USA > Iowa > Black Hawk County > History of Black Hawk County, Iowa, and its people, Volume II > Part 3
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John P. Berry was born in 1850 in Canada and was reared in Black Hawk county and is indebted to its public-school system for the educational oppor- tunities which he enjoyed. He attended the district schools and also the Waterloo high school and began providing for his own support as a teacher in the schools of Black Hawk township, Grundy county. He afterward removed to western Iowa and later went to Dakota, but after one summer returned to Waterloo. He then married and took up his abode upon a farm, devoting two years to general agricultural pursuits. He then returned to the county seat and learned the ma- chinist's trade in the foundry and machine shop of W. S. Robinson, where he spent two years. He then became connected with the agricultural implement business of Brubaker & Cascade, spending two years with that firm, and on the Ist of February, 1886, he entered into active connection with the waterworks department of the city as foreman, laying the mains and doing the construction work. When the present plant was built he was the second engineer and he has advanced through intermediate grades until more than twenty years ago he was made superintendent, which position he has filled continuously since with great credit to himself and to the benefit of the waterworks system and the satisfaction of the entire public. No greater evidence of his capability and efficiency could be given than the fact that he has been retained as superintendent for more than two decades and that his identification with the department covers twenty-eight years. He keeps in touch with improvements that are being continuously made in plants of this character and has made the waterworks plant thoroughly modern.
In 1875 Mr. Berry was joined in wedlock to Miss Sarah Agnes Horn, of Waterloo, and they have seven children. Myrtle, the eldest, is the wife of George Gorson, superintendent of mail carriers in connection with the Waterloo postoffice. Oscar, who married Miss Myrtle Alexander, has been connected with the Black Hawk Spice Company for about fifteen years. Fred V., who wedded Miss Culetta Seibert, has been with the Iowa Dairy Separator Company for thir- teen years. Claud C. is assistant cashier in the Security Savings Bank of Water-
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loo, with which he has been connected for seven years. Ray O. is in the advertising department of the Daily Courier. Loren J. is a sophomore in the high school. Pearl is the wife of Edwin Laughlin, of Cedar Rapids.
Mr. Berry holds membership in the Commercial Club and Board of Trade. He is a Mason and is a past commander in the uniform rank of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has served for six years as a trustee of the lodge. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the First Presbyterian church. He is serving on its board of trustees and as treasurer of the men's bible class, and he does everything in his power to advance the growth of the church and extend its influence. He also belongs to the Old Settlers Society, has been for three years a member of the executive board and may well be numbered among the honored pioneer residents of Waterloo, for he has made his home in Black Hawk county for fifty-eight years. He has therefore witnessed much of the city's growth and development as it has emerged from villagehood to become one of the great metropolitan centers of the state, its population fast approaching the fifty thousand mark. He is very widely known and is most highly esteemed where best known, a fact which indicates a well spent and honorable life. He is one to whom there has been intrusted important public service and over his record there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.
HERBERT BARBER BOIES.
For twenty-four years Herbert Barber Boies has been engaged in the practice of law in Waterloo and his professional career has been marked by the steady advancement which is characteristic of the present age. He was born May 9, 1867, in the city which is still his place of residence, and is a son of the Hon. Horace and Versalia ( Barber) Boies, natives of the state of New York.
After completing a public-school education in Waterloo Herbert B. Boies en- tered the State University at Iowa City and was a student for two years in the collegiate department and for two years in the law school. He was graduated in 1891. He then returned home and began practice in Waterloo, where he has since remained. His success in a professional way affords the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. He is a strong advocate with the jury and concise in his appeals before the court. He has a keen and logical mind, plus the business sense, and a ready capacity for hard work. Moreover, he brought to the starting point of his legal career certain rare gifts-eloquence of language and a strong personality. His thorough grasp of the law and the ability to correctly apply its principles are factors in his effectiveness as an advocate.
