USA > Iowa > Black Hawk County > History of Black Hawk County, Iowa, and its people, Volume II > Part 36
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His wife had died on the 29th of February, 1864, leaving a little daughter, Sarah Ellen, then two years of age, who was placed in the care of her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Collins, and it was not until after leaving the army when he returned home, that Mr. Hoff first saw his daughter, as her birth occurred after he ieft for the front. She remembers distinctly the Indians com- ing to her grandmother's home, for such were pioneer conditions at that time. This daughter, Sarah Ellen, was born in Waterloo, was educated in the public schools and on the 26th of April, 1877, became the wife of John R. Hostetter, by whom she had one child, Guy R., who was born August 15, 1879. He attended
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the public schools, learned the machinist's trade and has married Amelia Peter- son. Mrs. Hostetter contracted a second marriage with Harry G. Ludden. For his second wife Mr. Hoff chose Harriet Malissa Baumgardner, with whom he long traveled life's journey most happily. She was a daughter of Jacob Baum- gardner, a farmer, and she died December 26, 1910, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which she was a devoted and earnest member.
Mr. Hoff followed farming in early manhood but in August, 1868, was appointed to the position of marshal of Waterloo, being the first occupant of that position. Much of his life has been devoted to public service. He was on the police force for nine years, was street commissioner for two years, was deputy sheriff for four years under W. W. Edginton, and was again marshal for five years. For fourteen years he filled the office of assistant city engineer. His iong continuance in public positions indicates how faithfully and promptly he must have discharged his duties else he would not have been continued therein. Abraham Lincoln said: "You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." This is the safeguard of the American public in regard to office holding. An unworthy man may obtain a position, but his incapability or infidelity wili at length come to life and he will receive public censure. That Mr. Hoff was so long in office is an indication of his trustworthiness and ability. He has ever been an interested witness of the growth and progress of Waterloo, which he has seen advance from a tiny village of one hundred and eight houses to its present size and importance, and he has been associated with many events which have marked its progress and he can relate many interesting incidents of the early days and of points which feature in the upbuilding of the city.
C. F. GREEN.
For the past eighteen years C. F. Green has acted as general agent of the Aetna Life Insurance Company for the state of Iowa, representing the accident and health departments and maintaining offices at Nos. 204 and 205 Commercial Bank building in Waterloo. His birth occurred at Troy Hills, New Jersey, on the 17th of June. 1847, his parents being Benjamin B. and Hannah (Righler) Green, who spent their entire lives in Morris county, that state. The father operated both a flour mill and sawmill until the time of his retirement from active business iife. His family numbered three sons and two daughters.
C. F. Green, the youngest and only surviving member of his father's family, attended the schools of his native state in the acquirement of an education. In 1868, when a young man of twenty-one, he came west to Iowa, arriving at Waterloo in June of that year. For one year he remained on a farm with a cousin and then went to Princeton, Illinois, while subsequently he removed to Walnut, that state, where for a few years he conducted a general store in association with Isaac Kelly. In 1873 he returned to Black Hawk county, pur- chased a farm in Poyner township and successfully carried on general agricul- tural pursuits until 1877. In December of the latter year he entered the mail service, continuing therein until July 26, 1886, when he became identified with
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the insurance business, with which he has been connected continuously to the present time. On the 10th of January, 1897, he was appointed general agent for the Aetna Life Insurance Company and has since acted for the same in the state of Iowa, bringing the work up to a high standard and proving a valued and able representative of the company. He owns considerable resi- dence property and resides in a handsome home in Waterloo.
At Princeton, Illinois, Mr. Green was united in marriage to Miss Louisa A. Bunn, a native of Peoria, Illinois, and a daughter of Peter Bunn, who passed away in the Prairie state. Mr. and Mrs. Green have six children, three sons and three daughters, as follows: B. F. is engaged in the automobile business at Decatur, Illinois; George B., engaged in the insurance business in association with his father, is married and has three children, Maxine, Edwin and Louise ; C. R. is also associated with his father in the insurance business; Nellie N., a high-school graduate, is at home; Susie L. gave her hand in marriage to Floyd McRae, of Kansas City, Missouri; and Mrs. Hannah M. Couch, a widow, lives with her father and has two children, Margaret and George R.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Presbyterian church. Well known in the county where he has so long resided, Mr. Green has won uniform trust and goodwill by reason of a life which in all of its phases has been straight- forward and honorable.
