USA > Iowa > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Iowa; Volume II > Part 32
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likewise acted as the secretary of the Jackson County Farmers Institute. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen Camp, No. 1097, at Andrew, and his wife is a devoted member of the Presbyterian church. They are both highly esteemed in the community where their entire lives have been spent, their good qualities of heart and mind bringing to them the warm friendship of many with whom they have come in contact.
FRANK P. KIRK.
Frank P. Kirk, who is engaged in general farming in Prairie Spring township, owns a tract of one hundred and twenty-five acres and through the careful and systematic management of his business interests has gained a substantial position among the agriculturists of Jackson county. He was born in Clayton county, Iowa, July 12, 1865, his parents being Frank and Elizabeth (Gorry) Kirk, both natives of Ireland. The father was born in County Tyrone and in the early '40S emigrated to the United States. After living in the east for some time he came west to Iowa, settling in Clayton county where he remained until 1870, when he removed to Jackson county, buying a tract of land in Prairie Spring township. In its cultivation he was busily engaged for about twenty years, at the end of which time he took up his residence in Dubuque, where he is now living. His wife passed away on the 30th of July, 1909. She was the mother of six children, Frank P. Kirk of this review being the only son. The daughters are : Katherine, who is known as Sister Faustinia, of the Sisters of Charity, and is located in Iowa City, Iowa; Bridget, who is the wife of Tom Delaney, of Prairie Springs township; Mary, who is the widow of Edward Delaney and makes her home in Dubuque with her father; Elizabeth, deceased; and Maggie, who is with her father in Dubuque.
Frank P. Kirk was about five years of age when his parents left Clayton county, and he grew to manhood on the homestead in Prairie Spring township, Jackson county. He had the advantages of a common-school education and re- ceived ample training at farm labor while he assisted his father, lessons of indus- try, economy and honesty being strongly impressed upon his mind at that time. Therefore, when the father, desired to retire, he was thoroughly competent to carry on the work of the farm, which he operated successfully until 1895, when he sold the place and removed to the one hundred and twenty-five acres on which he now resides. He disposed of all his other landholdings, retaining only the property just mentioned. It is well improved, indicating the progressive spirit and enterprise of its owner, and its fields have been brought to a high state of productiveness, so that Mr. Kirk annually gathers and markets rich harvests.
On the 24th of October, 1900, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Kirk and Miss Nellie Tussing, a daughter of Nicholas Tussing, formerly a resident of Jackson county but now living in Dubuque. One son has been born to them, Aloysius, who was born June 13, 1902.
When age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Kirk gave expres- sion to his political views in supporting the democratic party, of which he has
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ever since been a stalwart champion. He is now serving his second term as town- ship trustee and is rendering the community acceptable service in that capacity. He and his wife are communicants of the Holy Rosary Catholic church, while he enjoys fraternal connections with the Knights of Columbus and the Foresters, of Lamotte. In his business affairs Mr. Kirk has manifested unwavering pur- pose and indefatigable energy and so may well be numbered among the substan- tial citizens of this county whose success has been gained through the legitimate lines of business.
ABRAHAM A. SUTHERS.
Not alone were the sacrifices of the Civil war those made by the soldiers who gave their lives on the altar of their country, but there are many veter- ans of that long and sanguinary strife who, through the ensuing years, have continued to bear the brunt of warfare by reason of an illness or injury sus- tained during that period. Such a one was Mr. Suthers, whose service was the cause of his blindness and for which the country now makes him partial recompense in a pension of a hundred dollars per month. He was born in Center Grove, Clinton county, Iowa, August 9, 1848, and is a son of John and Nancy (Foulk) Suthers. The father's birthplace was on the heights of the Catskill Mountains while his mother was traveling across the country with her parents, who came from Switzerland. Her husband had died in Switzer- land and the family soon afterward sailed for the new world and made their way westward until they reached Clinton county, Iowa. When they eventu- ally arrived in that county John Suthers was a lad of eight years. He was reared and married in this part of the state and after his marriage lived a somewhat migratory life for a number of years, spending some time in western Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. Eventually, however, he took up his abode in Maquoketa, where he resided from 1869 until his death in 1882.