Mr. Boies was married in Waterloo in 1898 to Miss May Carl, who died leav- ing one child, Addella. In 1909, in Sycamore, Illinois, Mr. Boies wedded Faith Hoyt. They attend the Congregational church, and Mr. Boies holds membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
His political allegiance has always been given to the democratic party, but he has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, although well versed in the questions and issues of the day and interested in the success of his party, as he prefers to concentrate his efforts upon his profession, regarding the pur-
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suits of professional life as in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts. On the 3d of November, 1914, however, he was elected one of three district judges and polled the highest vote of all. He was a candidate on the nonpartisan ticket. There is no doubt in the minds of his many supporters that his record on the bench will be in harmony with his record as a man and a lawyer, distinguished by an unfaltering devotion to duty and by a masterful grasp of every problem pre- sented for solution. His is a natural discrimination as to legal ethics, and he is so thoroughly well read in the minutiæ of the law that he is able to base his argu- ments upon thorough knowledge of and familiarity with precedents, and to present a case upon its merits, never failing to recognize the main point at issue and never neglecting to give a thorough preparation. His pleas have been characterized by a terse and decisive logic and a lucid presentation rather than by flights of oratory, and his power is the greater before court or jury from the fact that it is recog- nized that his aim is ever to secure justice and not to enshroud his cause in a sentimental garb or illusion which will thwart the principles of right and equity involved.
J. W. RATH.
J. W. Rath is president of The Rath Packing Company. Waterloo, an impor- tant enterprise which has featured largely in the business development of the city. With other important commercial concerns he is also identified and is one of the representative residents of Black Hawk county who well deserves mention in this volume. He was born in Hardin county, Iowa, in 1872, and comes of German ancestry. His father, John Rath, was born in Germany and about 1856 arrived in Iowa, settling in Dubuque. Subsequently he removed to Cedar Falls, Black Hawk county, and was living there at the time of the Civil war. In response to the country's need he enlisted in 1862 as a member of Company B, Thirty-first Iowa Regiment, with which he served for three years, or until the close of the war. He was fortunate in that he escaped wounds and injuries, but he lost a brother, George Rath, who was killed at the battle of Lookout Mountain. After the war John Rath returned to Iowa and was engaged in the lumber and grain business at Ackley, where he prospered as the years passed on as a result of his indefatigable industry and capable management. In 1881 he established the Exchange Bank at Ackley and continued there in the banking business until his death, which occurred June 20, 1914, being widely recognized as one of the leading and prominent busi- ness men of his town.
J. W. Rath, whose name introduces this review, was born and reared in Ackley and pursued a public-school education there. Later he attended Bryant & Strat- ton's Business College of Chicago and on leaving that institution entered his brother's bank in Ackley. In 1891 he came to Waterloo, where he entered into connection with his present business, which, in March, 1891, was incorporated, his father, John Rath, being president ; A. Holzer, vice president, and E. F. Rath, secretary and treasurer. The present officers of the company are: J. W. Rath, president, and F. J. Fowler, vice president, while E. F. Rath remains as secretary and treasurer. Their business is largely that of pork packing, but they are now
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
developing the beef packing industry and during the summer of 1914 they erected one of the most complete beef packing establishments in the state. They are con- ducting an extensive business in their line, having the only packing house in Water- loo. Their enterprise also furnishes an excellent market to stock-raisers of this section. Their business is growing year by year, being already one of the most important productive enterprises of the city. Mr. Rath is likewise a director of the First National Bank and of the Waterloo Loan & Trust Company, a director of the Rath State Exchange Bank of Ackley and president of the Fifth Street Building Company. He finds delight in solving intricate business problems and his expand- ing powers have made him one of the foremost representatives of commercial activity in his city.