R. J. HOXIE.
Waterloo has developed with marvelous rapidity in the last decade and has become an important industrial and commercial center. The spirit of progress and advancement is rife in its business circles and among the alert, energetic and progressive men of Waterloo is numbered R. J. Hoxie, the secretary and man- ager of the Waterloo Fruit & Commission Company. His birth occurred in Barclay township, Black Hawk county, on the Ist of April, 1879, his parents being Hiram B. and Ruth (Pierce) Hoxie, both of whom are natives of central New York. They were married, however, at Mount Carroll, Illinois, while on their way to Black Hawk county, Iowa. After reaching his destination Hiram B. Hoxie purchased a farm in Barclay township and devoted his energies to gen- eral agricultural pursuits for a number of years, remaining upon that property until 1888, when he was elected to the office of county sheriff and removed to Waterloo, where he has since resided. He continued to occupy that position for four terms, his capability and loyalty, manifest in the prompt and fearless manner in which he discharged his duties, leading to his election again and again. Subsequently he became associated with the Waterloo Fruit & Com- mission Company as traveling buyer but during the past two years has lived retired, enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves.
R. J. Hoxie spent his boyhood and youth in his native county and supple- mented the work of the grammar grades in the public schools of Waterloo by a course in the East high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1897. Thus qualified for a business career, he began earning his living the following year as an employe of the Chicago Great Western Railroad Company,
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his position being a minor one. The following year he served as night call boy for the Illinois Central Railroad Company and in 1899, on the organization of the Waterloo Fruit & Commission Company, he entered its employ and gradu- ally worked his way upward from a humble position to that of secretary and general manager of the company, to which he was elected in January, 1913. He now acts in the dual capacity and is directing the interests of one of the important commercial enterprises of the city. He is thoroughly acquainted with every phase of the business, which he mastered in principle and detail as he worked his way upward. His administrative direction results in success and his executive control has brought about a careful systemization of the business that results in judicious purchases. profitable sales and economic management of every phase of the business.
In 1904 Mr. Hoxie was united in marriage to Miss Anna E. Artz, of Bur- lington. Iowa, by whom he has two children. John A. and R. Hiram. Mr. Hoxie is well known in fraternal circles as a member of Waterloo Lodge, No. 290. A. F. & A. M., and of the Knights of Pythias lodge. He also belongs to the Waterloo Commercial Club. `He and his wife are members of the Congre- gational church and their influence is always on the side of right and order, truth and justice. Mr. Hoxie is also interested in all those public affairs which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride and cooperates in every movement for the public good, although he has never been an office seeker. preferring to concen- trate his efforts rather upon his business affairs.
C. R. HUTCHESON.
The position of C. R. Hutcheson in business circles is somewhat unique in that he is president and manager of the Corn Publishing Company, publishing the only corn magazine in the world. Moreover, his enviable position in the regard of his fellow townsmen is largely indicated in the fact that he has been honored with the presidency of the Town Criers Club and is now the chief executive of that organization.
Mr. Hutcheson is a native of Cedar county, Iowa, and in the pursuit of his education was graduated from the high school at Springdale, after which he entered Ames College and completed a course in the agricultural department by graduation with the class of 1912. When at Ames he was manager of the col- lege publication and thus made his initial step toward the work in which he is now engaged. He came to Waterloo in January, 1912, and in partnership with two others established the Corn Magazine. Since that time, however, he has bought out the interests of his partners and is now conducting the only publica- tion of the kind in the world. He is a student of the signs of the times in rela- tion to the field covered by the Corn Magazine and he has made his publication of great value to those who wish information along that line. Moreover, he is the president of the Hutcheson Realty Company, which owns and controls con- siderable property. He is a man of determined purpose, carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. His plans are carefully formu- lated and promptly executed and he possesses enlightened and broad-minded
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views. He recognizes specific needs along the distinctive line chosen for his life work and his has been an active career, in which he has accomplished important and far-reaching results.
