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 6

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 6

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Mr. Hanna was born in Geneseo, Illinois, on the 12th of June, 1866, and was only four years of age when his parents removed to Colfax, Jasper county, Iowa. His father, James Steele Hanna, was born in Ohio and at the time of the gold excitement in Colorado went to Pikes Peak. Following the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in the Union army with the Fifty-seventh Illinois regiment and was wounded on his way to Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Hattie Louisa Hunt, was born in Massa- chusetts and traced her lineage directly back to the Hon. John Alden, who married Priscilla Mullins. Their seventh child, Ruth Alden, became the wife of John Bass, and the seventh child of that marriage was Sarah Bass, who mar- ried Ephraim Thayer. Their thirteenth child, James Thayer, married Deborah Arnold, and the seventh of their children was William Thayer, who wedded Sarah Jones. Mary Thayer, a daughter of that union, became the wife of Thomas Hunt, and their eighth child, George Hunt, married Charlotte Belcher and they became the parents of Hattie Louisa Hunt, who was their second child and who on reaching womanhood gave her hand in marriage to James Steele Hanna. The ancestry of the Hanna family is traced back to John Hanna, who was born in County Derry, Ireland, in 1752, and in 1789 married Elizabeth Miller. Their seventh child, Robert Hanna, born in. 1806, was married in 1833 to Priscilla Hamilton and their fourth child was James Steele Hanna. The parents of Hon. James R. Hanna removed to Jasper county, Iowa, when he was four years of age, and three years later became pioneer residents of Pottawat- . tamie county, Iowa, which was then a wild prairie district in which the work of improvement and development had scarcely been begun. .

The mother died in 1875, when her son James R. was but nine years of age, leaving a family of five children, of whom James R. is the eldest. The father had been rendered a cripple for life by sharpshooters while on his way to Pittsburg Landing in the Civil war. He made earnest effort to maintain an undivided household following the death of his wife, but financial losses com- pelled him to seek a new home and he went to the cattle country of western Nebraska, remaining for some years in that state.

About this time James R. Hanna began earning his own livelihood when a lad of thirteen years. He rode the cattle ranges of the west, worked upon the construction of railroads in western Iowa, was employed at farm labor and did other kinds of work in order to provide for his own support. His educa- tional privileges were extremely limited but he availed himself of every oppor- tunity for reading and made such substantial advance in that direction that when an accident compelled him to give up manual labor at the age of eighteen years le was enabled to pass the examination that secured for him a teacher's certifi- cate and for four years thereafter he engaged in teaching in the country schools. His work stimulated his ambition for further intellectual development and with money saved from his earnings he entered the Western Normal College at Shenandoah, Iowa, where he won his B. D. degree in 1899 and that of B. S. in 1890. He afterward matriculated in Highland Park College at Des Moines, where he was graduated B. A. in 1892, while in 1899 that school conferred upon him the honorary degree of M. A. He did special work in Harvard in 1893. Following his graduation from Highland Park College he was offered the chair of language and literature in that school and taught Greek, Latin and literature for a number of years, but finally centered his whole activities upon English and American literature. He was made head of the department of

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

English in the Highland Park College in 1892 and dean of the liberal arts de- partment in 1905.

On one occasion impaired health forced his retirement and thinking to be benefited by outdoor life he took up his abode upon his farm near Defiance, Iowa. Three years spent upon the farm completely restored him to health, at the end of which time he resumed his connection with the High- land Park College and was occupying the position of dean of liberal arts when elected mayor.

