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 58

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 58

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On the 23d of September, 1878, Mr. Baily was married in Baraboo, Wiscon- sin, to Miss Alice A. Crawford, a daughter of John B. and Naomi (Wood) Crawford, of Baraboo, both of whom were descended from patriotic ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary war-Scotch-Irish on the paternal side and Quaker on the maternal, the mother's ancestors being descended from John Sharpless, who settled in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1682. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Baily were born three sons, but Presley Gregg, who was born October 3, 1879, passed away on the 20th of December of that year, and John Crawford,

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his twin brother, died on the Ist of April, 1881. The surviving son, Robert William Baily, born in Spirit Lake, Iowa, in 1884, is living with his mother. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Baily was an ideally happy one and their home was celebrated for its warm-hearted hospitality which was ever freely accorded their many friends. Mrs. Baily, a lady of rare culture and social attainments, has been prominent in the club life of Des Moines and the state. She served the Iowa Federation of Women's Clubs as recording secretary from 1895 until 1897, was corresponding secretary from 1899 until 1901 and president from 1901 until 1903. She also served the Abigail Adams Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution as regent for two terms, from 1896 until 1898, and was president of the Des Moines Women's Club in 1901-2.

Mr. Baily held membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. For many years he was vice president and one of the directors of the Grant Club, was also a member of the Praire Club and a member of the Iowa Society of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, serving as first vice president for four years and as president from Feb- urary 22, 1901, until April 7, 1902. From the time when age conferred upon him the right of franchise he supported the republican party. He believed in federal control of corporations and in the just control of public utilities by mu- nicipal corporations. In fact he was allied with the progressive wing of the party which believed that politics as well as business life should show constant progression and improvement for the benefit of the many. He was the author of the proposed franchise for the Des Moines City Railway Company which was drafted after the Chicago plan of city railway control. He was also a member of the state commission for the revision of the Iowa school laws. Aside from the offices which he held in Des Moines he, was a member of the first town coun- cil of Spirit Lake and for six years, from 1881 until 1888, was chairman of the school board of that place. He was likewise a member of the Dickinson county board of supervisors and in the various offices which he filled proved himself a champion of the people and an advocate of all that works for public improve- ment.

At one time he belonged to the Iowa National Guard and held the commission of captain. While residing in Spirit Lake he served for several years as a mem- ber of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian church and following his re- moval to Des Moines placed his membership with the Central Presbyterian church of this city, the services of which he regularly attended. He also took helpful part in its various activities and was president of its board of trustees. His humanitarian spirit found frequent expression in deeds of charity. It has been said of him: "Mr. Baily practiced the Golden Rule and gave his whole life to the service of others." His interest in his fellowmen was deep and sincere and because of this he contributed to the work of making the world better and brighter. He was a man of broad views, generous deeds and noble purposes, and his high character and ability won him honor and success.

SAMUEL P. IVES.

The real-estate interests of Des Moines were for many years ably repre- sented by Samuel P. Ives, whose death, February 24, 1897, deprived the com- munity of one of its honored pioneer residents and most estimable citizens. He had gained many friends in the course of a long career during which he ministered in an important degree to the happiness and permanent welfare of others. By talent and inclination a man of business affairs, he assisted very materially in enhancing the financial prosperity of his business associates and of

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the city, whose permanent welfare he closely guarded. His birth occurred in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on the 6th of June, 1832, his parents being Josiah and Mary Ives. When he was a youth of thirteen the family home was estab- lished at Sunbury, Ohio, and there he acquired his education. In 1852 he re- moved to Mendota, Illinois, and four years later came to Des Moines, there being at that time few evidences of the metropolis that has since grown up on the spot originally occupied by a few log cabins as a trading post in the midst of an Indian country.

