the battle of the Wilderness, the siege of Atlanta and in the famous march of Sherman to the sea. He was also present at the grand review at Washington, when several hundred thousand wearers of the blue participated in one of the greatest demonstrations that the world has ever seen. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Coon: D. D., of Denver, who is married and is engaged in the furnace business; J. D., who was drowned in the Des Moines river at the age of twenty-four years ; and Lloyd B., the subject of this sketch.
Lloyd B. Coon received his preliminary education in the district schools of Monroe county, Michigan, and coming to Des Moines at sixteen years of age in the year 1889 he attended the Highland Park College where he specialized in pharmacy having decided to devote his energies in that direction. He began his active career with Harlan Brothers at Des Moines continuing with them until 1896 when he entered the employ of Norman Lichty at Sixth and Walnut streets, and later for two years was with Webb Souers. In 1900 he went to Arkansas and engaged in the drug business on his own account at Pine Bluff for five years. However he was again attracted to Des Moines and took charge of Reed Hurl-
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but's drug store and so continued until the death of Mr. Hurlbut in 1909. In 1910 he opened his present store at Fourth and Walnut streets, where he special- izes in the prescription business. He has had twenty years' experience in hand- ling drugs and is recognized as one of the most competent pharmacists in the city. Professionally he is identified with the Iowa Pharmaceutical Association and also with the Arkansas Pharmaceutical Association and he has many warm personal friends in both organizations.
On the Ist of September, 1897, Mr. Coon was united in marriage to Miss Jessie Reck, who was born in Topeka, Kansas, a daughter of J. S. and Mary (Lecklider) Reck, the latter of whom is now living at Greenville, Ohio. The father was born in Greenville and died in 1903, at the age of sixty-seven years. He was a butcher by trade but at the time of the Civil war served in the Twen- tieth Ohio Volunteers, continuing until the close of the war. He was wounded, but not seriously.
Mr. and Mrs. Coon are the parents of one child, Mildred, whose natal day was March 26, 1905. He is a gentleman of pleasing address and his tireless energy and sound judgment have assisted him materially in the accomplishment of a noble ambition in life. In politics he is an earnest republican and in religious faith he adheres to the Methodist church. He has cultivated the social relations and is a valued member of the Knights of Pythias and Odd Fellows. Both he and his wife have a wide acquaintance and are held in high regard by a large circle of friends in Des Moines.
CHARLES H. GAYLORD.
Charles H. Gaylord, who for more than twenty-two years was a resident of Des Moines, during which time he commanded and enjoyed the respect and good will of his fellow' townsmen, was born in Goshen, Connecticut, on the 7th of March, 1833. His parents were Willard and Amy (Hooker) Gaylord. Willard Gaylord, a native of Vermont, was a farmer and bank director and one of the leading, influential and prominent citizens of his community. The Hookers came of Puritan stock and were a highly respected family.
Charles H. Gaylord pursued his education in the public schools of Goshen and entered business life as a clerk in a bank at New Haven, Connecticut. After a time he turned his attention to the wholesale grocery business, in which he was engaged in New Haven, making for himself a creditable position in the business circles of that city. In 1881, however, he came to the middle west, settling in Des Moines. He was an expert accountant and became connected with J. D. See- berger as bookkeeper, which position he filled continuously until his death. No higher testimonial of his ability could be given than the fact that he continued in one position throughout this entire period, enjoying in full measure the confidence of those whom he represented.
In New Hartford, Connecticut, in 1871, Mr. Gaylord was married to Miss Mary J. Loomis. He had previously been married and had one son, William H. Gaylord, now of the Bankers Life Insurance Company of Des Moines. Mrs. Mary J. Gaylord was a daughter of Benjamin Gaylord and Minerva (Warner) Loomis. her father being a representative of an old and prominent family that came to this country in 1638, locating in Windsor, Connecticut. Among the ancestors of Mrs. Gaylord were also those who fought in the war for independence and she is now a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She also belongs to the Women's Club of Des Moines. In 1899 she took up the study of osteopathy and completed the prescribed course therein in 1901, but does not practice regularly.
