USA > Iowa > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, Iowa. Containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county. Together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of Iowa, and of the presidents of the United States > Part 121
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Gov. Carpenter has been regarded as a public speaker of more than ordinary ability, and has apon many occasions been the orator, and always appreciated by the people.
At the expiration of his second term as Governor Mr. Carpenter was appointed Second Comptroller of the United States Treasury, which position he resigned after a service of fifteen months. This step was an evidence of his unselfishness, as it was taken because another Bureau officer was to be dis- missed, as it was held that Iowa had more heads of Bureaus than she was entitled to, and his resigning in office of the higher grade saved the position to mother. Ir 1881 he was elected to Congress, and served with ability, and in the Twentieth General Assembly of Iowa he represented Webster County.
Gt . Carpenter was married, in March, 1864, to Miss Susan Burkholder, of Fort Dodge. No chil- dren have been born to them, but they have reared a niece of Mrs. Carpenter's.
During his entire life Mr. Carpenter has been de- Coted to the principles of Reform and the best
interests of all classes of citizens who, by adoption. or by birth-right, are entitled to a home upon our soil and the protection of our laws, under the great charter of " Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Hap- piness." In an address in 1852 he took advanced views upon the leading subjects of public interest. He had already laid the foundation for that love of freedom which afterwards found an ample field of labor with the Republican party. There was notli- ing chimerical in his views. Hc looked at every strata of human society, and, from the wants of the masses, wisely devined duty and prophesied destiny. He would have the people of a free Republic edu- cated in the spirit of the civilization of the age. Instead of cultivating a taste for a species of liter. ature tending directly to degrade the mind and deprave the heart, thereby leading back to a state of superstition and consequent barbarism, he would cultivate principles of temperance, industry and economy in every youthful mind, as the indispens- able ingredients of good citizens, or subjects upon whose banner will be inscribed Liberty, Equality. Fraternity.
Thus early in life Mr. Carpenter saw the destined tendency of our American institutions, and the ad- vancing civilization of the age. He saw it in the peace congress, whose deliberations have made the Rhine thrice immortal. He saw it in the prospect- ive railway, which he believed would one day unite the shores of the Atlantic with those of the Pacific-a fact realized by the construction of the great continental railway.
It was thus early that he began to study the wants of the world, and with what clearness and directness may be seen by the correctness of his vision and the accomplishment of what he consid .. ered an inevitable necessity.
Thus, growing up into manhood, and passing on- ward in the rugged pathway of time, disciplined in political economy and civil ethics in the stern school of experience, he was prepared to meet every emergency with a steady hand; to bring order out of discord, and insure harmony and prosperity.
Gov. Carpenter is now engaged in the quiet pur- suits of farm life, residing at Fort Dodge, where he is highly esteemed as one of her purest minded and most upright citizens.
29. hanbolo
143
GOVERNORS OF IOWA.
Joshua
Newbold.
OSHUA G. NEWBOLD, the ninth Governor of Iowa, is a native of Pennsylvania. He comes from that excellent stock known as the Friends, who very early settled in New Jersey. Joshua G. is the son of Barzilla and Catherine (House) Newbold, and was born in Fayette County, May 12, 1830. He was born a farmer's boy and was reared in the vigor- ous employment of farm work. When he was eight years of age the family moved to Westmoreland County, Pa., where, in the common schools and in a select school or academy, young Newbold received his education. When sixteen years of age he aeeompanied the family on their re- turn to Fayette County. Here for the following eight years he assisted his father in running a flour- ing-mill as well as devoting much of his time to teaching sehool. When about nineteen years of age our subject began the study of medicine, de- voting much of his time while teaching to his med- ical books. He, however, abandoned the idea of becoming a physician and turned his attention to different walks in life.
In the month of March, 1854, Mr. Newbold re- moved to Iowa, loeating on a farm, now partly in the corporation of Mount Pleasant, Henry County.
At the end of one year he removed to Ceda. Township, Van Buren County, there merchandising and farming till about 1860, when he removed to Hillsboro, Henry County, and pursued the same callings.
In 1862, when the call was made for 600,000 men to finish the work of crushing the Rebellion, Mr. Newbold left his farm in the hands of his family and his store in charge of his partner, and went into the army as Captain of Company C, 25th Regiment of Iowa Infantry. He served nearly three years, resigning just before the war elosed, on account of disability. During the last two or three months he served at the South he filled the position of Judge Advocate, with headquarters at Woodville, Ala.