His first employment in his new home was as clerk in a dry-goods store, but he soon became well acquainted and was appointed deputy in the county treas- urer's office under S. N. Dyer, serving two terms of two years each. Having perceived the possibilities of the growth of Des Moines, he entered the real-es- tate business, opening an office on East Locust street, and for more than thirty years was continuously engaged in handling real estate, being recognized as one of the best judges of real-estate values in Des Moines. His advice. was, therefore, much sought by those desiring to make investments. Thoroughly up- right and conscientious, he easily attained a place as leader in real-estate circles, and was largely instrumental in forwarding the development of the city by sys- tematic encouragement of investors and the building of handsome residences and office structures. His operations as a real-estate man and promoter were at- tended with success and in the conduct of his business interests he amassed a considerable fortune. In 1880 he purchased one hundred acres of the Thomp- son estate in Capital park. which has proved to be a most profitable invest- ment.

On the 28th of November, 1855, at Ottawa, Illinois, Mr. Ives was united in marriage to Miss Electa A. Dowling, a daughter of William and Catherine Dowl- ing, of Newfane, Niagara county, New York. Unto them were born three children : Rose, who is the widow of Henry Pelton, and is now residing in Des Moines : Samuel P., Jr., who for some years has been connected with the postal service in Des Moines ; and Katharine D., who is living at home.

Mr. Ives never aspired to public office, but during the Civil war served as. justice of the peace of Lee township, discharging his duties in such a way as to meet the hearty approval of the people. He likewise acted as a member of the east district school board from 1870 until 1872-a period when its membership was of an exceptional character. Socially he was highly popular, his kindly, good-natured face being expressive of an unfeigned interest in his fellowmen. He was a gentleman of robust physique and impressed all with whom he came in contact by the dignity and refinement of his character. He was an expert penman and taught the first writing school in Des Moines, thus spending the evening hours after the day's work was done. To Mr. Ives was also given the credit for the compilation of the first set of city tax books. In 1857 he joined the Wesley Methodist church, remaining thereafter one of its most exemplary members. He was likewise a prominent member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His life was as an open book and his name was a synonym for everything good and honorable. By many acts of charity and kindliness he dem- onstrated his sympathy and helpfulness for others-traits that are acknowl- edged the world over as characteristics of a true gentleman.

One who knew him well said of Mr. Ives: "'Once a friend, always a friend,' was a rule with him. He was held in that relationship not by a few but by hundreds, and no man will be more missed or mourned. There are not many persons with whom he has been thrown to whom he has not become dear by the kindness he has done them or that have not been won by his pleasant, con- siderate, kindly ways. He was an expert and correct accountant and possessed superior business qualifications, together with excellent judgment. His timely advice has helped many a friend over the hard places that come in almost every business man's career.

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"Prosperity did not spoil him; adversity tried him and found him without a flaw. Gentle, courteous and kind, generous in his impulses, pure in his life, he lived and died a true Christian gentleman, uncomplainingly and with the greatest fortitude bearing the tortures of the last fortnight, as he had patiently done the long, weary days and months of helpless confinement to the sick chamber, knowing too well the fatal outcome, but for the sake of the family he loved so well maintaining his cheerfulness to the last.

"I am sure no one who ever knew our friend intimately, or even casually, will disagree with me in the statement that he was in his life and deportment the ideal of the perfect gentleman, the good citizen, the true man, the trusty friend.

"'Green be the turf above thee, friend of the better days ;

None knew thee but to love thee, none named thee but to praise.'"

Mrs. Ives makes her residence in the commodious family homestead and is greatly esteemed in the city where she has lived ever since her young woman- hood.

FOREST HUTTENLOCHER.