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Mr. Gaylord, while in New Haven, became a member of Trumbull Lodge, No. 22, A. F. & A. M., and was thereafter continuously identified with the craft, of which he was a worthy exemplar. His political allegiance was always given to the republican party and he took an active interest in the affairs of the city, labor- ing earnestly and effectively for all that proved of benefit to Des Moines. He held membership in St. Paul's Episcopal church and passed away in that faith on the 24th of October, 1903 .. His life was ever upright and honorable, charac- terized by good deeds and kindly purposes, and to him was allotted the Psalmist's span of life of three score years and ten.
EDWARD C. SMITH.
For a period of twenty-five years Edward C. Smith has been prominently iden- tified with the development of the coal interests of Iowa. He has been for some time president of the Smith-McClure Coal Company, and at the recent meeting of the executive board of the Iowa Coal Operators Association he was elected to fill the president's chair, vacated by the resignation of John P. Reese. He was the second of three children born to Haskell G. and Lucretia (Collins) Smith, his birth occurring in Goshen, Litchfield county, Connecticut, on the IIth of November, 1860. On the paternal side he is of English extraction, while his mother is a descendant of one of the Pilgrim fathers. The father all during the years of his activity engaged in railroading, but both parents have now passed away.
The public schools of the little New England town where he was born pro- vided Edward C. Smith with his preliminary education, which was later supple- mented by a course in a normal and military academy at Norwalk, Connecticut. He laid aside his text-books at the age of fifteen years, becoming a clerk in a retail dry-goods store in Hartford, Connecticut, with which he continued to be identified for several years. The west seemed to the young man to offer better opportunities to ambitious and enterprising men so in 1880 he came to Iowa, lo- cating in Belle Plaine, where he entered the employ of the Northwestern Rail- road Company as shop clerk, continuing in this capacity for six years. At the ex- piration of that period he was made cashier of the company's coal mines at Much- akinock, Iowa, where he remained for a similar period. Resigning his position in 1892 he became general manager of the Iowa Fuel Company, of which he was one of the stockholders, at Oskaloosa, Iowa. Later he held the same position with the Lost Creek Coal Company, being identified with this corporation until they had exhausted the coal in their territory, at which time he became affiliated! with the Green Ridge Coal Company of Girard, Illinois, of which he was also general manager.
Following his connection with this company he transferred the field of his activities to Pittsburg, Kansas, where he organized the Smith & Chapman Coal Company, of which he became president. He afterwards became associated with John W. Lowe of the Old Colony building, Chicago, in the formation of the Smith- Lowe Coal Company, of which he was also president. More recently he has or- ganized the Smith-McClure Coal Company of Ogden, Iowa, which has taken over some new coal land and has a shaft which will be ready for the production of coal very shortly. This company promises to have the same successful career which has characterized all of the enterprises with which Mr. Smith has been identified, and which has caused him to be recognized as one of the most capable coal operators in the state.
In Oskaloosa, on the 22d of May, 1890, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Elsie Siebel, a daughter of John Siebel, a native of Iowa. Three chil- dren have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Smith: Miriam, who was born on the
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15th of December, 1892; Sabine, whose birth occurred on the IIth of March, 1894; and Gretchen, whose natal day was the IIth of October, 1896. The re- ligious views of the family are evidenced in their affiliation with the Episcopal church. Mr. Smith is very fond of all outdoor sports, as is attested by his mem- bership in the Golf and Country Club of Des Moines, while he is also a mem- ber of the Iowa Automobile Club.
In matters of politics Mr. Smith accords his support to the candidates of the republican party, and although he always takes an active interest in all govern- mental affairs, at the same time he has never aspired to public office. Possessing unusual powers of organization and superior executive ability, Mr. Smith is well adapted to handle big propositions, as has been manifested through his suc- 'cessful official connection with some of the biggest coal projects in this state.
CHARLES W. STEWART.