His regiment was one of those that made Iowa troops famous. It arrived at Helena, Ark., in November, 1862, and sailed in Deeember following on the expedition against Vicksburg by way of Chickasaw Bayou. At the latter place was its first engagement. Its second was at Arkansas Post, and there it suffered severely, losing in killed and wounded more than sixty.
After Lookout Mountain it joined in the pursuit of Bragg's flying forces to Ringgold, where it cu- gaged the enemy in their strong works, November 27, losing twenty-nine wounded. The following year it joined Sherman in his Atlanta Campaign, then on the famous mareh to the sea and through the Carolinas.
On returning to Iowa he continued in the mer-
144
JOSHUA G. NEWBOLD.
cantile trade at Hillsboro for three or four years, and then sold out, giving thereafter his whole at- tention to agriculture, stoek -raising and stock-deal- ing, making the stock department an important factor in his business for several years. Mr. New- bold was a member of the 13th, 14th and 15th Gen- eral Assemblies, representing Henry County, and was Chairman of the School Committee in the 14th, and of the committee on appropriations in the 15th General Assembly. In the 15th (1874) he was tem- porary Speaker during the deadloek in organizing the House. 1n 1875 he was elected Lieutenant Governor on the Republican ticket with Samuel J. Kirkwood.
His Democratic competitor was E. D. Woodward, who received 93,060 votes. Mr. Newbold received 134,166, or a majority of 31,106. Governor Kirk- wood being elected United States Senator during that session, Mr. Newbold beeame Governor, taking the chair Feb. 1, 1877, and vaeating it for Gov. Gear in January, 1878.
Gov. Newbold's message to the Legislature in 1878, shows painstaking eare and a clear, busi- ness-like view of the interests of the State. His recommendations were carefully considered and largely adopted. The State's finances were then in a less creditable condition than ever before or since, as there was an increasing floating debt, then amounting to $340,826.56, more than $90,000 in exeess of the Constitutional limitation. Said Gov. Newbold in his message: "The commonwealth ought not to set an example of dilatoriness in meeting its obligations. Of all forms of indebt- edness, that of a floating character is the most ob- jectionable. The uncertainty as to its amount will
invariably enter into any computation made by per- sons contraeting with the State for supplies, mater- ial or labor. To remove the present difficulty, and to avert its recurrence, I look upon as the most im- portant work that will demand your attention."
One of the greatest problems before statesmen is that of equal and just taxation. The following recommendation shows that Gov. Newbold was abreast with foremost thinkers, for it proposes a step which yearly finds more favor with the people : " The inequalities of the personal-property valu- ations of the several counties suggest to my mind the propriety of so adjusting the State's levy as to require the counties to pay into the State treasury only the tax on realty, leaving the corresponding tax on personalty in the county treasury. This would rest with each county the adjustment of its own personal property valuations, without fear that they might be so high as to work injustice to itself in comparison with other counties."
Gov. Newbold has always affiliated with the Republican party, and holds to its great cardinal doctrines, having onee embraced them, with the same sincerity and honesty that he cherishes his re- ligious sentiments. He has been a Christian for something like twenty-five years, his eonneetion be- ing with the Free-Will Baptist Church. He found his wife, Rachel Farquhar, in Fayette County, Pa., their union taking place on the 2d of May, 1850. They have had five children and lost two. The names of the living are Mary Allene, Emma Irene and George C.
The Governor is not yet an old man, and may serve his State or county in other capacities in the coming years.
147
GOVERNORS OF IOWA.
John H. Gear.
OHN H. GEAR, the tenth gentleman to occupy the Executive Chair of Iowa, is still a resident of Burlington. He is a native of the Empire State, where in the city of Ithica, April 7, 1825, he was born. Rev. E. G. Gear, his father, was born in New London, Conn., in 1792, and became a distinguished clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church. His family had removed with him, while he was still young, to Pittsfield, Mass., and in the year 1816, after his ordina- tion as a clergyman of the Episco- pal Church, he went to New York and located at Onondaga Hill near the city of Syracuse. Shortly after this settlement, the young minister was united in marriage with Miss Miranda E. Cook. After serving various congregations in Western New York for many years, he de- termined to become a pioneer in Northern Illinois, which at the time, in the year 1836, was being rapidly settled up. He found a desirable location at Galena where he remained un- til 1838, when he received the appointment as Chaplain in the United States army while located at Fort Snelling, Minn. He lived a long and act- ive life, doing much good, quitting his labors in
the year 1874, at the advanced age of eighty-two years.
