USA > Iowa > Des Moines County > History of Des Moines County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 11
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He was born in Westergotland, Sweden, January 15, 1857, a son of A. Johnson and Johanna ( Anderson) Anderson. His father, also
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a native of Westergotland, born in 1821, was a cabinetmaker by trade and spent his entire life in Sweden, where he passed away in 1909. His wife, who was born in Westergotland in 1823, died in 1906. They were the parents of four children: Amelia, who came to America in 1893 and is now the wife of C. J. Ostrin, of Salem, Ore- gon ; John, who died in Sweden; and Carl August and A. Anderson, who both came to the new world, the former in 1881 and the latter in 1883, and live in Burlington.
Carl A. Anderson attended the public schools of his native place until he had graduated and later was a student in a polytechnic school in Stockholm, in which city he lived for seven years. When his text- books were put aside he took up the trade of cabinetmaking under his father and afterward was employed in various factories and on dif- ferent buildings in Stockholm. In addition to cabinetmaking he learned carpentering and became an expert workman in both lines. He also occupied a position in Sweden which afforded him a great deal of mill experience, which he has since found to be exceedingly valuable to him.
While Mr. Anderson advanced steadily in business in his native country he felt that there were still better advantages to be enjoyed in the United States and accordingly in 1881 he sailed for the new world, arriving at Boston in November of that year. He at once crossed the country to Burlington and during the intervening period, covering a third of a century, has made his home in this city, where he is today known as one of the leading contractors. He entered the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company in the con- struction of their shops and later was employed by various contractors, during which period he was gaining a knowledge of con- ditions in relation to the builder's trade in America. He began con- tracting on his own account in 1891 and stands today in a prominent position among the builders and contractors of the city. He has re- ceived contracts for the erection of a number of notable public build- ings as well as others of individual ownership. He erected the county poor farm building at a cost of fourteen thousand dollars for the con- tract work, the county furnishing the material, and later, when it burned down, he erected the present building at a cost of seventeen thousand dollars. He built the Lincoln school at a cost of sixteen thousand dollars and has built churches and many other important edifices in the city. He was also the builder of large churches in Monmouth and Galesburg, Illinois, and a school in La Harpe, Illi- nois, and has also erected a large number of the fine homes in Bur-
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lington. He erected his own residence in 1894 and he owns a number of other buildings, which he rents.
On the 9th of June, 1882, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Emma Louise Larson, who was born in Sweden in 1860 and died in 1890. To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were born three children, all born in Burlington. Hulda is now the wife of Anthony C. Jugen- heimer, of Burlington, and they have a daughter, Virginia Louise Charlotte, seven years of age. David Gordon, a contractor and builder of Burlington, married Hortense Richter and they have a son, Gordon Richter, four years of age. Ruth is the wife of Albert J. Grulke, who is engaged in the clothing business in Atlantic, Iowa. They have a son, Carl Albert, a year old. Mrs. Anderson was a mem ber of the Swedish Baptist church and a lady of many good qualities, so that her death was deeply regretted.
On the 17th of June, 1896, Mr. Anderson married again, his sec- ond union being with Miss Bothilda Johnson, who was born at Skone, Sweden, January 27, 1868, a daughter of Bengt and Inga ( Bengtson) Johnson. Her father was born in Sweden about 1831 and died in 1871. The mother's birth occurred in Sweden in 1831 and she passed away in the same country in 1910. They were the parents of five chil- dren, of whom Mrs. Anderson came to America in 1893 and her sister, Sigrid, in 1896. The latter married Charles Helander, of Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson three children have been born. Anna Lydia, who was born October 11, 1897, is attending high school. Eva Virginia, born April 4, 1902, and Howard Carl, born July 18, 1906, are also in school.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson hold membership in the Swedish Baptist church and are much interested in its work and upbuilding. Mr. Anderson is now serving as church treasurer, is deacon of the church and for a number of years has been a teacher in the Sunday school and is now superintendent, doing all in his power to further the cause and advance the interests of the organization. They have a beautiful home in Burlington and although Mr. Anderson came to America in very moderate financial circumstances, he has steadily worked his way upward and through his industry, capability and fidelity to his contracts has won a liberal patronage that now supplies him with all of the comforts of life. He no longer finds it necessary to do actual work in the execution of his contracts but still gives per- sonal direction to the labors of those in his employ. In 1912 he and his wife returned to Sweden, spending three months in the land of their birth, renewing the acquaintances of youth and winning many new friends. Their Burlington home is a hospitable one whose good
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cheer is greatly enjoyed by those who know them. Mr. Anderson is genial, cordial and always approachable, and his social qualities have won him personal popularity.
