USA > Iowa > Black Hawk County > History of Black Hawk County, Iowa, and its people, Volume II > Part 25
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In 1911 Mr. Hey formed a partnership with George W. Miller and they purchased the bridge department of the Advance Construction Company, located in Waterloo, and continued its operation under the firm name of Miller-Hey Construction Company. They confine their attention exclusively to the building of concrete bridges, combining strength and power of resistance with beauty of design, and the business of the firm is steadily increasing as the merit of their work becomes more widely known.
Mr. Hey was married on the 2d of October, 1901, at Victoria, Colorado, to Miss Hattie Miller, a native of Des Moines and a daughter of Richard and Ada (Likes) Miller. To Mr. and Mrs. Hey have been born four children: Jesse Parks, eleven years old; Wilma Jeannette, seven years of age; William Edwin, five years old ; and Ruth Louise, a child of two years.
Mr. Hey gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has always taken a praiseworthy interest in the welfare of the community in which he re- sides. The Miller-Hey Construction Company is one of the leading industrial enterprises of Waterloo and adds largely to the business activity and growth of the city. Much of the success of the company is due to the technical knowledge and the administrative ability of Mr. Hey and he is ranked among the prominent men of the city.
GEORGE W. MILLER.
George W. Miller is the secretary-treasurer of the Miller-Hey Construction Company, builders of concrete bridges, in which connection the company enjoys a most enviable reputation that has led to contracts being awarded them in Iowa and other states. Mr. Miller was born in Barnes City, Mahaska county, Iowa, April 16, 1881, a son of John B. and Martha A. (Darland) Miller, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. Mrs. Miller was a daughter of
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John and Margaret (Lowe) Darland, who are residents at this time of the town in which George W. Miller was born. John B. Miller was a son of Samuel and Maria ( Braddock) Miller, who arrived in Iowa in 1855, in which year they removed from Hancock county, Ohio, to Keokuk county, this state. During his early manhood John B. Miller engaged in teaching school and later followed merchandising in Iowa. In 1853 Martha A. Darland arrived in Poweshiek county, Iowa, with her parents, who, like the parents of John B. Miller, were among the early settlers, taking an active part in the pioneer development. For many years John B. Miller successfully carried on business and in 1896 retired. spending his remaining days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest until death called him on the 24th of August, 1907. His wife passed away August 24, 1908, just a year after his demise. They were the parents of two children : Lilly Mae, the wife of A. E. Priem, a business man of Seattle, Washington ; and George W.
The latter attended school in Montezuma, Iowa, where his father was en- gaged in business. In the pursuit of his education he passed through consecu- tive grades until graduated from the Montezuma high school with the class of 1898. He then entered Iowa State College at Ames in 1899 and there pursued a course in civil engineering, which he completed in 1903, winning the degree of B. C. E. After his graduation he was employed in the city engineer's office at Des Moines until December of that year, when he became connected with the Marsh Bridge Company of Des Moines as an engineer, remaining with that firm until 1906. He then returned to the office of the city engineer, where he remained for one year as assistant city engineer of Des Moines, after which he again spent one year in the employ of the Marsh Bridge Company. He next went to Norwood, Colorado, in April, 1908, as chief engineer for the Empire Irrigation Company. On the Ist of September of the same year, however, he returned to the middle west, going to Wisconsin, where he became bridge engi- neer for the Advance Construction Company. In the spring of 1909 he became a stockholder therein and came to Waterloo as lowa representative of the com- pany. On the ist of January, 1911, Mr. Miller and W. A. Hey took over the bridge department of the Advance Construction Company and they then formed a partnership under the name of the Miller-Hey Construction Company, engi- neers and constructors of concrete bridges. They have secured various im- portant contracts resulting in building numerous bridges throughout Iowa and other states. Mr. Miller thoroughly understands the scientific principles which underlie the business as well as the practical phases of the work and is thus well qualified to execute important contracts. He also is interested in a fruit ranch in Idaho and is the owner of valuable residence and business property in Waterloo.
On the 6th of April, 1904, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Cam- mie L. Waugh, a native of Albia, Iowa, and a daughter of John E. and Martha (Arnold) Waugh, who were early settlers of this state. Mrs. Miller's grand- father Waugh was killed at Nashville, December 3, 1864, while serving in the Union army. Her mother died November 9, 1906, and her father now resides near Nampa, Idaho. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born three children : Kenneth Arnold, eight years of age: Howard Albert, who is five years of age; and John Robert, who is but a year old.