Des Moines has benefited greatly by the activity and enterprising spirit of many of her native sons, who have won creditable positions in her business circles. Of this class Forest Huttenlocher is a representative, now occupying a creditable place in the business life of the city as president and general man- ager of the Farm Property Mutual Insurance Association of Iowa. He was born in Des Moines, October II, 1880, a son of Christopher and Lydia (Capps) Huttenlocher, both of whom are of German descent. The father was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1856, and in 1858 or 1859 came to Des Moines with his par- ents, who were natives of Germany but lived for a short time in Peoria. In the early days of their residence here they conducted a hotel, known as the Banner House, in a building which is still in existence but is no longer used as a hos- telry. Mr. Huttenlocher also carried on a livery business in connection with the hotel. He is still living and although now at an advanced age, is still hale and hearty. He enjoys talking about old times and tells many interesting tales of the early days when hunting and fishing were the chief diversions of the people in this district and trading with the Indians their most important business.

His son, Christopher Huttenlocher, father of him whose name introduces this review, in his boyhood attended the German school of Des Moines to the . age of fourteen years. At that time he entered the real-estate and law office of Polk & Hubbell as an office boy and continued in their employ until the dis- solution of the firm, remaining afterward with Mr. Hubbell, who in time re- organized his business affairs under the style of F. M. Hubbell, Son & Company, Mr. Huttenlocher remaining as manager for many years. While not a wealthy man, Christopher Huttenlocher has made substantial advance along financial as well as other lines and is now the owner of valuable holdings in city realty. In politics he is a republican and is a prominent Mason, very active in the fraternity. He has filled a number of offices in different branches of Masonry and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is likewise a devoted member of the Young Men's Christian Association and his influence is always found on the side of progress and advancement. He was married in Des Moines, in 1878, to Miss Lydia Capps, a native of this city who, like her husband, is of German descent. The first ancestors of the Capps family in America arrived in 1835 and a settlement was made at Keokuk, Iowa, while the grandfather of Forest Huttenlocher on the paternal side took up his abode at Peoria, Illinois. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Huttenlocher were born

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two children, Forest and Raymond W. The latter, born January 19, 1884, is filling the position of receiving teller in the German Savings Bank.

Forest Huttenlocher entered the public schools of Des Moines at the usual age and therein continued his studies until graduated from the high school with the class of 1900. He likewise attended the Iowa University and was graduated in 1903 with the LL. B. degree. He further qualified for the prac- tice of law in Yale University and won the M. L. degree in 1904, when twenty- four years of age. For two years thereafter he devoted his energies to law practice in Des Moines but not finding the profession entirely to his liking, turned his attention to the life insurance business, becoming associated with the Equitable Life of Iowa. He remained with the Equitable for about eighteen months, after which he secured a financial interest in the Farm Property Mutual Insurance Association of Iowa, of which he was chosen treasurer, filling the position for several years, although at the present writing he is president and general manager of the company which, owing to its substantial foundation and progressive business methods, is constantly growing along substantial lines.

The political principles of the republican party receive the indorsement of Mr. Huttenlocher and his support thereof is the free-will expression of his convictions. While in college he became a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He belongs to Capital Lodge, No. 110, A. F. & A. M., to the Grant Club and to the Young Men's Christian Association, and is secretary to the Home for Aged, and his membership in these organizations indicates much of the character and nature of his interests and the rules which govern his conduct.

TURNIE E. FORD.

It would be difficult to name any citizen of Des Moines who has accom- plished more in the upbuilding of the city during the last ten or twelve years than Turnie E. Ford, a member of the firm of Ford Brothers and one of the most active and efficient real-estate men of the west. He is a native of Pow- eshiek county, Iowa, born May 26, 1870, a son of James and Kathryn Ford. The parents settled in Poweshiek county in 1850 and Mr. Ford acquired four hundred acres of choice land when Marengo, Iowa, was the nearest staple trad- ing point for that section. In 1874 the father died of apoplexy after an ill- ness of eight hours, leaving the mother with ten children, the eldest being a daughter about seventeen years of age. The farm was encumbered to the amount of fully one-half its value on account of a large new dwelling and other improvements which had been made by Mr. Ford and which may still be con- sidered as adding materially to the value of the property. The mother proved a most capable financier. During the remainder of her life which covered a period of eleven years she kept the large family of children together, giving them all a fair education, considering their age, and sending some of them to college. She also paid off the debt upon the farm and after her death when all the bills were settled the land was still intact and there was money on hand. Turnie E. Ford received his early education in the district schools which he attended until seventeen years of age. At the age of twenty-four he real- ized that he needed more education and spent about two years at Highland Park College and Drake Law School, going to Des Moines in 1895 for that purpose. During the first vacation he bought a meat market in Highland Park which he managed until he desired again to enter school and then sold out at a handsome profit. He engaged in the same line of business with the same results a second time and in the spring of 1898 when the country was excited over the Spanish- American war he bought a meat market and grocery and succeeded in securing the first order for meat for the soldiers at Camp Mckinley. He held this busi-

