USA > Iowa > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 19
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Vol. II-13
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Wright county. In 1894 he rented the Mattice section near Williams and his practical and progressive methods of agriculture brought him a substantial success. His dwelling house was then destroyed by fire and, in 1895, he abandoned his policy of farming on rented land and disposing of the eighty acres he had formerly purchased, bought the Phil Morris farm of eighty acres in Mulberry Center, Hamilton county, and brought his holdings to a highly improved and developed condition. In the spring of 1901 he sold his holdings and moved to Webster City with the intention of entering the commercial field of activity. In 1900 he had also bought a quarter section of land in Brookins county, South Dakota, and this he disposed of in 1904.
His business career in Webster City has been distinguished by shrewd intelligence and active interest in various lines of commercial development and a well deserved success in his chosen field of occu- pation. In 1903 he bought an interest in the Pringle & Company im- plement business and continued his identification with this concern for five years. In 1908, however, he met with an accident which in- capacitated him for his duties in this capacity and he sold out his interest. In the same year he purchased the A. J. Brewer feed store and has since successfully conducted the enterprise under the name of N. F. Christenson. His dealings extend to all kinds of feed, grain and kindred articles. He does an extensive business in poultry reme- dies, oil meal, salt, hay, straw, flour and seeds, and is constantly in- creasing his activity. He owes his commercial success to energy and enterprise along modern lines and to his wise use of every favorable opportunity. His business has developed into an important concern, dominated by his forceful personality and guided by his undeviating policy of strict honor and integrity.
In 1882 Mr. Christenson was united in marriage to Miss Delfrata Pringle, a daughter of Thomas Pringle of Webster City. Mrs. Christenson died in June, 1892, leaving one son, Ray, whose death oc- curred in 1910. In March, 1893, Mr. Christenson was again married. His second wife was Miss Laura E. Rutledge, a daughter of G. T. Rutledge, a prominent farmer of Hamilton county. They have three children : George, born in 1895: Ruth, born in 1899: and Howard. whose birth occurred in 1907. The family reside at No. 526 Division street, Webster City.
Mr. Christenson gives his political allegiance to the prohibition party. He does not seek office and prefers to devote his attention to the successful operation of his business enterprise. Like many other men of today he planned and accomplished his own advance-
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ment and has come through a series of hampering obstacles to a place worth attaining in commercial circles in Hamilton county. Success is always honorable if worthily attained and Mr. Christenson's pros- perity redounds to his own credit and is a contributing factor toward the commercial upbuilding of Webster City.
J. M. RICHARDSON.
J. M. Richardson has given all his energies and activities since he left his father's farm in his boyhood to the jewelry business and has attained a degree of success in that line inseparable from his specialized knowledge. He is now operating one of the largest jewelry stores in Webster City, maintaining his business at No. 601 Second street, where he has been located since 1890. He was born in Mexico, Oswego county, New York, October 24, 1865. His par- ents were Marcus D. and Mariette (Calkins) Richardson, the former a prominent farmer in New York state during his entire life. The father died in that section of the country when he was about sixty- eight years of age and his wife passed away.in 1887, when she was sixty years old.
J. M. Richardson began his studies at the usual age and pursued the regular curriculum in the common schools of his native city. As a boy he became acquainted with the details of modern and progres- sive agriculture by assisting his father in the work of the farm, but his ambition soon led him away from the tilling of the soil and di- rected his energies to commercial enterprises. When seventeen years of age he left home and went to Pulaski, New York, with the definite intention of learning the jewelry trade. His apprenticeship continued for three years and at the end of that time he was an expert work- man in the mechanical details of his chosen business and an intelli- gent and discriminating judge of precious stones. In the fall of 1886 he came to Webster City and entered the employ of B. Detlor, a prominent jeweler in this city, with whom he remained for four years, gaining valuable personal experience in business methods and in the details of his occupation. In July, 1891, Mr. Richardson formed a partnership with H. J. Arthur under the name of Arthur & Richardson and carried on a prosperous jewelry business to which was attached also a drug department. The copartnership continued for eight years and the business grew rapidly under the able management
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of Mr. Richardson. In 1899 he started an independent jewelry con- cern under his own name and has continued in this line of activity at No. 601 Second street since that time. He has become well known in business circles of Webster City as an intelligent and broad-minded man interested not only in his own enterprises but in every move- ment which makes for the industrial and social development of the community in which he resides. His cooperation is eagerly sought in many financial enterprises. He is a director of the First National Bank of Webster City and vice president of the Northwestern Felt Shoe Company. His activities are gradually extending as his promi- nence in the business world increases and his feet are upon the path- way which leads to distinguished business success.