Upon deciding to enter the teaching profession Mr. Hanna took an inventory of stock within that profession and decided that the chief limitation of the school man was lack of touch with practical life. £ Still desiring to en- ter that profession he determined to remedy this defect by taking an active interest in politics for the betterment of government, and always felt a re- sponsibility to see that his precinct went for good officers and good measures as far as lay within his power. He also determined to keep in touch with the current of practical life by having some private business of his own, and has during all this period been interested in some such business. During the time he was absent from Highland Park he established on his farm at Defiance a thoroughbred stock business and has been interested in that line practically ever since. Mr. Hanna was chosen school director and president of the school board at Defiance, Iowa, in 1902. In 1906 he was made a trustee of the library board of the Des Moines public library and continued in the position until he was elected mayor. His interest in politics has been of a practical character, prompt- ing him to put forth earnest effort for the attainment of results. He was a member of the legislative committee of fifty that secured the passage of the Des Moines plan law in the Iowa legislature and served on the executive committee of nine that conducted the Des Moines plan campaign three years ago. He was a candidate for commissioner at the first election under the new plan and was one of the eight selected at the primary but failed of election. He entered the field as a candidate for mayor in the second election under the commission form of government and was nominated by the primary, the vote showing a lead of seventeen hundred votes for A. J. Mathis, the first mayor under the com- mission plan. During the two weeks preceding the election Mr. Hanna carried his cause to the people of every section of the city. Standing alone, unaided by any organization, he fought his own battle to turn the tide of the ballots for the principles he held to be right. Among other things he advocated the estab- lishment of neighborhood parks and playgrounds, municipal ownership of the waterworks, a settlement of the differences between the street railway company and the city upon a reasonable capitalization, with the right to purchase at the end of a specified number of years, and a just enforcement of law. He won his fight. During the short time he has been at the head of the city adminis- tration a movement has been begun for the establishment of neighborhood parks and playgrounds, he has stood firmly for municipal ownership of the water- works and it is expected that when the company's franchise expires next spring some action will be taken to enable the city to own the plant, and Mayor Hanna has bent every energy toward bringing about an equitable settlement of the street car franchise difficulty and the same doubtless will be satisfactorily adjusted within a short time. 'Above all, however, he has consistently stood for a policy of strict law enforcement without fear or favor-a policy which would make Des Moines not only a model city with regards to its commission form of government but also a city famed for its moral cleanliness.

On the 14th of November, 1895, at Marne, Iowa, Mr. Hanna was married to Miss Jessie Rosaline Pinney, a daughter of Harmon Pinney and a native of Ohio, born near Mentor, in 1873. In 1877 the Pinney family removed to Mitchellville, Iowa, and five years later to Shelby county, Iowa. Mrs. Hanna was graduated from the Highland Park College in 1891 and taught in western

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

Iowa until her marriage. Unto them have been born five children but a son and daughter both died in infancy. Those living are: Robert- Hamilton, five years of age; and Ruth and James Harmon, twins, three years old.

Mr. and Mrs. Hanna hold membership in the Unitarian church and he is president of its board of trustees. He is also a member of the Prairie Club and of the Highland Park Boosters Club. He is one of the strong and forceful characters of the city because one of the best polished of men. He early recog- nized the fact that the concentration of one's energies upon a single line to the exclusion of all outside interests is detrimental to the best development, and therefore chose the wiser way of keeping in touch with the activities which affect the general interests of society, recognizing also that he should have a part in the public life and that there are obligations as well as privileges of citizenship. He has closely studied the public need and the analytical mind of the teacher and the qualities of the practical business man combine to fit him well for the position of leadership to which he has been called.

NEAL JONES.

Neal Jones, managing editor of the Des Moines Daily News, was born in Cantril, Iowa, September 25, 1882, a son of W. A. and Altha (Miller) Jones. He is a descendant in the fourth generation of Horatio Jones, who was born May 9, 1781, in Prince George county, Maryland, and his wife, Nancy (Mc- Cannon) Jones, who was born July 9, 1783, in Frederick or Culpeper county, Virginia. His grandfather was W. C. Jones, who was born July 9, 1809, in Surrey county, North Carolina. His marriage to Parmelia A. Vaughn, occurred in 1831, after which, in 1846, he removed from Indiana to Jefferson county, Iowa, where he reared his family and died at the venerable age of eighty-nine years. His father, W. A. Jones, is a physician and surgeon, who rendered valu- able service to his country in a professional capacity during the Civil war. He is now living in Cantril, Iowa, at the age of seventy-one years, while his wife has reached the age of sixty-five years. She is a daughter of Thomas Miller, who was born and reared in the town of Erie on Lake Erie and later settled in Glasgow, Jefferson county, Iowa, where he followed farming. There he reared his family and died at the age of eighty-six. Dr. and Mrs. Jones had three sons and two daughters: Willis, who died in infancy; Myrtie A., wife of W. W. Blanchard, of Milton, Iowa; I. T. Jones, who is now a practitioner at the bar of Des Moines ; and Carrie 'A'. residing at home.

