USA > Iowa > Webster County > Fort Dodge > History of Fort Dodge and Webster County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 10
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In .April, 1884, Mr. Rutledge was married to Miss Carrie C. Coffin, a daughter of Lorenzo S. and Mary (Chase) Coffin. The father was a native of New Hampshire and the mother of New York state. The father came to Iowa in 1855 and took up a claim. From time to time he increased his holdings and he now owns seven hundred and twenty acres. He is at present eighty-nine years of age. The mother
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died in January, 1906. To Mr. and Mrs. Rutledge seven children have been born: Irving C., who is engaged in the dairying business ; Isabelle M., who is teaching in the high school at Humboldt, Iowa; Rayburn S., who is attending Ames College; Catherine S., who is a student in the College at Grinnell: Helen Chase, attending high school at Fort Dodge; and Ruth L., and Cora Elizabeth, both in school in Fort Dodge.
In politics Mr. Rutledge affiliates with the republican party. In religious faith he and the members of his family are Congrega- tionalists. The material welfare of the community has always been of prime importance to him. He is one of the present trustees of Cooper township, and for ten years was trustee of Douglas township. The position he now holds as one of Webster county's most prominent agriculturists, has been won by industry, perseverance and patience. and comes as a just reward for the hardships he endured in earlier life.
JAMES BASS.
Among the residents of Dayton who came to Webster county when it was a frontier district and substantially contributed toward the upbuilding and development of the community is James Bass, who owns over eight hundred acres of land in Yell and Dayton townships, much of which he bought directly from the government, in addition to some valuable Dayton property. He was born in North Carolina, April 27. 1832, and is a son of Edward and Mary (Saffley) Bass. He is of English and Irish extraction and represents the third generation of his family in America, his paternal grandfather being a veteran of the Revolu- tionary war and having participated in the battle of Bunker Hill. In 1835 Edward Bass removed with his family to Indiana and en- gaged in farming. Twenty years later he came to Iowa, purchas- ing two hundred and forty acres of land in Boone county, to which he subsequently added another twenty acres of timber land. There both he and the mother passed the remainder of their lives, his death occurring on the 3d of February, 1883, at the venerable age of ninety-four years, his natal day having been the 17th of January, 1789. The mother survived him for three years, pass- ing away July 15, 1886.
THE NEW YORK PUELIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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James Bass
Urs James Bass
THE NEW YC PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTON, LENOX AND TILD' N FOUNDATIONS.
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James Bass, who was a child of three years when his parents left North Carolina, was reared to manhood in Owen county, Indiana. In the acquirement of his education he attended the sub- scription schools of that state until he was fourteen when he laid aside his text-books and began assisting his father with the work of the farm. He remained at home until he attained his majority, then started out to make his own way in the world. In the fall of 1852, he came to Iowa, settling in Webster county. As he had never learned a trade, he went to work as a farm hand, being unfamiliar with any other occupation. Although he received meager wages, he was thrifty and temperate in his habits and soon accumulated sufficient capital to enable him to buy eighty acres of government land, for which he paid from a dollar and a quarter to a dollar and a half per acre. It was located seven miles northeast of Dayton in Yell township and has ever since been in possession of Mr. Bass and is known as the old homestead. He energetically applied himself to putting this under cultivation, meeting with such lucrative returns from his farming that he was able from time to time to increase his holdings until he now owns eight hundred acres of farming land, which he is renting. He re- sided on his homestead until March, 1869, when he withdrew from the active work of the fields and removed to Dayton. He has ever since made this city his home and owns a very pleasant residence on Main street, where he is living.