Charles W. Stewart, whose demise occurred on the 14th of January, 1910, was numbered among the successful and enterprising agriculturists of Polk county, owning four hundred acres of land here. He was also engaged in the practice of law in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for a number of years. His birth oc- curred in Hendricks county. Indiana, on the 10th of June, 1851, his parents being Henry and Ruth (Gray) Stewart, who were likewise natives of the Hoosier state. They came to Polk county, Iowa, in 1868, the father here purchasing land and devoting his attention to general agricultural pursuits until advanced age necessitated his retirement. His last days were spent in well earned ease at Des Moines, where he passed away in 1907 when ninety-two years old. His widow, who still survives at the age of eighty-three years, yet makes her home in Des Moines, where she has a host of warm friends.
Charles W. Stewart, who was a youth of seventeen when he came to this county with his parents, pursued the prescribed course of study in the Baptist (now called Des Moines) College. Subsequently he took up the study of law in Simpson College, from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1873. He then went to Wyoming and in 1881 began the practice of his profession at Cheyenne, that state, being also connected with the state auditor's office during the period of his residence there, which terminated in August, 1890. Because of impaired health he abandoned his professional career at that time and returned to Polk county, here purchasing a farm of four hundred acres, to the operation of which he devoted his attention until called to his final rest. His labors as an agriculturist were attended with excellent results, yielding him a gratifying annual income.
On the 22d of October, 1885, Mr. Stewart was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary E. Peters, a daughter of John and Rebecca (Van Sickle) Peters, who were natives of Pennsylvania and Illinois respectively. John Peters came to Iowa in 1854, locating four miles east of Eldora, where he entered a tract of land which he cleared and improved and where he carried on farming until the time of his death, which occurred on the 5th of October, 1898. The demise of his wife occurred on the 16th of May, 1886. Mrs. Stewart was reared on a farm and obtained her early education in the district schools, while later she attended the high school at Des Moines and also the Iowa Business College. By her marriage she became the mother of one child, Genevieve, who was born on the 6th of January, 1887, and passed away on the 12th of July, 1889.
Mr. Stewart was a republican in politics and an active worker in the local ranks of his party, doing everything in his power to promote the general wel- fare. In 1897 he was chosen a member of the state legislature and such was his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him that he was reelected for
C. W. STEWART
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a second term. He served as chairman of the committee on agriculture and was connected with considerable important constructive legislation. In relig- ious faith he was a Methodist, as is also his widow. Mrs. Stewart, who still re- sides in Walnut township, enjoys a wide and favorable acquaintance in this county.
JAMES WINFIELD COKENOWER, M. D.
Upon the foundation of broad professional learning Dr. James W. Cokenower has builded his success and the substantial qualities which have been characteris- tic in his practice have gained him distinction in his chosen field of labor. He was born in Shelby county, Illinois, August 13, 1853, a son of Michael and Drusilla (Thompson) Cokenower. The father came to the United States in his boyhood and settled in Pennsylvania with his family. Later he removed to Illinois where he engaged in farming.
Dr. Cokenower was a young lad at the time of his father's death. He pur- sued his education in the country schools of Shelby county, Illinois, and in Westfield College of that state. In 1875 he received a state life diploma from the, superintendent of public instruction of Illinois. However the medical pro- fession attracted him and in preparation for practice he entered in 1875 the Medical College of Keokuk, Iowa, from which he was graduated in 1877, while later he continued his studies in Louisville, Kentucky, and was there graduated in 1881. His youthful days were spent upon the farm and in the free, open life of the fields he laid the foundation for a vigorous manhood. His work as a teacher in. the country and city public schools brought him knowledge of human nature that has been of value to him in his later professional service. Taking up the practice of medicine in Des Moines, he has remained in this city continuously since and his ability is recognized by the profession as well as the public. He closely conforms his practice to a high standard of professional ethics and at all times keeps in touch with the advanced thought of the pro- fession through his membership in the leading medical societies and his perusal of the latest and most valuable contributions to medical literature. He has been very successful in his chosen life work and while he has continued in the general practice of medicine he has also given considerable attention to ortho- pedic surgery and diseases of children. For twenty years he occupied the chair of orthopedic surgery in Drake University. He belongs to the Polk county Medical Society, of which he was secretary for seven years, while twice he filled the position of president. He is also a member of the State Medical Society, which honored him with twelve annual elections to the position of sec- retary. He has membership relations with the National Medical Association and the Western Surgical and Gynecological Association. He was elected counselor of the seventh congressional district to serve from 1909 until 1914; is secretary and a member of the advisory board of Mercy Hospital and has been president of the Iowa Children's Home since its location in Des Moines. Added to the deep scientific interest in his chosen life work is the element of broad human sympathy and the spirit of helpfulness.