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Mr. Miller holds membership in both the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons and the Royal Arch Masons and he belongs also to the Knights of Pythias. His political allegiance is given to the republican party but he does not seek nor de- sire office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business affairs, in which he is meeting with substantial success owing to his close application, his indefatigable efforts and his honorable methods.
E. A. SNYDER.
E. A. Snyder, of Cedar Falls, now in his seventy-seventh year, as student, teacher, soldier, surveyor, as editor for thirty-six years and postmaster for ten years, filled over a half century with useful activity. A student at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston and Dickinson Seminary of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and in 1858 at Dixon College in Dixon, Illinois, he was well equipped for teach- ing. His professional service was broken by his enlistment at the age of twenty- three in the Dement Phalanx, September 1, 1861. He was appointed adjutant of the post. The demand for all available soldiers to assist in taking Fort Donelson led to the retirement of Colonel Dement, who was a Black Hawk war colonel, and left Adjutant Snyder to discharge the duties of that position for an inexperienced relative of his new colonel but on a private's pay. He carried a gun at Fort Donelson and both days on Shiloh's bloody field, having a number of close calls from shells and bullets. He participated in the siege of Corinth and later was promoted to second lieutenant, "for meritorious services," as his commission states. After the battle of Hatchie river, where his colonel, John A. Davis, was mortally wounded directly in the rear of Lieutenant Snyder, the latter was detailed as an officer in the United States Signal Corps and served with the staff of General Grant and later with General Sherman during the siege of Vicksburg, while still later he was with General Logan.
Some months after Mr. Snyder returned from the south he came to Cedar Falls and in 1870 was elected county surveyor of Black Hawk county, in which office he served for five years.
In 1868 he bought a half interest in the Cedar Falls Gazette and became asso- ciated with his brother, C. W. Snyder, whose interest he purchased in 1879, continuing as editor until February 1, 1904. The Gazette was held in high esteem and its political, moral and religious principles were not only of the highest type but never was there thrown over them a shadow of distrust or uncertainty. Some of the men now engaged in the activities and affairs of that growing city continue to tell him of the interest with which they devoured the definite, clear cut editorials and paragraphs they read when boys in their only newspaper, the Gazette. He engaged earnestly with pen and law to promote the interests of temperance and rid Cedar Falls of saloons after the passage of the Iowa prohibitory law and he has the unusual record of having instituted sixty-four prosecutions. The saloon men were driven out and never returned, but Mr. Snyder remembers these as his most trying years, notwithstanding his army service. He very acceptably filled the office of postmaster of Cedar Falls from May 1, 1899, until May 1, 1909, exactly ten years.
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From his boyhood Mr. Snyder has been an active member of the Methodist Society and in 1888 was a delegate to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church held for one month in New York city. Mr. Snyder has always taken an interest in educational affairs, has served on the school board and has contributed liberally to the educational, benevolent and missionary interests of church and school. He very much desired to see a hospital erected, recog- nizing a long-felt want in this connection, and in 1908, by written agreement, he promised to make a donation of three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Canada, provided an equal sum was given by citizens for the building of the hospital. Delay in financing the undertaking continued until the death of Joseph Sartori, when his son, J. F. Sartori, of Los Angeles, California, made a gift of thirty thousand dollars to build a hospital as a memorial to his parents. As one of the several trustees. Mr. Snyder spent much time during the summer and fall of 1914 looking after details of construction and made contributions toward grounds and equipment.
On the 24th of September, 1867, Mr. Snyder was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Cameron, of Cedar Falls. Two daughters were born to them. The elder, a dear daughter upon whom his heart was set and to whose memory he desired to erect a hospital, died in girlhood. The younger, with her family, lives in Long Beach, California, where Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are now spending their fifth winter.
EDWARD H. HEADFORD.
