USA > Iowa > Des Moines County > History of Des Moines County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 37
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FORREST WILLIAM PARROTT.
Forrest William Parrott, filling the position of auditor of Des Moines county, has on other occasions also occupied public office and at all times has furthered the interests of the community by his un- faltering devotion to and prompt discharge of the duties of his posi- tion. His ideals of citizenship are high and he eagerly embraces every opportunity to further their adoption. He was born in Henry county, Iowa, April 5, 1884, and is a son of William A. and Fredonia Ann (Newell) Parrott. The father, also a native of Iowa, was born
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in Des Moines county, February 17, 1841, a son of William Parrott, who came to this county in the year 1837, accompanied by his wife and his mother. The latter opened and conducted a tavern in Bur- lington at a period when that city was a tiny hamlet and the Missis- sippi was practically the highroad of travel to the town. William Parrott took up his abode upon a farm near Burlington that is now known as the Mason place and throughout his remaining days was identified with agricultural pursuits until he retired from active life, spending his last years in the home of his son and namesake.
William A. Parrott was reared to the occupation of farming and always followed that pursuit. After arriving at years of maturity he wedded Fredonia Ann Newell, who was born in this county and is a daughter of Albert and Martha Ann Newell, who came to Des Moines county in the early '40s. Her father was a minister of the Methodist church and one of the first to preach in that denomination in this section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. William A. Parrott resided in Des Moines and Henry counties and as the years passed they be- came the parents of five children, one of whom is deceased. The others are : Richard A., an agriculturist of Des Moines county ; Flora Lee, who gave her hand in marriage to Frank Williams, a farmer of Des Moines county ; Mary F., at home; and Forrest William, of this review.
Spending his youthful days in his parents' home, Forrest William Parrott attended the public schools and in due time was graduated from the high school of Danville. He afterward attended Howe's Academy at Mount Pleasant and Elliott's Business College at Bur- lington and was thus well trained for the practical and responsible duties of life. During the periods of vacation he engaged in farming until twenty years of age and for one year he taught in a country school. He afterward became a teacher in Elliott's Business College and to that work devoted about four years. In 1908 he became a can- didate for the office of county superintendent of schools, won the elec- tion and entered upon the duties of the position in 1909. So credit- able and satisfactory was his service in that connection that he was reelected and remained in the office for four years. Under his direc- tion the schools made substantial progress and he introduced various improvements contributing to the growth and advancement of the schools. He retired from that position to enter upon the duties of his present office, for in the fall of 1912 he was elected county auditor, taking office in 1913.
On the 8th of May, 1907, Mr. Parrott was united in marriage to Miss Grace H. Van Beek, of Burlington, a daughter of George and
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Mary Van Beek, the former a mechanical engineer. Both were natives of Burlington, representing two of the old pioneer families of the city. George Van Beek became a draftsman and mechanical engi- neer and was also known as an inventor. To Mr. and Mrs. Parrott have been born three children, namely: Helen L., William and Robert.
The religious faith of the family is indicated in their membership in the First Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Parrott also be- longs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His political al- legiance is given to the democratic party, which has been the politi- cal faith of the family through many generations. He is a repre- sentative in both the paternal and maternal lines of old families of Burlington and his ancestors have been closely associated with the material, intellectual, political, social and moral progress of this part of the state. Their efforts have always been on the side of benefit and improvement and in this respect Forrest William Parrott is a worthy scion of his race. He is fortunate in that he has back of him an ances- try honorable and distinguished and is happy in that his lines of life have been cast in harmony therewith.
JOHN IBBOTSON.