On the 4th of March, 1891, Dr. Cokenower was married to Miss Katherine E. Stafford, a daughter of George H. and Minerva (Hollenbach) Stafford. He holds membership in the Presbyterian church and gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He is also identified with several fraternal orders, belonging to Pioneer Lodge, No. 22, A. F. & A. M .; Corinthian Chapter, No. 14, R. A. M .; Des Moines Consistory, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite; Temple Commandery, K. T .; and Za-Ga-Zig Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise a past grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Delighting in travel, in 1900 he organized and took abroad
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a party of about sixty representatives of the medical profession of Iowa and during their European tour visited the Paris Exposition and were spectators of the Passion Play at Oberammergau and in 1910 he organized a party of shriners for a similar trip. Dr. Cokenower is a man of even temperament to whom the trivialities of life are not a disturbing element, is social, agreeable and above all sincere, and these qualities render him popular and prominent among his patrons and those whom he meets in social and other relations.
WILLIAM FREDERICK HARTMANN.
William Frederick Hartmann, a pioneer in handling "coast lumber" in Des Moines, and prominence in the business circles of the capital city as one of its leading lumber merchants, was born in Belleville, St. Clair county, Illinois, September 4, 1875. He is of German descent, his paternal grandfather having been the first of the Hartmann family to come to the new world. He settled at Davenport, Iowa, where he died at the venerable age of ninety years. His son, Hans F. Hartmann, father of William F. Hartmann, was also engaged in the lumber business, acting as yard superintendent with the Rock Island Lumber & Manufacturing Company for many years, at Rock Island, Illinois, and be- coming a resident of Davenport, Iowa, previous to his demise, which occurred January 31, 1910. He had married Catherina D. Aye, who was born in Ger- many, but was brought to the United States at an early age and is still living. At the time of the Civil war, Hans F. Hartmann responded to his country's call for aid and participated in a number of important engagements in defense of the Union cause. He enlisted from Scott county, Iowa, September 17, 1861. and was mustered into the United States service at Davenport as a private of Company B, Sixteenth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, under Captain D. Stuhr and Colonel A. Sanders to serve three years, or during the war. The regiment was assigned to Crocker's Iowa Brigade, Fourth Division, Seventeenth Corps, Army of the Tennessee, and participated in the following engagements : Shiloh, Tennessee, April 6-7, 1862; Bolivar, Mississippi, August 30, 1862; Iuka, Mississippi, September 19-20, 1862; Corinth, Mississippi October 3-4, 1862; Vicksburg campaign, May 22-July 4, 1863; Meridan expedition, Mississippi, February 9-19, 1864; Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia, June 9-30, 1864; Nickajack Creek, July 2-5, 1864; Atlanta campaign, Georgia, July 28-September 2, 1864; Savannah, Georgia, December 10-21, 1864; Columbia, South Carolina, February 16-17, 1865; Bentonsville, North Carolina, March 19-21, 1865; Raleigh, North Carolina, April 7-13, 1865. Sergeant Hans F. Hartmann was wounded severely by grape shot in the right shoulder at Iuka, Mississippi, September 19, 1862, and was in the hospital at St. Louis four months. He was captured July 22, 1864, at Atlanta, at the time McPherson was killed; imprisoned at Anderson- ville two months and exchanged September 19, 1864. He reenlisted as a ser- geant veteran and furloughed thirty days in January, 1864, and was promoted to sergeant in 1862. He was in the grand review, Washington, D. C., and was honorably discharged July 19, 1865, at Louisville.
