USA > Iowa > Boone County > History of Boone County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 43
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Dewey Clarke Harmon was a youth of ten years when the family came to Boone. He well remembers the journey, which was made in covered wagons drawn by horses. They were more than four weeks along the way and crossed the Mississippi river at Rock Island-the boat which took them across being the first steamboat that Dewey C. Harmon and his brother were ever on. After the family home was established in this county he was sent to the public schools in Jackson township, but was the only help his father had and necessity made it imperative that he remain at home much of the time in order to assist in the development of the fields. It was only a few years after the arrival of the family in this county that he plowed the land with ox teams upon which Boone now stands. He worked for ten cents per day in pioneer times and drove an ox team in hauling saw logs for twenty-five cents per day. In the employ of Dr. Mosier of Boone he received a wage of two dollars and a half per month. His youth was largely a period of earnest and unremitting toil, and industry has
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been the basis of his success. There are few important points connected with the history of the county with which he is not familiar and facts which others know only by hearsay have concerned incidents which he has witnessed and in which he has participated.
On the 4th of April, 1876, Mr. Harmon was united in marriage to Miss Lydia Ingalls Thompson, the marriage ceremony being performed in Jackson township by the Rev. Boggs, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. Her parents were Thomas Ingalls and Lydia Phillips ( Brown) Thompson. Mrs. Harmon was born in Marblehead, Essex county, Massachusetts, April 4, 1852, and is one of five children, the others being: Charles Edmund, who married Augusta Behling and is a resident farmer of Jackson township; Thomas Ingalls, also living in Jackson township; Fremont, deceased : and William Henry, who resides near Altoona, Kansas. Charles Thompson, the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Harmon, was likewise a native of Marblehead, Massachusetts, and was a son of John Thompson, who served in the Revolutionary war. He and his wife Margaret reared a family which included Charles Thompson. who, possessing the military spirit of his father, defended the United States in the second war with England. He married Betsey Ingalls and their son, Thomas Ingalls, became the father of Mrs. Harmon. To Mr. and Mrs. Harmon have been born three children : May Lois, who was born in July. 1877, and died in December, 1878; Rosa Frances, who was born December 15. 1878, and after completing her education in the public schools became the wife of Frank E. Johnson of Jackson township, by whom she has one son, Walter Harmon ; and Lydia Caroline, who was born October 11. 1883, and married Simon Frances Mygren, now of Boone, by whom she had one child, Harmon F., who died in infancy.
In political views Mr. Harmon is a republican, thoroughly in sympathy with the principles of the party. He became a supporter of the party in its early history, casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He has held minor township offices, but has never been a politician in the usually accepted sense of the term, although he is never remiss in the duties of citizenship and cooperates in all movements for the public good. He and his wife are members of the Universalist church, and in that organization and throughout the entire community they have many friends.
FRED A. CASOTTI.
Fred A. Casotti is the present postmaster at Fraser, where he is also engaged in the manufacture of candies. He is a young business man, energetic and enter- prising, and is building up a good trade. He was born March 9. 1884, in Monteric- co. Reggio-Emilia, Italy, and acquired a common-school education in that land while spending his boyhood days in the home of his parents, Joachin and Margaret (Ferrari) Casotti, who are farming people and still reside in Italy. In their family were four sons and four daughters.
Fred A. Casotti spent the first seventeen years of his life in his native country and then, hoping to have better business opportunities in the new world, sailed for the United States in 1901, making his way direct to Fraser, where he has
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since made his home. He first engaged in mining coal and was thus employed for seven years. He then purchased a candy kitchen and building from Peter Sinclair, this step being made possible by the fact that he had carefully saved his earnings in his former connection, and since 1908 he has thus carried on business on his own account. He manufactures high grade candies, and his business is reaching extensive and gratifying proportions, indicating his careful manage- ment and business enterprise, as well as the excellence of his product.
