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 93

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 93

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In 1909, however, he came to Des Moines and purchased an interest in the Cochrane Heating & Plumbing Company. Subsequently Mr. Cochrane sold out to John J. Smith and the business was then reorganized under the name of The Smith Brothers Heating & Plumbing Engineers. They have enjoyed a liberal patronage from the beginning and have installed the heating and plumb- ing plants in a number of the large buildings in Des Moines and elsewhere, in- cluding the Wellington Hotel, the residence of Dr. Coffee, the Crowell flats and a number of the large school buildings and churches. At the present writ- ing they have some important contracts on hand.

On the 28th of November, 1903, Daniel C. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Hope Curtis, the youngest daughter of Major H. G. Curtis, who was appointed by President McKinley to draft the laws on the insular commission. He was a Civil war veteran and during the contest between the north and south took part in many important engagements. Iowa is proud of his record as that of one of her native sons. In Iowa City in 1865 he wedded Mary Fisher His death occurred in March, 1901, while his wife survived until August, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have two children: Curtis Ulysses, who was born July

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3, 1904, and is now a pupil of the Elmwood School; and Guy Donald, who was born June 20, 1907.

Politically Mr. Smith is a republican while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Baptist church. He does not seek office and has but little time for interests outside of his business, in which connection he is build- ing up an enterprise of importance. He is actuated by the worthy ambition of providing liberally for his family, yet he never neglects his duties of citizen- ship, and that his life presents many sterling phases is indicated by the high regard uniformly tendered him by his fellowmen. His recreation is shooting and fishing.

THOMAS HALL KNOTTS.

The early ancestors of Thomas Hall Knotts were of English extraction, having migrated from the mother country to the American colonies some time prior to the Revolution. His great-grandfather, Absalom Knotts, was a resident of Delaware, later removing to the Carolinas. During the war of the Revo- lution he served in the Continental army and was present in at least one im- portant battle, that of Camden, legends of his part in which have been handed down in the family. At the close, or very soon thereafter, of the Revolution he with his family crossed the Blue Ridge mountains and founded a settle- ment in a pretty little valley in what is now Taylor county, West Virginia. It was the first white settlement in all that region and was named Knottsville in his honor. Here he reared a family of seventeen children, the youngest of whom, also named Absalom Knotts, born July 15, 1811, married Matilda Sayre and was the father of Joseph Knotts, born September 24, 1832. In the vicinity of Knottsville the family acquired large holdings of land and also owned and operated stores and flour mills. In the disturbed period preceeding the Civil war they became abolitionists and in 1855 Joseph Knotts, then twenty-three years of age, was sent into the free west to locate a new home for the family. His travels brought him to Fort Des Moines and he visited all the near by country. On his return home the removal was decided upon and in 1857 his father, Absalom Knotts, with the larger part of his family and several neigh- bors came to Iowa and formed a settlement in southwest Warren county and called it New Virginia after their home state. Joseph Knotts, however, who had since 1851 been a minister of. the Methodist Episcopal Church and who had in 1855 been married to Miss Rebecca Hall, remained in West Virginia until 1859 when he also removed to Iowa where he became one of the charter mem- bers of the Des Moines conference of the Methodist church. He was sta- tioned at Chariton, Iowa, where on January 25, 1861, Thomas Hall Knotts, the third of a family of ten children, was born. In 1863 the family first moved to Des Moines to live while Joseph Knotts "rode" the Norwalk circuit. In 1865 the family moved to Council Bluffs, returning to Des Moines for a year in 1867, and in 1869 again moving to Council Bluffs which remained the family home until after the death of both Joseph Knotts, in 1888, and his wife, in 1890.

