USA > Iowa > Scott County > Davenport > History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa, Volume II > Part 39
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of engagements, among them Prairie Grove, Arkansas; Vicksburg and Fort Blakeley. He was mustered out at the close of the war at Mobile, Alabama.
During the trying reconstruction period Mr. Smith came back to Davenport and established himself in business as a manufacturer of vinegar. In partner- ship with Edward Fay, he opened a store on Front street, dealing in wrapping paper and grocery sundries, and they continued together until 1882, in which year the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Smith organized the Amazon Vinegar & Pickling Company, a local company with a capital stock of thirty thousand dol- lars. For four years our subject acted as business manager, but in 1886 he sev- ered his connection with the company and bought three hundred and twenty acres of farm land in Butler township, where he lived and engaged in agriculture until 1901, when he retired from active life and returned to Davenport.
In August, 1863, Mr. Smith married Miss Clara Goetch, a daughter of Herman Goetch, one of Davenport's pioneers. Thirteen children were born of the union, seven of them being deceased. Those living are: W. H. Smith, of Davenport, his wife having been before her marriage Miss Anna Miller; Hilda, who married Matthew Schnell, of Chicago; Gustave, a resident of Rock Island; Ella, the wife of John Jeske, of Davenport; Arthur, who is married and living in Davenport; and Freda, who married Henry Toppendorf, of Rock Island.
The social is not wanting from Mr. Smith's nature and he is identified with several organizations, among them the Legion of Honor and the Knights of Pythias lodge No. 10, of Davenport. A self-made man, he has a successful life to look back upon.
J. P. VAN PATTEN.
J. P. Van Patten, vice president of the First National Bank and president of the grocery firm of J. P. Van Patten & Company, occupies a prominent posi- tion in financial and commercial circles in Davenport. Said one who knew him well-himself a commanding factor in the business world-"His word is as good as his bond; he is the soul of honor and the better one knows him the greater the respect and the warmer the friendship." He was born in Jordan, New York, September 24, 1833. His father, John Van Patten, a native of Schen- ectady, New York, was born in 1786, while the mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Van Pat- ten, whose family name was also the same, was born in 1796. The Van Patten family is of Holland Dutch stock and was established in Schenectady in 1661. John Van Patten was an architect by profession and attained prominence in that field in New York city. In 1834 he removed to the west, establishing his home at Centerville, St. Joseph county, Michigan, where he lived for a short time and then went to Fawn River, in the same county. There he practiced his pro- fession and erected a number of public buildings, his death occurring at Fawn River in 1840.
J. P. Van Patten was the youngest in a family of four children. His eldest sister married C. C. 'Alvord, of Fawn River, and went to reside in Davenport, Iowa, in the late '30s. Following the death of the father, the family decided to
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make Davenport their home. The mother was accompanied by her three sons : Philip, then sixteen years of age; Nelson, aged eleven years; and John P., nine years of age. They left Fawn River and made the journey to Davenport in a prairie schooner, traveling through Chicago, then a town of seven thousand in- habitants. They reached the Mississippi river at Albany, Illinois, crossed on the ice and arrived in Davenport, November 16, 1842. That season was a record breaker for ice, which did not float down the river until the 7th of April. In the spring of 1843 J. P. Van Patten secured employment on the farm of Mr. Alvord, his sister's father-in-law, where he worked for his board. He remained there almost a year, working hard and obtaining what meager education he could. In 1844 his mother decided to go east and J. P. Van Patten accompanied her to Canandaigua, New York. They proceeded down the Mississippi by steamboat, thence up the Ohio and by canal crossed the state of Ohio to Lake Erie, where they took boat to Buffalo and thence continued on their way to Canandaigua by canal. These trips at that time were full of interest and adventure to a young boy whose experiences in life were thus far limited. He remained in the east for four years and during three years of that time was a student in the Canandaigua Academy, after which he engaged in clerking for a year in a book store. But the west was attractive to him and he determined to return to Davenport, going by steamer from Buffalo to Chicago, by canal to Peru and by steamer to Daven- port. His brother-in-law, C. C. Alvord, had a farm near Long Grove, Scott county, and Mr. Van Patten worked on that farm until the 12th of August, 1848. He then put aside the labors of the field and again came to the city, where for three years he engaged in clerking for B. Sandford, a grocer and druggist on Front street. That his services were satisfactory and that his reliability was a pro- nounced feature in his service is indicated in