The only son born to Mr. and Mrs. E. G. Gear was J. H., afterward the distinguished Governor of Iowa. As above stated the birth occurred in 1825. In 1843, when still a young man, he came West to Burlington, where he has since continued to reside, her most distinguished citizen. Shortly after his arrival in the young city, he embarked in his mer- cantile career, engaging at the time with the firm of Bridgman & Bros., in the capacity of a clerk. Remaining with this firm for a little over a year, he left them for an engagement with W. F. Cool- baugh, who at one time was President of the Union National Bank, of Chicago, and who at that early period was the leading merchant of Eastern Iowa. He served Mr. Coolbaugh so faithfully. and with such marked ability for the following five years, that, when desirous of a partner in his busi- ness, the wealthy merchant could find no one in whom he could place greater confidenee and with whom he could trust his extensive business rela- tions that pleased him better than the young clerk. Accordingly he was associated as a partner under the firm name of W. F. Coolbaugh & Co. Under this arrangement the firm did a prosperous busi- ness for the following five years, when Mr. Gear purchased the entire business, which he carried on with marked success until he became known as the oldest wholesale grocer in the State. He is at present, besides filling other prominent business relations, President of the Rolling Mill Co., of Galesburg.
148
JOHN H. GEAR.
Mr.Gear has been honored by his fellow-citizens with many positions of trust. In 1852 he was elected Alderman; in 1863 was elected Mayor over A. W. Carpenter, being the first Republican up to that time who had been elected in Burlington on a party issue. In 1867 the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota Railroad Company was organ- ized, and he was chosen as its President. His ef- forts highly contributed to the success of the enter- prise, which did much for Burlington. He was also active in promoting the Burlington & South- western Railway, as well as the Burlington & North- western narrow-gauge road.
He has always acted with the Republican party, and in 1871 was nominated and elected a member of the House of Representatives of the 14th General Assembly. In 1873 he was elected to the 15th General Assembly. The Republican cau- cus of the House nominated him for Speaker by acclamation, and after a contest of two weeks he was chosen over his opponent, J. W. Dixon. He filled the position of Speaker very acceptably, and at the close of the session all the members of the House, independent of party affiliations, joined in signing their names to a resolution of thanks, which was engraved and presented to him. In 1875 he was the third time nominated to the Assembly by the Republican party, and while his county gave a large Democratic vote he was again elected. He was also again nominated for Speaker by the Re- publican caucus, and was elected by a handsome majority over his competitor, Hon. John Y. Stone. He is the only man in the State who ever had the lionor of being chosen to this high position a scc- ond time. He enjoys the reputation of being an able parliamentarian, his rulings never having been appealed from. At the close of the session he again received the unanimous thanks of the House of Representatives for his courtesy and impartiality, and for the able and satisfactory manner in which he had presided over that body.
In 1877 he was nominated for Governor by the Republican convention which met at Des Moines, June 28, and at the election held the following October he received 121,546 votes, against 79,353 for John P. Irish, 10,639 for Elias Jessup and 38,- 128 for D. P. Stubbs. His plurality over Irish
was 42,193. He was inaugurated Jan. 17, 1878. and served four years, being re-elected in 1879 by the following handsome vote: Gear, 157,571; Trimble, 85,056; Campbell, 45,439 ; Dungan, 3,258, Gear's majority over all competitors, 23,828. His second inauguration occurred in January of the year 1880.
Gov. Gear's business habits enabled him to dis charge the duties of his office with marked ability He found the financial condition of the State at : low ebb, but raised Iowa's credit to that of the best of our States. In his last biennial message he was able to report: "The warrants out-standing. but not bearing interest, Sept. 30, 1881, amounted to $22,093.74, and there are now in the treasury ample funds to meet the current expenses of the State. The war and defense debt has been paid, except the warrants for $125,000 negotiated by the Executive, Auditor and Treasurer, under the law of the 18th General Assembly, and $2,500 of the original bonds not yet presented for pay .. ment. The only other debt owing by the State amounts to $245,435.19, due to the permanent school fund, a portion of which is made irredeem able by the Constitution. These facts place Iowa practically among the States which have no debt, a consideration which must add much to her repu tation. The expenses of the State for the last two years are less than those of any other period since 1869, and this notwithstanding the fact that the State is to-day sustaining several institutions not tlien in existence; namely, the hospital at Inde- pendence, the additional penitentiary, the Normal School and the asylum for the feeble-minded chil- dren, besides the girl's department of the reform school. The State also, at present, makes provision for fish culture, for a useful weather service, fo sanitary supervision by a Board of Health, for en. couraging immigration to the State, for the inspec tion of coal mines by a State Inspector, and liber- ally for the military arm of the Government."
