USA > Iowa > Dickinson County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 12
USA > Iowa > Emmet County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 12
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Mr. Olson votes with the Republican party and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He has served for the past eight years as township trustee and has also been township school director. Those who know him recognize him as a man of sterling worth, and in his business career he has so managed his interests and directed his efforts that he has won substantial success and his life history indicates what may be accomplished when there is the will to dare and to do.
WILLIAM LUSCOMBE, SR.
The farm in Armstrong Grove township belonging to William Lus- combe, Sr., is in itself evidence of his progressiveness and enterprise, for it is one of the most highly developed places in Emmet county. He is largely concentrating his attention upon the raising of high grade stock and derives a gratifying income therefrom. A native of England, he was born in Devonshire in March, 1846, and is a son of John and Jane (Willing) Luscombe, also natives of that country. The father was a gamekeeper for a time but learned the shipbuilders' trade, which he fol- lowed in his native country until 1849, when with his family he crossed the Atlantic to America and located in Rockford, Illinois. That was long before the advent of the railroad in the west and he drove from Chicago to Rockford, the trip requiring several days. While on the way his wife died and added to his grief at her demise was the burden of financial worry, for when he arrived at Rockford he had only fifty cents in money. However, he succeeded in renting land, which he farmed. In order to add to his income he broke prairie and threshed for others, thus securing enough to support his family. After nine years' residence in that locality he removed to Carroll county, Illinois, where he rented land until 1865, in which year he arrived in Marshall county, Iowa. For three years he
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WILLIAM LUSCOMBE, SR., AND FAMILY
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was largely employed in breaking prairie and then removed to Hardin county, where he bought land, upon which he made his home until his death in 1897.
William Luscombe, Sr., grew to manhood in Illinois and received his education in the public schools there, but at the age of eighteen, or in 1864, enlisted for service in the Union army, becoming a member of Company G. One Hundred and Forty-second Illinois Infantry, with which he served for nine months. He was mustered out at Chicago and returned home, remaining with his parents until he was twenty-five years old. He then rented land in Hardin county, Iowa, and for many years operated farms belonging to others. He also worked in the timber to some extent, getting out ties for the railroad. At length he purchased four hundred acres of land in Hardin county and also a farm in Franklin county which he operated until 1900. He then came to Emmet county, Iowa, and pur- chased his present farm, comprising two hundred and five acres on section 4, Armstrong Grove township. He realizes fully the value of up-to-date equipment and his barn is said to be one of the best in the entire state. He has been unusually successful in raising Poland China and Duroc Jersey hogs and shorthorn cattle and is considered an authority upon questions pertaining to stock breeding. He is also financially interested in the Farmers' Elevator at Armstrong and in the opera house building there.
On the 25th of February, 1871, Mr. Luscombe was married to Miss Catherine Glazier and they have eight children, Amy, Mary J. and Ann E., twins, Dorothy, William, Ida, James and John. Mr. Luscombe is a stal- wart adherent of the democratic party and in religious faith is a Pres- byterian. He takes justifiable pride in wearing the little bronze button which indicates him to be a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and through this organization he keeps in touch with others who fought the nation's battles at the time of the Civil war. Throughout his life he has discharged to the full all the obligations resting upon him and his many admirable qualities have gained him a high place in the regard of his fellows.
J. W. HAMMES.
J. W. Hammes, a well known citizen of Terril, was born on the 10th of October, 1856, in Germany, of which country his parents, Michael and Margaret Hammes, were also natives. The mother died in that country and in 1872 the father brought his family to the new world, locating in Keokuk county, Iowa, where his death occurred in 1879. He had ten children and of that number six are still living and all are residents of Iowa.
At the usual age J. W. Hammes began his education in the schools of Germany and there continued his studies until the emigration of the
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family to America. In early life he learned the shoemaker's trade, which he has since followed. He resided in Keokuk county, lowa, until 1902, when he removed to Mills county, this state, remaining there until 1911. The following two years were spent in Franklin county and at the end of that time he came to Dickinson county, having since engaged in busi- ness at Terril, where he conducts a repair shop and also deals in shoes and men's furnishings. Besides his town property he owns three hun- dred and eighteen acres of land on section 17, Lloyd township, which is well improved and under good cultivation.