Mr. Rath was married in 1895 to Miss Maud Harbin, of Waterloo, and they have two children, Anita Louise and Howard. The parents hold membership in the First Presbyterian church and Mr. Rath is serving on its board of trustees. He belongs to the Commercial Club, the Board of Trade and the Town Criers Club, and is a Knight Templar Mason. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is a member of the board of trustees of the Waterloo waterworks and has been a member of the city council for two terms. He was very active in the municipal ownership campaign that resulted in the city owning the water plant. He does all in his power to further public progress. He has ever felt a hearty concern for the public welfare and has been helpful in bring- ing about those purifying and wholesome reforms which have been gradually growing in the political, municipal and social life of the city. It is true that his chief life work has been that of a remarkably successful business man, but the range of his activities and the scope of his influence have reached far beyond this special field. He belongs to that class of men who wield a power which is all the more potent from the fact that it is moral rather than political and is exercised for the public weal rather than for personal ends.
EDWARD L. ROHLF, M. D.
Thorough college training and service as an interne qualified Dr. Edward L. Rohlf for the practice of his profession at Waterloo, where he located in August, 1901. Since that time he has advanced steadily in the path of his chosen calling and is today recognized as one of the able physicians of Black Hawk county. He was born in Davenport, Iowa, June 10, 1868, his parents being Amos H. and Dorothy (Schroeder) Rohlf, both of whom were natives of Ger- many and became residents of Iowa in childhood. The former was a farmer throughout the period of his active life. His father came to the United States and died at the age of seventy-nine years.
Dr. Rohlf pursued his early education in the schools of Scott county, Iowa, and for a year was a student in the pharmaceutical department of Drake Uni- versity at Des Moines. He became a registered pharmacist and followed that pursuit for seven years. It was a logical step to the practice of medicine, for which he carefully prepared, supplementing private reading by a course in the Omaha Medical College, now the medical department of the State University of
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
Nebraska. He was graduated therefrom in 1900 and spent a year as interne in the Methodist Hospital at Omaha, gaining that broad practical experience and knowledge that only hospital practice can give. In August, 1901, he removed to Waterloo, opened an office and has since engaged in general practice, being accorded a liberal patronage. He is now secretary of the Presbyterian Hospital of Waterloo, which position he has occupied since the establishment of that institution. He has also been coroner of the county for a full term and a part of another.
On the 9th of October, 1907, in Waterloo, Dr. Rohlf was married to Miss Luella Johnson and they have one son, Edward L. They are members of the Westminster Presbyterian church and Dr. Rohlf gives his political allegiance to the republican party, having indorsed its principles since becoming a voter. He is a Master Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias and an Elk. He belongs to the Commercial Club of the west side and in strictly professional connections has membership with the Waterloo Medical Society, the Cedar Valley Medical Association, the Iowa State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is a man of pronounced ability in the field of his chosen calling because of his wide study, his broad experience and his humani- tarian principles, which prompt him to put forth zealous and conscientious effort on behalf of his patients.
M. J. MORGAN.
M. J. Morgan is the senior partner in the firm of Morgan & Sullivan, owning one of the leading clothing and men's furnishing goods establishments in Water- loo. He has been a resident of this city for but a comparatively brief period, arriving in November, 1910, but in the interim has become well established as an enterprising and progressive merchant, his life exemplifying modern business methods. He was born in Stark county, Ohio, in 1872, and was eleven years of age when his parents, Rev. John W. and Mary Morgan, removed to Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, where he continued to reside until he reached the age of twenty years. He was then attracted by the opportunities of the growing west and made his way to Deadwood, South Dakota, where he was employed for some time in a store, remaining in the employ of others until 1902, when he formed a partnership with J. H. Sullivan, establishing the firm of Morgan & Sullivan, who conduct business as dealers in clothing and men's furnishing goods. They con- tinued the business at Deadwood until 1910, when they sold out there and came to Waterloo. Here they again embarked in business along the same line, opening a store at the old Bradley stand with an entire new stock of clothing and men's fur- nishings. Moreover, they supplied the store with new fixtures and now have one of the most attractive, modern and up-to-date establishments of Waterloo. Their business has steadily grown until they are now among the leaders in their line in the city. Their business methods are thoroughly reliable. They are straight- forward in all their dealings and this, combined with the excellence and attractive- ness of their stock, has won for them a large and profitable trade.