the fact that in 1851 he was ad- mitted to a partnership. With renewed purpose he bent his energies toward the expansion and development of the business and his labors were a potent ele- ment in its growth. In 1854 Mr. Sandford retired from the firm, selling his in- terest to C. C. Alvord, and the firm style of Alvord & Van Patten was then as- sumed and was so continued until 1867. In that year the senior partner sold out to Morton L. Marks and the firm became Van Patten & Marks, wholesale gro- cers. They conducted a prosperous and growing business until 1903, when the partnership was discontinued and Mr. Van Patten reorganized the busi- ness as a corporation under the style of J. P. Van Patten & Sons, three of his sons, John N., Edward H. and Alfred Schuyler, becoming associated with him in the ownership and conduct of the enterprise. This is today one of the leading houses of its character in Davenport. Mr. Van Patten has come to be recognized as one of the representative merchants here and a business man of pronounced ability, whose activities are further evidenced in his service as vice president of the First National Bank.
While his life has been a busy and useful one and from an early age he has been dependent upon his own resources, so that unfaltering industry and ready adaptability have constituted the foundation of his success, yet he has found time and opportunity for cooperation in public affairs and has long been an active and influential factor in politics. He is a loyal republican but not an office seeker. He has been a delegate to county and state conventions on many occasions and
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his counsel and advice have been many times sought and often heeded. He has re- fused the nomination for mayor and other positions of high preferment, but for many years has been treasurer of the republican county central committee and in a private capacity has done everything possible to promote the growth and insure the success of the party. Every movement for the benefit of the city receives his endorsement and his cooperation is of a practical character that has led to substantial results.
In 1859 Mr. Van Patten was married to Miss Dorothy Hartzell, a daughter of the Rev. Jonas Hartzell of Ohio. Their children are as follows: Mrs. Florence Sweeney ; Elizabeth, who died at the age of eighteen years; Mrs. Marion Harper, also deceased; 'Alice, now the wife of Dr. W. L. Allen; John N .; Alfred; and Philip.
The life and labors of J. P. Van Patten should be a source of inspiration to the young. Through difficulties and disadvantages of which one who has not had similar experiences can form little idea, he has steadily worked his way upward until he stands today as one of Davenport's foremost citizens. He is a man of resolute purpose and when one avenue of opportunity has seemed closed he has sought out other paths to success and has eventually reached his objective point. He is today one of the most honored as well as one of the most prosper- ous merchants and business men of Davenport.
J. H. HASS.
'One of the native sons of Davenport, who has risen to a position of honor and respect not only in this city but throughout the state, holds the responsible offices of vice president and cashier of the Scott County National Bank. His father, Detlef Hass, was born in northern Germany and came to the United States in 1852. As he had chosen the southern route, he landed at New Orleans and ascended the Mississippi river to Davenport, where he engaged in the building and contracting business. Having won a pronounced success from his operations, he retired from active life in 1886, and in September, ten years later, passed away. His wife, who was Miss Margarita Schroeder in her maidenhood, had died many years before, for she passed away in 1859. They were married in Germany, where their eldest child, Louisa, was born. She is now Mrs. Stibolt.
J. H. Hass, the only son, was born October 14, 1854. He attended the public schools of the city and, having completed the education they afforded, in 1872 entered the law office of Bills & Block, with whom he remained two years. He was not destined for the legal profession, however, and at the end of that time, in 1874, became assistant bookkeeper in the Citizens National Bank, and to bank- ing and kindred fields of activities Mr. Hass has since devoted all his energies. After ten years' experience in the employ of the Citizens National, on the Ist of December, 1883, when the Scott County Savings Bank was organized, he was put in charge of the concern, being then the only employe. He has, in the sub- sequent years, been closely identified with the institution, having proved his effi- ciency in every position and contributed in no small degree toward making the
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concern the splendid financial institution it is today. In 1884, after only a year's . experience, he was made cashier, and in 1908 was made second vice president. When the Iowa National Bank was organized he was made a director, which position he still holds. Previously he was connected with P. T. Walsh in the establishment of the Walsh Construction Company, of which he is treasurer. Mr. Hass is a man in whom others intuitively place confidence and upon whose judgment they are willing to rely.