On July 13, 1893, Mr. Richardson was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Estes, a daughter of L. L. Estes, one of the pioneer resi- dents of Hamilton county and a prominent business man of Webster City. They have two children: Lewis E., whose birth occurred in 1894; and Claire, born in 1897. The family residence is at No. 1218 Des Moines street, Webster City. In his political views Mr. Richardson is consistently republican, but, although he keeps himself weli informed upon public questions of national and local character, he gives very little attention to politics. He holds membership in Acacia Lodge, No. 176, F. & A. M .; in Hope Chapter, No. 88, R. A. M .; and in Triune Commandery, No. 41, K. T., holding in the latter branch of Masonry the office of past eminent commander. He belongs to Webster City Lodge, No. 302, B. P. O. E., and his name is well known in that organization. He is a member of the Congregational church and is recognized as a man of exemplary character, both in private and public life. His increasing business is gratifying evidence of his advancing prosperity. His fellow citi- zens recognize him as a successful man who is actively interested in the development of his personal enterprise as a valuable municipal asset.
WASHINGTON IRVING WORTHINGTON.
Washington Irving Worthington, whose residence in Webster City dates from October 20, 1855, was for a number of years ac- tively engaged in business here as a carpenter and builder but is now living retired, spending the evening of life in well earned rest.
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His birth occurred in Bainbridge, Chenango county, New York, in 1829, his parents being Theodore and Eliza (Irving) Worthington. In 1835 the family home was established in Tioga county, Pennsyl- vania, and two years later in Michigan, where the parents of our sub- ject spent the remainder of their lives. Theodore Worthington was an agriculturist by occupation and also worked at the carpenter's trade.
W. I. Worthington was educated in the country schools of Michi- gan and during his early life worked at farm labor through the sum- mer months and taught school in the winter seasons. At the same time he learned the carpenter's trade. In 1848, when a youth of nineteen, he left the parental roof and spent the following four years in Illinois and Wisconsin. Returning to Michigan, he there remained until his removal to Ohio and in 1855 came to Iowa. In April, 1855, he arrived in Des Moines, having journeyed to that place from Muscatine by stage. After a few months he made his way to Webster City and here he has resided continuously since, or for a period of fifty-seven years. During the early '6os he went to Pike's Peak in search of gold and when he returned to this state, at the end of two years, offered his services as a Union soldier in the Civil war but was rejected on account of physical disability. He spent two years in the south, however, acting as sutler's clerk for J. C. Cheney, of Fort Dodge, Iowa. After the cessation of hostilities between the north and the south he gave his entire attention to car- pentering and building and gained an enviable reputation as the fore- most carpenter of his time, being identified with the erection of many of the homes and business structures of Webster City.
Mr. Worthington has been married three times. In 1857 he wedded Miss Caroline Brewer, a daughter of William Brewer of Webster City, who was a cooper by trade and one of the pioneer settlers of Hamilton county. By this union there was one son, Charles Irving Worthington, whose birth occurred in 1857 and who now re- sides in Omaha. He is married and has three children. In 1863 W. I. Worthington wedded Miss Helen Skinner, a daughter of Jacob Skinner, an attorney of Webster City. She passed away about 1874, leaving four sons, while Fred died before her death. The others are George J., Frank, John and Marion. In 1876 Mr. Worthington married Miss Anna Carmony, her father being Peter Carmony, an agriculturist of La Salle county, Illinois. Unto W. I. and Anna (Carmony) Worthington was born a daughter, Grace Lee, whose natal year was 1877 and who gave her hand in marriage to Harry
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Moore of Webster City. Mrs. Moore was called to her final rest in 1909.