Ability and worth have constituted the foundation upon which Edward H. Headford has builded his success. He is now president of the Headford Brothers & Hitchins Foundry Company and as such is in control of a constantly develop- ing business, which was established in Waterloo in 1903. A native of Dubuque, Iowa, he was born September 4, 1862, a son of William and Elizabeth (Robin- son) Headford, both of whom were natives of England. They came to America, however, in childhood days with their respective parents, who settled with their families in Iowa, the marriage of the young couple being celebrated in Dubuque, where the families took up their abode about 1854. William Headford was a foundryman and was foreman of a large plant in Dubuque for many years, being thus actively identified with the industrial interests of that city. He died there January 9, 1905, and is survived by his widow, who makes her home in Dubuque.
Edward H. Headford spent his youthful days in his father's home and worked his way upward through consecutive grades in the public schools until he had become a high-school pupil. Afterward he studied in Bayless Commercial College of Dubuque and in 1878, when sixteen years of age, he entered upon an apprenticeship to the molder's trade. He worked in the Novelty Iron Works of Dubuque until 1887, when he was offered and accepted the foremanship of the Iowa Iron Works, at that time the largest establishment of the kind on the upper Mississippi river. He continued to fill this position, which was one of responsibility and importance, for two years but, ambitious to engage in business
EDWARD H. HEADFORD
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on his own account, he carefully saved his earnings and at length joined his brother, W. T. Headford, in establishing a foundry of their own at Dubuque under the firm style of Headford Brothers. In 1892 they were joined by F. O. Hitchins, since which time the business has been conducted under the firm name of the Headford Brothers & Hitchins Foundry Company. They remained in Dubuque until 1903, when the plant was removed to Waterloo and since that time their establishment has been classed by reason of the volume of their trade and the importance of their business as one of the leading industrial enterprises of the city.
In 1886 Mr. Headford was united in marriage to Miss Lotta B. Way, of Warren, Illinois. He is a valued member of Helmet Lodge, No. 89, K. P., and he holds membership also in the Royal Arcanum. He and his wife attend the Congregational church, of which Mrs. Headford is a member. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and for one term he served as alder- man at large. He keeps well informed upon the questions and issues of the day and is ever ready to support his position by intelligent argument. In com- munity affairs he is known as a supporter of measures and movements for the public good and he holds membership in the Chamber of Commerce and in the Town Criers Club of Waterloo, organizations for the benefit of the city and the expansion of its business relations. His success is the merited reward of his industry and determination. Gradually he has worked his way upward and may truly be counted among the self-made men of Waterloo.
JOHN ANDREWS.
John Andrews is president of the Fred L. Kimball Company and secretary of the Shoemaker-Van Pelt-Mayne Company of Waterloo, of which city he has been a resident for the past seven years. He is a native of Wisconsin but during his infancy was brought to Osage, Iowa. His mother died during his early boyhood and he was taken to the west, living in South Dakota for fifteen years. In early life he learned the printer's trade and has since been connected with some phase of the business. He was engaged in publishing in South Dakota for twelve years and also published a newspaper in Iowa at Osage and at Rice- ville for six years. In September, 1908, he arrived in Waterloo and became interested in the Fred L. Kimball Company. Mr. Andrews has for several years been president of the company, which publishes Kimball's Dairy Farmer, the Creamery Journal, the Milk Trade Journal and the Egg Reporter. In this connection he has done splendid work. These papers are the connecting link between a half million readers and all manufacturing and trade interests along those lines. They are of great value to the dairy farmer and breeder, the creameryman, the milk dealer and to the dealer in poultry and eggs. Mr. Andrews is well qualified by previous experience in the field of publishing for his present work and in this connection has become widely known throughout the country.
About twenty-five years ago Mr. Andrews was united in mariage to Miss Minnie Brumley and they have become parents of five children: Dale E., who Vol. II-13
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took a three years' special course at Ames and is now doing special work along agricultural journal lines ; Merrili, who died at the age of fourteen years ; Maude, a student in the State Teachers College at Cedar Falls; Robert and Theodore, at home.
Mr. Andrews is a republican in his political views. He belongs to the Commercial Club and Board of Trade and also has membership in the Town Criers Club. He is likewise a member of the First Baptist church. His has been an active, useful and well spent life and he now occupies a creditable position among the business men of Waterloo. His record proves what can be accomplished when energy and enterprise mark out the path, and as the years have gone on his labors have become of more and more worth to the world.
HORATIO B. LIZER.