Mr. Bass was married in 1857 to Miss Cassie Halloway, who was born in North Carolina on the 24th of March, 1837, and died in Dayton on the 3d of February, 1901. Her parents were also natives of North Carolina, and there the mother passed away many years ago. The father subsequently came to Webster county and made his home with our subject until just before the Civil war when he was married again. He died in February, 1881, and is buried in the Beem cemetery, near Lehigh, this county. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bass. Mary Jane, the widow of Taylor Scott, who lives at Gowrie, this county, has seven children : Hubert, Nellie, Grace, Clifton, Cassie, Wilson and Leo. Rachel A. married Charles C. Miller, a schoolteacher of New Mexico. Addie, the wife of Thomas Bragg, a farmer south of Gowrie, has five children. Sherman, who conducts a pool and billiard hall in Dayton, married Julia Casebolt and they have three children : Orville, Effie and Fay. Grant, who works in a cafe at Boone, Iowa, married Cora Guthrie and they have Vol. 11-7
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three children: Halsey, Sylvia and Maxine. Miles, a rural mail carrier, married Jennie Nelson and they also have three children : Raymond, Marie and Mildred. Mina, the wife of Will Nichols, a traveling salesman of New Mexico, has two children, Velma and an infant. Elsie, who married Fred C. Esch, a clerk of Wyoming, has one child, Dorothy Adeline. Ella married Dr. L. E. Estick of Rockwell City, Iowa, and they have one child, Lewis Howard. On the Ist of March, 1906, Mr. Bass married Mrs. Anna Butler, a native of Canada and a daughter of John and Caroline Eliza (Bry- ant) Gates. The father, who was of Dutch extraction, was born in Kingston, Canada, and the mother in Ogdensburg, New York. He was a son of John Gates, who homesteaded one hundred acres of land, where the Kingston Market now stands in Ontario, Canada. When the War of 1812 broke out he went to the front and is supposed to have been killed at the Battle of the Windmill, at Prescott, Ontario, as he was never heard from afterward. His son, John Gates, the father of Mrs. Bass, was one of the successful agriculturists of Kingston, Ontario, and acquired one thousand acres of valuable land in Frontenac county, upon which the youngest son, George Gates, is now residing. Mrs. Bass in- herited two hundred acres of land from her father, which is now rented to her eldest son, George Henry Ayerst. Mr. Gates passed away in Canada in 1889, and the mother, who was of Irish and American descent, came to Iowa and made her home with her son James Gates at Boone, until her death in 1901. Mrs. Bass was first married in 1861 to Francis Ayerst, of England. He died in Canada twenty-five years ago and she later became the wife of Charles Butler, a veteran of the Civil war and a native of the state of New York, where he likewise died. In 1904. she located in Boone, Iowa, and there she was married two years later to Mr. Bass.
Mr. Bass, who has been a resident of Iowa for sixty years, has many interesting reminiscences to relate of the pioneer days. After the Indian massacre at Spirit Lake, there was a rumor of an uprising among the natives in this section and three hundred men, of whom Mr. Bass was one, under command of Johnson McFar- land and Joseph Thrift responded to the call to defend the set- tlers. They marched from Boonesboro to Webster City but as their services were not required they disbanded and returned home. In 1863, he again volunteered to fight the Indians under Captain Williams of Fort Dodge and went to Chain Lake to
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assist in constructing barracks for the protection of the settlers. Six months later they marched back to Fort Dodge and dis- banded. On the 18th of November, 1864. he enlisted at Fort Dodge in Company K, Sixteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry under Captain Slattman. Their regiment was ordered to report at Nashville, and there his company was detached and placed in the One Hundredth and Thirty-second New York Infantry. He had his first experience in battle at Fort Negley, and from there they moved on Fort Lookout, and then participated in the battles of Kingston and Goldsboro, North Carolina. At the latter point his company rejoined their old regiment, and passing under General Sherman's command marched to Raleigh. They were stationed there for two weeks before Johnson surrendered. Following this they had a two days review at that point, going from there to Washington, D. C., to participate in the grand review. His regi- ment was then ordered to report at Louisville, Kentucky, where they were stationed until July 9, 1865, when they were discharged.
Mr. Bass votes the democratic ticket and served as trustee in Yell township for several terms and was a school director there for many years. He is a member of Captain Dowd Post, No. 329, G. A. R., of Dayton and Mrs. Bass belongs to the Women's Relief Corps and the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Bass who has attained the venerable age of eighty years, has the distinction of never having made a deed or given a mortgage and still owns every piece of property he ever purchased. Mr. Bass still enjoys the best of health and is well and vigorous and has remarkable eyesight. He takes great satisfaction in his achievements as he began life in early manhood without any capital, and by his own industry, perseverance and capable management acquired a com- petence that has long enabled him to live in retirement, and still enjoy all comforts of life.