In September, 1881, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Hass and Miss Emma E. Hanssen, a daughter of Louis Hanssen, one of the old and respected pioneers of Davenport. Two children have been born to them. Leon H., now a student at Yale College; and Clara Louise, attending the high school of Davenport. Since 1884, Mr. Hass has been a member of lodge No. 37, A. F. & A. M., and also of Zarephath Consistory. He is a member of the executive committee of the savings banks section of the American Bankers Association and as there are only nine in this body and they chosen from the whole United States, he may be pardonably proud of this distinction which his coworkers have placed upon him. Politically he is a democrat of the Cleveland type, but he is not an office seeker, for his private interests make him a busy man and leave little time for other concerns, and yet, in reviewing the record of his life, his fellow citizens have profited by his work and the standard of manhood has been raised by his endeavors. Personally he is endowed with those characteristics which make a man always welcome among his associates, and he is one of the active members of the Outing Club. In religious matters he finds the tenets of the Unitarian church in accord with the breadth of his views.
TIMOTHY A. MURPHY.
Timothy 'A'. Murphy, engaged in the general practice of law and also in charge of a large collection business in Davenport, was born in Marengo, Iowa, March 30, 1862, and is a son of Jeremiah H. and Mary A. (Green) Murphy. The father was a native of Massachusetts and, as the name indicates, is descended from Irish ancestry, while the mother is of English birth and parentage.
The public schools of Davenport afforded Timothy A. Murphy his early edu- cational privileges, his studies being pursued through consecutive grades until he had completed the work of the high school. He then took a collegiate course in the Iowa State University and was admitted to practice law in 1888 before the supreme court in Des Moines. He had prepared for examination as a law student in his father's office, the firm being then Ellis, Murphy & Gould. When Jere- miah H. Murphy was elected to congress the firm became Gould & Murphy, with Timothy A. Murphy as the junior partner. This association was maintained until the death of Mr. Gould, when William A. White became a member of the firm and was thus associated until 1892, when Mr. Murphy formed a partner- ship with Louis G. Susemihl under the firm name of Murphy & Susemihl. Mr. Murphy is now attorney for R. G. Dun & Company and in addition to conducting a general practice does a large collecting business. He is also a director in the
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German Savings Bank and his interests are of a varied character, making him a man of affairs.
In his political views Mr. Murphy is a democrat and has served as United States commissioner of the second congressional district. He is always conversant with the vital principles and questions of the day and able to support his position by intelligent argument, yet political interests are but a side issue in his life, as he prefers to concentrate his time and energies upon the profession of the law and the other business affairs to which he has directed his attention. Endowed by nature with strong intellect, he has made wise use of his time and talents and he is granted a creditable position among Davenport's representative men.
E. B. HAYWARD.
Among those who have come from eastern districts to Scott county to be- come identified with its business interests may be numbered Major E. B. Hay- ward, who is well known as a successful lumber manufacturer of Davenport. His success in all his undertakings has been so marked that his methods are of interest to the commercial world, and investigation into his history shows that he has based his business principles and actions upon strict adherence to the rules which govern economy, industry and unswerving integrity.
Born in Essex county, New York, October 25, 1842, he comes of a family that has long lived in the eastern states and has also been prominent in military circles. Tracing the ancestry back through four generations in the paternal line, we come to the great-grandparents, Ephraim and Phoebe (Dickerson) Hay- ward. The former was born in New Jersey in 1760 and served in Washing- ton's army throughout the Revolutionary war. He passed away at Ellenburg, New York, in 1849, when he had reached the very advanced age of eighty-nine years. His family included David Hayward, the grandfather of our subject, who was born in July, 1790, and was married to Miss Lucretia Chapman. David Hayward was a prominent lumberman of Essex county. The father, William J. Hayward, was born in 1813. He engaged in merchandising and also followed the occupation of farming and the lumber business, becoming a very success- ful man. His wife bore the maiden name of Betsy Leland and was a grand- daughter of Thomas Leland, one of the Lexington Minute Men. In 1876 Mr. and Mrs. Hayward left the east and removed to Davenport, spending their re- maining years in this city.