Thomas Hall Knotts' schooling was limited to a few years in the public schools. In the year 1875, when a lad of fourteen, he accompanied his father, who had been obliged to retire from the ministry on account of failing health, to Mexico, the latter having been appointed United States consul at Chihuahua City by President Grant. The trip was made by wagon train from the end of the railroad, which was fifty miles east of San Antonio. The wagon train con- sisted of twenty wagons of ten mules each with about forty armed men in the party. There was much disturbance at that time in western Texas by hostile

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Indian bands, and the wagon train was corralled nightly and guards stationed. None molested the train however and after a journey of several weeks it crossed into Mexico at Presidio, Texas, and continued on to its destination,-Parral in the state of Chihuahua. There Joseph Knotts had become interested in mining, and from that date forward until 1887 Thomas Hall Knotts was closely associated with his father in his mining operations which were carried on ex- tensively in the states of Chihuahua and Durango. The latter had with rare judgment acquired control of a number of valuable mining properties, among them the Prieta mine at Parral, Mexico, and also the celebrated Iron Moun- tain at Durango City, Mexico. Another great mine controlled by Mr. Knotts' father was the Ojuela at Mapimi, Mexico, (about forty miles north of Torreon) with the smelter belonging to it. Thomas Hall Knotts was superintendent of this property in 1886, but following his father's death in 1888 it passed into other hands, now known as the Penoles Mining Company, and is one of the greatest mines in the republic of Mexico, employing at this time between three and four thousand men. Between the years 1890 and 1910 its output was more than one hundred million Mexican pesos, or fifty million dollars.

In 1887, just prior to his father's death, Mr. Knotts returned to Iowa and on November 3, of that year, was united in marriage to Nellie J. Smith, daugh- ter of Rev. W. T. Smith, a prominent Methodist minister, and at one time mis- sionary secretary of that denomination. Miss Smith, on her mother's side, is descended from the DeLanceys of New York, one of whom was colonial gov- ernor of New York state. Her maternal grandfather was Major Joseph Cra- mer, of Page county, Iowa, a veteran of both the Mexican and Civil wars. Immediately on their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Knotts came to Des Moines to re- side, and have at this date, 1911, been residents of Des Moines for nearly twenty-five years. During the greater part of this time Mr. Knotts has been actively identified with the insurance interests of the city and is now secre- tary of the Standard Life Insurance Company, one of our strong financial in- stitutions. He is still largely interested in Mexico, retaining among other things an interest in the Prieta mine, once owned by his father. He is a member of the Elks and of the Golf and Country Clubs. Religiously he inclines to the Methodist denomination in which he was reared. Besides his wife, his family consists of three daughters: Mary Evelyn, born September, 1890, and who has just returned from a year's study of music in Munich; Helen Delancy, born May 29, 1895, and now a pupil in the Des Moines high school; and Frances Louise, born January 7, 1903. Of his father's family there are living at this time one sister and five brothers: Mrs. Edith V. Robertson, Bowen, Illinois ; Absalom B. Knotts, Sioux City, Iowa; Lemuel G. Knotts, Boulder, Montana ; Elijah F. Knotts and James E. Knotts, Guanacevi, Mexico, where they are owners and operators of mines and also of a custom stamp mill; and Joseph Knotts, a Methodist minister in the state of Oregon.

In political matters Mr. Knotts is what is now termed a progressive re- publican. He has never sought or held any public office but takes an active interest in affairs however, and is always ready to do his part in advancing the community in which he resides.

WILLIAM H. FERGUSON.

From his early boyhood William H. Ferguson has been a resident of Polk county. His memory carries him back to the years before the Civil war, when a large part of the county was a wilderness and the hardy settlers little dreamed of the vast possibilities which lay in store throughout the great state of Iowa. He endured the hardships of pioneer life and today enjoys the comforts which

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are available through the enterprise and ingenuity that characterized the last quarter of a century.

He was born in Indiana, August 4, 1849, and is a son of John W. and Nancy (Jones) Ferguson, the former of whom was born in Ohio and the lat- ter in Kentucky. The father came west to the point where Des Moines now stands in 1846 and worked by the month, clearing the land for others and cut- ting timber over a large part of Camp township. He took up a government claim during the first year of his stay but soon abandoned it and in August, 1847, walked to Henry county, Indiana, where he engaged in farming. Having lost his wife by death in 1856, after he returned to Polk county, he spent his latter years with his daughter, being called away in April, 1905, at the ad- vanced age of eighty-eight years.

William H. Ferguson possessed limited advantages of education in the district schools of Polk county and as a boy applied himself to agriculture and stock-raising. He worked by the month until after his marriage and then rented eighty acres in Camp township, which he cultivated for three years. Having carefully saved his earnings he began upon his own account by pur- chasing fifty-six acres in Camp township, which he cleared and improved, ap- plying himself with an ability and judgment which enabled him to acquire ad- ditional land. He now owns a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which is well provided with modern improvements. He lives retired, his son Robert Walter being in charge of the place.