For sixty-seven years John Ibbotson has made his home upon the farm where he still resides. There is, perhaps, scarcely another in the county who can say the same. He represents one of the old pio- neer families, his parents being George and Martha A. (Riggs) 1b- botson, the former born in Yorkshire, England, in 1806, while the latter was born near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1816. The father crossed the Atlantic alone and became a resident of Indiana in 1837. In 1841 he arrived in Des Moines county and was here married, after which he took up his abode upon what has since been known as the old Ibbotson homestead farm, his remaining days being passed thereon. His wife came to Iowa in 1838 with her father, Stephen Riggs, a native of Maryland, who, casting in his lot with the pioneer settlers of Des Moines county, entered land from the government when Iowa was still under territorial rule. He had a family of twelve children, four sons and eight daughters, including Martha A., who became the wife of George Ibbotson. Before their marriage Mr. Ibbotson purchased eighty acres of land on section 30, Yellow Springs township, which had been partially developed but no build-
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ings or other improvements had been made. He cut poles and built a cabin and fenced his farm with brush, accomplishing much work of this character during the first four or five years in which he occu- pied the place. For two years he kept bachelor's hall and then married. As time passed on he added to his holdings, extending the boundaries of his farm as opportunity offered until he was the owner of four hundred and eighty acres in the home place and in addition had two quarter sections elsewhere, two eighty acre tracts and one hundred acres in small timber tracts, making a total of ten hundred and sixty acres. He was very generous with his family and gave one- half of this land to his children. In his farming he made a specialty of raising hay and cattle. He never sold feed and in fact had to pur- chase feed, so extensively did he engage in handling cattle. He died in the year 1894, while his widow, surviving him for a decade, passed away in 1904. In their family were the following named : Martha, now living in Oklahoma; John, of this review; Stephen R., of Los Angeles, California ; George, who died at the age of forty years, leav- ing a widow and four children; Lizzie, who died unmarried; Rob- ert, of Mediapolis; Isaac, who died in childhood; and Abraham Lincoln, who died at the age of eight years.
John Ibbotson has spent his entire life upon the farm in Yellow Springs township which is now his home. He was early trained to the work of the fields and became familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. After attaining his majority he concentrated his energies largely upon the raising and feeding of stock, conducting an extensive and successful business along that line until 1912. He is today the owner of four hundred acres of rich and valuable land and has also assisted his children in securing homes. Upon his farm are three good sets of buildings, all of which were erected by him, and the farm gives every evidence of the careful supervision of the practical and progressive owner.
In December, 1871, Mr. Ibbotson was united in marriage to Miss Mary Talbot, who was born in Yellow Springs township in April, 1848, a daughter of Aquila and Emily (Gregory) Talbot, natives of Kentucky and Indiana respectively. They were married in the lat- ter state and about 1840 came to Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Ibbotson are the parents of eight children: Idora, the wife of John Stucker, liv- ing on a neighboring farm; Edward, who occupies a part of the old homestead; John F., a resident of Oklahoma; Barbara, the wife of Morris Heizer of Yellow Springs township; Homer, of Ring- gold county, Iowa; Leslie, of Yellow Springs township; Harry, who occupies a part of the old homestead ; and Eugene Burton, also living
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upon the old home farm. All of the children are now married and there are ten grandchildren.
Mr. Ibbotson is a member of the Baptist church of Mediapolis and gives his political support to the men and measures of the repub- lican party, keeping well informed on the questions and issues of the day. His has been an active and useful life and he has been a witness of much of the growth and development of the county, having for sixty-seven years lived upon the farm which is still his place of resi- dence. Great have been the changes which have occurred in this time. He has lived to see Burlington grow into a great commercial and industrial center, while other towns and villages have sprung up and the work of improvement has been carried steadily forward in keeping with the progressive spirit of the age.
JAMES M. STORRAR.
James M. Storrar is the president of the Iowa Biscuit Company of Burlington, but important and extensive as is this enterprise it does not cover the scope of his activities. He is well known in busi- ness circles throughout the middle west and his energy, determina- tion and ambition have carried him into important relations, while his record proves that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously.