Abraham A. Suthers was reared at home, acquiring his education in a log schoolhouse, but his opportunities were limited to about two terms. As early as his twelfth year he began to earn his own living, working at whatever offered him an honest dollar. He learned the blacksmith's trade under the direction of his father and followed it for a number of years, while for four years he was employed in the Barnes Brothers Machine Shop at Maquoketa. On the expiration of that period he devoted his attention to the blacksmith's trade, which he followed until he lost his eyesight in 1876. At the period of the Civil war he enlisted for service in the Union army, joining Company M, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, with which he continued from the 22d of January, 1865, until honorably discharged on the 26th of January, 1866. In March of the previous year, while located at Sioux City, Iowa, he was attacked with brain fever and this was primarily the cause of his loss of eyesight. Gradually the optic nerve became affected until the sight was wholly destroyed in August, 1876. As this was the result of illness while in the army the government has granted him a pension of a hundred dollars per month.
A. A. SUTHERS
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On the 28th of February, 1874, Mr. Suthers was married to Miss Eliza J. Callahan, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Lightfoot) Callahan, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. They removed from Indiana, where Mrs. Suthers was born in the late '40s, and cast in their lot with the early settlers of this part of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Suthers have two children: Dr. Wilfie A. Suthers, a practicing dentist of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Ina M., the wife of George W. Griffith, agent for the Wells Fargo Express Company at Ev- ansville, Indiana.
Mr. Suthers is a republican in politics, having stanchly supported the party since he cast his first presidential ballot. He is a member of A. W. Drips Post, G. A. R., and his wife is a member of the Baptist church. He has always lived in this part of the state and thus for sixty years has been familiar with the history of Clinton and Jackson counties. He lived an active life until his eyesight was gone, when he was forced to retire. His salient traits of character have always been of a sterling quality and he enjoys the respect of young and old, rich and poor.
HON. ALBERT FOSTER DAWSON.
Hon. Albert Foster Dawson, whose record confers honor and dignity upon the district that has honored him by thrice electing him as its representative in congress, has throughout his entire life been connected either in the journalistic or the political field with the discussion of questions of vital import, and on all has taken a progressive stand that finds its basis in loyal devotion to state and national welfare. He was born in Spragueville, Jackson county, Iowa, January 26, 1872, a son of Thomas and Allia A. (Foster) Dawson. The father was born in England and in his infancy was brought to the United States by his parents. He became a wagon maker by trade, following that pursuit for many years. His wife, a native of Jackson county, Iowa, passed away April 4, 1873, when her son Albert was but a year old. He was then reared by his maternal grandparents, Major and Mrs. Samuel Foster, who removed to Preston when the lad was four years of age. He has been a lifelong resident of Jackson county, his interests centering in this section of the state, although he is too broad minded to limit his political efforts to labor for the benefit of a single section. In the acquirement of his education he passed through consecutive grades in the schools of Preston and was graduated from the high school with the class of 1888. He was ambi- tious for college training but his grandparents were in limited financial circum- stances and he was, therefore, compelled to rely on his own resources. He there- fore spent two years as a clerk in a general store and, carefully saving his earn- ings, found at the end of that time that he had enough to pay his tuition and meet the expenses of a year's course in the University of Wisconsin, in which in- stitution he was matriculated in the fall of 1890. He closely applied himself to study during the scholastic year and was then obliged for financial reasons to dis- continue his studies. In the summer of 1891, when but nineteen years of age he became editor and manager of the Preston Advance. He had already had
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two years' experience in commercial lines and in his school days had worked for two summers in a brickyard, so that he was not unused to the close application and untiring labor which must constitute the basis of success. He continued the publication of the Advance until December, 1902, when he removed to Clinton, Iowa, and became advertising solicitor on the Clinton Daily Age. A year later he entered into active association with the Clinton Daily Herald on the editorial staff and his ability won him successive promotions until he was made city editor.