William F. Hartmann accompanied his parents on their removal to Rock Island and pursued his education in the public schools of that city. He after- ward attended a business college in Davenport, Iowa, continuing his course to the age of seventeen years. He was first employed under his father in con- nection with the lumber business, and in that connection became acquainted with all of the grades of lumber and with other important and essential features of the business, in which he later engaged. At one time he was bill clerk for the Rock Island Lumber Company for two years, and subsequently became traveling salesman, representing the company upon the road for two years.
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He was afterward with the Cloquet Lumber Company, of Cloquet, Minnesota, as traveling salesman for two years, and in 1902 removed to Des Moines, form- ing a partnership with H. Neubert under the name of the Hartmann-Neubert Lumber Company, Incorporated, with Mr. Hartmann as president and H. Neubert as vice president. They conduct a wholesale lumber business, specializ- ing in coast lumber and red cedar shingles. They make shipments to all parts of the country, having established a very large and profitable enterprise. Mr. Hartmann's advancement has been gradual, marking the steady expansion of his powers and the improvement of his opportunities, and he stands today among the successful lumber merchants and business men of the capital city.
In Davenport, on the 18th of October, 1899, Mr. Hartmann was married to Miss Hannah Hanssen, a native of Davenport, where her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Hanssen, had settled at an early day, her father being one of the oldest cigar manufacturers of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Hartmann have two children : Wilbur Frederick, born in Des Moines, November 9, 1903; and Helen Marie, born in Des Moines, March 29, 1909.
The parents are members of the Unitarian church and Mr. Hartmann is a member of the Hyperion Field and Motor Club. He is a republican of the progressive type but without ambition for office. He is not remiss in citizen- ship, however, but cooperates in movements and measures for the general good without personally seeking to manage the machinery of government. He con- centrates his energies upon his business life, and one secret of his success is undoubtedly found in the fact that he has continued in the line in which he embarked at the outset of his career, thus concentrating his energies upon the complete mastery of the business. Few men are today as well informed con- cerning the lumber market and have more intimate or correct knowledge of the value and kinds of lumber than Mr. Hartmann, who has based his success upon a thorough understanding of every phase of the trade, as well as upon judicious enterprise and sound judgment in the conduct of his interests at Des Moines.
ROYAL J. GRASSLY.
Ever since the beginning of his active career Royal J. Grassly has been con- nected with the fruit distributing business, and as he is active, energetic and wide awake, it would be difficult to find a man in the west who knows more about this special line of business than the gentleman whose name heads this review. He was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, December 17, 1879, son of F. and Delia A. (Ingalls) Grassly, the latter of whom was born at Griggsville, Illinois, in 1851, and the former in Germany in 1846. Mr. Grassly, Sr., came to America in his boyhood in 1854, and in later years was a wholesale grocer and broker. There were six children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Grassly, namely: Frank, who is married and lives in Chicago; Caroline, also living in Chicago; Charles, who is married and lives at Los Angeles, California ; Josephine, of Chicago; Royal J., the sub- ject of this review ; and Herbert, of St. Joseph, Missouri.
Royal J. Grassly received his preliminary education in the public schools of Jacksonville and later entered the high school, from which he was graduated in 1900, thus gaining a good foundation for a useful career in life. He began his contact with the world in the employ of the Brigg-Spence Company, representing orange shippers of California, and continued with this firm for two years. He then became connected with the California Fruit Growers Exchange as manager for the state of Iowa. His duties consist in the sale and distribution of seventy- five per cent of all the oranges and lemons disposed of in Iowa from the state of California, and also in placing upon the market the small fruits from the same state. The California Fruit Growers Exchange is the largest cooperative mar-
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keting agency in the world, and it is no small responsibility to have charge of the work in a territory covering one of the richest states in the Union. Mr. Grassly, however, has proven fully equal to the task and the steady growth in the sales is convincing evidence of his ability. His offices are located at No. 305 Court avenue.
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