On the 3Ist of December, 1871, Mr. Ferguson was married to Miss Sarah Kennedy, a daughter of Robert and Nancy (Warren) Kennedy. The father was born in Ohio and the mother in Indiana. He came to Iowa in 1849 and took up government land in Camp township, Polk county, which he improved and sold, moving about three and one-half miles northeast to one hundred and twenty acres, which became the family homestead. He died November 15, 1886, his wife passing away eight years later, on the 4th of October, 1894. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson, namely: Alice, who married W. E. Paden and lives in Camp township; J. Willard, who lives in Des Moines ; Eva Ann, the wife of Thomas Murrow, of Mitchellville; and Robert Walter, who is now in charge of the home place.

Mr. Ferguson is not connected with any religious denomination, but his wife and daughter are earnest believers in Christian Science and have found in its teachings a satisfaction which they were able to receive from no other source. In politics Mr. Ferguson is a republican. He is a good friend of education, having many times observed its benefits, and has served as member of the school board, never caring, however, for any other public office. Throughout his life he has been identified with agricultural interests. Both he and his wife have ably performed their part in the upbuilding of Camp township and in making useful and happy the lives of those with whom they are associated.

WALTER MCHENRY.

Walter McHenry, one of the most prominent and brilliant attorneys of the Des Moines bar in the practice of criminal law, standing in the forefront of his profession, was born in the capital city, February 6, 1862, a son of Judge William H. and Mary (Butterfield) McHenry. The family is of Irish lineage and was found originally in County Antrim, Ireland. They were related to James Mc- Henry. secretary of war under Washington, one of the signers of the constitu- tion of the United States, and the man for whom Fort McHenry at Baltimore was named. The father was one of the early settlers and surveyor for the gov- ernment in Iowa in pioneer times. He laid out Capital Square and the princi-

WALTER MCHENRY

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pal streets of the original city. Subsequently entering upon the practice of law, he gained distinction in that field and became judge of the district court.

Walter McHenry was educated in the public schools of Des Moines and in Ames College, which he attended from 1880 until 1883. In early manhood he engaged in teaching school and later was bookkeeper for the Iowa Homestead. Subsequently he owned and published the Marion County Reporter at Knox- ville, Iowa, and then in preparation for the practice of law became a student in the office of his father and brother, the latter being William H. McHenry, now judge of the ninth judicial district. Walter McHenry has engaged in practice continuously since 1885 and has gained preeminence in the field which he has chosen as his life work. He is a strong advocate with the jury and concise in his appeals before the court. He is thoroughly well read in all departments of the law, bases his arguments upon comprehensive knowledge of and familiarity with precedents and presents a case upon its merits, never failing to recognize the main points at issue and never neglecting to give a thorough preparation. His pleas have been characterized by a terse and decisive logic and a lucid pre- sentation.

On the 15th of June, 1887, in Des Moines, Mr. McHenry was married to Miss Lou Cummins, a daughter of T. L. Cummins and a sister of the Hon. A. B. Cummins, now United States senator from Iowa. They have two children, Mary and Harry.

The parents are members of the Catholic church and Mr. McHenry belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Red Men, the Eagles and the Elks. In his politi- cal views he is a democrat and has taken active part in campaign work several times, making speeches throughout Iowa and also in Tennessee and Arkansas. He has served as city solicitor for Des Moines but otherwise has not sought nor held office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his professional duties. His oratory, clothing the sound logic of truth, carries conviction to the minds of judge and jury, and merit has enabled him to mount the ladder of fame.

CHARLES E. HOLLOWAY, M. D.

Dr. Charles E. Holloway, an able representative of the medical fraternity in Des Moines, has followed his profession here for the past fifteen years, en- joying a large and lucrative practice. His birth occurred at Mount Pleasant, Henry county, Iowa, on the 29th of July, 1869. His father, Franklin Holloway, was born in Ohio in 1832 and came to Iowa about 1850, settling in Henry county, where he engaged in farming. In 1855 he was united in marriage to Ellen Cubbison, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of James and Lydia Cubbison, who were Iowa pioneers, coming by way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and by Burlington, thence across the country in wagons to their destina- tion. They, too, were identified with farming interests in Henry county. The father of Dr. Holloway died in 1876 but the mother still survives in her sev- enty-fourth year and is enjoying good health. She makes her home with Dr. .Holloway.