Mr. Hutcheson is a contributing factor to the growth, development and progress of his city as is indicated in the fact that he is a member of the Cham- ber of Commerce and also of the Commercial Club and Board of Trade and cooperates heartily in the plans and projects put forth by those organizations for the benefit and upbuilding of the city and the extension of its business con- nections. He is likewise a member of the Waterloo Club and of the Town Criers Club, of which he is now the president. One who knows him well, speaking of him in the common parlance of the day said . "He is a live wire. What he attempts he will do and the doing is usually of significance to the city."
A. T. WHITTLE.
A. T. Whittle is engaged in the real-estate and insurance business in Waterloo. In former years he was identified with agricultural interests in Benton county but has retired from the work of the farm to concentrate his energies upon the business that now claims his attention. New England claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred in York, Maine, in 1868. He spent a portion of his youth in that section of the country and in 1883, when fifteen years of age, left the Pine Tree state for the middle west, settling first upon a farm near Vinton, Iowa. From that time forward until a period of two decades had been covered he was engaged in general agricultural pursuits and became the owner of a farm in Benton county. which he cultivated and improved until 1904, when he sold his land and removed to Waterloo, where he has since operated in the field of real estate and insurance. He confines his attention largely to specu- lative building, erecting dwellings for sale. He has thus built and sold forty- five different residences in three years and has added much to the development and improvement of the city. He studies the question of building from the standpoints of comfort, utility and beauty, and in his operations he has enhanced the fine appearance of the city through the class of buildings which he has erected. He also handles farm land beside city property and at all times he is the owner of much valuable acreage as well as a number of residences. His own home is one of the attractive places of Waterloo, pleasantly situated at the corner of Eleventh and Hawthorne streets.
In 1889 Mr. Whittle was united in marriage to Miss Louie E. Williamson, a native of Harrisburg, Indiana, and a daughter of Daniel Williamson. She came to Iowa with her parents in 1870. To Mr. and Mrs. Whittle have been born nine children. Harold F., who was born in 1891, is a graduate of the Northwestern University of Chicago and is now assistant industrial promoter of the Association of Commerce of Chicago. Gladys is also a graduate of the Northwestern University and is now principal of the school of Coggon, Iowa, where she is teaching Latin and German. Glenn C. is a student in the North- western University. Lucile is attending school and expects to graduate from the high school of Waterloo with the class of 1915. Elizabeth, Doris, A. T., Jr.,
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and Helen are all pupils in the graded schools of Waterloo, and Darlyne Bryan completes the family.
Mr. Whittle and his family are of the United Brethren faith, holding mem- bership in the church in Waterloo. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and Odd Fellows and has passed through all the chairs in both organizations. His political allegiance is given the democratic party, and he is an active worker in its ranks, doing all in his power to further its growth and extend its influence, yet never seeking nor desiring public office. His has been an active and useful life and in the years of his residence in Black Hawk county he has won many friends who esteem him highly for his sterling personal worth.
JAMES T. CANNON.
James T. Cannon is engaged in the real-estate business at Waterloo and transacts a large volume of business each year. He was born at Chester, Iowa, on the 9th of August, 1874, a son of James and Eliza (Noonan) Cannon. His maternal grandmother lived to the very remarkable age of one hundred and eight years and his maternal grandfather lived to be eighty-five years old. Both Mr. and Mrs. James Cannon were born in County Clare, Ireland, but were married in this county. The former emigrated to America when seventeen years of age and located in Wisconsin, where he was employed upon the rivers, but subsequently emigrated to Iowa. In 1874 he went to Howard county, this state, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, upon' which he made his home until about 1895. He then removed to Cresco, Iowa, and is now living there, enjoying well deserved leisure, as he has retired from active business life. He is eighty years of age and his wife, who also survives, is seventy years old. They became the parents of twelve children: Harry, a physician and surgeon of St. Paul, Minnesota ; Edward, who is chief counsel for the Northern Pacific Railroad Company in the state of Washington and resides in Spokane; Mary, the wife of M. A. Montague, who is engaged in the real-estate business in Rice- ville, Iowa; Lydia, the wife of P. M. Daley, who is employed by the govern- ment at Washington, D. C .; John, who is assistant counsel for the Northern Pacific Railroad and resides at Spokane; Margaret, the wife of F. J. O'Rourke, a newspaper editor of Rockford, Illinois; George, who is general agent for a life insurance company and resides in Spokane; James T., of this review ; Mar- cella, the wife of Thomas Garrity, who resides in Valdez, Alaska, where he is serving as deputy United States marshal and also engaged in mining ; Theresa, a public-school nurse residing at St. Paul, Minnesota; Katherine, who is at home with her parents; and Michael, the ninth in order of birth, who died at the age of fourteen months.