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ness for about two weeks at the end of which time the packers took the contract from his hands, having agreed to sell meat at a quarter of a cent less in price than he was receiving. However, after a short time he received a telephone message from Captain Emery, who was in charge of the commissary department of the camp, inviting him to an interview. Nearly every company in the camp had complained of the provisions and service and after promising the captain that he would render the same service and variety of supplies that he had previously furnished, he was given the contract. The business proved very remunerative and he continued to furnish supplies to the army until after the close of the war.

During this time his wife not only attended to the duties of the household, but also kept books and assisted in the work at the store. After the war he turned his attention to real-estate investments, associating in business with his brother, J. F. Ford, and a young attorney named A. R. James, the title of the firm being James & Ford Brothers. After a few years Mr. James retired and went to the mountains on account of poor health, where he died. As a token of respect to his memory his name is still retained on the door of the firm's office at No. 207 Manhattan building.

Mr. Ford enjoys the distinction of having sold more property to poor people upon weekly or monthly payments than any other man in Des Moines. He has never canceled a land contract nor made a demand for money on any of the buyers, yet he has been remarkably successful. He has always contended that the value of good Iowa land is not fully appreciated and when the state offered for sale one hundred and sixty acres near Des Moines he was the highest bidder and consequently became the purchaser of the tract. He divided it into small parts and sold it, having disposed of a large portion of it to people for homes, and also assisting them in building houses when necessary. This tract is now known as the Cumminsford Addition and is a monument to the energy and ability of T. E. Ford.

On the 20th day of December, 1897, at Des Moines, Mr. Ford was united in marriage to Miss Helen M. Sterling and four children were born of this union : Josephine M., now ten years of age; Francis H., eight years of age; Leo M., aged five years; and Joseph John, born February 9, 19II.

Mr. Ford has been identified with the democratic party ever since he cast his first ballot. He was at one time accused of being the only democrat in Highland Park and he was very proud of the distinction. In religious belief he has been a lifelong adherent of the Catholic church and is a firm believer in its teachings. Always actuated by principles of honor and integrity, and fully alive to the importance of keeping in touch with and living along progressive lines, his life has been one of increasing usefulness to his fellowmen, and it may truly be said of him that he has never sought to advance his own interests to the injury of others. His friends are many and his business associates are among the most emphatic in acknowledging his ability.

EDWARD HAMLIN HAZEN, M. D.

Dr. Edward Hamlin Hazen, ophthalmologist and otologist, whose profes- sional training was received under men eminent in this specialty, while his own professional service has won him high rank in practice, was born April 12, 1834, at Elyria, Ohio, his parents being Edward and Minerva C. (Hamlin) Hazen. The grandfather, Benjamin Hazen, was a Revolutionary soldier who partici- pated in the battle of Bennington. He married Elizabeth Gates. The ancestry of both the Hazen and Hamlin families can be traced back to 1635, Dr. Hazen being of the seventh generation in America. His father was well known as an author of school books and also of a volume entitled Technology of Profession

DR. E. H. HAZEN

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and Trades (Harper Library). He died April 24, 1877, in his eightieth year, and his wife passed away April 10, 1895, in her eighty-ninth year.