HON. AUGUST H. KUHLEMEIER.
The Hon. August H. Kuhlemeier, of Burlington, Iowa, was well known in insurance circles of the state as president of the Merchants Life Association of Burlington, at the head of which he served until he passed away on November 2, 1903. He took an important part in the public life of his city and state, serving upon the school board and in the legislature, and by presidential appointment he also held the office of collector of internal revenue for some time.
Mr. Kuhlemeier was born in Lippe-Detmold, Germany, De- cember 10, 1846, and in 1853 came with his parents to the United States, the family settling in Freeport, Illinois. There our subject attended school, and after discontinuing his lessons became a clerk in a dry goods store. He continued in that line for about six years and then entered the employ of the German Insurance Company of Freeport as agent. He seemed to be particularly adapted for this line of business and soon became so successful that four years later he was appointed general agent for the states of Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas, building up a highly profitable business in this terri- tory. In 1870 Mr. Kuhlemeier came to Burlington, Iowa, and en- gaged in business at the corner of Valley and Main streets, in part- nership with F. E. Hoffmann and I. M. Chrissinger. A few years later he acquired the interests of his associates and continued the business alone until 1885, when he sold out to George A. Duncan upon being appointed internal revenue collector for the fourth Iowa district. In 1889, at the expiration of his term, Mr. Kuhlemeier organized the Merchants Life Association of Burlington, of which he became the president, in which capacity he remained until he passed away on November 2, 1903. Under his able management the Merchants Life Association became one of the foremost insur- ance companies that have their home offices in this state. Much of its success must be ascribed to the activities of Mr. Kuhlemeier, who combined an aggressive business policy with long years of experi- ence in insurance work. He was one of the foremost business men of Burlington, not only interested in commercial affairs, but well
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HON. AUGUST H. KUHLEMEIER
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known in public, political and social circles. He was esteemed for his high qualities of character.
In Charles City, Iowa, Mr. Kuhlemeier was married June 13, 1872, to Miss Lena Cramer, a native of Germany, and they had three sons, Frederick J., August R. and Henry F., all of whom are well known residents of Burlington.
Mr. Kuhlemeier gave his stanch support to the democratic party. In 1878-79 he represented the sixth ward in the city council and later was elected to the lower house of the state legislature. He ably represented the interests of his constituency and his name was con- nected with much important legislation that came to fruition while he was a member of the house. From 1885 to 1889, under the admin- istration of President Cleveland, Mr. Kuhlemeier served as collector of internal revenue for the fourth district of Iowa. He made an ex- cellent record and earned high commendation from the Washing- ton department. After returning to private life Mr. Kuhlemeier did valuable work as a member of the city school board, having always been interested in the cause of education. During his later years he retired more and more from public affairs and spent much of his leisure time out of doors. He was a true sportsman and was con- sidered an expert with rod and gun. In that connection he was well known as a member of the Crystal Lake Club, of which he was one of the organizers and served as a member of its board until his death. Along fraternal lines he belonged to Harmonia Lodge, No. 209, I. O. O. F., and to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His religious faith was that of the German Lutheran church, of which he was a member. During his long years of residence in Burlington, Mr. Kuhlemeier had a beneficial influence upon the business, intel- lectual and moral life of the city, and his memory is venerated by his many friends as that of a man who in an unselfish way did much for the public welfare.