After leaving the Mount Pleasant high school Dr. Holloway entered the State University at Iowa City, preparing for his chosen calling as a student in the Homeopathic College of Medicine, in which institution he remained from 1890 until 1892. He completed his professional training in the Chicago Home- opathic Medical College, now Hahnemann Medical College, which in 1893 con- ferred upon him the degree of M. D. Locating for practice in Knoxville, Iowa, he there remained until 1896, when he came to the city which has since been the scene of his professional labors. The success and reputation which he now enjoys have come in recognition of his ability to cope with the intricate prob- Vol. II-39

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lems testing the powers of the physician. He is a member of the surgical staff of the Methodist Hospital and also acts as attending physician to the Des Moines Home for Friendless Children. He belongs to the Hahnemann Medical Asso- ciation of Iowa and the American Institute of Homeopathy, thus keeping in close touch with the advancement made by the profession. .

On the 3Ist of December, 1894, Dr. Holloway was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Pressnell, a daughter of William and Nancy Pressnell. Her father, who was born in Indiana in 1827, died at the advanced age of seventy-four years. His wife, a native of Kentucky, was born in 1847. Their daughter, Mrs. Holloway, was graduated from the Mount Pleasant high school with the class of 1889. By her marriage she has become the mother of four children, namely : Paul Raymond, Howard Jean, Esther Lucile and Helen Marjory.

In politics Dr. Holloway is a republican, while his religious faith is indi- cated by his membership in the Plymouth Congregational church. He also be- longs to the Grant Club of Des Moines. In professional and social circles he holds to high standards and enjoys in large measure the confidence and trust of those with whom he is brought in contact in every relation of life.

JAMES B. WEAVER, JR.

James B. Weaver, Jr., was born in Bloomfield, Davis county, Iowa, August 19, 1861. He is a son of General James B. Weaver, well known in the public life of Iowa. He was a student in the public schools of Bloomfield until eighteen years of age. He then clerked in a store for two years. He entered the law school at the State University in September, 1881, graduating in June, 1882. He began practice in Des Moines in connection with Colonel C. H. Gatch under the firm name of Gatch & Weaver, a relation that was continued until September, 1885, at which time they were joined by Judge William Con- nor, who retired from the bench to engage in practice. The partnership con- tinued until 1897 under the style of Gatch, Connor & Weaver. Following the retirement of Mr. Gatch from the firm it was Connor & Weaver until the death of Judge Connor in 1904, since which time Mr. Weaver has been alone in practice.

On the 7th of November, 1889, Mr. Weaver was married to Miss Fay Atkins, a daughter of C. B. Atkins, Esq., of Des Moines. They became the parents of three children, of whom one died in infancy, the others being: Eastman, now seventeen years of age; and Persis Fay, fifteen years of age.

In political allegiance Mr. Weaver is a republican. He is a member of the Plymouth Congregational church. He also holds membership in and at one time was president of the Prairie Club. He is a member of the Golf and Country Club, the Des Moines Club, the University Club, of which he is vice president, and the American Red Cross Society, in which he is serving on the executive board for Iowa.

Mr. Weaver has frequently been named in connection with public office but has steadily declined to enter politics, for which indeed he has had little time aside from an extensive law business, including the care of several large es- tates, most notable of which are what are known as the Litchfield interests, involving many thousands of acres of central Iowa lands. In the long-drawn- out litigation affecting these lands, which were a part of the famous Des Moines river lands, he was an active participant for more than twenty years. Mr. Weaver is a public-spirited citizen, interested and active in all the higher life of his home city. He was tendered by Mayor Hanna and accepted in April, 1910, the appointment to the board of trustees of the Des Moines Public Library, where he is still serving. In March, 1911, he was named by Governor Carroll

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as curator of the State Historical Society. He is vice president of the Art In- stitute of Des Moines, recently organized. He is a bookman of extensive read- ing, an accomplished lecturer, after-dinner speaker and raconteur, and his ser- vices are in frequent demand. The Weaver home, on Twenty-eighth street and Ridge road, is the center of many delightful social activities of which the son and daughter are now an active part.