Neal Jones, the other member of the family, pursued his higher education in the University of Mississippi at Oxford, Mississippi, and the University of Iowa at Iowa City. During the greater part of his life his time has been given to newspaper work. His initial experience in this field was with the Cantril Leader, on which he served as compositor from 1892 until 1899. In the latter year he became a compositor on the Memphis (Missouri) Independent, later in the same year going to Port Gibson, Mississippi, where he was employed as compositor for The Constitution, a weekly publication, until 1900. He spent the scholastic year of 1900-0I as a student in the University of Mississippi and the year 1901-02 in the University of Iowa. After leaving that school he worked as type-setter and later city editor of the Iowa City Citizen, a paper owned by ex-Attorney General Milton J. Remley. The following year he was city editor of the Muscatine (Iowa) Evening Journal, which had just been sold by the well known John Mahin to the A. W. Lee syndicate. This covered operations of the years 1902 and 1903 and in the latter year he became reporter on the Register and Leader and also of the Capital, both Des Moines papers. From 1903 until

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

1907 he acted as city hall and police reporter, and city editor of the Des Moines News, and from 1908 until 1910 was private secretary to Mayor A. J. Mathis and secretary of the civil service commission. In April, 1910, he was elected city clerk, which position he held until accepting the managing editorship of the Daily News, January. I, 19II.

His editorial and reportorial work have brought him an extended acquaint- ance, his labors for municipal progress have also made him widely known and the recognition of his ability and trustworthiness on the part of all with whom he has been brought in contact, led to his success as a candidate for office. In addition to his newspaper work, Mr. Jones has and is still contributing to cur- rent magazines. He is the owner of the City Hall, a monthly municipal govern- ment magazine, published for students of city government and for officials, and which is also the official organ of the League of American Municipalities, a national organization of city officials. This publication was established about twelve years ago and Mr. Jones has been owner thereof for two years.

The newspaper man has ample opportunity to learn the ins and outs of poli- tics and the working machinery of the party. Thoroughly informed on the questions of the day and understanding the political movements which actuate the different organizations, Mr. Jones votes independently, supporting men and measures rather than party organizations.

Mr. Jones holds membership in the Church of Christ. He also belongs to the Hyperion Field and Motor Club, the Waveland Golf Club of Des Moines and the Press Club. He is a young man of enterprising spirit, alive to the issues, interests and opportunities of the day, both for the individual and of the com- munity, and it is a recognized fact that his efforts are becoming a potent influ- ence in molding the policy and shaping the progress of Des Moines.

ALBERT MCCLELLAND.

A representative of the third generation of the family in Polk county Albert McClelland, of Camp township, worthily carries the name, and his attractive farm of one hundred and twenty acres indicates his judgment and skill in a vocation for which he appears eminently adapted.

He was born in Saylor township, October 21, 1867, and is a son of Nathaniel and Weltha (Clark) McClelland. The father was born in Maryland and the mother in New York. He came to Polk county, Iowa, with his parents at the age of nine years and in the latter part of his boyhood engaged in freighting from Keokuk, which was the principal supply point of Polk county in the early days. In 1857 he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Saylor town- ship, upon which he has ever since lived. Mrs. McClelland is also living and she and her husband are numbered among the honored residents of the township.

Albert McClelland acquired his preliminary education in the district schools and later became a student of Iowa State College at Ames, graduating from that institution in 1889. Returning to Saylor township he rented land until 1898, when he purchased one hundred and twenty acres in Camp township. He has improved his place greatly by the erection of a fine residence, substantial barns and other buildings, and is recognized as one of the leading and most progressive citizens of the township.

