History of Clayton County, Iowa : from the earliest historical times down to the present : including a genealogical and biographical record of many representative families, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information, Volume I, Part 65

Author: Price, Realto E
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago : Robert O. Law Co.
Number of Pages: 1009

USA > Iowa > Clayton County > History of Clayton County, Iowa : from the earliest historical times down to the present : including a genealogical and biographical record of many representative families, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information, Volume I > Part 65

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Alonzo M. Burlingame is the junior member of the ambitious and progressive firm of Tayek & Burlingame, which is engaged in the general merchandise business in the village of Froelich, with a well equipped store that gives effective service to the large patron- age drawn from the thriving section of the county normally tribu- tary to the village mentioned. He is a member of one of the well- known and highly esteemed families of Clayton county and is one of the loyal young men who has found in his native county ample opportunity for successful achievement. Mr. Burlingame was born at North McGregor, this county, on the 20th of January, 1892, and is a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Kostle) Burlingame, the for- mer of whom was born in the State of Massachusetts, and the latter of whom is a native of Bohemia, she having been a child at the time of her parents' immigration to America. Benjamin Burlingame has been a resident of Clayton county from boyhood and his parents were numbered among the sterling pioneers of this county. He was afforded the advantages of the public schools at McGregor and has been identified with agricultural pursuits during virtually his entire active career. Since 1895 he has owned and resided upon his well improved farm, in Giard township, and he is one of the popular and substantial citizens of that part of the county. He is

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BIOGRAPHICAL

a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor and his wife is an earnest com- municant of the Catholic church. Of their three children the eldest is Edward, who is now a resident of Helena, the capital city of the State of Montana; Marjorie is the wife of Jacob J. Tayek; and the subject of this sketch is the youngest of the number. After duly profiting by the advantages afforded in the district schools of his native township Alonzo M. Burlingame completed a course of high study in the high school at McGregor, besides which he was grad- uated in the celebrated Rasmussen Business College, in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, as a member of the class of 1911. This last discipline well equipped him for the handling of the practical details pertaining to the business with which he is now identified, as a member of the enterprising mercantile firm of Tayek & Burlingame, in which his coadjutor is his brother-in-law, Jacob J. Tayek, con- cerning whom individual mention is made on other pages of this work. Mr. Burlingame was married June 27, 1916, to Miss Mattie Fett, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fett, prominent farming people of Watson, Iowa; he is aligned in the ranks of the Demo- cratic party and is a communicant of the Catholic church, in the faith of which he was reared.

William J. Byrnes is a popular bachelor, a progressive farmer and a substantial business man of his native county, and he is the owner of the fine old homestead farm on which he was born and reared; the gracious home circle includes also his venerable and revered mother and his sisters, Mary and Eunice. After the death of his honored father Mr. Byrnes assumed the active management of the home place, which comprised two hundred and forty acres, and by his ability and enterprise he has since added to his landed estate until he is now the owner of a finely improved property of five hundred acres, in Sperry and Cox Creek townships. The old homestead is in Sperry township and here he was born on the 20th of February, 1860, a date that indicates conclusively that his parents were numbered among the pioneer settlers of that part of Clayton county. He is a son of James and Margaret (McTaggart) Byrnes, both of whom were born in Ireland-members of fine old families of the fair Emerald Isle. As a young man James Byrnes came to the United States and established his residence in the city of Boston, where he found employment in a rolling mill, he having learned the trade of iron and steel rolling in his youth. About the year 1856 he numbered himself among the pioneers of Clayton county, Iowa, and here he achieved large and worthy success in connection with the basic industry of agriculture. He continued his residence on the old homestead until his death, which occurred July 20, 1896, and he was a man whose sterling character and worthy achievement gained and retained to him the confidence and good will of his fellow men. His political support was given to the Democratic party and he was an earnest communicant of the Catholic church, as are also his widow and their children. Of the children the eldest is Sarah, who is the wife of Daniel Thyne, of Doon, Lyon county; Mary remains with the family that now