WASHINGTON DALLAM GILBERT.
Washington Dallam Gilbert was numbered among those enter- prising and progressive men who made Burlington one of the cen- ters of the lumber trade of the middle west. He also contributed to the upbuilding and development of the city through the building and sale of homes. His well-defined plans were always carried for-
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ward to successful completion and his efforts were of a character that contributed to public progress, as well as to individual success.
He was a representative of an old southern family, being a grandson of Samuel Gilbert, who removed from Virginia to Ken- tucky, where he owned a large tobacco plantation, which he culti- vated with the aid of slaves, who were also a part of his possessions. However, he became convinced that the system of holding human beings in bondage was wrong, and therefore freed all of his slaves, but old Mammy Ailsie, who refused her freedom and remained to nurse her master through his last sickness. His son, Samuel Gilbert, Jr., was born in Kentucky and in early manhood wedded Philotheta Parker, whose birth occurred in New York, in 1798. She was a representative of an old American family, and in still earlier genera- tions. of English ancestry, being a lineal descendant of the Parker earls, of Macclesfield. The first to leave England to become the American progenitor of the family settled in Massachusetts about 1645, with his family, and when an Indian massacre occurred, to which the parents were victims, the children escaped by hiding in the grass. The youngest son, Samuel Parker, after reaching adult age, re- moved to Coventry, Connecticut, and there lived to the remarkable - age of one hundred and six years. He built the first house and barn in Coventry and was the first deacon in the first Congregational church there. One of his descendants, Samuel Parker, the father of Mrs. Philotheta Gilbert, was a soldier in the War of 1812 and a pioneer citizen of Louisville, Kentucky, having left New York in a covered wagon and driving across the country to Louisville. At that time his daughter was a girl of thirteen summers. They re- mained in Kentucky until after her marriage. After reaching womanhood she became the wife of Samuel Gilbert, Jr., and in 1827 they became residents of Galena, Illinois. Afterward they lived for two years in Cassville, Wisconsin, and subsequently started for Prairie du Chien, then one of the outposts on the western frontier and the site of Fort Crawford. The pioneers of that district mingled freely with the Indians of the Sac, Fox, Winnebago and Menominee tribes. Mr. Gilbert was one of the pioneer lumbermen in the upper country and his operations along that line constituted an element in the development and prosperity of the state. About 1845 he left Prairie du Chien and established the family home at Albany, Illinois.
W. Dallam Gilbert was born at Cassville, Crawford county, Wis- consin, in February, 1829, while his parents were en route to Prairie du Chien. In the latter place he spent sixteen years and during that period pursued his education under private instruction. In 1845 he
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went with the family to Albany, Illinois, and about that time made his initial step in the business world by taking a raft of logs down the river to Fort Madison, where he sold the logs for his father. His early connection with mercantile life was as a clerk in the employ of the Nelson & Gilbert Company at Wilson's Landing, Wisconsin. He was nineteen years of age when he embarked in business on his own account, joining his brother in the purchase of a lumber mill at Eau Claire, Wisconsin. From that period he was closely connected with the lumber trade, operating in his native state until 1851, when he removed to Burlington and entered into partnership with John W. Gilbert. They established a lumberyard and as the years passed found it necessary to increase their facilities from time to time. Not only did they sell the manufactured product, but also became owners of timber lands and engaged in the manufacture of lumber, building up a business of extensive and gratifying proportions. Mr. Gilbert became an extensive dealer in pine lands and operated mills in both Minnesota and Wisconsin, and a boom company in the state of Wash- ington, where he also owned extensive pineries. As he prospered in his undertakings he utilized his opportunities for judicious invest- ment in real estate and became the owner of much valuable property in Burlington. He laid out two additions to the city, which bear his name. A contemporary biographer says: "Mr. Gilbert and his business associates probably did more toward the upbuilding and development of Burlington than any other individual or corporation. He erected many houses which he sold on easy terms, thus adding to the material improvement of the city and making possible the ownership of homes to many men in moderate financial circum- stances."