Gov. Gear is now in the sixty-first year of his age, and is in the full vigor of both his mental and physical faculties. He was married in 1852 to IIarriet S. Foot, formerly of the town of Middle- bury, Vermont, by whom he has had four children two of whom are living.
B. R. Shirmang
151
GOVERNORS OF IOWA.
Buren M. Sherman.
ยึดยึดจัดวัดยั่วถือขัดฝืดยึดถือคือ
ONE of the most distinguished gentlemen who was ever honored with the position of Chief Executive of the State is Buren R. Sherman, the eleventh Governor of Iowa, who is a native of New York. It was in the town of Phelps, in On- tario County, that he was born to his parents, Phineas L. and Eveline (Robinson) Sherman, on the 28th of May, 1836, and was the third son of a distinguished family of children. His parents were likewise natives of the Empire State. Buren R. attended the public schools of his neighborhood, but was subsequently given advantages of the schools at Almira, N. Y., where he acquired a very thorough knowledge of the English branches. His father, who was a me- chanie, advised him at the close of his studies to apprentice himself to learn some trade. He ac- cordingly made such arrangements with S. Ayers, of Almira, to learn the trade of a watchmaker. In 1855, however, he left this position and joined his family on their removal to the then new State of Iowa. They settled upon a piece of unbroken prai- rie land on what is now Geneseo Township, Tama
County, his father having previously purchased land from the Government. Here Buren R. labored diligently in developing his father's fields, devoting. however, leisure hours which he was granted, to the study of law. Before leaving his Eastern home he had decided upon that profession and began its study while yet in Almira. He soon secured a po . sition as a book-keeper in a neighboring town, and with the wages earned there, materially assisted his father in the development of their home farm. Fr. the meantime he had applied himself diligently tc the study of his books, and so studious had he been that in the summer of 1859, he was enabled to pass a creditable examination and to be admitted to the bar. The following spring the young attor- ney moved to Vinton, hung out his shingle and be- gan the practice of his profession. IIe was associated with Hon. William Smyth, formerly District Judge, and J. C. Traer, under the firm name of Smyth: Traer & Sherman. The new firm rapidly grew into prominence, building up a prosperous practice, when Mr. Sherman withdrew to tender his services to the Government in defense of her integrity and honor.
It was early in 1861, directly after the enemy had assaulted the American flag on Sumter, that the young attorney enlisted in Co. G, 13th Iowa Vol.
152
BUREN R. SHERMAN.
Inf., and immediately went to the front. He entered the service as Second Sergeant, and in February, 1862. was made Sccond Lieutenant of Company E. On the 6th of April following he was very severely wounded at the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, and while in the hospital was promoted to the rank of Captain. He returned to his company while yet obliged to use his crutches, and remained on duty till the summer of 1863, when, by reason of his wound, he was compelled to resign and return home. Soon after returning from the army he was elected County Judge of Benton County, and re- elected without opposition in 1865. In the autumn of 1866 he resigned his judgeship and accepted the office of Clerk of the District Court, to which he was re-elected in 1868, 1870 and 1872, and in December, 1874. resigned in order to accept the office of Auditor of State, to which office hc had been elected by a majority of 28,425 over J. M. King, the "anti-monopoly " candidate. In 1876 he was renominated and received 50,272 more votes than W. Growneweg (Democrat) and Leonard Browne (Greenback) together. In 1878 he was again chosen to represent the Republican party in that office, and this time received a major- ity of 7,164 over the combined votes of Col. Etboeck (Democrat) and G. V. Swearenger (Green- back). In the six years that he held this office, he was untiring in his faithful application to routine work and devotion to his special share of the State's business. IIe retired with such an enviable record that it was with no surprise the people learned, June 27, 1881, that he was the nomince of the Re- publican party for Governor.