Mr. Hammes was married in 1878 to Miss Mary Weber, a native of Iowa, by whom he has five children: Frank, who is now engaged in the shoe business in Portsmouth, Iowa; John; Clara, the wife of Charles Higgins; Helen, who is teaching school in Terril; and Leonard, who is attending college at Grinnell, Iowa.
In politics Mr. Hammes is a Democrat, but he has never cared for official honors, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business interests. He started out in life for himself empty handed and the suc- cess that has come to him is due entirely to his industry, enterprise and sound judgment in the management of his affairs.
PETER CONLIN.
Peter Conlin followed agricultural pursuits throughout his active life and his well directed labors yielded him a good financial return. His last days were spent in honorable retirement from business cares in Armstrong, where he passed away September 4, 1916. He was born in Massachusetts on the 20th of March, 1845, and is a son of James and Anna (Gallagher) Conlin, who emigrated to this country from Ireland in an early day and located in Massachusetts. The father farmed there until the removal of the family to Wisconsin, where he became a land- owner. He passed away in 1886 at the advanced age of eighty-four years, and the mother died in 1858.
Peter Conlin spent his boyhood and youth in Wisconsin and received his education in the public schools of that state. When not quite seven- teen years of age he was employed in hanling provisions for the Union army and was at the front for about three years. He was taken captive and because of the terrible conditions of prison life became so emaciated that he was little more than a skeleton when he returned to his home in Wisconsin. As soon as he had sufficiently recovered his strength he went to work as a farm hand and so continued until 1871, when he came to Emmet county, Iowa, and took up a homestead in Armstrong Grove township. He brought that place to a high state of cultivation and made many improvements thereon. For thirty-three years his time and energy were taken up with the operation of his farm, and his good management and thrift enabled him to accumulate a competence. At length he retired
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and took up his residence in Armstrong, where he died September 4, 1916, at the age of seventy-one years and five months.
On the 4th of December, 1869, Mr. Conlin was married to Miss Delia Harrity, a daughter of John and Bridget (Thornton) Harrity, who were natives of Ireland but emigrated to America, locating near Cleve- land, Ohio. The father was for a time foreman on a large farm there, but later the family removed to Wisconsin and he purchased land, which he cultivated until his death. To Mr. and Mrs. Conlin were born five children: Anna, who died April 24, 1906; Mary and John, twins; James, and Patrick, who is a resident of Emmetsburg.
Mr. Conlin was a Democrat in politics but was without ambition to hold office, being content to discharge his duties as a citizen in a private capacity. However, he was chosen by popular suffrage trustee of his township. In religious faith he was a Catholic. The patriotism which prompted him to give his services to the Union at the time of the Ci War characterized him throughout life and he always placed the general welfare above his personal interests.
PETER S. ANDERSON.
Peter S. Anderson, who is engaged in general farming on section 15, Twelve Mile Lake township, is one of Norway's contributions to the citizenship of Emmet county. He was born in the land of the midnight" sun January 9, 1864, a son of Ole and Haldis Anderson, the former a carpenter by trade. Leaving their native country, they came to America in 1871 and established their home in Emmet county, where the father secured a homestead claim in High Lake township. For almost two decades he engaged in farming upon that place, remaining there until 1890, when he retired to Wallingford to enjoy a rest which he had richly earned and justly merits. In the family were five children.
Peter S. Anderson was a little lad of but seven years when the family came across the Atlantic to the United States and upon the home farm he was reared, with the usual experiences of the farm-bred boy who divides his time between the work of the fields and the acquirement of a district school education. He continued to work for his father until 1890 and when his father removed to Wallingford, Peter S. Anderson purchased a farm comprising the northeast quarter of section 15, Twelve Mile Lake township. He now gives his entire attention to the further development and improvement of this property and has brought his fields to a high state of cultivation, so that he annually gathers good harvests.
Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Christie Herum, a daughter of Peter and Bertha (Talle) Herum, of High Lake township. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have a family of six children: Hilda, who is teaching in the schools of Wallingford; Chester, at home; Alvin, who is attending Jewell Lutheran College at Jewell, Iowa; Harold, a high school
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pupil in Estherville; and Pearl and Theodore, who are attending the district schools.
The parents are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church and Mr. Anderson gives his political support to the Republican party, of which he has been a stalwart advocate since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He represents one of the old-time families of the county, having for forty-six years resided within its borders, so that his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present. He was acquainted with pioneer conditions here and he has lived to witness a remarkable change as the labors of man have claimed the region for the purposes of civilization, converting the once wild prairie into rich and productive farms, dotted here and there with thriving towns and villages. The spirit of enterprise has ever been a strong force here and Mr. Anderson has displayed that same spirit in the conduct of his private business affairs. He has served as school treasurer for the past eight years, has also been township trustee and is a director of the Farmers' Bank of Wallingford.
SILAS G. PALMER.
Silas G. Palmer, a real estate dealer and one of the leading citizens of Lake Park, claims Iowa as his native state, for he was born in Water- loo, June 18, 1856, and is a son of John and Louisa (Jeffrey) Palmer, both natives of Devonshire, England. When the former was a young man and the latter a young woman they started for Canada on the same vessel and, becoming well acquainted during the several weeks' voyage, were married soon after landing in Quebec in 1853. 'A year later they came to the United States and after spending some time in Chicago pro- ceeded to Waterloo, Iowa, driving across the country in a democrat wagon drawn by one horse, and arriving in May, 1856. They brought with them a stove and a few small household utensils and had a cash capital of two hundred dollars when they reached Waterloo. The father purchased land near that city and began farming. He also quarried rock out of . the river and in that way contracted chills and fever, which prevented him from working all of the time and he lost the tract of eighty acres which he had bought. Later he removed to Butler county, Iowa, where he purchased government land at one dollar and a quarter per acre, and lived thereon for five years, raising wheat, which he hauled forty miles to Cedar Falls and Waterloo and then sold for thirty cents a bushel. He later sold this land for ninety cents an acre. He returned to Black Hawk county and again bought land there, on which he lived up to the time of his death, May 10, 1901. His widow still survives him and is now living with her daughter in Eagle Grove, Iowa.
Silas G. Palmer obtained a limited education in the common schools of this state, but his early training was largely acquired between the
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handles of a plow. He remained at home, assisting in the labors of the farm, up to his twenty-second year and then started out in life for him- self, working as a farm hand for six months. For two summers he herded cattle and attended school during the winter months. During the following two years he engaged in farming for himself and in 1880 embarked in the livery and drayage business in Dows, Iowa, at the same time selling agricultural implements. He successfully carried on opera- tions there for twelve years and then accepted a position on the road for Warder, Bushnell, Glessner & Company, manufacturers of harvesting machinery, his territory covering Iowa and Minnesota. On the 24th of November, 1894, Mr. Palmer became a resident of Lake Park, establish- ing himself in the real estate, loan and insurance business, which he has since carried on with marked success. During the intervening years he has acquired extensive farm lands in Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, North and South Dakota, and is today one of the most prosperous citizens of his community. Besides his other interests he is a stockholder in the Lake Park State Bank.
In October, 1881, Mr. Palmer married Miss Minnie C. Clow, of Wright county, Iowa, and to them were born three children, two of whom survive, namely: Bessie, now the wife of J. B. Elstun, of Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Susie G., the wife of Elmo L. Bush, of Dickinson county, Iowa. The wife and mother passed away on the 10th of March, 1891. Mr. Palmer was subsequently united in marriage to Minnie M. King, of Lake Park, by whom he has two children, Silas K. and Floyd G. By a previous marriage Mrs. Palmer has a daughter, Goldie Fern, the wife of L. D. Bush, of Russell, Minnesota.