Aside from his lumber and real-estate interests, Mr. Gilbert ex- tended his efforts to banking and became one of the officials of the German-American Savings Bank, and one of the directors of the Merchants National Bank of Burlington. It seemed that his judg- ment in business matters was never at fault. His opinions were never hastily formed or ill-advised, but were the result of careful considera- tion of each phase of a business situation. When once his plans were formulated, however, they were promptly executed and carried for- ward to successful completion. To build up rather than to destroy was ever his broad policy, and his path was never strewn with the wreck of other men's fortunes.
In 1859 Mr. Gilbert was united in marriage to Miss Hetta Wells Merrill, who was born in Plymouth, New Hampshire, in 1835 and was descended from a long line of Puritan ancestors. The records
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indicate that the line can be traced back to the Du Merles, a Hugue- not family of the nobility of France. The Du Merle family and the Merrill family sprang from the same source, the former having lived in France and the latter in Salisbury, England. Their rela- tionship is undisputed from the fact that they have the same crest. The only change was when, on the eve of the massacre of St. Bar- tholomew, representatives of the family went to England, the fleur- de-lis of France was erased from the shield and the peacock head substituted, but the crest remained the same, as did the motto, "He conquers who endures." The Merrill family in time became con- nected with the faith of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and Nathaniel Merrill, emigrating from England, settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1633, and two years later became one of the founders and pioneer residents of old Newbury. Stevens Merrill, the father of Mrs. Hetta (Merrill) Gilbert, was a merchant of Boston, and in 1829 went to Mobile, Alabama, to market lumber and to manage a sawmill. He lived at Boston, and at Plymouth, New Hampshire. He was among those who went to the gold mines of California in 1849. He came from Boston to Burlington and here purchased the home now owned by his granddaughter, Mrs. Cate Gilbert Wells. The house is known as Hickory Hill and a part of it was built sixty-five years ago. Stevens Merrill was united in mar- riage to Mehetabel Worthley Wells and it was their daughter, Hetta Wells Merrill, who became the wife of Washington Dallam Gilbert. She was born in Plymouth, New Hampshire, and at seven years of age accompanied her parents to Boston, to make her home. Mrs. Gilbert was educated at Bradford and other New England schools and seminaries, and at one time lived in the old Merrill homestead, just opposite the Longfellow house in Cambridge. She was a lady of broad culture and marked literary taste.
Washington Dallam Gilbert died April 16, 1894, leaving to his widow and daughter a large estate. He was a devoted member of the Congregational church and was most generous in his support thereof. He was also an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity. His political allegiance was given to the republican party and at one time he served as a member of the city council of Burlington. He was defeated for mayor by the democrats. He stood for all that is progressive in community affairs and gave his support to those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. His life was indeed a valuable factor in the upbuilding of Burlington along material, social, political and moral lines. He had the active cooperation of Mrs. Gilbert in all that he did for the
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benefit of his city and church, and, like him, she was a leader in the community. She was president of the Norman Circle of King's Daughters for many years. Thus it is that the history of Mr. and Mrs. Washington Dallam Gilbert has become an inseparable part of the annals of Burlington, where, locating at an early day, they took a most active, helpful and beneficial interest in the work of progress and improvement.
WILLIAM CARSON.
An institution to which Burlington points with just pride is the First National Bank, but with still greater pride she recites the his- tory of its president, William Carson. Not alone in one field of endeavor has he operated and carried his interests forward to suc- cess, but along other lines of activity he has proven equally forceful and resourceful. He is particularly well known in connection with the lumber trade in the Mississippi valley and in the northwest. What he has accomplished has represented the fit utilization of the innate powers and talents which are his, and never at any time has he deviated from the highest standards of justice in business dealings. He has never taken advantage of the necessities of others, and there- fore his path is not strewn with the wreck of others' fortunes. In a word, his course has been guided by high standards of business in- tegrity and honor, and thus it is that his life record reflects credit upon the city in which he makes his home.