James T. Cannon had but meager educational opportunities, but his native intelligence and habit of close observation have enabled him to acquire a good general knowledge. He remained upon the farm with his father until he attained his majority and then went west, being employed in a smelter in Ana- conda, Montana, until 1898. He then enlisted in Company K, First Montana Infantry, for service in the Spanish-American war and was with the colors in
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the Philippines. After being in the army for eighteen months he was mustered out at San Francisco and then went upon the road as a traveling salesman with headquarters at Chicago.
After spending about six years in that way Mr. Cannon entered the life insurance field. He came to Waterloo in 1910 and engaged in the real-estate business. He had previously spent three years with large real-estate concerns in the northwest, and this experience has proved of great value to him. He is manager of the James T. Cannon Land Company, which handles local lands, and realty in others parts of Iowa and in Minnesota and Dakota. He is an excellent judge of the value of a traet of land and as his business methods are up-to-date and efficient he derives a handsome income from his operations in real estate. He is also manager of a branch office of the Iowa Serum Company and devotes much time to his work in that connection.
Mr. Cannon was reared in the faith of the Roman Catholic church and has never departed therefrom. In politics he is a democrat. He has found the real-estate business congenial and well adapted to his talents and has been very successful in that line of activity. His integrity has never been questioned and his personal friends are many.
LOUIS J. LAURITZEN.
Louis J. Lauritzen is president of the Lauritzen Construction Company, Incorporated, and of Lauritzen & Wasson, Incorporated, building contractors of Waterloo. His is the record of a strenuous life-the record of a strong individuality, sure of itself, stable in purpose, quick in perception, swift in decision and energetic and persistent in action.
A native of Denmark, Mr. Lauritzen was born on the 8th of September, 1867, and is a son of Anders and Johane (Johansen) Lauritzen, both of whom died in Denmark. In the public schools of his native country the son acquired his education and in 1886, when nineteen years of age, bade adieu to friends and native land and sailed for the new world. He made his way first to Man- kato, Minnesota. He had previously learned something of the bricklayer's trade under the direction of his father, who, however, desired his son to become a farmer; but the work of tilling the soil was not congenial to him and after arriving in America he took up the bricklayer's trade, finding employment with Thomas Russell, in whose service he remained for three years. Subsequently he continued work at the brick-mason's trade in Minnesota and Wisconsin until 1894, when, in, company with his brother John, he engaged in the contracting business for himself at Fergus Falls, Minnesota, as a member of the firm of Lauritzen Brothers.
In 1904 he came to Waterloo and the partnership between the two brothers was continued for two years thereafter. In 1906, however, their business con- nection was dissolved and Louis J. Lauritzen conducted his interests inde- pendently for five years. In 1911 he entered into partnership with Charles Was- son and the firm of Lauritzen & Wasson was incorporated, with Mr. Lauritzen as president of the company. In May, 1914, he was the organizer of the Laurit-
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zen Construction Company, of which he was also made president. The two corporations are separate and distinct and both are operative, conducting good business. Mr. Lauritzen decided to locate in Waterloo through receiving the contract for the building of the postoffice in this city. After the completion of this important contract he saw a future for himself in his field of labor here and determined to make Waterloo his permanent abode. Since that time many buildings have been erected by him independently or as a member of the two companies with which he is now associated. These include the John Fisk school, the Mckinley school, the Emerson school, the Home Park school, the Congre- gational church, the First Methodist Episcopal church, the Grace Methodist Episcopal church, which is the finest and largest church edifice in the state, the Hildebrandt flats and the Goodrich flats. He also built two infirmary hospitals for the state, one at Independence and one at Cherokee, lowa, the First Meth- odist Episcopal church at Muscatine, the Central Presbyterian church at Rock Island, Illinois, the United Presbyterian church at Winfield, Iowa, the United Presbyterian church at Traer, the high school at Manchester, the O'Brien County Home at Primghar, and at the present time the Lauritzen Construction Company is building the Rose Hill school in Waterloo and the high school building at Colesburg, Iowa. No further evidence need be given of the fact that Mr. Lauritzen stands as one of the leading contractors in his section of the state, so many and important have been the contracts which have been awarded him.
