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 68

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 68

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Curtis W. Wilcox was reared in' Vermont, in the district schools of which state he obtained his education. He made his home with an uncle until he attained his majority, when he bought a farm, which he cultivated for three years. He then sold it and came to Iowa. He located in Polk county in 1880, cooperating with J. H. Windsor in the cultivation of fifteen hundred acres of land in Polk and Dallas counties for thirteen years. Selling his interest in the business, he next went to Wisconsin, where he managed a fine stock farm for two years. At the expiration of that period he returned to Des Moines, where he resided for two years, and then bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Bloomfield township, upon which he engaged in the dairy business. Later the business was incorporated with a capital of twenty thousand dollars, and Mr. Wilcox took into partnership two sons-in-law, A. O. Stubbs, who is secre- tary and treasurer, and A. I. Stubbs, vice president. The Des Moines creamery is in charge of A. O. Stubbs, while the farm and plant are operated by Mr. Wilcox and A. I. Stubbs. The farm, which contains one hundred and sixty acres, is not included in the stock of the incorporated company, that being Mr. Wilcox's personal property. They lease three hundred and sixty acres of land in addition to this, however, all of which they have under cultivation. They have two hundred head of milch cows, all of them Guernseys, and twenty head of horses.

Mr. Wilcox was united in marriage, in January, 1872, to Miss Mary E. Page, a daughter of Lial and Mary Page, both natives of Vermont. Her parents spent their entire lives in the Green Mountain state, where her father engaged in agricultural pursuits. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox, as follows: Bertha A., the wife of A. Terry, of Des Moines; Laura M., who passed away in 1898; Lillian A., who married A. I. Stubbs; Edith M., the wife of A. O. Stubbs ; Agnes P., who became the wife of Irwin Stubbs, a jeweler of Des Moines; and Leland W., who died in 1888.

The religious belief of the family is in accordance with the teachings of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. Mr. Wilcox has always been an advocate of the principles of the republican party, which body has elected him to some

C. W. WILCOX

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of the minor offices of the township, having one time been the choice of his party for assessor and also for school director. Progressive in his ideas, he strives to conduct his business along lines which in every way conform to the sanitary laws which regulate the distribution of dairy supplies. That his efforts in this direction are being recognized is attested by his constantly increasing patronage.

NORMAN HUYCK.

Norman Huyck, enjoying an enviable clientage as an attorney of Des Moines, was born in Huron county, Ohio, on the 12th of January, 1879. He is a son of William C. and Emma P. (Vanderhoff) Huyck, the former a traveling sales- man. Five brothers named Von Heick came to this country from Germany in 1804, settling in New York. They changed the name by dropping the Von and altering the spelling to Huyck.

Norman Huyck attended school in his native county until the family came to Des Moines in 1892, continuing his studies in the high school here. After putting aside his text-books he was employed as a collector of bad debts by various firms for a period of nearly seven years. Subsequently he took up the study of law in Drake University, which institution conferred upon him the de- gree of Bachelor of Laws in 1904. He began his professional career as a part- ner of Judge S. F. Balliet but since 1905 has practiced alone, having won an ex- tensive and distinctively representative clientage. In criminal practice he has been unusually successful. He is a strong advocate with the jury and concise in his appeals before the court. Much of the success which has attended him in his professional. career is undoubtedly due to the fact that in no instance will he permit himself to go into court with a case unless he has absolute confidence in the justice of his client's cause. Basing his efforts on this principle, from which there are far too many lapses in professional ranks, it naturally follows that he seldom loses a case in whose support he is enlisted.

In 1904 Mr. Huyck was united in marriage to Miss Cornelia Brother, a daugh- ter of Charles Brother, who is in the railroad mail service and served as aid to Farragut during the war. Mr. and Mrs. Huyck are the parents of two children, Emma C. and Norman. Their religious faith is indicated by their membership in the Christian Science church. Mr. Huyck belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is interested in all movements having for their object the im- provement of conditions in the standing army and in the prisons, having re- cently written a book setting forth some of the evils of army life as he has found it. He has always worked toward high ideals in his profession, and his ability in this direction and his personal characteristics have won for him the high re- spect and sincere regard of the great majority of those with whom he has been brought in contact.