At the polls Mr. Worthington has always voted independently. He served in the capacity of assessor for two years and acted as marshal of Webster City for one year. At the time of his arrival here Hamilton county was still but sparsely settled and largely un- developed, and he has therefore witnessed the wonderful transfor- mation which has occurred as pioneer conditions have given way be- fore the onward march of civilization. His home is a comfortable and attractive residence at No. 402 Division street. He has now passed the eighty-third milestone on life's journey and enjoys the respect and veneration which should ever be accorded one who has traveled thus far on this earthly pilgrimage and whose career has been at all times upright and honorable.
GEORGE D. THOMPSON.
George D. Thompson, more familiarly known by his associates as "Dell" Thompson, was born in Bureau county, Illinois, June 12, 1867. His parents were Hiram E. and Maria L. (Studley) Thomp- son. They moved from Illinois to Hamilton county in 1873. Hiram Thompson was a farmer and most of his life in Hamilton county was spent in Cass township. He died in 1897 at the age of fifty-nine years. Maria Thompson survived her husband nine years. She passed to her reward in 1906 at the age of sixty-two years.
G. D. Thompson's early education in books was acquired at the country schools of Cass township but he learned to work on a farm in those strenuous days when farming was done by hand and when to bush or shirk was an unpardonable offense. His early associates were the sons of Augus Mclaughlin, "Dave" Douglass and Simon Day, and it is a significant fact that an unusually large per cent of these rugged farmer boys from Cass township have grown up to be lawyers, doctors, and ministers and nearly all of them have at- tained positions of distinction.
It is curious how an apparently trifling incident will make a tre- mendous impression on the mind of a growing boy. It must have been in 1879 that the famous Daniels-Van Winkle cow case was tried at the Mclaughlin schoolhouse. The opposing lawyers were Oscar Hall, young, brilliant and audacious, and the vigorous and somewhat
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pugnacious J. L. Kamrar. "Dell" Thompson and the Mclaughlin boys attended the trial and the forensic affray was as vigorous as it was interesting. After the trial, the boys crowded quickly to the schoolhouse door. They expected to see a fight when the lawyers met outside. Surely after the terrific arraignment of each other that had just occurred, these lawyers could not meet without fighting! Imagine then the wide-eyed wonder and almost disgust of the boys when the lawyers met with smile and joke and finally got into the same buggy and rode home together! The trial made a tremendous impression. Five of those boys became lawyers.
In 1884 young Thompson came to Webster City to attend the high school. He worked for his board, in the meantime, for George Smith at the Grand Central Hotel. Today he is one of the owners of the hotel in which he worked as "bell hop" while attending school. After leaving the high school he attended the Iowa State Teachers College at Cedar Falls and graduated from that institution in 1890. He then adopted teaching as a profession and for six years held the position of principal of the schools at Rippey, Greene county, Iowa. While teaching school he read law and in 1898 was admitted to prac- tice by the supreme court of Iowa. He did not at once commence active practice but accepted the presidency of the Lehigh Valley Bank at Lehigh, Iowa, which he held for two years. In 1900 he came to Webster City and formed a partnership with J. H. Richard, and the firm of Richard & Thompson at once took an active and prominent position at the bar of Hamilton county. This partner- ship continued until 1902, when J. H. Richard was elected judge. Since that time Mr. Thompson has continued his practice alone.
G. D. Thompson is a lawyer who devotes all his time to the prac- tice of law. His development as a lawyer has been gradual and con- tinuing. He is not of the flashy, brilliant type whose reputation is made by the trial of a single case, but rather of that more solid and steady type whose success is the result of hard work. He is a strik- ing example of a self-made man. He has a logical, well trained mind and is an eloquent forcible speaker, and these qualities have given him a leading position as a trial lawyer.
In politics Mr. Thompson is a stanch republican and has been ac- tive and prominent in local politics for the past ten years. For six years he was chairman of the county republican central committee. Several years ago he was a prominent candidate for the state legisla- ture and he has received flattering mention as a candidate for con-
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gress. He is now and has been for several years a member of the board of county commissioners of insanity.