CHARLES L. BAYES.

Charles L. Bayes, who devotes his time and energies to general agricultural pursuits, is operating a well improved farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Walnut township. His birth occurred in Ohio on the 6th of April, 1870, his parents being Isaac and Elizabeth (Davis) Bayes, who were likewise natives of the Buckeye state. The father, an agriculturist by occupation, followed farming in Ohio throughout his active business career. He passed away on the 3Ist of March, 1876, while his wife was called to her final rest in October, 1883.

Charles L. Bayes was reared and educated in Ohio, remaining in his native state until 1888, when he came to Polk county, Iowa, and began working as a farm hand by the month, being thus employed for four or five years. On the expiration of that period he entered the shops of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad at Valley Junction, Iowa, and at the end of about three years became a fireman on the road, acting in that capacity for seven years. He was . then promoted to the position of engineer and as such remained in the employ of the Rock Island Railroad for six years longer. At the end of that time he once more turned his attention to farming, taking up his abode on a tract of one hundred and twenty acres in Walnut township which had come into possession of his wife at the time of her father's death. The property is highly improved in every particular and the well tilled fields annually yield golden harvests in return for the care and labor which is bestowed upon them.

On the 28th of November, 1899, Mr. Bayes was joined in wedlock to Miss Margaret M. Ashworth, who was born in Walnut township, Polk county, on the 20th of July, 1871, her parents being Abraham and Ellen (Mott) Ash- worth, the former a native of England and the latter of New York. They are mentioned at greater length on another page of this work. Mrs. Bayes supple- mented her preliminary education, obtained in the district schools, by a course of study in Drake University at Des Moines. She is now the mother of one child, Harold A., a little lad of five years.

In politics Mr. Bayes is a republican, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist church, to which his wife also belongs. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. His life has ever been upright and honorable, his actions manly and sincere, and as the years have gone by he has proven his right to be classed with the respected citizens and representative agriculturists of Walnut township.

ROSCOE E. COOK, M. D.

Specializing as a practitioner in chronic diseases, Dr. Roscoe E. Cook, of Des Moines, has gained a wide reputation although he has been established in this city only eight years. He comes of a medical family, the father, uncle and son all graduating from some medical college. He was born at Sigourney,

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Keokuk county, Iowa, April 23, 1872, and is a son of Dr. Samuel D. and Jennie M. (Moore) Cook, the former of whom was born in Ohio and the latter at Mount Pleasant, Henry county, Iowa. Dr. Cook, Sr., came to this state in 1850 and first made his home in Henry county. He was surgeon of the Thirteenth Iowa Regiment in the early part of the Civil war and, returning to Iowa, organized the Eighth Iowa Volunteers of which he was commissioned captain. He participated in many important battles and at the battle of Shiloh was shot in the leg and had his leg broken. He was a valiant soldier and a patriotic and useful citizen. He died April 6, 1892. Mrs. Cook is still living and makes her home in Des Moines.

Roscoe E. Cook attended the public schools and was graduated at the Sigourney high school in 1890. In 1891 he entered the Keokuk Medical Col- lege, having previously assisted in his father's office for a year and a half. He received the degree of M. D. from the medical college in 1893 and later took a post-graduate course at Rush Medical College, Chicago, and served as in- terne in St. Joseph's Hospital of that city. In June, 1903, he came to Des Moines and has since practiced in this city, specializing in chronic diseases. He has been highly successful, his patients being attracted from many parts of this state and other states.

On the 28th of June, 1909, Dr. Cook was married at Des Moines to Miss Agnes Berry, who was born September 10, 1890, and is a daughter of Walter K. and Lydia Berry, of Madrid, Iowa. Dr. Cook is a member of the Iowa State Medical Association, the Polk County Medical Society and the American Med- ical Association. In politics he supports the republican party and religiously affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member of Capital Lodge, No. 106, I. O. O. F., and the American Patriots, and served as local examiner for the latter lodge in 1909. He was also examiner for the Royal Arcanum in 1906, but in 1907 gave this up on account of the rapid increase in his private practice. He owes his success to natural talent and adaptability for the practice of medicine and also to thorough preparation in his earlier years under highly competent instructors. He ranks among the leading physicians of Iowa.

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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 93

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