E. B. Hayward was reared under the parental roof and acquired his educa- tion in the schools of Essex county. He enlisted there as a member of the Fifth New York Cavalry in 1861 for service in the Civil war. He became a private but was promoted to captain and later to brevet major in the Army of the Potomac. He served faithfully and valiantly for four years, after which he received an honorable discharge.
Following his return from the field of battle, Mr. Hayward engaged in business in New York for one year and subsequently removed with his family to Wisconsin, where he spent two years. He still sought another field, in
i.B.Hayward
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which to give scope to his activity and accordingly made a permanent location in April, 1869, at Davenport. He here engaged in the lumber business with the firm of Lindsay & Phelps Company, while later he assisted in organizing the Eagle Lumber Company and Hayward Timber Company of Arkansas, the Hayward Lumber Company of Texas and the State Lumber Company of Van- couver, British Columbia. He seems well fitted for leadership in this line and has made a close study of the lumber trade in all its branches. He is now doing business along this line in Davenport, being numbered among the 1c- cessful merchants in this particular branch in this city.
Mr. Hayward was married on the 7th of April, 1864, to Miss Ellen Phelps, a daughter of Elihu and Margaret (Cruickshank) Phelps. They have one daughter and one son, Elmer Leland, who wedded Miss May Pierce, by whom he has one daughter, Lulu; and Ellen I., who married W. H. Kimball and has two children, Herbert H. and William P.
Mr. Hayward is an active member of St. John Methodist Episcopal church, having been chairman of the building committee during the construction of the church and parsonage on the corner of Fourteenth and Brady streets. Mr. Hayward is not given to participation to any great extent with fraternal orders, the only society to which he belongs being that of the Loyal Legion. He is, however, a thorough business man with a talent for leading, which is one of the highest attributes of man and a necessity in these days of close competition.
CHARLES F. HETZEL.
Charles F. Hetzel by a career of honor and usefulness has left an indelible impress on the history of Blue Grass township. This estimable gentleman, now deceased, was born in the province of Baden, Germany, August 19, 1907. Early in life he came to the United States, landing in New York, October 27, 1830. In that city he met his wife-to-be, Regina Bayha, a native of Stuttgart, Wurtemberg, whose birth occurred February 4, 1812. They were married in New York July 21, 1834, and for some time resided there. In 1837 they removed to Wheeling, West Virginia, where they lived for the next fourteen years. On September 15, 1851, they came to Scott county, Iowa, of which they had heard favorable reports, and were so entirely satisfied with what they found that it became their permanent home and that of the most of their children. Mr. Hetzel became quite an exten- sive landowner, purchasing three hundred and twenty acres of land in Blue Grass township and eighty in Rockingham.
They were the parents of eleven children. Five of them have never married but live together on the old homestead. They are Rosina C., Minnie R., Anna B., Regina S. and Henry A. Charles L. married Anna Albright and lives in Daven- port ; John C. is a resident of Harlan, Iowa; George D. went west and is a citizen of Grand Island, Nebraska; Frederick G. makes his home in Avoca, Iowa; and Mary E. is the widow of Frank Haller of Davenport. One is deceased. Only the three youngest children, Anna B., Henry A. and Regina S. were born in Scott county, the others having first seen the light of day in Wheeling, West Virginia.
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Mr. Hetzel was a man who took a lively interest in current events and gave an intelligent consideration to all such problems as effected the public welfare. He served for a number of years as justice of the peace. In Wheeling he was pleasantly affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his family were all members of the Lutheran church, in which they were recognized as faithful, sincere and efficient members. Their home is one of the finest and most substantial country residences in the locality and was constructed from brick made on the farm. On June 5, 1886, Mr. Hetzel passed to his reward, his widow following August 12, 1891. They will long hold an enviable place in the history and memory of Scott county. They celebrated their golden wedding at the old homestead in 1884, at which time all the children and grandchildren were present.