On January 23, 1891, G. D. Thompson was united in marriage to Mary Howd, a daughter of C. A. and Ann Howd of Cass town- ship. To them have been born four children, Irene, Ruth, Bessie and George D., Jr. Irene, the eldest, is now attending the college from which her father graduated. The family reside at 1114 Sec- ond street, Webster City, Iowa. .
FREDERICK OLSON.
No history of Hamilton county would be complete without the record of the life of Frederick Olson, who for many years was one of the most valued and honored citizens of Ellsworth township and an important factor in its agricultural development. He was among the early settlers in this section and his life was closely identified with its progress and growth and his death a distinct loss to the commu- nity at large. Mr. Olson was born in Norway, October 2, 1824, a son of Ole J. and Margaret (Stime) Hopperstaff, natives of that country. His father died in Norway at the age of sixty-four and his mother passed away at the age of eighty-two. In their family were seven children : Mrs. Auberson, Mrs. Anna Brecha and Mrs. Anna Hop- perstaff, all of whom are deceased; Frederick, of this review: Mrs. Laura Thompson, who has passed away; John, who resides in Capron, McHenry county, Illinois; and Julia, deceased. All of these children were born in Norway and all eventually came to America.
Mr. Olson received his education in the public schools of his na- tive country and remained at home until he was twenty-seven years of age. He then determined to try his fortune in America and, crossing the Atlantic, he settled in Chicago, Illinois, in 1851. In that city and in its vicinity he remained until 1882, when he came to Ham- ilton county, arriving in March of the same year. Here he purchased two hundred acres of land on section 35, Ellsworth township, and gave his entire time to its development and improvement. He erected substantial buildings upon the premises and also a well furnished, modernly appointed home, into which he moved his valuable library of choice literature Being a man of splendid ability and executive force and of keen discernment, he gradually became successful and
MR. AND MRS. FREDERICK OLSON
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attained a position of prominence among the representative citizens of the section.
In Chicago, Illinois, in 1852, Mr. Olson was united in marriage to Miss Laura Butler, a native of Norway, born September 2, 1834. She came to America with her parents in 1838, being about eleven weeks en route from Norway, and settled with them in Fort Dear- born, now the great metropolis of Chicago. Her parents were among the earliest pioneers in that section and found upon their arrival only three crude buildings. For many years they struggled against the primitive conditions and the father, Marquis Butler, is known today in Chicago history as one of its first and most prominent builders. Four brothers of Mrs. Olson, as well as a sister of Mr. Olson, are buried where Lincoln Park is located. Members of this family have always been interested in history and have taken pleasure in collect- ing valuable antiques. Mrs. Olson is in possession of a family Bible over four hundred years old, which is said to be one of the oldest books in the state of Iowa and is extremely valuable. Mrs. Olson's father died in La Salle county, Illinois, at the age of seventy-nine. Her mother, who was in her maidenhood Miss Alice Peterson, passed away in the same section when she was seventy-four years of age. Ten children were born to their union, including John, deceased; Laura, the wife of the subject of this review; Nellie, who lives in Aurora, Illinois; Lorinda; Herman and Albert, both deceased; and Martina Grover. Mr. and Mrs. Olson became the parents of twelve children : Ole Julius, deceased; Henry and Margaret Louisa, who have also passed away; Alice Josephine, who lives at home; Fred- erick Lawrence, who resides in Adams county, Colorado; Joseph Eugene, deceased; Lida Eugene, who lives in Los Angeles, California ; Frantz, who has passed away; Esther Julia Ann, who makes hier home with her mother on the farm; Josephine Matilda and Bertha May, who also live at home; and Frances Hartwig, who lives in California. The four eldest in this family were born in Chicago and the others in La Salle county, Illinois.
Mr. Olson was a stanch republican but his public spirit never took the form of office seeking. He was a devout member of the Norwegian Lutheran church, holding membership in Story City, Iowa. His death occurred in Ellsworth township, January 14, 1904, when he was nearly eighty years of age. At that time he owned two hundred acres of fine land, with excellent improvements, and this property he left to his wife and children, who are carrying on its development along modern and progressive lines. They are among
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the most honored and highly esteemed people in this part of the state, where the integrity, public spirit and loyalty which are tradi- tions in their family are widely known and honored. The death of Mr. Olson deprived Hamilton county of one of its upbuilders and developers, a man of broad and liberal mind, a cultured scholar, a public-spirited and enterprising citizen. All the undertakings with which he was identified were profitable and prosperous, yet his truest success lay in the honor and esteem which he has won from his as- sociates and friends.