MEMOIRS OF CLAYTON COUNTY

occupies a modern home in Strawberry Point; John passed to the life eternal on the 13th of January, 1895; the subject of this sketch was the next in order of birth; Eunice is a member of the old home circle; Catherine is the wife of Timothy C. Glennon, of Strawberry Point; and James died in the year 1880. William J. Byrnes is indebted to the schools of his native county for the early educa- tional discipline of which he made good use, and he gained in his boyhood and youth the fullest meed of experience in connection with the work of the farm, of which he assumed the management after the death of his father, as previously stated in this context. In addition to his successful operations as an extensive agriculturist and stock-grower he now conducts a substantial and prosperous business as a buyer and shipper of live stock with Strawberry Point as his business headquarters. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party and he has served as trustee of his native township. He is an active communicant of the Catholic church and is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Mod- ern Woodman of America.

Arthur Jones Carpenter, cashier of the First National Bank of Elkader, Iowa, is a native of the Hawkeye state, having been born in Buchanan county, June 16, 1871, and is the son of L. D. and Mary (Andrews) Carpenter, the former a native of Trenton Falls, New York, and the latter of Boston, Massachusetts. They moved to Iowa where his father was an inventor and builder of tread-power mills, in Arlington, Iowa. He died February 19, 1887, but the mother still survives, and is a resident of Fayette, Iowa. To their marriage four children were born, the first two of whom were twins: Charles R., cashier of the Fayette State Bank, and Carrie, who is the wife of A. E. Whitney also of Fayette; Arthur was the third child; and David died in childhood. Arthur Carpenter received his higher education in the University of Fayette, where he spent three years in pursuit of his studies. On leaving college, he learned the moulders' trade, abandoning that work at the end of one year, to take up the profession of school teaching. After one winter in the school room, he filled positions in the Arlington and Fayette Banks for two years, but in 1893 resigned to go to Elkader as bookkeeper in the newspaper offices of the Register and Argus. At the close of a year's study in stenography, he returned to Elkader, Iowa, where he entered the law offices of R. E. and V. T. Price and James E. Corlett. Having proven abilities of a high order in the various vocations, he was elected cashier of the National Bank of Elkader, in 1898, the duties of which position of trust he is still discharging with such efficiency and integrity that he has been chosen chairman of the Northeastern Bankers' Association-Group No. 4. He is an earnest and energetic political worker in the Republican party, having served as chairman of the Central Republican Committee, and now acting as its treasurer. He has also filled minor county offices, and in his life of varied and engrossing interests has found time to give consideration to the educational affairs of his commun- ity, serving as school treasurer for many years. In Masonic circles he is a prominent figure, being a member and one time master of

BIOGRAPHICAL

she came with her parents to the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Christianson have no children.

Julius Christoleit has effectively demonstrated his energy and ambitious purpose during the period of his residence in Clayton county, for he came here about twenty years ago and set himself vigorously to the winning of independence and prosperity through his own endeavors. That he is successful needs no further voucher than the statement that he is now the owner of one of the well improved and valuable farms of this county and that he stands exponent of civic and industrial loyalty and progressiveness, with deep and abiding appreciation of the opportunities that have been afforded to him in the land of his adoption. Mr. Christoleit was born in Germany, on the 8th of May, 1866, and is a son of Charles and Rosa Christoleit, who passed their entire lives in their Father- land, and of whose nine children only three are now living. Julius Christoleit was reared and educated in his native land, and there was solemnized his marriage to Miss Amelia Suttkous, who, with their two children, accompanied him on his immigration to the United States, in 1895. Soon after his arrival in America Mr. Christoleit came with his family to Clayton county, where he found employment by the month as a farm hand until he purchased his present well improved farm, which is situated in section 2, Sperry township and which comprises three hundred and twelve acres. He has erected a modern house and other buildings on the place and is known as one of the substantial and enterprising agricul- turists and stock-raisers of the county, in which he arrived with a cash capital of only twenty dollars and in which he has won advancement to his present secure position of independence and generous prosperity. He and his wife became the parents of eight children, of whom six were born after the removal to America. Charles is deceased ; Frederick C. and William H. assist in the work and management of the home farm; Pauline is now in the State of Wisconsin; Anna and Gustave remain at the parental home; Emma is deceased; and Julius, Jr., is the youngest member of the home circle.