On the 31st of December, 1890, Mr. McClelland was married to Miss Josephine Wheeler, a daughter of James T. and Elsie (Harvey) Wheeler, natives of Indi- ana. The father came to Iowa as a boy about 1851 and located in Saylor town- ship, Polk county, where he enagegd in farming. In 1904 he retired and moved to a farm near Polk city, where he now lives, having reached the age of seventy-

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

one years. The mother is also living and is sixty-eight years of age. Eight chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McClelland, the eldest of whom is nine- teen and the youngest three years of age, the names of the children being: Orville; William; Nathaniel; Denny; James; Dorothy; Bessie; and Phoebe. Nathaniel died in 1898, at the age of three years.

In politics Mr. McClelland gives his allegiance to the democratic party, being a progressive and, therefore, not bound by tradition but always open to sug- gestions as to the most effective modern methods in the science of government. He has served very acceptably as member of the school board and township clerk and is now filling the office of township trustee. He is a sincere believer in the Bible and he and his family are identified with the Evangelical church. Having possessed superior advantages of education in his early years he has made use of scientific methods in farming and his success has been marked, his place being one of the model farms of the township. No man in this section stands higher in business and in citizenship and as the head of a happy and promising family and the center of a large circle of friends he enjoys many exceptional opportunities, which he wisely uses for promoting the permanent welfare of others.

RALPH ELLIS JONES.

One of the most enterprising young men of Des Moines is Ralph Ellis Jones, proprietor of a flourishing drug business, which he has built up by conscientious application. He was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, September 14, 1881, a son of Isaac and Martha Evelyn (Peterson) Jones. The father was born in Ohio May 1, 1840, and the mother in 1848. Mr. Jones, Sr., grew up as a farmer and about the year 1860 came to Iowa, and to Polk county in 1893, being now engaged in the real-estate business at Des Moines. He was a valiant soldier of the war and served in the Third Iowa Cavalry during the great rebellion, receiving an honorable discharge, which will be treasured as a precious heirloom in the family. He justly ranks as one of the substantial men of Des Moines. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones two are deceased, the re- mainder of the family being: Lute, the wife of P. P. Sullivan, of Bridgewater, Iowa; Anna, now Mrs. R. A. Nourse, of Milwaukee, Wis .; C. C., who married Miss Maud McCormick of Clemons, Iowa; Mary, the wife of A. C. Bondurand, of Des Moines; and Ralph E., the subject of this review.

Ralph Ellis Jones received his preliminary education in the Keosaqua com- mon schools and graduated from the Elmwood high school of Des Moines with the class of 1899. Having shown marked ability in his studies, he became a student of Drake University and after one year entered the department of phar- macy in the same institution, taking a year's course as a preparation for enter- ing the drug business. After leaving college he was connected for three months with the drug store of R. M. Gibson. The next six months were passed in the store of E. S. Veatch, and at the end of this time he entered the employ of A. H. Miles with whom he continued for three years. In 1905, having made care- ful preparation for his life work, he purchased a drug store at the corner of Twenty-fifth and University streets and has since conducted business in that place. He makes a specialty of prescriptions, in which he has given great satis- faction to patrons, being entirely reliable and competent. He is a strong tem- perance man and is proud of the fact that he has never sold a drop of spirituous liquor in his store. He also is justly proud of his success, starting as he did with no financial assistance except the use of his father's name and working his way through to ownership of the business by his own exertions.

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

On the 22d day of September, 1903, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Vida Stanley, a native of Monmouth, Oregon, and a daughter of D. F. and Mary (Bristow) Stanley. Two daughters have brightened the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jones: Louise, who was born July 24, 1906; and Genevieve, who was born February 19, 1908.

Mr. Jones has never sought to figure in public life, but has given his alle- giance to the republican party. In religious belief he is affiliated with the Chris- tian church. He is recognized as being well qualified for the work to which he devotes his close attention and in which he is actuated by an ambition that has led to well-merited success. He fully deserves to be called a self-made man, as by his untiring energy and perseverance he has gained the responsible position he now occupies in the community.

LUCIUS E. WILSON.