On the 19th of January, 1913, Mr. Casotti was appointed postmaster of Fraser by President Taft. At the time of his appointment he was serving as treasurer of the municipality. In politics he is independent, voting rather as his judgment dictates instead of according to party ties. He belongs to the Catholic church, and he holds membership with the Improved Order of Red Men at Fraser. He is also a member of the National Travelers' Benefit Association of Des Moines, Iowa. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for here he has found the opportunities which he has sought, and in this connection he has gradually worked his way upward. He may truly be called a self-made man, and he deserves much credit for what he has accomplished. He is still a young man and undoubtedly the future has in store for him still larger successes.
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PHILIP II. EVERSOLL.
Philip H. Eversoll is the owner of one hundred acres of choice land in Cass township, his farm being situated on section 9. He does not personally cultivate the fields, but leases his land and derives therefrom a substantial annual income. He is a native of Illinois, born April 18, 1861. His father, Joshua Eversoll, was born in Delaware county, Ohio, and in 1865 brought his family to Boone county, Iowa, settling upon a farm in Cass township. He had first visited the township in 1854, making the overland trip, after which he returned to Illinois, where he continued to reside for eleven years longer. He was one of the first school teachers not only of Cass township but of Boone county. In early man- hood he wedded Melissa Benjamin, who was also a native of Ohio, the wedding being celebrated at Elk Rapids, Boone county, the ceremony being performed by a Mr. Wheeler, who was one of the pioneer justices of the peace of the county. Following their marriage they took up their abode in Illinois and then in 1865 returned to Boone county, where they continued to make their home until called to their final rest. In their family were four sons: Silas A., who is now living in Taney county, Missouri; Philip H., of this review ; Marion E., whose home is in Cass township; and A. W., who is living in Arkansas. The youngest was born in Cass township, the three others in Illinois. All, however, were reared in this county and attended the common schools of the community. The family was established in Boone county in pioneer times, shared in the hardships of pioneer life and in the work of progress and development repre- sentatives of the name have borne their full part.
Philip H. Eversoll was but four years of age when his parents came to Iowa, and upon the home farm in Cass township he was reared amid the usual experi-
PHILIP H. EVERSOLL
MRS. PHILIP' H. EVERSOLL
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ences that fall to the lot of the farm lad. When a young man he learned the carpenter's trade and followed it until about thirty years of age. He afterward concentrated his energies upon agricultural pursuits and carefully and wisely developed and cultivated his farm. He has now turned over the active work to others and from his tract of one hundred acres of choice land on section 9, Cass township, he derives a substantial annual rental. He still lives on the old home place and has a well furnished and attractive residence. In it is to be found an interesting old relic in the form of a razor that was purchased by his grandfather at Harper's Ferry in 1805 and which is still used by Philip H. Eversoll.
In Cass township, on the Ist of January, 1889, Mr. Eversoll was united in marriage to Miss Cordelia Powell, who was born in Cass township, April 4, 1870, and was reared to womanhood there. She attended the public schools and has always been a resident of this county, representing one of its old pioneer families, her parents being J. W. and Nancy A. ( Meeker ) Powell, in whose family were five children, four of whom are yet living. Cora, the eldest, has passed away. The others are: Mrs. Dora Lane, now residing in Nebraska; Mrs. Eversoll ; Dow, who is located in Spokane, Washington; and Mrs. Luella Johnson, now of Lincoln, Nebraska. All of the children were born, reared and educated in Cass township.
In politics Mr. Eversoll is a republican and has served as constable of Cass township, but otherwise has never sought nor desired public office, preferring to concentrate his attention upon his business affairs. For almost a half century he has lived in this county and has been an interested witness of its progress and development, watching the changes which have brought it from pioneer condi- tions to its present state of prosperity and progress.
FRED W. FITCH.
Fred W. Fitch is prominently connected, as the head of the F. W. Fitch Com- pany, with one of the most extensive and important productive industries of Boone. None question his ability, for this has been demonstrated in the estab- lishment and promotion of the business of which he is the head. He is a man of determined purpose, forceful and resourceful, and he carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes.