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In 1896, Mr. Morgan was united in marriage to Miss Adelaide Case, of Blairs- town, Iowa. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the rules which govern his conduct and shape his course in relation to his fellowmen are further indi- cated in the fact that he is a member of the First Congregational church. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and the Waterloo Club and he is one of the vice presidents of the Waterloo Retail Merchants Association. He exemplifies the modern spirit of the times in his trade relations. He studies every phase of the business and all conditions bearing upon the trade and he believes thoroughly in united effort among the merchants to advance and upbuild the commercial welfare of the city. His has been an active, useful and well spent life and in Waterloo, as in the other districts where he has resided, he has gained many warm friends.
F. C. STETZEL.
The record of business enterprise in Black Hawk county would be incom- plete were there failure to make prominent reference to the Waterloo Skirt & Garment Company, of which F. C. Stetzel is the efficient secretary. He became a resident of Waterloo in June, 1900, but is an eastern man by birth, the place of his nativity being McEwensville, Pennsylvania, and his natal year 1869. He is a son of John and Fannie Stetzel, who removed with their family to the west when their son, F. C., was a lad of ten years. The family home was established at Colman, South Dakota, where he was reared and acquired his education by attending the public schools. He afterward took up the profession of teaching but, desirous to advance his own intellectual development, he afterward entered the Iowa State College of Agriculture at Ames, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1898. Still later he continued his studies in the University of Minnesota and through the winter months he engaged in teaching school. Afterward he matriculated in Drake University as a law student and was graduated from the law department of that school with the class of 1901.
However, in 1900, Mr. Stetzel had entered the employ of the Waterloo Skirt & Garment Company as a traveling representative and has since continued in active connection with that business. After a time he became one of the stock- holders and in 1910 he was elected to the position of secretary and member of the board of directors. He has since had voice in the management of this grow- ing and important enterprise, of which R. E. Montague is the president and Guy N. See is treasurer. The steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible. He has made continuous advancement, actuated by a laudable ambition and un- faltering determination, and as he has progressed there have opened before him wider opportunities which he has utilized to full advantage. Aside from his con- nection with the Waterloo Skirt & Garment Company he is also interested with his brother in the Waterloo Office Supply Company and is a stockholder in the Black Hawk National Bank, with which he thus became connected on its organiza- tion. He is likewise interested in other business enterprises and is a young man of notably sound judgment, keen discrimination and indefatigable energy.
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
In 1901 Mr. Stetzel was united in marriage to Miss Pearl McWilliams, who won the degree of Bachelor of Science from the Iowa State College at Ames in 1898, graduating with first honors in a class of eighty-six. She followed the profession of teaching in Iowa for six or eight terms and for a number of years was connected with the Waterloo & Cedar Falls Union Mill Company. Mr. and Mrs. Stetzel are members of the First Presbyterian church, in the work of which they have taken an active and helpful part, doing everything in their power to advance the growth of the church and extend its influence.
Mr. Stetzel has served on the board of trustees and for a number of years was a teacher of the women's Bible class. He is also an exemplary representative of Masonry, in which he has attained the Knight Templar degree, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft, which recognizes the brotherhood of man. He belongs to that class who are constantly pushing forward the wheels of progress. Opportunity constantly plays before the dreamer as a will-of-the- wisp, but surrenders its prizes to the man of determination, energy and sound judgment. It is not by reason of any unusual qualities that Mr. Stetzel has worked his way upward but through the utilization of opportunities which others have passed heedlessly by. Industry has ever been his watchword and has led him constantly forward to the goal of success.
HOMER HORATIO SEERLEY, LL. D.