Horatio B. Lizer, the owner and publisher of the Progress-Review, an up-to-date and interesting weekly newspaper published at La Porte City, was born in Buchanan county, Iowa, on the 19th of February, 1864, a son of John H. and Emma (Allen) Lizer, natives of Ohio and New York respectively. The father accompanied his parents to Buchanan county, Iowa, when but thir- teen years of age, in 1852. As soon as old enough he began farming for him- self and in time purchased the homestead in Jefferson township. He operated that property until 1894 and then retired from active life, taking up his residence at La Porte, where he remained for four or five years, when he removed to Vinton, Benton county. He is seventy-three years of age and has survived his wife since July, 1896.
Horatio B. Lizer was reared in Buchanan county, and his early education was gained in the common schools of his home neighborhood. He later attended the Iowa State Teachers College at Cedar Falls, from which he was graduated with the class of 1891. He had taught school previous to taking his normal course and after completing it he resumed that work. He taught at Winthrop, Quasqueton and Hubbard, being principal of the schools in the latter place. In the fall of 1892 he came to La Porte City and for nine years held the posi- tion of superintendent of the local schools. In 1901 he purchased the Progress- Review, a weekly newspaper, which he has since conducted. It has a circula- tion of twelve hundred copies and its advertising columns bring in a substan- tial addition to its revenue. Mr. Lizer also does a large job-printing business and is well equipped to fill orders promptly. The weekly press of the state exercises a wide influence and the Progress-Review of La Porte City is a potent factor in determining public opinion in the territory of which the city is the center. Mr. Lizer possesses the necessary qualifications of the successful proprietor of such a journal, as he has a keen sense of the relative value of news, writes clearly and forcefully, is alert and progressive and is also an efficient business man.
On the 23d of June, 1898, Mr. Lizer was united in marriage with Miss Mary Fenner, a daughter of Charles and Mary (Lizer) Fenner, natives of Ohio. Her father was a carpenter and contractor by trade and many years ago removed
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to Montezuma, Iowa, where he taught school for a time. He later turned his attention again to building and contracting and was well known in those lines of work. He passed away in that place in 1902 and his widow died a year later. Mrs. Lizer was a school teacher previous to her marriage and for some time was principal of the La Porte City schools. Altogether she taught school in that city for twelve years.
Mr. Lizer is a stockholder and director in the First National Bank and is secretary of the local Building & Loan Association. In political matters he supports the men and measures of the republican party and is at present the chairman of the republican county central committee, being quite influential in local republican circles. For twelve years he has served upon the school board and is at present the president of that body and is known as an aggressive cham- pion of the public schools. He has also served upon the city council. Frater- nally he belongs to Trowel Lodge, No. 216, A. F. & A. M., and to the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias. His religious belief is indicated in his membership in the Presbyterian church and much of the respect that he commands is due to the fact that his life is guided by the underlying principles of Christianity. In the private relations of life he has proved always honorable and kindly and ·as teacher and as editor he has never forgotten the grave responsibilities of those who are called upon to train the children of the nation or to give to the: people accounts of the current happenings and also in a large measure to mold public opinion.
IRA J. HOOVER.
Ira J. Hoover, strong and purposeful, possessing the spirit of initiative as manifest in his ready recognition and improvement of opportunities, is today one of the ablest financiers and most progressive business men of Waterloo. He was born in Black Hawk county, July 29, 1876, a son of Ephraim and Eliza- beth (Pinkerton) Hoover, both of whom were natives of Wayne county, Ohio, where they were reared and married. They came to Iowa in 1875, settling on what is now the home farm two and a half miles southwest of Waterloo. There the father still resides, but the mother passed away in December, 1901, at the age of forty-nine years.