The campaign was an exciting one. The General Assembly had submitted to the people the prohibi- tory amendment to the Constitution. This, while not a partisan question, became uppermost in the mind of the public. Mr. Sherman received 133,- 330 votes, against 83,244 for Kinne and 28,112 for D. M. Clark, or a plurality of 50,086 and a major- ity of 21,974. In 1883 he was re-nominated by the Republicans, as well as L. G. Kinne by the Democrats. The National party offered J. B. Weaver. During the campaign thesc candidates held a number of joint discussions at different points in the State. At the election the vote was:
Sherman, 164,182; Kinne, 139,093; Weaver, 23 .. 089; Sherman's plurality, 25,089; majority. 2,000. In his second inaugural Gov. Sherman said :
" In assuming, for the second time, the office of . Chief Magistrate for the State, I fully realize my grateful obligations to the people of Iowa, through whose generous confidence I am here. I am aware of the duties and grave responsibilities of this ex- alted position, and as well what is expected of me therein. As in the past I have given my undivided time and serious attention thereto, so in the future I promise the most earnest devotion and untiring effort in the faithful performance of my official re- quircments. I have seen the State grow from in- fancy to mature manhood, and each year one of substantial betterment of its previous position.
" With more railroads than any State, save two; with a school interest the grandest and strongest, which commands the support and confidence of all the people, and a population, which in its entirety is superior to any other in the sisterhood, it is not strange the pride which attaches to our people. When we remember that the results of our efforts in the direction of good government have been crowned with such magnificent success, and to-day we have a State in most perfect physical and finan- cial condition, no wonder our hearts swell in honest pride as we contemplate the past and so confidently hope for the future. What we may become de- pends on our own efforts, and to that future I look with carnest and abiding confidence."
Gov. Sherman's term of office continued until Jan. 14, 1886, when he was succeeded by William Larra- bee, and he is now, temporarily, perhaps, enjoying a well-earned rest. He has been a Republican since the organization of that party, and his services as a campaign speaker have been for many years in great demand. As an officer he has been able to make an enviable record. Himself honorable and thorough, his management of public business has been of the same character, and such as has com- mended him to the approval of his fellow-citizens.
He was married, Aug. 20, 1862, to Miss Lena Kendall, of Vinton, Iowa, a young lady of rare ac- complishments and strength of character. Their union has been happy in every respect. They have two children-Lena Kendall and Oscar Eugene.
GOVERNORS OF IOWA.
150
Doilliam Larrabee.
ILLIAM LARRABEE, the present able Governor of Iowa, and the twelfth gen- tleman selected by the people as the Chief Magis- trate of the great Com- monwealth, is a native of Connecticut. His ancestors were among the French Huguenots who came to America early in the seventeenth century and located in Connecticut. At that time they bore the name of d'Larra- bee. Adam Larrabee, the father of Will- iam, was born March 14, 1787, and was one of the early graduates of the West Point Military Academy. He served his country during the War of 1812, with distinction, holding the position of Second Lieutenant, to which he was commissioned March 1, 1811. He was pro- moted to the Captaincy of his company Feb. 1, 1814, and on the 30th of the following March, at the battle of Lacole Mills, during Gen. Wilkinson's campaign on the Saint Lawrence River, he was severely wounded in the lung. He eventually re- covered from the injury and was united in mar- riage to Hannah G. Lester. This much esteemed lady was born June 3, 1798, and died on the 15th of March, 1837. Capt. Larrabee lived to an ad- vanced age, dying in 1869, at the age of eighty- two years.
As above mentioned, William, our subject, was
born in Connecticut, the town of Ledyard being the place of his birth and Jan. 20, 1832, the datc. He was the seventh child in a family of nine chil- dren, and passed the early years of his life upon a rugged New England farm, enjoying very meager educational advantages. He attended, during the winter seasons, the neighboring district schools until he reached the age of nineteen years, when, during the following two winters, he filled the posi- tion of schoolmaster. He was ambitions to do something in life for himself that would bring fort- une and distinction, but in making his plans for the future he was embarrassed by a misfortune which befell him when fourteen years of age. In being trained to the use of firearms under his father's direction, an accidental discharge resulted in the loss of the sight in the right eye. This conse- quently unfitted him for many employments usually souglit by ambitious young men. The family lived near the scashorc, only two miles away, and in that neighborhood it was the custom for at least one son in each family to go upon the sea as a sailor. The two cldest brothers of our subject had chosen this occupation while the third remained in charge of the home farm. William was thus left free to chose for himself and, like many of the. youths of that day, he wisely turned his face West- ward. The year 1853 found him on this journey toward the setting sun, stopping only when he came to the broad and fertile prairies of the new State of Iowa. He first joined his elder sister. Mrs
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