While an Iowan by adoption, Mr. Carson is a native of Wis- consin, his birth having occurred at Eau Galle, November 9, 1859, his parents being William and Mary (Smith) Carson. The family is of Scotch lineage and was founded in America by the grandfather, William Carson, who was born near Glasgow, Scotland, and in that country married a Miss Robertson. He afterward brought his wife to the new world, settling at Inverness, Canada, his remaining days being spent in that city and in Quebec. It was at Inverness that his son, William Carson II, was born in 1819. He was educated in the schools of Quebec, and in his youthful days came to the United States, making his way to St. Louis, Missouri. However, he went to Wisconsin in 1838 and was a pioneer lumberman of that state, be- coming interested in mills at various places, including Eau Galle, Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, and Rice Lake, while for some time he
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was identified with the lumber business at Burlington in connection with the late E. D. Rand. They were among the first to sell lumber here and to promote lumber manufacturing in this city. The part- nership continued until the death of Mr. Rand.
Mr. Carson passed away in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, at the ripe old age of seventy-nine years. No special advantages were his at the outset of his career, but he early learned the eternal principle that industry wins, and industry became the beacon light of his life. He added thereto perseverance and keen sagacity, and not a single act of his business career sought disguise. His dealings were always done in the open and the integrity of his methods was never ques- tioned. As he prospered in the lumber trade he became also a factor in financial circles, becoming identified with banking interests at Eau Claire. He voted with the democratic party, yet was not a poli- tician in the sense of office seeking. Outside of business he was per- haps best known, however, as a philanthropist, and various benevo- lent interests of the middle west benefited by his generosity, while the number of individuals whom he assisted was almost limitless. He was continually extending a helping hand, especially where he saw on the part of the individual a willingness to help himself. He judged men not by wealth, but by worth of character, and sought to place before all the opportunity which would lead them into larger and better surroundings. To him and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Smith, and whom he had wedded at Prairie du Chien, there were born five daughters and a son. The mother passed away in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, nine years prior to the death of her husband.
William Carson, Burlington's well-known banker, began his edu- cation in the public schools of his native town, and afterward studied in Burlington and in St. Paul, Minnesota, completing a high-school course. He next matriculated in Cornell University at Ithaca, New York, where he remained for three years. His initial step in the business world was made in connection with the lumber trade at Burlington as an employe of the Burlington Lumber Company, in which his father was interested. He did not depend upon parental influence to secure him advancement, but won his promotion as other young men did, and in due time became secretary of the company, and later its vice president. The business was incorporated, and William Carson contributed largely to the success of the enterprise, which is now one of the mammoth manufacturing concerns of the state, turning out twenty-five million feet of lumber annually, while the plant covers an area of fifteen acres.
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Mr. Carson also became a director of the Rand Lumber Com- pany, controlling one of the extensive enterprises of that character on the river. He has voice in the management of other business con- cerns because of his financial and official connections therewith,. being vice president of the Rice Lake Company at Rice Lake, Wis- consin; president of the Boise Payette Lumber Company, of Boise, Idaho; vice president of the Cascade Lumber Company, of North Yakima, Washington, and a director in other lumber companies.
After demonstrating his ability to handle important manufac- turing interests and to control the financial side of a business he was called to the presidency of the First National Bank of Burlington, which is capitalized for one hundred thousand dollars and which has recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. On that occasion the bank issued an attractively engraved announcement card, one corner of which was decorated with a spray of golden rod. On the card appeared the words :
"April nineteenth, nineteen hundred and fourteen, marks our fiftieth anniversary. Behind us we have fifty years of business success-success due to the trust reposed in us by our patrons. May we express to you our most sincere thanks for your con- fidence and patronage, which have served us so well.
"FIRST NATIONAL BANK,
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