Dr. Homer Horatio Seerley, president of the Iowa State Teachers College at Cedar Falls, is one of the well known educators of the country, having long been prominently associated with the Iowa State Teachers Association and the National Educational Association. Moreover he has been honored with election to membership in the National Council of Education, which numbers but one hundred and twenty representatives. Life is to him purposeful and his efforts are resultant, and various improvements in methods of teaching are directly traceable to his initiative and his labors, his influence being especially felt in the schools of Iowa.
Dr. Seerley was born near Indianapolis, Indiana, August 13, 1848, a son of Thomas and Louisa Ann (Smith) Seerley. The father, who was born in Mary- land in 1821, was a representative of one of the families who colonized Maryland under the direction of Lord Baltimore. The mother, who was born in Liberty, Indiana, in 1826, was a member of a family of Rockingham county, Virginia. Thomas Seerley went to Indiana by way of Pennsylvania when the city of Indian- apolis was a village and there he was united in marriage to Louisa Ann Smith, who accompanied her parents on their removal to Indiana's capital. Thomas Seerley devoted his life to the occupation of farming. In 1852 he removed with his family to Stark county, Illinois, and in 1854 went to Keokuk county, Iowa.
Homer H. Seerley was but six years of age when the family arrived in this state, his childhood days being spent upon a farm near South English. His father, a pioneer settler of the state, engaged in teaching school through the winter months and also aided in the erection of schoolhouses and churches and in making other public improvements in the district in which he lived. The summer seasons were
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HOMER H. SEERLEY, LL. D.
ASTON, LI IX
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HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
devoted to farming to the time of his retirement from active life, when he removed to Iowa City, there passing away in 1904. He never held a public office, save local positions such as a member of the school board and justice of the peace. He served, however, as an officer in the church and in the Masonic lodge acted as master of Naphthali Lodge, F. & A. M., at South English, Iowa, for twelve years. His widow survived him for a decade, passing away in Iowa City in 1914.
Following the removal of the family to Iowa Dr. Seerley became a pupil in the country schools, which he attended from 1854 until 1866. His secondary edu- cation was received in the preparatory department of the State University at Iowa City, which he entered as a freshman in 1869 and from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Philosophy degree in the class of 1873. He received the degree of Bachelor of Didactics from the university in 1875, the Master's degree in 1876 and the degree of Doctor of Laws in 1901, the honorary degrees being conferred upon him in recognition of the high position to which he had attained in educational circles and his valuable contributions to the world's work along that line. Early in his professional career he became a high-school teacher in Oskaloosa, Iowa, accepting the position there in 1873. He had previously taught in the country schools for three years before completing his college course. He was made high-school principal at Oskaloosa in 1874 and the following year was chosen superintendent of the city schools there, remaining in that capacity until 1886, when he was called to the presidency of the State Normal School at Cedar Falls and has since been retained as the incumbent in that position, covering a period of twenty-eight years. His power and ability have increased through the exercise of effort and his activities have reached out in a constantly broadening circle until he has left an indelible impress upon educational progress. He has been a member of the Iowa State Teachers Association since 1873 and in all the intervening years has never failed to attend its meetings. He is a member of its executive committee and was president in 1884. He has been a member of the National Educational Association since 1876 and in 1898 was made president of the Department of Normal Schools. In 1891 he became a member of the National Council of Education, a position of honor and distinction, inasmuch as the organization has but one hundred and twenty members in the United States. He is acquainted with many of the most eminent educators of America, who recognize in him a peer and one whose contributions to the profession have been of marked value. Since its organization he has been a member of the Board of Simplified Spelling of New York.
In 1878 Dr. Seerley was united in marriage to Miss Clara E. Twaddle, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, and to them have been born the following named: Dr. Clement C., of Manhattan, Montana; Mrs. Claude E. Culley, of Waterloo, Iowa; and Mrs. Atherton B. Clarke, of Cedar Rapids.
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