Ethan S. Clark is the owner of one of the excellent farms of Highland township and in his native county has won for himself a secure position of success and prosperity through his own well ordered efforts and progressive policies. Mr. Clark was born at National, this county, on the 9th of September, 1880, and is a son of James P. and Mary (Thompson) Clark, both of whom were born in the state of New York. James P. Clark came to Clayton county when he was a young man and here he was actively identi- fied with agricultural industry until the time of his death. His marriage was solemnized in this county and his widow now resides in the home of their son Ethan S., of this review, who was the sixth in order of birth in a family of seven children. Annie, the eldest of the children, is the wife of George Swift, of Washington; Myrtle is the wife of William Hawley, of Charles City, Iowa ; Frank is now a resident of Santa Ana, California; Gaylord and Victor are deceased; Ethan S. was the next child; and the youngest is

MEMOIRS OF CLAYTON COUNTY

Earl, who is now a resident of Gillespie, Illinois. Ethan S. Clark gained his early education in the schools of his native county and of Drakt University at Des Moines, of which he is an alumnus of the Commercial Department, and also of Fayette University, Illi- nois. He began to depend largely upon his own resources when he was a lad of twelve years. He found employment at farm work for a term of years, and in the meantime he developed exceptional ability as a ball-player, with the result that he was drawn into the national game in a professional way. In 1901-2 he was a suc- cessful player in the Kentucky and Illinois Baseball League, and after his retirement from this line of activity he resumed his asso- ciation with agricultural pursuits. He continued to work on the farms of other agriculturists until 1912, when he purchased his present farm of one hundred and twenty acres, in section 35, High- land township, where he has since continued with marked vigor and progressiveness his operations as an agriculturist and stock- grower, his home receiving service on one of the rural mail routes from the village of Volga. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he is now serving effectively in the office of township trustee, his incumbency of which fully attests his popu- larity in the community. He is affiliated with the Modern Wood- men of America, and his wife holds membership in the Order of the Eastern Star and the Royal Neighbors. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church. On the 7th of October, 1903, Mr. Clark wedded Miss Edith Susie, who was born and reared in Clayton county and who was a successful and popular teacher in the public schools during a period of five years prior to her marriage. She is a daughter of William and Margaret (Scra- der) Susie, who were born in Germany, and her mother is an hon- ored pioneer citizen residing at Volga, this county, her father dying April 19, 1916. William J., their eldest son, resides at Volga ; Mrs. Clark was the next in order of birth; Jennie is a teacher in the village schools at Volga; Frederick is engaged in the poultry and grain business at Volga; and Marian is the wife of Clarence Voshell, of that village. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have but one child, Frederick Carroll, who was born July 16, 1904, who is now attending the public school at Volga.

Henry H. Clark, M. D .- A man of the character and ability of Dr. Clark was not made for obscurity and the circumstances of time and place have not been the makers but the instruments of his stewardship in the profession that he has signally honored and dig- nified by his long and effective services. He has the distinction of being the veritable dean of his profession in the State of Iowa at the time this publication is issued, and has maintained his home at McGregor, Clayton county, for nearly half a century-years marked by large and worthy achievement as a man of affairs and as one of the most able and influential physicians and surgeons of this favored section of the Hawkeye state. The doctor is one of the favored mortals whom nature launches into the world with the heritage of a sturdy ancestry, splendid physical powers, an alert and receptive mind, and energy enough for many men. Added to