His birth occurred in Webster county, lowa, in 1870, his father being Dr. L. H. C. Fitch, a pioneer physician of Iowa, who was born in Massachusetts and was a son of Lucius Fitch, the founder of the town of Fitchburg in that state. It was there that Dr. Fitch was born in 1808, and in that city he was reared and educated. He practiced medicine throughout his entire life after qualifying for the profession, and about 1845 he came to Boone county, casting in his lot with its pioneer settlers. He had previously arrived in the state in the '30s. He was one of the first to engage in the practice of medicine in Boone county. While living in Benton county there occurred the birth of his son John. This was at a period long before the admission of the state to the union or even before the organization of the territory of Iowa, which was then a part of the territory of Wisconsin. After coming to Boone county Dr. Fitch resided near Ridgeport
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from 1845 until 1872 and his practice extended over Webster and Boone counties. He had diplomas from three medical colleges, one homeopathic and two regular schools. Moreover, he was a widely read man on general topics as well as upon questions of professional interest. He followed his profession at a time when to do so required much personal self-sacrifice, as the pioneer physician was forced to take long rides through summer sun and winter cold over roads which were frequently almost impassable because of the heavy rains in spring and the deep. snows in the winter. On leaving this county in 1872 he went to Springfield, South Dakota, where he engaged in farming and remained until 1876, but he suffered heavy losses there, owing to the grasshopper plague, whereby his crops were destroyed. The family, including his wife and six children, the eldest then ten years of age, drove back to Boonesboro, while Dr. Fitch went to California, hoping to retrieve his lost possessions in that state. He died in Sacramento three years later-in 1879. His widow remained a resident of Boonesboro until her demise, which occurred August 16, 1910, when she was seventy-five years of age. She was Dr. Fitch's second wife. He was first married in the east and had two sons and two daughters by that union. John, now seventy-six years of age and a resident of Wichita, Kansas, was for many years a teacher and later became a farmer. Ed, now more than seventy years of age, is living upon the old home- stead near Springfield, South Dakota. Julia resides at Paso Robles or Hot Springs, California. Mrs. Harriet Buck is a resident of San Jose, California.
It was on the 22d of November, 1849, in Benton county, that Dr. Fitch wedded Miss Mary E. Epperson, who was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, May 19, 1835. They became the parents of thirteen children, of whom one died in infancy, and of the twelve who reached adult age six are still living: Mrs. Lnella L. Ells, of Platte, South Dakota; James F., a farmer residing in South Dakota : W. W., a contractor living in Des Moines ; Albert W., a resident farmer of Nebraska; Allie, who follows farming in Boone county, Iowa ; and Fred W.
The last named was the eleventh in order of birth in the family. From eight years of age he has largely been dependent upon his own resources, and at the age of fifteen he took upon himself the responsibility of providing for his mother's support, which he did for many years. During the first five years after he started out lie worked for his board and clothing and later was paid a wage of eleven dollars per month. During the winter seasons he would attend the public schools and in the summer months worked at farm labor until nineteen years of age. He then learned the barber's trade in Boone and followed it until thirty years of age, during which period he carefully saved his earnings until he had a sum sufficient to enable him to embark in business on his own account on a small scale.