ASMUS H. LAMP.
To few of the European nations which have contributed to the citizenship of this country do we owe more than to the German. Successful in business, its sons have also achieved distinction in agriculture, for the stable qualities of in- dustry and frugality, which are dominant in their makeup, prove to be the char- acteristics which win the largest returns from the cultivation of the soil. Among the Germans who have settled in this county and whose worth have contributed so large a share to the general prosperity of this section of Iowa is Asmus. H. Lamp, who retired from active life some years ago and now lives in Davenport.
He was born January 18, 1836, a son of Claus and Celia (Gutch) Lamp. The father was a carpenter in Germany, but about 1847 decided to come to this coun- try. The family landed at New Orleans on Christmas day, after having spent twelve weeks and four days in crossing the Atlantic. They traveled up the Mis- sissippi river the day following their arrival and when they reached St. Louis spent the rest of the winter there. In the early spring they continued their journey to Davenport, where on Fouth street the father bought a lot and erected a house. That remained the home of the family for some years while he worked at his carpenter trade. Later he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Davenport township near the northwest corner, for which he paid one hundred and forty dollars as it was all raw land. After having erected a house Asmus Lamp and his brother lived there during the summer, but closed the place in the winter, bringing the cattle to town, where the sons attended school. In this manner several years passed, during which time the father continued to do car- pentering in the town, but finally, the land having been well cultivated, the family moved to the farm, on which they resided until the death of the mother at the age of seventy. Thereafter the father lived with his children until his death at the age of ninety-four years. They had four children : Trena, the deceased wife of Henry Stoltenberg, also deceased; Asmus H., the subject of this sketch; Claus H., of Davenport; and Peter, of Port Arthur, Texas.
Asmus H. Lamp had attended school in Germany before he came to this coun- try and after he reached Davenport he spent a few winters in the schools. The
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most of his life has been devoted to farming. For more than thirty years he lived upon the first farm of one hundred and sixty acres his father had bought in Sheridan township. It had been procured from John Van Patten, who entered it from the government. The first year after it came into possession of the Lamp family Asmus broke it and the next year, that of 1858, he married and took up his permanent residence upon it. As he gained large returns from his labors he bought other land so that now he owns four farms in Scott county : one in Hickory Grove township; three in Sheridan township, one of one hundred and sixty acres, the other two contiguous comprising three hundred and sixty acres-two hundred and one hundred and sixty acres respectively-aggregating a total of six hundred and eighty acres. He also owns the valuable town property where he lives, having bought it about 1888, when he retired from active life. In that year he gave his homestead to one of his sons and, moving to the town, bought stock in the Davenport Elevator Company, in which he worked for some time. Later when the buildings were torn down and a new company organized Mr. Lamp became its president. The concern has about thirty elevators operated in several states. He is also a stockholder in the German Savings Bank, the Union Savings Bank and the Scott County Bank of Davenport, besides being interested in sawmills in Louisiana and cement works in Kansas. As these large interests and the income of which they are productive are the result of his own efforts they certainly bespeak a life record that is most gratifying.
In April, 1858, Mr. Lamp married Miss Wipke Klindt, a daughter of Hans and Dora Klindt. At the age of twenty she came to the United States. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lamp. Minnie married Lon Seaman and passed away, leaving four children, Melinda, Nellie, Arthur and Frank. Anna became the wife of Charles Frye and they live in Seattle, Washington, where he is in the wholesale meat packing business. August married Miss Mary Fulner. They live near Eldridge, this county, and have four children, Henry, Hilda, Frank and Francis. Augusta is the wife of Frank Frye, of Seattle, Wash- ington, who is engaged in the wholesale meat business, and they have one daughter, Marian.
Mr. Lamp has consistently given his support to the republican party but has himself taken no part in local affairs. Indeed, aside from looking after his various interests he holds little intercourse with the world of busi- ness, for having passed the allotted age of three score years and ten he feels he is justified in enjoying the results of his previous labor.
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