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BIOGRAPHICAL

these attributes are exceptional intellectual attainments and the valued lessons of a wide and varied experience. Planted in a metropolis, such a man would have used his talents in competing with and uplifting his fellow men. Planted in a pioneer community he used them in developing the things the environment needed and has marked the course of his life by earnest and self-abnegating service in the alleviation of human suffering and distress. In his profession, to the exacting demands of which he has subordi- nated all else, he has manifested that true human sympathy which transcends mere emotion or sentiment to become an actuating motive for helpfulness. It is needless to say that he is honored and revered in the county in which he has accorded his unselfish and efficient professional ministrations for many years, and his benignant influence in community affairs in general has given him precedence as one of the essentially representative citizens of Clayton county, so that there is all of consistency in according to him special recognition in this history of the county. Dr. Clark was born in Centre county, Pennsylvania, on the 12th of October, 1842, and is a scion of sterling families that were early founded in the old Keystone state. He is a son of John and Helen (Wolf) Clark, who were born and reared in Pennsylvania and whose marriage was there solemnized in the year 1839. Both were natives of Union county, that state, and representatives of old and influential fami- lies of that section of the Keystone commonwealth. John Clark owned and operated a farm in his native state until about the year 1852, when he removed with his family to Illinois and became one of the early settlers of Stephenson county, where he purchased a tract of three hundred and twenty acres of land and developed one of the fine farms of that section of the state. To the management of his extensive landed estate he continued to give his active super- vision until 1870, after which he lived virtually retired until his death, which occurred in 1888, when he was about 75 years of age, the old homestead farm being placed in charge of his son James after he himself retired from the labors and responsibilities that had long engrossed his attention. His devoted and cherished wife passed to the life eternal at the age of 75 years, and concerning their children brief record may consistently be entered at this junc- ture : William went forth as a loyal and valiant soldier of the Union and when the Civil War was precipitated on the nation, and he sacrificed his life in the cause, as he was killed while participating in the historic siege of Vicksburg. He was a member of Battery L, Second Illinois Artillery, and his command was commonly known as Bolton's Battery. Dr. Henry H., the immediate subject of this review, was the next in order of birth. John S. is engaged in the real-estate business at Belvidere, Illinois, and is a prominent and influential figure in the affairs of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Illinois, in which the year 1916 finds him serving as chief examiner for the state organization. James B. is a prosperous retired farmer and maintains his home at Hampton, the judicial center of Franklin county, Iowa. Mary J., twin sister of James B., is the wife of Theron E. Heary, and they reside in the city of

MEMOIRS OF CLAYTON COUNTY

Dwight, Illinois. Dr. Henry H. Clark acquired his preliminary educational discipline in the common schools of his native state and was a youth of 12 years at the time of the family removal from Pennsylvania to Illinois, where he continued his studies in the schools of Stephenson county and later pursued high academic studies in Rock River Seminary, at Mount Morris, that state. With high ideals and ambitious purpose, he early formulated plans for his future career and determined to prepare himself for the medical profession. He finally entered the Chicago Medical College, in which he completed, with characteristic zeal and fidelity, the pre- scribed curriculum and in which he was graduated in the spring of 1870, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. It was thus given him to have left Chicago in the year prior to that which brought devastation to the city through the historic fire that swept the pres- ent great metropolis in 1871. After his graduation the doctor served the customary period as an interne in Mercy Hospital, still one of the leading hospitals of Chicago, and in this connection he gained most valuable clinical experience, besides receiving from the hospital a diploma which he prizes more than any other honor that has been bestowed upon him during the later years of a signally active and useful career. On the 10th of October, 1870, two days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday anniversary, Dr. Clark, an ambitious and well fortified young physician, established his resi- dence in the village of McGregor, Clayton county, Iowa, and here entered upon a professional novitiate that proved of short duration, for his ability and gracious personality soon gave him precedence as one of the successful and influential members of his profession in the county, where he has controlled during the long intervening years a specially extensive practice. In the early days he faithfully and unselfishly faced many hardships and arduous labors in pursuing his humane mission, for he traversed long distances in winter's cold and summer's heat, over roads that were scarcely worthy of the name, and with ready response to the call of duty, no matter how dark or stormy the night or how slight the probability of his receiv- ing due financial compensation for his services. It need scarcely be said that in the highest and best sense Dr. Clark has proved himself humanity's friend-and greater tribute than this can be given to no man. He has wielded large influence in community affairs and has been a leader in the furtherance to these things that make for civic and material prosperity and progress. Typical of his broad sym- pathy and public spirit was his action when, in 1902, he erected and equipped his modern hospital at McGregor, the same bearing his name and being recognized as having the best appointments and facilities of all similar institutions in Clayton county. The hospital makes the best of provisions for the treatment of disease and for the handling of surgical cases according to the most approved methods of the twentieth century. The institution draws an appre- ciable support from far outside the limits of Clayton county and is a noble monument to the liberality and professional zeal and loyalty of the founder and owner. Dr. Clark has served consecutively since 1903 as a member of the Iowa state board of health, and he became