He began the manufacture of toilet articles and preparations and is now widely known for the variety as well as for the excellence of the products which he manufactures. Among these are the Fitch Ideal Dandruff Remover and the Fitch Ideal Shampoo Soap. The Fitch Ideal Shampoo Soap and Tonique Superbe. a hair dressing, were both awarded the gold medal and grand prize at the Paris Exposition in 1911, and at the London Exposition in 1913. He is known also for his various facial creams, including vanishing creams, Ideal Cold Cream, Toilet Finishing Cream and others. He manufactures various kinds of toilet waters, "each a gem of the perfumer's art," and among his important and popular products
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are his perfumes which include fifteen different varieties known as Apple Blos- som, Aviation, Debut, Florella, Golden Girl, Irillis, Lilac Royal, Love's Joy, May Bouquet, Meadow Pink, Princess Grand, Rainbow, Rose Adore, Valley Lily and Violet. Recently he has put some new articles upon the market, including Cocoa Butter Cream, rouge and face powder. In 1900 Mr. Fitch began to sell his products to the wholesale trade, and the business has grown with gratifying rapid- ity. During the past five years he has occupied his present building, which is forty-five by one hundred feet, three stories in height and basement. There are about thirty people employed in the factory, together with fifteen traveling representatives, who cover the United States thoroughly in the interests of the trade and also sell in other parts of the world. The company manufactures thirty articles under its own name besides manufacturing such goods as creanis, per- fumes and toilet waters, etc., for other firms, labeled with their respective names. During the past fourteen years he has devoted his entire attention to the develop- ment and upbuilding of this business. His first trip as a salesman was made in the fall of 1900 and thus he took the initial step in the spread and growth of the business which has now assumed extensive proportions. He has practically bor- rowed no capital, has always discounted his bills by making payment before due and has carried his interests on along progressive lines, making his one of the important industries of the city. His sales now amount to about two hundred thousand dollars per year. The sale of the dandruff cure exceeds more than twice all other preparations for the barber trade. In addition to his manufacturing interests, Mr. Fitch is a director in the Boone National Bank and has stock in the Monarch Manufacturing Company and the Boone Brick, Tile & Paving Com- pany. He is also connected with the Peace River Land and Development Com- pany, owners of land in Florida and elsewhere.
Mr. Fitch was married in Boone to Miss Lettie Williams, who has resided in this city for the past quarter of a century or more. They have four children : Gail, sixteen years of age, attending the high school; and Mildred, Lois and Lucius, all in school. Politically Mr. Fitch is a republican, and socially he is con- nected with the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, while both he and his wife are members of the Eastern Star. They are likewise members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are interested in many of those plans and projects which feature most largely in the upbuilding and progress of the city. Mr. Fitch is a man of intense business energy, as evidenced in the fact that he has developed his present business to its extensive proportions in the last fourteen years. What he undertakes he accomplishes, and as the years go by he is becoming more and more strongly felt as a potent factor in the progress and prosperity of Boone.
WILLIAM BRADFORD MEANS.
Prominent among the energetic, farsighted and successful business men of Boone is William Bradford Means, who is conducting a real-estate, loan, abstract and insurance business under the firm style of Means Brothers, with offices in the Mason building. The firm was organized in 1893 and through the interven-
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ing years to the present has conducted a gradually increasing business, its client- age being now an extensive and gratifying one. William B. Means is thoroughly conversant with the realty that is upon the market and has negotiated many im- portant property transfers.
A native of Illinois, he was born near Paris, on the 5th of February, 1846, and is a son of John C. Means, who was a farmer of Illinois and a prominent man of affairs in Edgar county, where he filled the office of sheriff and had other important connections with the public interests. In politics he was a stanch republican.
No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for William B. Means in his boyhood. He appreciated the value of a liberal educa- tion and entered Miami University, from which he was graduated in the class of 1869. A year later, when a young man of about twenty-four years, he came to Iowa and settled in Boonesboro. Having taken up the study of law, he was admitted to the bar and in the succeeding year entered into partnership with William R. Lawrence, who later was United States district judge at Muskogee, Oklahoma. Although Mr. Lawrence was also a lawyer, their partnership was not formed for the practice of law but for the conduct of the Boone County Advocate, the name of which paper they afterward changed to the Boone County Republican, while at the present time it is known as the News-Republican. The partnership with Mr. Lawrence was continued for a brief period and Mr. Means then became sole proprietor of the paper. For a time, however, he was in part- nership with Andrew J. Downing in the publication of the paper, with which he was continuously associated for fourteen years. In the meantime he had become connected with the real-estate, loan, abstract and insurance business, and in 1893 he was joined by his brother Thomas E. Means in a partnership that has since existed under the firm style of Means Brothers. They now have a large client- age and their business in its various departments is proving very profitable. Mr. Means is regarded as an expert valuator of property and is familiar with every phase of the real-estate business, knowing exactly what is upon the market and at what price it can probably be obtained.