In 1891, at Fergus Falls, Minnesota, Mr. Lauritzen was joined in wedlock to Miss Marie Hanson, who is a native of Schleswig-Holstein, and came to the United States in 1888. They now have three daughters, namely: Mamie, Agnes and Georgie.
Fraternally Mr. Lauritzen is identified with the following organizations: Waterloo Lodge, No. 105, A. F. & A. M .; Fergus Falls Chapter, R. A. M .; and Helmet Lodge, No. S9, K. P., of Waterloo. Mrs. Lauritzen is a member of the Christian Science church. Mr. Lauritzen exercises his right of franchise in support of the inen and measures of the republican party, but while he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day and is ever ready to sup- port his position by intelligent argument, he does not seek nor desire office. His business affairs make full demand upon his time and energies, and he has made steady advancement, becoming a prominent figure in industrial circles yet without allowing personal interest or ambition to dwarf his public spirit or activities.
W. E. ROBINSON.
W. E. Robinson is secretary and treasurer of the Headford Brothers & Hitchins Foundry Company of Waterloo. He became connected with this com- pany when a lad of but fifteen years and throughout the intervening period to the present time has gradually advanced until he has reached his present posi- tion. He was born in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1883 and pursued a public-school edu- cation to the age of fifteen years, when he entered the employ of the Headford
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Brothers & Hitchins Foundry Company at Dubuque. He has continued with the business for sixteen years and gradually has worked his way upward, advancement coming to him in recognition of his diligence, his determination and his sterling worth. For the past year he has been secretary and treasurer of the company and therefore has voice in its management and in shaping and directing its policy. In 1903 the plant was removed from Dubuque to Waterloo, where the business has since been continued. The foundry is well equipped with modern machinery and the output is most marketable, finding a ready sale by reason of the durability and excellence of the manufactured articles.
In 1909 Mr. Robinson was married to Miss Maude Brunk, of Des Moines, and they have two children, William Charles and Mary Elizabeth. The parents are members of the Central Christian church and Mr. Robinson is serving on the official board. He is a third degree Mason and in his life exemplifies the spirit of the craft and the teachings of the church, for he is ever loyal to the cause which he espouses. He is yet a young man but has already attained a position that many a one of twice his years might well envy and his salient characteristics are such as to make it an easy matter to prophesy further advance- ment in the future.
HARRY KRENSKY.
Harry Krensky, engaged in the grocery business at Waterloo, was born in the town of Austrine, Russia, May 25, 1874. He there attended school and when but a boy began to earn his own living. His father was a hotel keeper. The son left school at the age of fourteen and when sixteen years of age came to the United States with the intention of building up a business and assisting his parents at home. He sailed from Hamburg on the steamship Hannah and landed at New York, whence he went to Boston. There he found work as a clerk in the store of his uncle, R. Krensky, clerking without pay for a year and afterward receiving ten dollars per year. Later he drove a wagon for one year and at the end of that period bought a grocery store, which he conducted for a year. He then sold out and sccured employment in a tin shop. Still later he worked in a tailor shop, making ladies' waists, and in order to get along he shined shoes and did anything that would bring him in an honest dollar. He afterward engaged in bottling pop and in this way and that he struggled on, trying to gain a financial foothold. About that time his father came to the new world and with him Mr. Krensky went to New York, where he began clerking in a grocery store for five dollars per week, sleeping behind the counter. He worked his way upward until he was given a salary of ten dollars per week and, saving his earnings, he purchased a grocery store and also ran a bakery wagon, making as high as fifty dollars per week. He spent three years on the wagon and afterward entered the employ of the Fleischmann Yeast Company, represent- ing that concern as a salesman at a salary of twenty-five dollars per week. Still later he was employed in the wholesale grocery house of Francis H. Leggett as manager, continuing in that position for a year and a half. He was next con- nected with the Jersey Model Baking Company of Hoboken, New York.
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