Ira J. Hoover was born upon that place and there remained to his sixteenth year, meeting the usual experiences that fall to the lot of the farm lad. He acquired his early education in the district schools and afterward attended the Waterloo Business College, the Upper Iowa University at Fayette and the Uni- versity of Wisconsin. His intentions were to complete the course in the last named institution, but after returning home during a vacation period he was asked to accept a position with the Leavitt & Johnson Bank. This he did and remained a representative of that institution for nine years, during which time he gained broad experience in the knowledge of financial affairs. He entered the bank as bookkeeper and was steadily advanced until he became assistant cashier. During his connection with that institution he became interested in real estate and gradually drifted into land speculation and also began buying
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and selling city property until he is today one of the foremost real-estate owners of Waterloo. He now owns the Syndicate building and is secretary and treas- urer of the Mercantile Warehouse Company, an investment company holding some three hundred thousand dollars worth of property in the business center of Waterloo. He is the secretary and treasurer of the Black Hawk Building Company, which owns the Black Hawk Bank building, and he was the dominant factor in the organization of the Home Improvement Company, which was the forerunner to the building of the Russell Lamson Hotel, one of the finest hostel- ries in the middle west. The purpose of the Home Improvement Company was to take over seventy-two lots owned by Mr. Lamson, the builder of the hotel, in order to increase the capital stock of the hotel company. Mr. Hoover volun- teered as one of the leaders to push the work along. For weeks he worked in the streets and among the business men and his efforts were crowned with suc- cess. The capital stock of eighty-five thousand dollars, for which amount the Home Improvement Company was capitalized, was raised and the building of the hotel was assured. Mr. Hoover is also receiver for the Mason Motor Com- pany, manufacturers of motor trucks and automobiles, which is now undergoing a process of rehabilitation under his able management and control.
Mr. Hoover holds membership in Helmet Lodge, No. 89, K. P., and in Water- loo Lodge, No. 290, B. P. O. E. He is likewise a member of the Waterloo Club and is serving on its board of directors. He is a man of marked determination and carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. His plans are formulated in keeping with modern business ideas and his life is an exemplification of the spirit of the times. He is ever alert and active, seizing every legitimate advantage as it arises and instituting a business policy in con- nection with the management of important interests that results in the attain- ment of desirable and notable success.
ARTHUR A. SHIPPY.
Arthur A. Shippy is a member of T. F. McDonnell & Company, which is one of the leading contracting firms of Waterloo and which has erected many handsome buildings. He was born in Franklin township, Bremer county, lowa. on the 14th of September, 1863, a son of Charles S. and Rebecca ( Platt) Shippy, who were natives respectively of Canada and Illinois. In 1846 Charles S. Shippy removed to Bremer county, Iowa, where he purchased three hundred and twenty acres of government land, and for many years he devoted his time to agricultural pursuits. In 1894 he retired from active life, but continued to live upon his land until his death, which occurred seven years later, in June, 1901. His wife died on the 2d of April, 1900. They had nine children, namely : Elmer, a resident of Oran, Iowa, where he is engaged in merchandising ; Arthur A., of this review : Elizabeth, the wife of Russell Sutton, who is living in Colo- rado : Addie, who makes her home with her sister, Mrs. Sutton ; Algie, deceased ; Wilbur and Leroy, both of whom live in Colorado; Leon, who is a resident of the state of Washington ; and Ethelyn, the wife of Jesse Clark. a farmer of Oran, Iowa.
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Arthur A. Shippy passed his boyhood days in much the manner of other farmer lads of this locality, attending the district schools in the winter months and aiding with the cultivation of the fields and the care of the stock in the summers. In addition to the training in agricultural work that he thus received he was taught the carpenter's trade by his father, who was something of a con- tractor as well as a farmer. When seventeen years of age our subject went to the Pacific coast and did carpenter work in various western states until 1884, when he returned to Iowa and settled in Waterloo. He later entered the employ of the Chicago & Great Western Railroad in the bridge construction department and remained with them until IS87, when he became connected with a wholesale house in Waterloo and so continued for four years. At the end of that time he again began work at his trade and in 1901, feeling that con- tracting offered a more lucrative field than the carpenter's trade in itself, he decided to enter that line of business and became a member of the firm of Shippy & Burke of Waterloo. In 1912 the partnership was dissolved and during 1913 Mr. Shippy was alone in the conduct of his business. In 1914, however, T. F. McDonnell, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work, became associ- ated with him as an equal partner in the formation of the firm of T. F. McDon- nell & Company. They do general contracting and erect many of the buildings put up in the county, as their work is thorough and their prices reasonable and as they have the reputation of living strictly up to their contracts. Much of the success of the firm must be credited to the practical knowledge and the business ability of Mr. Shippy. T. F. McDonnell & Company have erected an unusually large number of schoolhouses in Waterloo and the buildings have all given satisfaction.
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