ALFRED JAMES SIMPSON.
Alfred James Simpson, who is employed in the general mercan- tile store of J. P. Talcott, was born at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, on the 6th of December, 1855, and is a son of James and Elizabeth (Patterson) Simpson. The father was a native of Langdale End, England, his birth having there occurred in 1815, and the mother of Dublin, Ireland. In 1869, the family removed to Iowa, making the journey from Wisconsin to Hamilton county in a prairie schooner. They spent the winter in Webster City, and in the spring the father traded an old horse and fifty dollars in money for a forty acre tract of land, which now forms part of the Murphy farm in Williams town- ship. He subsequently increased his holdings by the purchase of eighty acres lying north of his homestead and another eighty lying south. The further improvement and cultivation of this place en- gaged his attention until 1885, when he disposed of it and removed to Wright county, where he bought and sold three different farms and then settled in Dows. He and the mother subsequently returned to Williams and spent their latter years in the home of their son, Alfred James, where they passed away, her death occurring on Sep- tember 15. 1899, and his on the 5th of April. 1901. They were the parents of three sons, our subject being the eldest. The next in order of birth, Frederick, was born in Wisconsin, October 2, 1858, and died at Iowa City, this state, on the 7th of January, 1906, and was buried at Dows. Edgar Patterson, the youngest member of the family, is also a native of Wisconsin, his birth having occurred there on Feb- ruary 28, 1862, and is now residing at Armstrong, Kossuth county, Iowa.
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Alfred James Simpson was educated in the common schools of his native state, where he passed the first fourteen years of his life. The greater part of his youth and early manhood was devoted to agricultural pursuits, but he has for some years been engaged in mercantile activities.
On the 16th of September. 1880, Mr. Simpson was married to Miss Ellen Lister, who was born at Farley, Dubuque county. Iowa. on the 12th of November, 1857. She removed from there in 1870 to Rose Grove township, Hamilton county, with her parents, who are mentioned at greater length under the sketch of Thomas Arthur Lister. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Simpson : Mildred May, who was born on the 29th of May, 1881, the wife of Frank Wood, of Williams ; Morton Le Roy, whose natal day was December 18, 1882, a resident of Porter, Minnesota; George Edgar, who was born on March 13, 1885, of Webster City, Iowa; Pearl Lurene, who was born December 28, 1887, the wife of James Bowen, residing in Rose Grove township; Benjamin Harrison, a resident of Williams, who was born on the 6th of February. 1889: Helen Elizabeth, who was born on the Ist of November, 1890, the wife of Roy Burket, of Williams: Myrtle Maud, of Williams, who was born on the 15th of September. 1892; Floyd Herbert, whose birth occurred on July 24, 1894, of Will- iams; and Flossie Belle, who was born on the 29th of March, 1899. and is attending public school. Mrs. Bowen and the son Benjamin are natives of Wright county, but the other members of the family were born in Hamilton county.
Fraternally, Mr. Simpson is identified with Silver Link Lodge, No. 458, I. O. O. F., and has been secretary of the same for the past fifteen years. He is one of the oldest members of the local order of this organization, having been initiated at their second meet- ing. He also belongs to the Mystic Workers of the World and is secretary of the Williams lodge. In politics, Mr. Simpson is a re- publican and takes an active interest in all municipal affairs. He has several times been called to public office, having served as mayor for two terms, while for eight years he discharged the duties of con- stable. The family affiliate with the Presbyterian church and number among the members of its congregation many close friends. Mr. Simpson has passed the greater part of his life in this section of the state, much of his time having been spent in the immediate vicinity of Williams, which contained but two houses when he first came here. He has witnessed the town destroyed by fire on three occasions. For many years he has actively cooperated in its progress and develop-
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ment, and is numbered among its public-spirited and enterprising citizens. He owns his residence, which is one of the attractive prop- erties of the town, and expects to spend the remainder of his life in the community endeared to him by associations of many years.
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