Since December, 1895, he has given much time to political service, for at that date he became private secretary at Washington to the Hon. George M. Curtis, member of congress from the second district of Iowa, in which capacity he re- mained until the retirement of Mr. Curtis on the 4th of March, 1899. On that date Mr. Dawson became confidential secretary to Senator William B. Allison, of Iowa, and so continued for six years. In the meantime he had become recog- nized as a forceful, entertaining and logical public speaker and had discussed from the platform many of the vital political topics of the time. In his school days he had displayed considerable aptitude in speaking at public entertainments and his gift of oratory has made him one of the prominent political speakers of the state. Moreover, his practical training and experience in public service won for him the unanimous nomination for congress in 1904 by the republican convention of the second Iowa district, and after one of the most strenuous campaigns that is recorded in the history of this state he was elected over the Hon. M. J. Wade, the sitting member, by a plurality of one hundred and eighty-six votes. There came to him public endorsement of his couse when, in 1906, he was reelected by a plurality of over fourteen hundred, and that he is continually gaining the pub- lic confidence and proving his right to the trusts reposed in him is furthermore indicated in the fact that in 1908 he was given nearly nineteen hundred votes more than his democratic opponent. His present term expires March 4, 19II.
Mr. Dawson's work in the national halls of legislation has been of a practical character and attended by tangible and substantial results. During his first term he was made a member of the committee on naval affairs and became con- spicuous as an advocate of reform in the system of naval administration. A con- temporary biographer has written:
"In a speech in the house April 15, 1908, he pointed out the wasteful methods in vogue in the navy yards in the duplication of shops and force, and followed this up with energetic efforts to effect a change. The result has been the in- auguration of a policy of consolidation, which will result in saving vast sums in naval expenditures. He has presented numerous measures for the betterment of the navy, being the father of the bill which established a corps of trained female nurses in the navy. He reported the bill for a dental corps in the navy, to abolish the use of irons, and numerous other measures of equal importance.
"During the consideration of the Payne tariff bill he pointed out the enor- mous profits which the tobacco trust had taken from the people through the failure of congress to restore the size of tobacco packages when the Spanish- American war taxes were repealed, and this injustice to consumers was corrected in that measure.
"His industrious and energetic efforts for his district have resulted in the establishment of a complete system of rural free delivery in every county, the
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ALBERT F. DAWSON
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erection of a new one hundred thousand dollar postoffice building at Muscatine, a seventy-five thousand dollar addition to the postoffice at Davenport and the establishment of a biological station at Fairport to perpetuate the pearl button industry by maintaining a supply of fresh-water mussels through artificial propagation. Mr. Dawson has won the reputation as the most industrious and useful member of congress the second district has ever had."
While Mr. Dawson's congressional service is notable by reason of what he has accomplished, he is, moreover, recognized in the state as one of Iowa's emi- nent republicans, serving in five successive state campaigns as manager of the speakers bureau of the state central committee. Throughout his life he has made it his purpose to thoroughly inform himself concerning any subject or task with which he has had to do and his own political actions and support are based upon comprehensive knowledge of the questions under discussion.
On the 21st of June, 1903, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Dawson and Miss Phoebe R. DeGroat, a daughter of Zachariah and Minerva DeGroat, of Preston, who were among the early settlers of Van Buren township. Her father was one of the founders of Preston and a leader in local affairs. Mr. and Mrs. Dawson have become the parents of four children: Loleta, Claribel, Olive and Albert, all yet at home. In a review of his life it is seen that out of the struggle with small opportunities he has come finally into a field of broad and active in- fluence and usefulness. Public interests have long been near his heart and in his political addresses it is a dull mind that does not respond to the touch of his thought, to the play of his fancy, to the force of his logic.
FRED J. SWIFT, M. D.