SILAS M. DEAN.
The career of Silas M. Dean is the record of an intelligent and useful life spent in business fields of activity and always actuated by high standards of personal honor and business integrity. He is now engaged in the grocery business in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and his pro- gressive methods and well tested integrity have won him a gratifying
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degree of success. He was born in Clay county, Iowa, June 14, 1875, and is a son of Walter and Jane ( Roberts) Dean. His father was born in North Carolina and came to Clay county about 1868. He was for many years one of the progressive and representative agriculturists of that region and he operated the farm, which he bought upon his arrival, until 1897. In that year he retired from active life and removed to Peterson, Iowa, where he now resides. He is a judicious and discriminating man and has added to these qualities a special knowledge of fari values, which has resulted in acquiring a competency. His investments are principally in Iowa land, and he gives his entire attention to the management of his holdings. Mr. and Mrs. Walter Dean reside in Peterson, Iowa.
The country schools of Clay county afforded Silas M. Dean his early educational privileges. He pursued his studies until he was twelve years old and then left home, removing to Jasper county, where he engaged in various activities, such as were obtainable for a lad of his years until he was fifteen years of age. In 1890 he came to Fort Dodge and worked in the employ of various concerns in this city until he was twenty-three years of age. He constantly realized the fact that he was hampered by too short an education and as soon as he was able, entered the Capital City Commercial College at Des Moines and by wise improvement of every opportunity soon won an efficient knowledge of business. When he was twenty-three years of age Mr. Dean enlisted in Company G, of the Fifty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served for three months. He was stationed at Chickamauga Park, where he became thoroughly conversant with the details of military order and the various army tactics. His regiment returned to Des Moines and spent one month in that city before they were mustered out, October 30, 1898. Mr. Dean remained in Des Moines and obtained employment under a Mr. Thomas in the milk business. He followed this line of activity for six years and by strict economy was enabled to rent Mr Thomas' farm at the end of that period. He carried on the enterprise along progressive and sanitary lines for five years and was successful to a gratifying extent In 1909 he returned to Fort Dodge and established a grocery and milk business independently and has been active and successful in its opera- tion ever since. He has gradually branched out into other fields of activity and has become known in Fort Dodge as a representative business man. In September, 1911, he purchased the stock of the Fort Dodge Coke & Coal Company and this concern owes its present flourishing condition to his efficient management.
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On July 6, 1903, Mr. Dean was united in marriage to Mrs. Maude (Bennett) DeLano, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Hemdle) Bennett. The mother was born in Germany but came to America at an early date. The father was a native of Canada and in 1869 came to Webster county, where he operated a farm until 1891. In that year he retired and moved to Fort Dodge, where he resided until his death in 1897. His wife is still living and makes her home with her son-in-law, the subject of this review, and is now seventy-nine years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Dean has been born one child, Walter Judson. Mr. Dean also has two step-children, Charlotte Marie and Allen Thomas. Mrs. Dean passed away on December 23, 1910, after a three years' ilness and her death deprived Fort Dodge of a charming and hospitable woman and her family of a devoted wife and mother.
Mr. Dean gives his political support to the republican party. He is prominent in the Ancient Order of United Workmen and in the Veterans of the Spanish War. He is a devout adherent of the Baptist church and with this faith his children also affiliate. He is highly esteemed by his fellow citizens and enjoys the respect of his many friends and acquaintances by reason of a well deserved business success and his clean, honorable, private life.
EDWIN V. BROWN.
The death of Edwin V. Brown on June 17. 1906, deprived many residents of Fort Dodge of a genial, kindly and loyal friend and the business circles of the city of a conspicuously able representative. Mr. Brown was for many years prominently identified with the retail tobacco trade, carrying on his business on the site where the First National Bank of Fort Dodge is now located. He was born in Oswego, New York, July 17, 1838, and was a son of Chester and Mary (Cook) Brown, both natives of New York, of German lineage. The father lived and died in his native state and was one of its suc- cessful farmers. He died September 17. 1899. having survived his wife by nine years, her death occurring. November 10, 1890.