EDWARD PAUL JONES.

Those men, who in the advancement of their private interests never lose sight of their civic duties, must ever form the strength of the community in which they reside. Of such as these is Edward Paul Jones, a well known business man of Des Moines and one of the recognized leaders in the Citizens League, which is endeavoring to improve the moral and political conditions of the capital city.

His birth occurred on the Ist of June, 1874, in Lacona, Warren county, Iowa. He represents the third generation of his family, which for a period of more

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than fifty years has been actively identified with the commercial development of Des Moines. His father, E. H. Jones migrated to Iowa from Indiana when a child of six months with his parents. The grandfather, John Jones, located at old Fort Des Moines, and established woolen mills there and at Palmyra which he and his son E. H. operated for many years. He also erected the Jones home- stead which was the first cement house built in the city. E. H. Jones withdrew from the active management of the mills, owned jointly by him and his father, and engaged in the mercantile business in Warren county. This venture proved to be most profitable but he withdrew from it about twenty years ago and, re- turning to Des Moines went into the piano business and has now become one of the best known and most extensive dealers in this section, the concern first being known as E. H. Jones & Son. The firm was incorporated in 1907 under the name of the Jones Piano Company, the management of the company being left practically entirely to the son. Mr. Jones married Miss Josephine Westerfield, a native of Indiana, their wedding taking place in Indianola, Iowa.

A very adequate idea of the general environment of the boyhood and youth of Edward Paul Jones can be determined by considering the traits he has evinced as a man. High ideals and noble purposes, together with the recognition of one's duties to society, are developed in childhood. After completing the course of the public schools in Warren county he entered Simpson College at Indianola, following which he attended Drake University, from which institution he gradu- ated with the class of 1898 with the degree of B. L. Later he entered the law department of his alma mater, having elected to make that his life vocation. He withdrew at the end of a year, however, to go into business with his father in order that he might relieve him of some of the arduous duties connected with the management of his extensive interests. He has been successful in the direc- tion of the company, which has thrived under his supervision. They are very large dealers, in addition to which they are interested in the manufacture of the Schiller piano.

Despite the exacting demands made upon him in the pursuit of his private affairs, Mr. Jones finds ample time to devote to his civic duties. A strong tem- perance man, he has always been most active in his efforts to abolish the liquor traffic with all of its attendant evils. When the Des Moines Citizens Associa- tion was organized in November, 1910, he was one of the committee of seventeen chosen to institute proceedings against the saloon men. He is one of the leaders among that body of progressive, public-spirited men and women who have been so systematic and persevering in their campaign against immorality, striving to ever keep before the rising generation a higher and better standard of life and civic duties. That they are succeeding in their efforts is given the strongest proof possible by social purity clubs all over the country calling attention to what has been done in the Iowa capital, while they maintain that what the people of Des Moines have done it is possible for all right-minded, consecrated citizens to accomplish in any community in America.

Mr. Jones was one of the three hundred citizens who formed the committee appointed to discuss the adoption of a new charter and one of the twenty-five forming the final committee to draft the constitution. He has never aspired to public honors or the emoluments of office, but possesses a more exacting and higher idea of civic duty than the majority of people. His deeds have never been performed in response to the vague and indefinite ideas of a spirit of iconoclasm, but through recognition of the crying needs of a higher and purer standard of life and social relations ; he would not destroy, but create.

In. March, 1901, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Lulu Calhoun a daughter of the Rev. Joseph Calhoun, D. D., of Indianola. Three children have been born of this union: Paul Calhoun, Joseph Edward and Geraldine. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are both earnest members of the United Presbyterian church, in the faith of which denomination they were reared, while he is one of the active

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workers of the Sunday school. He is also identified with the Knights of Pythias and holds membership in the Hyperion Club, of which he is a charter member and one of the organizers, and the Grant Club.