BIOGRAPHICAL

a member of the state board of medical examiners at the time of its organization, his service in this connection having continued until the expiration of his term and having covered a period of about thirteen years. He is actively identified with the American Medical Association, the American Association of Railway Sur- geons, and the Surgeons' Association of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. He has long been an honored and influential member of the Iowa .State Medical Society, and before this repre- sentative body he delivered in 1916 a specially interesting and tech- nically valuable address upon the subject of surgery. The doctor holds membership also in the Cedar Valley Medical Society, and has for many years been a leader in the councils and activities of the Clayton County Medical Society, of which he was one of the organizers and of which he is serving as president in 1916. For a period of about thirty years Dr. Clark has had the distinction of serving as president of the United States board of pension examin- ing surgeons for Clayton county, and he gave fifteen years of effec- tive service as a member of the board of education of McGregor, of which he was president several terms. His political allegiance, fortified by well taken opinions concerning economic and govern- mental policies, is given to the Republican party. Until this point in the narrative has been left the making of reference to a specially notable and distinguished phase in the career of Dr. Clark. He was about nineteen years of age at the inception of the Civil War, and in 1862, in response to the call for volunteers, he enlisted as a pri- vate in Company G, Ninety-second Illinois Mounted Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland and which was a part of Wilder's famous Mounted Brigade with which he continued in active service from August, 1862, until final victory had crowned the Union arms and the war reached its close. He lived up to the full tension of the great conflict between the North and the South and with his regiment participated in fifty-two engagements, including a number of important battles. He was always to be found at the post of duty, a loyal and valiant soldier, and though he was often in the thick of the fray and assigned to hazardous duty, it was his good fortune to escape wounds and capture. In the later years he has vitalized the more gracious memories and associations of his military carer by maintaining affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic. In the year 1872 was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Clark to Miss Judith Baugh, daughter of Judge Downing Baugh, who was one of the honored and influential pioneers of Clayton county, where he established his residence in the earlier '50s, upon coming with his family from Mount Vernon, Illinois. Both he and his wife continued their resi- dence at McGregor until their death and their names merit high place on the roll of the honored pioners of the county. In conclu- sion is entered brief record concerning the children of Dr. and Mrs. Clark : Alice May, who is her father's efficient and valued coadjutor in the work and management of the Clark Hospital at McGregor, was graduated in the medical department of the University of Iowa as a member of the class of 1902, and she not only has a large and

MEMOIRS OF CLAYTON COUNTY

representative private practice, but also has the unique distinction of being the only woman physician in the United States to hold regular appointment as a railway surgeon. Florence L. is a young woman of fine intellectual and literary talent and articles from her pen have appeared in leading newspapers and magazines of the United States. Harry H. is a special agent of the Department of Agriculture, with headquarters at the national capital, and to him has been assigned the conducting of technical agricultural investi- gation in every state of the Union. Maude G. is the wife of Judd J. Dunaway and they maintain their home at Miami, Arizona. William Clarence passed to eternal rest in 1906, at the age of 21 years. Ethel B. is the wife of Carl Bickel, of McGregor, and they have a winsome little daughter, Barbara.

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History of Clayton County, Iowa : from the earliest historical times down to the present : including a genealogical and biographical record of many representative families, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information, Volume I, Part 65

Author: Price, Realto E Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Chicago : Robert O. Law Co. Number of Pages: 1009

Author: Price, Realto E
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago : Robert O. Law Co.
Number of Pages: 1009