Edwin V. Brown spent his early youth in New York state and was educated in its public schools. He early heard the call of the sea and when he laid aside his books shipped on a whaling vessel, plying the waters around the northern part of America and off the eastern coast for two years, during which period he never canght sight of
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land. He followed the sea for six years, but eventually abandoned this occupation to make his home in Minnesota. He intended to purchase land in that state and follow agricultural pursuits but was unsuccessful in finding a farm just as he wanted it and returned to New York. In the early '6os he went to Calhoun county, Iowa, and bought land which he proved and operated for two years. He there gained a thorough knowledge of modern agriculture and was success- ful as a farmer. He abandoned farm life. however, after two years of activity in this line and came to Fort Dodge to accept a position as traveling salesman for the Fulton Implement Company. Success attended his commercial efforts and for four years he was a valued and energetic representative for his employers. When he severed his connection with the Fulton Implement Company he went to Minne- apolis to enter the employ of Hooker & Manley, wholesale cigar dealers in that city. It was here that he first found an occupation entirely suited to his talents and tastes and his activities in the whole- sale branch of the cigar business gave a definite vent to his ambitions. He applied himself to learning the details connected with the selling and buying end of the business and became familiar with the different grades of the product and was soon recognized as an expert in his chosen field of activity. He remained with Hooker & Manley until 1885 and then returned to Fort Dodge to enter into business for himself. He established his store, which contained wholesale and retail departments, upon the site where the First National Bank is now located and here for many years he conducted one of the most flourishing and prosperous enterprises in this line in the city. His ambition and energy coupled with thorough and definite knowledge made his rise in the business world rapid and his honorable methods and strict integrity soon gained him many patrons. Eventually he was enabled to retire. He conducted his enterprise until 1902 and in that year closed his store and started upon an extended tour of the southern states. The poor condition of his health was an influen- tial factor in his determination to retire from business. He was a sufferer from asthma and his southern journey although it benefited him generally had no lasting effect upon his health. He returned to Fort Dodge and made this city his home until his death on June 17. 1906, in his sixty-eighth year. His passing was widely and genuinely regretted by his many friends in the city and it deprived the business interests of Fort Dodge of a shrewd and discriminating man. He was well known throughout the city as an exemplary and thoroughly honest citizen and the place which he left in social and commercial circles will be difficult to fill.
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On November 26, 1871, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Mary Barr, a daughter of Andrew and Mary (Stewart) Barr, both natives of Ohio. The father left the latter state at an early date and made his home in Minnesota, where he engaged in blacksmithing until the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1861 he enlisted in Company A, Third Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and served during the entire four years with honor and distinction. He was wounded in the right arm and never afterward regained the full use of that member. After the surrender of the Confederacy he returned to Minnesota and thereafter followed the occupation of a veterinary surgeon until his death, which occurred in March, 1907, when he had attained the age of ninety-one years. His wife's death had long since preceeded his and occurred in April, 1877. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born two children : Edwin V., Jr. now in the thirty-ninth year of his age, who is employed by the Bythe Brick & Tile Company of Fort Dodge ; and J. S., whose birth occurred on July 17, 1875. Mrs. Brown and her two sons reside at No. 806 First Avenue in a comfortable and commodious home which Mr. Brown purchased before his death.
Politically Mr. Brown was a stanch republican and actively inter- ested in the affairs of his community although he never held nor sought public office. He was a member of the Presbyterian church and to this faith his wife gives her allegiance. He was prominent in the Masonic order, having been initiated in Ashlar Lodge on July 16, 1869. He attained a prominent position in the deliberations of that body during his life and was active in the affairs of the organization for many years. His life had a distinct influence upon the com- mercial progress of Fort Dodge. He had that talent for organization and management which is a necessary factor in development and upbuilding. He set for himself a high standard of business honor and he never deviated from his code. He made his life upright. worthy and genuinely useful and his death marked the passing of a valued and respected citizen and a thoroughly honest man.
JOHN W. KIME.