Mr. Jones is well regarded, both in his business and social relations, by all whose standards will permit them to recognize his worth as a man and citizen, and if success in life is to be determined not by what is received from but by what is given to the world then his life has indeed been a wonderfully successful one.

THOMAS J. JONES, M. D.

There are some brave souls whom no adversity casts down and no difficulty thwarts. They seem by divine right of mastership to turn every obstacle to ad- vantage and the lesson of their lives is unanswerable argument in favor of the claim that man makes circumstances and that he has the power within himself to rise superior to every environment. Such is the teaching of the life of Dr. Thomas J. Jones, of Des Moines, who started as a poor boy in Wales and has won a place alongside the favored sons of America. He was born in Wales, March 3, 1854, his parents being David and Margaret (Jenkins) Jones. The father was a veterinary surgeon. He died in 1858, leaving a widow and a family of five children practically without means of support. The mother like a brave and loyal-hearted woman faced the emergency and she continued the remainder of her life in her native country, passing away in 1893, when she was more than eighty years of age.

At the early age of ten years Thomas J. Jones went to work in the mines to assist in supporting the family. He received four shillings or about one dollar in American money per week. At sixteen he became a clerk in the grocery store of his brother-in-law, under whom he continued about two years, when his sister died and he was apprenticed to the carpenter's trade. According to the terms of the agreement he was to receive one shilling a week and board for the first year and two shillings and board during the second year. Before the close of the second year, however, he was offered four shillings a day to build houses for the operators of the mines and his master kindly permitted him to ac- cept this offer, which proved an important step in his progress. At twenty-one years of age he became a contractor on his own account, making money which enabled him to provide more liberally than previously for the other members of the family. Shortly after this time he took up the study of medicine at home, purchasing books to which he devoted his spare time. Believing that the new world presented more favorable opportunities than he could expect to find in Wales, he came to America in February, 1883, and on the 7th of March fol- lowing arrived in Des Moines where he readily found employment as a carpenter. However, he had not given up the idea of continuing the study of medicine and in 1884 became a student in the medical department of Drake University, from which he was graduated February 19, 1887, with the degree of M. D. He took a post-graduate course in the Iowa Eclectic Medical College, receiving the degree from that institution March 15, 1889. During his attendance at university and college he worked at his trade and thus earned the money with which to pay nec- essary expenses. He practiced at Bevington, Iowa, until October, 1903, since which time he has successfully engaged in practice at Des Moines. He was the founder of the Seno Medicine Company of this city, which was organized in 1902 and has been in successful operation ever since, the Seno Powders having gained a splendid reputation wherever introduced. In 1907 Dr. Jones sold his interest in this company to his brother and shortly afterward put on the market the Heal-O Powder through the Berg Medicine Company, of which he is a heavy stockholder. He is a member of the National and Iowa State Eclectic

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Societies, and takes an active interest in all movements calculated to advance his profession.

On the 29th of June, 1874, Dr. Jones was married at Glyntaff church, Tre- forest, Wales, to Miss Jemima Walker, who died in July, 1893, leaving five chil- dren, namely : David, who is engaged in the postal service at Des Moines; Mar- garet, the wife of John Henry, of Bevington, Iowa; Maria, the wife of Mote C. Newman, of Spokane, Washington; Agnes, the wife of Ralph Masser, of Spokane; and Anna, also a resident of that city. In March, 1895, Dr. Jones married Mrs. Mary B. (Steele) Bell, the widow of Thomas Bell, a native of Madison county, Iowa. By this union one son has been born, Arvon.

While a resident of Bevington Dr. Jones served as president of the school board. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and has served as medical examiner for that order for over twenty years, first at Bevington, and later at Des Moines. Politically he is identified with the progressive element of the republican party, and religiously he upholds the doctrines of the Methodist church. As a student of subjects pertaining to his profession he is tireless, being an indefatigable investigator who never counts time or labor spent in acquiring knowledge as to the cause and cure of diseases. His record is in a remarkable degree creditable, as he has won his way by rare perseverance and self-denial. and is deserving of the confidence and esteem of all with whom he comes into contact.