In Lucius E. Wilson is found an exponent of the progressive element in the citizenship of America. He stands as a splendid example of that type of men who are determined that advancement shall be conserved through individual and coordinated effort whether in business or in public life. Des Moines ac- knowledges her indebtedness to Mr. Wilson for the earnest and effective effort which he made to arouse public opinion to a sense of its obligations, responsi- bilities and opportunities and to his labors is due in large measure the fact that many progressive public projects have been instituted in the capital city in recent years.

Mr. Wilson is a native of Michigan, his birth having occurred in Pinckney, on the 16th of July, 1878. His parents were Albert G. and Sarah (Bullis) Wilson. The father was a native of Pennsylvania, while the mother was born in Michigan but is of New York parentage. On the paternal side the ancestry is traced to the Morris family, the founder of which, Amos Morris, settled in the New Haven colony of Connecticut in 1781. The name Wilson comes from Scotland and its representatives were covenanters, who came to America six generations ago. In the year 1855 Albert G. Wilson removed westward to Michigan in company with his father, who left Pennsylvania because of public opposition to his abolition tendencies. He was a friend of John Brown and supported the cause advocated by that apostle of human liberty. Albert G. Wilson has devoted his entire life to farming and both he and his wife occupy the old homestead farm in Livingston county, Michigan, the former at the age of sixty-six years and the latter at the age of fifty-eight.

Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, Lucius E. Wilson at- tended the district schools until twelve years of age, after which he became a student in the high school at Pinckney, Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1896. He afterward spent a few months at Ferris Institute in 1901, learning shorthand, and he had two years' work in the Detroit College of Law, attending its night sessions in 1904 and 1905. Throughout his life he has embraced every opportunity for extending his knowledge along lines that develop one's individual powers and talents and qualify one for a broader scope of activity in the field of business. He was engaged in teaching in the country schools in 1897 and 1898, after which he went upon the road as a travel- ing salesman for a hardware manufactory of Toledo, Ohio, spending two years in that position. In 1902 he accepted a clerkship in the postoffice at Detroit, Michigan, and in 1904 was made secretary to the postmaster of Detroit, which position he capably filled for two years. Throughout the entire period of his manhood he was making his individuality felt by reasons of his faithful dis- charge of the duties that devolved upon him and each forward step in his

CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY

career brought him a broader outlook and wider opportunities. On leaving the postoffice he was made assistant secretary of the board of commerce of De- troit, which position he filled in 1906, and in 1907 he became secretary to the greater Des Moines committee, thus serving for three years. In this connec- tion a local paper said: "Mr. Wilson came to Des Moines four years ago from Detroit at a salary of thirty-five hundred dollars a year. For the past year he has been drawing a salary of five thousand dollars but salaries are only indications as to men's abilities. They are in no sense a complete measurement of the man. Lucius Wilson has been worth many times five thousand dollars a year to the city of Des Moines. As secretary of the greater Des Moines committee he has been the dynamo that has furnished the power to the organ- ization. When asked what he thought had been his biggest contribution to the greater Des Moines committee he replied that he thought the final judgment would be that he had encouraged the people to think in bigger units. During the time that Mr. Wilson has been in Des Moines the public spirit has been entirely reconstructed. Millions of dollars have been raised for public pur- poses and in all this work Mr. Wilson has been a giant. The city of Des Moines would be exceedingly fortunate if they could get his equal to take up the burden he soon leaves. However, the task will be easier now than it was four years ago. The new secretary will have a united city back of him. Mr. Wilson's career furnishes a splendid example for the young men of Des Moines and Iowa. His success has been entirely due to his own efforts. He has been a traveling salesman, a school teacher, and a clerk in the Detroit postoffice. In all of his employment he has done his best and has never had to seek promotion, but has been wise enough to deserve it. At all times he has been developing his own personality." It has been because he has made good use of every oppor- tunity, proven his worth in every position and demonstrated his ability for still larger undertakings that Mr. Wilson has gradually worked his way upward. By reason of his ability he has recently been called to the position of secretary to the Detroit (Mich.) Chamber of Commerce.

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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 6

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