Mr. Storrar was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, on the 20th of March, 1843, and acquired a public-school education in the land of hills and heather. He became a merchant and broker in Scotland and there remained until 1899, when he crossed the Atlantic to the United States, made his way into the interior of the country and set- tled at Burlington, where he established a merchandise brokerage business which he still conducts. From the beginning success has attended his efforts and he has constantly broadened the scope of his activities. In 1902, he became identified with business interests of Quincy, Illinois, where he also conducts a merchandise brokerage business, and as senior partner in the firm of Storrar & Donald in 1912 he established a similar enterprise at Ottumwa, Iowa, under the firm name of Storrar & McElroy. In November, 1907, he be- came one of the organizers of the Iowa Biscuit Company of Burling- ton, which is today one of the chief productive industries of the city. The plant is large and splendidly equipped and employment is given to sixty-five or more people, twenty-five of whom are skilled work-
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men. An account of the Iowa Biscuit Company is given on another page in this work.
Mr. Storrar was married to Miss Mary Young, who died in Bur- lington in 1905. He has fraternal relations with the Elks and the United Commercial Travelers. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and his religious faith is manifest in his mem- bership in the Presbyterian church. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home and fortune in the new world, for here he found the business opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has worked his way steadily upward, becoming in the course of years one of the prosperous business men and prominent citizens of Burlington. He is free from ostentation and display but his sterling worth has gained him wide recognition and his fellow townsmen rejoice in his success, knowing how worthily it has been won.
JOHN H. ANDRE.
Burlington has no more highly respected or popular citizen and business man than John H. Andre, who is today the proprietor of one of the oldest mercantile establishments of the city. He possesses in a marked degree the spirit of initiative which leads to progress and, moreover, he has the ability to coordinate seemingly diverse and unattached interests into a harmonious and unified whole. His plans are carefully formulated and promptly executed and the result is success.
Burlington is proud to claim him as a native son. He was born here, March 2, 1853, his parents being P. A. and Catherine (Scheurs) Andre. The name of the father appears upon the list of Burling- ton's honored dead. He was for many years a leading figure in com- mercial circles here and his death, which occurred on the 13th of June, 1913, was the occasion of deep and widespread regret. His life record illustrates what may be accomplished by a young man of foreign birth in this land of opportunity, where advancement is unhampered by caste or class. He was born in Nassau, Prussia, August 22, 1830, and was a youth of eighteen years when he accom- panied his parents on their emigration to the new world. After a brief residence in New Orleans the family proceeded northward to Louisville, Kentucky, and in 1851 arrived in Burlington. In the family were three brothers and one sister. The oldest brother, Chris-
JOHN H. ANDRE
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tian, was an active business man of Burlington for a long period, but in his later life lived retired. George conducted a grocery busi- ness in Burlington for many years and later joined the ministry. Because of failing health he went to England and after his return to this country he became a prominent and wealthy banker of Pekin, Illinois, where he lived until his death, highly honored for his per- sonal worth and broad scholarship. P. A. Andre was the next of the family. Catherine is the youngest and is now residing in Burlington.