At different times Mr. Means has divided his time with political duties. In 1891 he became postmaster of Boone under President Harrison and filled that position for four years. He was then reappointed by President Mckinley for a term of four years and again by President Roosevelt, thus continuing to serve until January, 1906, or for a period of twelve years and three months. He systematized the work of the office, placing it upon a thoroughly business basis, and the promptness and fidelity with which he cared for the interests of the public made him a most efficient officer in that connection. He voted with the republican party until 1912, when he supported Roosevelt.
In 1872 Mr. Means was united in marriage to Miss Helen C. Dennison, a na- tive of Ohio and a daughter of N. W. Dennison, an early and prominent lawyer of Boonesboro, who was also an editor and early newspaper man here. He came to this section of the state in the early '50s and, while he engaged in the practice of law, he also devoted a number of years to journalistic interests. He died before the war, at the comparatively early age of thirty-six years, and the com- munity mourned the loss of one who had come to be looked upon as a most progressive and representative citizen. Mrs. Means was the only daughter in a
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family of three children, and both of her brothers died in early life, one passing away in infancy. The death of Mrs. Means occurred in Boone county in 1905. She was a consistent member of the Presbyterian church, to which her husband also belongs. She is survived by two sons and two daughters, while one child of the family has passed away. Those still living are: John C., who is in charge of the money order department of the postoffice at Boone; Mrs. G. M. Wood- ruff, of Mason City, Iowa ; William Edgar, also in the postoffice ; and Mary L., the wife of E. I. Hannum of Boone, who is a member of the dry-goods firm of J. H. Rickenberg & Company. Mr. Means has eight grandchildren. Today he is well known and under the firm name of Means Brothers is conducting a profitable business, which has gained him recognition as one of the leading and representa- tive business men of the county.
CHARLES T. T. MASON.
Charles T. T. Mason needs no introduction to the readers of this volume, for since his youthful days he has been identified with commercial interests in Boone county. Although now living retired, he was for many years a member of the firm of Mason Brothers, a name synonymous with business activity, enter- prise and integrity in this part of the state. He was a young man of twenty-two years when he arrived in Iowa in the year 1868. His birth occurred at Tamworth, New Hampshire, May 31, 1846, and his boyhood and youth were there passed. His educational opportunities were those accorded in the public schools, and his home training was of a nature that also assisted in qualifying him for active duties in later life. In 1868 he came to the west and while en route visited the convention at which General Grant was nominated for the presidency. His early business training was received in his father's store, in which he became familiar with progressive methods of merchandising, and throughout his entire career he kept in touch with the trend of commercial activity in modern times.
Mr. Mason first started in business at Moingona and in 1873 arrived in Boone. The firm of Mason Brothers was organized, his partner being Clinton S. Mason, and under the original firm name they continued in active business in Boone until September, 1910, when they sold out. They erected the Mason building at the corner of Eighth and Story streets, also the building for whole- sale purposes now occupied by the Fowa Dry Goods Company, save the first floor, which is utilized by other tenants. This is situated on Story, between Eighth and Ninth streets. While at different times the business has been of more varied scope, the brothers continued most of the time in the dry-goods line and built up an extensive trade in that connection. They were constantly obliged to in- crease their stock to meet the growing demands of their patronage. Everything that the market produced in the way of dry goods was to be had in their estab- lishment, representing the latest colors, designs and materials. Thus ready to serve the public, they were accorded an extensive trade and year after year their growing business brought them substantial returns. Of late years Charles T. T. Mason has lived largely retired but has devoted the necessary attention to the management of his business affairs and investments.
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In January, 1891, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Mason and Miss Alice M. Coleman of Boone, who was born in 1857 and died in April, 1894, at the comparatively early age of thirty-seven years. She was the daughter of Joseph Coleman, a pioneer of this section of the state. Later he removed westward to California, where he resided for a number of years, but finally returned to Boone, where his death occurred when he was about ninety years of age. He came to Iowa from Michigan, but was originally from New York, while his wife was a native of New England. They had but one son, who died while serving as a soldier in the Federal army during the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Mason became parents of one son, who passed away in infancy.
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