EMMOR J. BARD.

Emmor J. Bard, who has served as the superintendent of the Kratzer Car- riage Company of Des Moines since August, 1901, also acts as secretary and purchasing agent of this important concern. His birth occurred in Salem, Ohio, on the 7th of April, 1871, his parents being James H. and Amy G. (Thompson) Bard. The father was born in Mahoning county, Ohio, in 1844, while the moth- er's birth occurred in Geauga county, that state, in 1850. James H. Bard, who was a miller, participated in the Civil war as a member of the One Hundred and Forty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Unto him and his wife were born six children, as follows: Emmor J., of this review; Edwin, who is married and re- sides in Indiana ; Homer H., who is married and makes his home in Ohio; Al- bert, living in Indiana, who is also married; Mary A., who is deceased; and Franklin E., who is a resident of Ohio.

Emmor J. Bard supplemented his preliminary education, obtained in the common schools of the Buckeye state, by a course of study in Defiance College at Defiance, Ohio. After putting aside his text-books he spent six months in the employ of a publishing company, selling books in New York. He next en- tered the service of the Linthicum & Schlosser Carriage Company of Defiance, Ohio, as general helper about the shop, remaining with that concern for five years. On the expiration of that period he went to Michigan, where for two years he acted as general manager of the Wolverine Carriage Company. Dur- ing the following three years he worked in different factories as buyer, manager and foreman, learning the methods employed in each and becoming thoroughly familiar with the carriage manufacturing industry in principle and detail. In August, 1901, he came to Des Moines as superintendent of the Kratzer Carriage Company, in which capacity he has served continuously since, also acting as secretary and purchasing agent. The company manufactures buggies, surreys, carriages and other light weight vehicles and probably does the most extensive business of the kind in this part of the country. A floor space of about two and a half acres is utilized and more than one hundred people are employed in the conduct of the business. A man of excellent executive ability, sound judg-

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ment and keen discrimination, Mr. Bard has contributed in no small degree to the continued growth and success of the Kratzer Carriage Company.

On the Ist of June, 1899, Mr. Bard was united in marriage to Miss Mina C. Aldrich, a native of Defiance, Ohio, and a daughter of Franklin and Eliza- beth (Smith) Aldrich, the former being a retired agriculturist. Unto our sub- ject and his wife have been born two sons, namely: Emerson Aldrich, whose birth occurred in May, 1905; and Spencer A., whose natal day was December 14, 1910.

Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Bard has supported the men and measures of the republican party, believing that its principles are most conducive to good government. In religious faith he is a Methodist. While Mr. Bard is now numbered among the men of affluence, he did not reach his present financial condition without much hard work and persistent effort. In- deed he has labored most persistently, overcoming difficulties and obstacles by his diligence and perseverance, and at all times has followed those rules which govern strict and unswerving business integrity.

THOMAS A. RAY.

Iowa can claim many expert coal men who have developed great coal depos- its and added vastly to the wealth of the state. The list includes the name of Thomas A. Ray, known as the dean of the coal men of Des Moines. having engaged prominently in the business in this city for twenty years past. He was born in Durhamshire, England, May 25, 1850, and is a son of Thomas and Jane (Adey) Ray, both of whom were born in England. The father was born in Newcastle and was an expert miner, being also an expert in gases. He gained an enviable reputation in his native land and also in this country. The mother is now living with her son at Des Moines and has reached the venerable age of eighty-two years.

Mr. Ray of this review came to America with his parents at the age of five years and attended school in a little log house near Moline, Rock Island county, Illinois. After spending four years in this country the family returned to Eng- land and the son attended school in that country. He learned his first lessons in mining in England, where he worked energetically for several years, accu- mulating money with which he paid the expenses of bringing his parents again to America. In 1881 he arrived in Boone county, Iowa, where he was in charge of mines at Angus. In 1891 he arrived in Des Moines and was placed in charge of the Manbeck mine on the Rock Island Railroad, and later opened the Clifton mine for the Coon Valley Fuel Company, of Des Moines, developing the mine to a good paying basis. In 1897 he acquired an interest in the Eagle mine, which was his first investment. He associated with Samuel Shepard and Samuel Blount in the Center mine, and in 1909 he bought the Ray mines on the Bur- lington Railway, which produce a high grade of coal and are now being oper- ated upon an extensive basis, giving employment to eighty miners. Mr. Ray has been very successful in managing mining properties, and owing to his thor- ough knowledge of the business and his ability as a manager has avoided many mistakes into which less experienced men are liable to fall.