Mr. Palmer gives his political support to the republican party and for several years served as a member of the town council of Lake Park. He was also mayor for four years and gave to the town a businesslike and public-spirited administration. He is a member of Silver Pearl Lodge, No. 211, K. P., of Lake Park, and is widely recognized as one of the foremost citizens of the place, standing prominent in business affairs and always ready to advance any public measure for the good of the community. He is a far-sighted, energetic business man and usually carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes.
CARL E. GILL.
Carl E. Gill, of the firm of Gill & Company, druggists of Terril, was born in Hennepin, Minnesota, April 12, 1881, and is a son of Charles J. and Anna L. (Kingsley) Gill, natives of Illinois and Vermont, respect- ively. They became residents of Iowa, where the father died, but the mother is still living, and four of their five children also survive.
Carl E. Gill was practically reared in Pocahontas county, Iowa, where he attended both the common and high schools, and having decided
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to become a druggist he took up the study of pharmacy. He passed the required examination and received his license in 1902, after which he and his brother William embarked in the drug business at Terril under the name of Gill & Company. They have one of the leading stores of the kind in the county and have secured a good patronage.
In 1908 occurred the marriage of Carl E. Gill and Miss Maud Smith, who was born in Hardin county, lowa, and is a daughter of Jason B. and Rebecca Smith, both now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Gill have been born two children: Merwyn C., and Eugene W., who died when six months old.
Mr. Gill affiliates with the Republican party and is a representative of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Blue Lodge, No. 612, A. F. & A. M., and to Chapter No. 132, R. A. M. He has held office in that order and is also a member of the Yeomen. In business affairs he has steadily prospered since starting out in life for himself and besides the interest in the drug store he owns a good residence in Terril and he and his brother own a fine farm in Minnesota, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres. He is one of the foremost citizens of his town and wherever known is held in high regard.
LARS PETER LARSEN.
Lars Peter Larsen is devoting his time to farming and has never had occasion to regret his choice of an occupation, for he has won a gratifying measure of success. He was born in Denmark, June 5, 1872, a son of Nels and Maren Larsen, who are still living in that country, where the father is a small farmer. Of their six children, five daughters and one son, Lars Peter Larsen, was the only one to come to the United States. After completing the course offered in the district schools he attended what corresponds to the American high school from the age of sixteen to eighteen, and when nineteen years old came alone to Amer- ica. For about a year he managed a creamery in Freeborn county, Min- nesota, and then purchased eighty acres of land in Wharton county, Texas, where he remained for a year. He then rented his farm and removing to Ringsted, Iowa, was employed for seven years as a brick and stone mason. He next rented a farm just across the line in Kossuth county for three years, after which he bought the west half of the north- east quarter of section 15, Denmark township, which he has since culti- vated. He raises both grain and stock and has been very successful in the management of his interests.
On the 28th of February, 1905, Mr. Larsen was married to Miss Anna Larson, a daughter of Andrew Larson, of Ringsted. To this union have been born six children, Nels, Signe, Thyra, Dagmar, Andrew and Erling.
Mr. Larsen votes for the man rather than the party and is an intel-
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ligent student of the issues of the day. He belongs to the Yeomen and the Danish Brotherhood of Ringsted and is a communicant of St. John's Danish Lutheran church. He has thoroughly identified himself with his adopted country and is American in spirit as well as in name.
AUGUST SINDT.