Dr. John W. Kime, who in his practice is specializing in the treat- ment of tuberculosis, occupies a prominent place among those who have in recent years given their attention to this branch of practice, doing a work which is of untold benefit. Dr. Kime was born in Shelby
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county, Iowa, October, 1855, a son of Abraham and Mary ( Baugh- man) Kime, both of whom were natives of Indiana. The father removed to Shelby county in 1852 and immediately entered land. Until the war broke out he was engaged in cultivating and improving this property. He enlisted in Company I, Twenty-ninth Iowa Volun- teer Infantry and served until the spring of 1863, when his death occurred as a result of black measles. After her husband's death the mother continued in the operation of the farm throughout the remainder of her life. She passed away in 1890.
Dr. Kime was reared at home and his early education was acquired in the public schools of Shelby county. His training was supple- mented by a course of study at the State University at Iowa City, which institution he entered when he was eighteen years of age. He took a general college course and subsequently took up the study of medicine, graduating with the class of 1883. He afterward opened an office in Angus, lowa, where he remained for one year before coming to Fort Dodge in 1884. He at once engaged in the general practice of medicine and is at present one of the most prominent physicians of this city. Realizing that this is an age of specialization and that the greatest good can be done by perfecting one's self in a particular line, he has made a special study of tuberculosis and at present is conducting a hospital on the north side of the city for the treatment of those afflicted with that disease. Close study and per- sonal investigation have gained him broad knowledge and made him most efficient in his chosen field of labor. He has served as state lecturer on tuberculosis for the last three years. He holds member- ship in the Iowa State Medical Association, the National Tuberculosis Association and the Webster County Medical Association. He utilizes every means at hand to advance and promote his efficiency. His labors have been of a valuable character, and in all his professional practice he works toward high ideals.
In August, 1884, Dr. Kime was married to Miss Sara Paugburn. a daughter of William and Sabina Paugburn, natives of New York state. Mrs. Kime ably assists the Doctor in his professional work, as she herself has studied medicine and is a graduate physician. . \t an early date the father removed to Fayette county, Iowa, and was one of the pioneer settlers of that district. He entered land which he cultivated until 1909, when he gave up agricultural pursuits and removed to Fort Dodge. His death occurred in this city in 1911. The mother passed away in 1910. To Dr. and Mrs. Kime two children have been born: Marion, who is sixteen years of age: and
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Isabelle, aged nine. The family is affiliated with the Presbyterian church and Dr. Kime gives his political support to the republican party. He has served on the city council for two years. He takes an active interest in everything that pertains to the welfare, growth and progress of the city.
NICHOLAS J. WAGNER.
For more than sixteen years Nicholas J. Wagner has been success- fully identified with the mercantile interests of Duncombe, being numbered among the substantial business men of the town. He was born on the 10th of May, 1871, in Hamilton county, this state, and is a son of John and Angelica ( Chrisman ) Wagner, natives of Germany. The father when a young man of twenty-three years emigrated to the United States with his parents, who located at Aurora, Illinois. There he found employment in the shops of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, continuing in their service until 1868. In the latter year he resigned his position and came to Iowa, and purchasing a hundred and sixty acres of land in Hamilton county turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He possessed the diligence and thrift characteristic of his nationality, and in the development of his interests met with such gratifying returns that he was able to add to his holdings from time to time until at one time they aggregated four hundred and forty acres. Having accumulated a competence that warranted his retirement, he left his farm in 1896 and removed to Duncombe, where he passed away in January, 1906. at the age of sixty-eight years. The mother, who has passed the seventy-fourth anniversary of her birth still resides in Duncombe.
There was no particular occurrence in the life of Nicholas J. Wagner to distinguish his boyhood and youth from that of other farmer lads of that period. His time was largely divided between the work of the school-room and that of the fields. His education was obtained in the public schools of Eagle Grove and Webster City, following which he gave his undivided attention to the work of the home farm. Preferring a commercial to an agricultural career, he left the parental roof at the age of twenty-five years, and came to Duncombe. Here he subsequently formed a partnership with J. J. Clausen, with whom he was associated off and on for ten years. Later he bought the interest of Mr. Clausen in the enterprise and has
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