On the 14th of September, 1874. at Rock Island. Illinois, Mr. Ray was mar- ried to Miss Jennie Jackson, who was born in 1855. and they became the parents of six children, namely: Etta May, who was born in August. 1875, is now the wife of A. J. Harkins, of Des Moines, and they have three children, Ethel, George and Gerald; Ethel Grace, born in 1877, married W. A. Valentine, who ' is now associated with Mr. Ray in business : Clifford V. is also associated with his father ; Frank Edward is a graduate of the forestry and engineering de-

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partment of Iowa State University ; Ralph Raymond died in April, 1906, as the result of an operation ; and Harvey Thomas is now a student of the North High School in the junior year.

Mr. Ray has through life been very energetic and active and in his chosen calling has gained a reputation for efficiency rarely awarded in any iine of busi- ness. He is recognized as entirely honorable and upright in his dealings. a man who has never sought to improve his fortune to the injury of others and whose word is accepted as inviolate wherever he is known. In politics he supports the republican party, and religiously he is an earnest believer in the Bible and holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. Socially, he is a valued member of Adelphic Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and of Gold Leaf Lodge, I. O. O. F. A conscientious fidelity to duty has been one of his prominent characteristics and has given him a position in the estimation of his acquaintances second to that accorded to no other man in the city.

GEORGE W. MILLER, D. D. S.

Dr. George W. Miller, a most active and successful practitioner of dentistry, who has been honored by the profession with election to the vice presidency of the State Dental Society, was born at Lancaster, Illinois, February 12, 1857. His father, George W. Miller, was born in Kentucky in July, 1818, and became a minister of the Methodist church long identified with the Central Illinois Con- ference. He was actively engaged in religious work for twenty-nine years and a most noble and upright life was brought to its close by his death in Winterset, Iowa, in 1895. In 1839 he had married Elizabeth Westfall, who was born in Lawrence county. Illinois, January 25, 1823, and is still living. Among the ancestors of Dr. Miller was John. K. Moore, a member of the state legislature of Kentucky. His great-uncle, Captain James Miller, won his title steamboating on the Mississippi river. He served in the Civil war as color bearer for four years although at first rejected on account of old age. He served throughout the en- tire period of hostilities between the north and south and several flags which he carried are now in the statehouse at Des Moines.

Dr. Miller was one of a family of six children who yet survive. His brother. Dr. W. K. Miller, for many years a practicing physician, is now living retired in Nebraska. McKendree, of Winterset, Iowa, followed the profession of dentistry and is also living retired. Another brother, Dr. J. B. Miller, is a retired physician of Tina, Missouri, and J. E. Miller is governor of the Soldiers Hos- pital at Hot Springs, South Dakota. He, too, has studied medicine and became well known as a surgeon. The daughter of the family is Mrs. Jennie Beerbower, the widow of J. O. Beerbower.

George W. Miller pursued his education in the public schools of Illinois until 1875, when on the 4th of May he entered the office of Dr. E. C. Stone, a dentist of Galesburg, Illinois, with whom he studied, also assisting him in his dental work, until November, 1876. At that date he became a resident of Avoca, Iowa, where he opened an office for the practice of dentistry, there remaining until the spring of 1879. He was afterward in Harlan, Iowa, until May, 1880, when he removed to Winterset where he was successfully engaged in practice until De- cember, 1888. Seeking a still broader field of labor, he came to Des Moines where he has since been located and a liberal patronage has here been accorded him, for he soon demonstrated his ability. in a profession which is unique in its require- ments, demanding not only scientific knowledge, but also mechanical skill and business ability.

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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 68

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