All three sons learned the shoemaker's trade, but P. A. Andre worked along various lines during the first six years of his residence in Burlington. During that period he carried a hod for the late Simeon Russell, one of the prominent pioneer builders of the city. He also did farm work, clerked in a grocery store and was employed in other ways that would yield him an honest living. In 1857 he be- came connected with the shoe trade of the city as a clerk in the store of J. M. Caffrey and after five years spent as a salesman he was admitted to a partnership, his excellent business ability and spirit of enterprise having won recognition from his employer. Four years afterward he purchased the interest of Mr. Caffrey in the business and in the half century or more in which he was con- nected with the house he enjoyed continuous success. The establish- ment became known as the Green Elk Horn shoe store and is the oldest business house on Jefferson street. The business methods of the house have ever been such as would bear the closest investiga- tion and scrutiny and the commercial honor of P. A. Andre was ever unassailable. As he won success he invested from time to time in property in Burlington until he became the owner of considerable valuable realty. He also made loans on real estate and in that way added materially to an ample fortune. He erected the Andre build- ing, one of the substantial business blocks of Burlington, and in the conduct of his affairs at all times displayed sound business judgment, keen discrimination and unfaltering enterprise. Ere his death a contemporary biographer wrote of him: "His entire active life has been devoted to business exclusively, and the persistency with which he has refused to allow any other interest to distract his attention may be shown by the fact that although he visited Philadelphia and Chicago during the periods of the Centennial and Columbian Expo- sitions, respectively, he did not attend either of them, feeling that other matters were more important, and that his individual respon- sibility required another and different use of his time. One excep- tion must be cited, however, namely, his earnest and devoted work for the church, the only organization of whatsoever nature in which Vol. II-24
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he holds membership. The circumstances leading up to the naming of the Green Elk Horn shoe store are interesting in the light of past events and significant facts of American history. It is related that during the days of the great transcontinental rush of pioneers to the unoccupied territory of the far west for purposes of settlement, in which the long journey was commonly made overland by wagon, a family of these travelers, on their return, disappointed and penni- less, from the new country to the east, stopped at the Andre store and traded a pair of deer horns for a pair of shoes. These were nailed over the door and later were painted green, hence the name."
In 1852 P. A. Andre was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Scheurs, a native of Albany, New York, of Pennsylvania Dutch par- entage. They became the parents of three sons and two daughters. The wife and mother passed away January 18, 1881, and Mr. Andre erected in Aspen Grove cemetery a magnificent mausoleum with a solid cement foundation, granite base and superstructure of Joliet limestone, constructed at a cost of seven thousand dollars.
Mr. Andre survived his wife for almost a third of a century and was then also laid to rest in the Aspen Grove cemetery. For many years he had been a most devoted, earnest and helpful member of the Washington Street German Methodist church, to the support of which he contributed liberally, while for many years he served as class leader and in other offices. He was closely associated with the late John Burg in the building of the present house of worship, and their names are chiseled in the cornerstone. He devoted much of his time for two years to soliciting for the building fund, beside giving most generously himself. His political allegiance was given the republican party from its formation until his demise. His res- idence, erected by him in 1887 at a cost of eighteen thousand dollars, stood at the corner of Eighth street and Maiden Lane. He was in the eighty-third year of his age when called to his home beyond. His life was as the day with its morning of hope and promise, its noontide of activity, followed by the evening of completed and suc- cessful effort and ending in the grateful rest and quiet of the night. While he attained notable success, character was to him more than wealth, fame or position. He lived a life that was largely blameless and that won for him the high honor, respect and confidence of the public in an unusual degree. He was honored wherever known and most of all where he was best known.
His son, John H. Andre, spent his youthful days under the par- ental roof and at the usual age began his education in the public schools. He afterward pursued a commercial course in Bryant &
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Stratton Business College that thoroughly qualified him for the duties and responsibilities that later devolved upon him. It was the father's desire that the son should become a railway engineer and to this John H. Andre agreed, but through the force of circum- stances he was obliged to become his father's assistant in the shoe store, and it was not long before it was seen that he was particu- larly well adapted for that line of work. He has in his possession a book which he cherishes very highly-the old ledger of the firm of Caffrey & Andre, dating back to 1859. It contains probably more names of the old settlers and pioneers of Burlington than any other book outside of the courthouse, and a glance at its pages brings to Mr. Andre's mind many reminiscences of the early days. In retro- spect he goes back to the time when farmers would visit Burlington and would bring with them a bundle of sticks of different lengths to indicate the measure of the boots and shoes desired by the mem- bers of their families. They would come from long distances and would often do their trading late into the night in order to return home as early as possible. After being connected with the store for a time Mr. Andre was made buyer as well as bookkeeper and cashier and also had charge of the advertising for the firm. Following the death of his father in 1913 he purchased the store from the estate. He immediately employed six new young salesmen and a shoemaker and also retained the services of one of the employes who had been in the store for twenty-six years. He changed the whole interior of the store, converting it into one of the finest salesrooms in southeastern Iowa. He is today enjoying a business far greater than the store has done in the past ten years. His establishment is now known as the Andre Elk Horn shoe store and is most liberally patronized. He is a man of keen intellect, is a well trained and far-sighted business man and in all of his dealings has been thoroughly honorable and upright. He counts his friends by the hundreds, and it would be difficult to find a more highly respected or popular resident of the county.