Dr. Hazen spent his youthful days in the east and there attended the common schools. Subsequently he engaged in clerking in a general mercantile store in Ohio and also followed farming in that state. In the winter of 1856-57 he taught school in Winneshiek county, Iowa. In 1858 and 1859 he was a student at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, prepartory to the study of medicine. In the fall of 1860 he entered the medical department of Michigan University, there continuing his studies until he joined Company K of the Second Michigan Infantry. He en- listed as the regiment was leaving Detroit for Washington, D. C., and partici- pated in the battles of Bull Run on the 18th and 21st of July, 1861. At the end of a year he was discharged from the volunteer service and enlisted as hos- pital steward in the United States army, serving in that capacity in the General Hospital at Alexandria, Virginia, for three years. After the war, in 1865-66, Dr. Hazen matriculated in what is now the Western Reserve Medical College and graduated in 1866. For a year, in 1866-67, he engaged in the general prac- tice of medicine in Buffalo, New York, and on the 8th of April of the latter year removed to Davenport, Iowa. In 1869 he went to New York and spent four successive winters in the clinics under Professors Agnew, Roosa, Pomeroy, Knapp. Lefferts and other eminent specialists in the diseases of the eye and ear, and also took optical instructions of Doctors Noyes and Pulley, afterward returning to Davenport, where he practiced until 1891. At that time he came to Des Moines and has since been a representative of the profession in this city, specializing throughout the entire period in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat in which connection his superior ability is widely recog- nized. For four years, from 1870 until 1874, he was lecturer on the eye and ear at the University of Iowa and was professor of ophthalmology and otology in the medical department of Drake University (College of Physicians and Sur- geons) for sixteen years, ending in 1900. Establishing The Eye and Ear In- firmary of Davenport, Iowa, he advertised it by placing a cut of the building in the paper without encomiums, and this, being pronounced non-professional, he was turned out of the university. On its organization he was invited by Dr. Blanchard to join the faculty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Des Moines. His contributions to the profession aside from private practice estab- lished his position as one of its valuable members. As an author he became well known as the writer of a small book called New Findings in Ophthalmology and Otology, which was published in an enlarged second edition in 1911. He is the inventor of a system for treating the eye muscles in eye strain and in- vented the Kratometer in this connection. Not being able to get opticians to manufacture this instrument, he and his son undertook the work of manufacture and have sold one hundred and fifty in this country and also abroad. He is a regular member in good standing of the American Medical Association, the Iowa State Medical Society and the Polk County Medical Society. At the time he resigned his professorship in Drake University in 1900 he was made emeritus professor of ophthalmology.

Dr. Hazen was united in marriage in 1874 to Miss Sallie Feeman, of Lan- caster, Ohio, one of the two daughters of Mrs. Elizabeth Feeman, a widow. Their living children are: Edward B., who is married and lives at Bridal Veil, Oregon ; Roy Alfred, of San Francisco, California; Arthur Waldo, who wedded Miss Edythe Appleby, of Denver, Colorado, and now makes his home in Omaha, Nebraska; Benjamin Hamlin, of Bridal Veil, Oregon; and Laura, the wife of W. E. Pitcher, of Berkeley, California.

Dr. Hazen has never been an office seeker or holder but before the Civil war became a stalwart advocate of republican principles, which he has con- tinued to support to the present time. He was a member of August Wentz Post, No. I, G. A. R., of which he became commander and for two years he

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was medical director in the state encampment. Fraternally he is a thirty- second degree Mason, United States jurisdiction, Registrar of the Sons of the American Revolution (state). He joined the Iowa Sons of the Revolution on its organization in Davenport. When twelve years of age he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of New York city and for twelve years was connected with that denomination, then for an interval of twelve years he was non-affiliated. During the succeeding period of twelve years he was a Congregationalist and for a similar period has been a member of the Unitarian church. He is a man of broad and liberal views, not only upon religious but upon all questions, and his position upon any vital question is always taken from a progressive standpoint.

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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 58

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