Forceful and resourceful in all that he undertakes, accomplishing a given purpose through the energy and determination that will brook no obstacles that honest effort can overcome, August Sindt is now contrib- uting in substantial measure to the material development of Lake Park and Dickinson county. He is today widely known as the president of the Lake Park State Bank and also as a grain and coal merchant. He was born in Walcott, Scott county, Iowa, on the 4th of December, 1873, is a son of Henry H. and Catherine (Horst) Sindt and is descended from an old family of Holstein, Germany. His grandfather, Thies Sindt, came from that country in 1848 on a sailing vessel which dropped anchor in the harbor of New Orleans, whence he proceeded up the Mississippi river to Davenport. He is a tinner by trade but has devoted much of
his life to agricultural pursuits and is still living at the very venerable age of ninety-one years. His son, H. H. Sindt, father of August Sindt, was born in Scott county, Iowa, and after reaching man's estate was identified with the hotel business in Davenport for many years, but in 1873 removed to Walcott, where he again became proprietor of a hotel and also engaged in the grain trade. He was born in the year 1850 and spent his entire life in his native county, for although in 1884 he pur- chased land near Lake Park, Dickinson county, he never located thereon, his death occurring in Walcott in 1898.
August Sindt, who was one of a family of four children, spent his youthful days under the parental roof, enjoying the advantages usually offered to lads of that locality and period. In the pursuit of his educa- tion he attended the Walcott public school and the Davenport Business College, following which he occupied a position in the office of clerk of the courts of Scott county. On the 10th of January, 1896, he removed to Lake Park and entered the office of H. H. Sindt & Company, grain buyers, the business having been established by his father, H. H. Sindt, together with Theodore Sindt and Louis Stollenburg, in 1885. In 1899 the Theodore Sindt Grain Company, Incorporated, was organized and took over the business of H. H. Sindt & Company at Lake Park, at which time August Sindt of this review became assistant manager of the busi- ness. In 1903 Mr. Stollenburg retired and Mr. Sindt was made secre- tary, treasurer and general manager, in which connection he has since been actively and prominently connected with the grain trade. The company shipped the first carload of barley ever sent out from north- western Iowa. Their business furnishes an excellent market for the
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grain producers in this fertile farming region and their annual pur- chases and sales are extensive. They also engage extensively in shipping hogs and have a large coal trade. Mr. Sindt likewise deals in real estate, has owned some valuable property and has erected some of the substan- tial buildings of Lake Park. His holdings of Minnesota and lowa farm lands are extensive. In 1909 he purchased stock in the Lake Park State Bank and in 1911 was elected president of the institution, in which important capacity. he has since served. He is a man of constructive ability, an organizer and builder, and has been the moving force in vari- ous plans and projects which have led to the further development and upbuilding of the little city of Lake Park.
In 1897 Mr. Sindt was united in marriage to Miss Clara Weise, of Walcott, Iowa, by whom he has six children, as follows: Waldemar H., who is a freshman in the State Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa; Herbert P., a high school student at Lake Park; Irma A. and Arthur A., who attend the graded schools; Elsa C., and August T.
The hospitality of the Sindt home is one of its most attractive features and the friends of the family, and they are many, are always assured of a cordial welcome. Mr. Sindt is an exemplary representative of the Masonie fraternity, belonging to Silver Lake Lodge, No. 527, F. & A. M., of which he was secretary for several years. His political sup- port is given to the Democratic party and he is the present city treas- urer of Lake Park, which position he has continuously filled for twelve years, a fact indicative of his thorough ability and fidelity. In matters of citizenship he is never remiss. He stands for those things which are effective factors in public progress and which are matters of civic virtue and of civic pride. In business, too, he has held to the highest standards, never building his success upon others' failures, but at all times using constructive methods which have made his interests a feature in public development as well as a source of private success.
HORACE I. SPEAR.
Horace I. Spear, engaged in general farming in High Lake township, Emmet county, his place being situated on section 9, is numbered among the native sons of the state, his birth having occurred in Dallas county, Iowa, March 17, 1877. His parents, John and Mary M. (Blackman) Spear, were natives of Ohio and Indiana, respectively, and are well-known farming people of Dallas county, where they yet reside. In their family were seven children, Lillian May, Edward O., Roscoe R., Horace I., Darius, Ethel and Floyd, four of whom are residents of Dallas county. Roscoe R. is living in Los Angeles, California, and Darius makes his home in Oregon.
The youthful experiences of Horace I. Spear were those of the farm- bred boy. He assisted in the work of the fields until he attained his majority and in the meantime had acquired a common school education.
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