On the 22d of May, 1881, at Wapello, Iowa, Mr. Andre was united in marriage to Miss Emma Griebel, of that place, and they now have an attractive and beautiful home at No. 157 South Eighth street. Mrs. Andre formerly took a very prominent part in church work, serving as organist of the church and as superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Andre has long been a stalwart advocate of the republican party and ever keeps thoroughly informed con- cerning the vital and significant problems of the age. It has been said of him: "John H. Andre is a large man with a heart corre-
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spondingly large. There is probably no man in the county who has worked harder and yet who is better preserved physically. He is progressive and is interested in all that stands for the good of the community." He has traveled broadly, having gone north and south, east and west, and from his travels has gained many valuable expe- riences. For sixty-one years he has been a resident of Burlington, covering the entire period of his life, and his name has become in- separably interwoven with the history of the city and its commer- cial development. He stands as well for advancement along those lines which upbuild its social, moral and political status, and his in- fluence is always on the side of progress and improvement.
HENRY W. CHITTENDEN.
Henry W. Chittenden as traveling salesman entered into active connection with the house of which he is now the head, being presi- dent of the Chittenden-Eastman Company, manufacturers and job- bers of furniture. The business is now one of mammoth proportions, attributable in a large measure to the efforts, discernment and man- agement of Henry W. Chittenden, whose life record proves that suc- cess is not a matter of genius, as held by some, but is rather the out- come of clear judgment, experience and indefatigable industry. He was born in Keokuk, Iowa, in 1853, a son of Abram B. and Elizabeth Talcott (Bates) Chittenden. The father arrived in Iowa in the early '40s. He was a native of Guilford, Connecticut, and the mother was also born in that state. Coming to the west, Abram Chittenden engaged in the wholesale grocery business and for some years was prominently identified with commercial interests in Keokuk.
Reared in that city, Henry W. Chittenden acquired a common- school education and afterward read law in Ohio for two years. He came to Burlington in 1874 and the following year entered the em- ploy of Todd, Pollock & Granger, the predecessors of the present Chittenden-Eastman Company. The business had its origin, how- ever, in 1866, in the formation of the firm of H. Bailey & Company, which established a jobbing and retail furniture business in a three- story brick building with a frontage of twenty feet. During the early years the annual jobbing business amounted to about fifteen thousand dollars. With the retirement of Mr. Bailey in 1873 the firm became Todd, Pollock & Granger and it was two years afterward that Henry W. Chittenden entered their employ as a traveling salesman. When
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Mr. Todd withdrew from the firm in 1877 Mr. Chittenden was ad- mitted to a partnership under the style of Pollock, Granger & Chit- tenden and in 1881 this firm was succeeded by Granger & Chittenden and later Mr. Chittenden was alone for a year. On the ist of Janu- ary, 1883, he admitted E. P. Eastman to a partnership. The latter had been bookkeeper in the house from 1877 and was well qualified to assume more active relations. Under the name of Chittenden & Eastman the business was continued until July 1, 1899, when articles of incorporation were taken out under the name of the Chittenden- Eastman Company, the two senior partners being joined in the or- ganization by a number of the older employes of the house who occu- pied positions in the office and upon the road. It has always been the policy of the firm to recognize faithfulness on the part of employes and thus it was when the opportunity offered that some of the oldest and most reliable became stockholders in the concern.
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