Dr. Fred J. Swift, who enjoys a large general practice as a physician and whose business ability is manifest in the up-to-date and popular drug store he conducts in Baldwin, was born in Brandon township, Jackson county, Iowa, March 9, 1884, his parents being James and Fanny (Braun) Swift. The father was born in Jacksontown, Licking county, Ohio, in 1836, and in the place of his birth he grew to manhood, learning the cooper's trade there through apprenticeship. In 1855 or 1856 he came overland by ox-team to Jackson county, Iowa, locating in Brandon township, where he opened a shop, having Dubuque as a market for his barrels. He also engaged in farming, and in the '8os, after his cooperage was destroyed by fire, he gave all of his time to agricultural pursuits, being thus engaged until 1902, when he removed to Maquoketa, this county. He has since been living in retirement, enjoying the fruits of a well spent life. He was one of the early settlers of the county and knew the sound of the wolf at the door, both literally and figuratively speaking, but he courageously surmounted the hard- ships of pioneer days and has gained a position of affluence among his fellows. He is a stanch democrat in his political views and a man prominent in local affairs, holding many township offices at the behest of the people.
James Swift married Miss Fanny Braun, who was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, and as a girl came to the United States with her father, her mother having died. They located near Monticello, Jones county, Iowa, where Mr.
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Braun was killed by a falling tree. Thereupon Mrs. Swift was taken into a fam- ily by the name of Clarke, who were living in Jones county, and when they re- moved to Brandon township, Jackson county, she accompanied them. It was in this place that she became acquainted with Mr. Swift, and they were married in 1868. Their union was blessed with the following children: W. H., who is a large landowner of Jackson county and is living in Maquoketa with his father ; Lally, now the widow of George Jacobs; Alvie E., who is engaged in farming in Brandon township, this county; Mina E., who is living with her parents; and Fred J., the subject of this sketch.
Fred J. Smith completed his literary education in the high school at Maquoketa, from which he was graduated in 1900. He then commenced the study of medicine, spending two years in the Keokuk Medical College and two years in the medical department of the University of Iowa, receiving his degree of M.D. from the latter institution in 1904. The next six months he spent in a railroad hospital at Springfield, Missouri, after which he located in Baldwin, in March, 1905, re- maining here until the summer of 1906, when he went to Valparaiso, Indiana, to take a course in pharmacy. Completing his studies, he established himself at Welton, Clinton county, Iowa, where he practiced through the winter and the following April he went to Lyman county, South Dakota, where he filed a home- stead claim. He proved up this claim and still owns it. In July, 1908, he re- turned to Baldwin, where he purchased the drug store of McMerry Brothers of Maquoketa, and has since been engaged in conducting a vigorous business in drugs and sundries. He has also built up a large and remunerative practice as a physician, for he has shown an excellent understanding of the fundamental principles underlying the science of medicine and is well qualified in other ways for the onerous duties of the profession.
Dr. Swift has always been a very enthusiastic Mason, being in hearty sympathy with the purpose of the craft which finds its basic element and belief in universal brotherhood. He belongs to Helion Lodge, No. 36, A. F. & A. M .; Rose Croix chapter, R. A. M .; Council of Kadosh, Lodge of Perfection; and De Molay Con- sistory, No. I, of Clinton. He is a man who thinks, who keeps abreast with progress and with whom intention means accomplishment. He holds to a high standard of professional service, is conscientious in the performance of every duty, so that each year marks a measurable progress in his chosen field of labor.
SAMUEL CLARK.
Samuel Clark is numbered among those representative American citizens who claim England as the place of their nativity and who in this country have found the opportunities which they sought for advancement along business lines. Born in Maxey, near Peterborough on the 5th of October, 1855, he was there reared and in the schools of his native country acquired a good education. In early life he learned the wagonmaker's trade, in which he became very proficient, being recognized as one of the best wagon wheel makers in England. There was no opening for him in that line of business in England, however, and, hearing the
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call of the new world and thinking to find better opportunities in business lines on this side of the water, he came to America in 1882, landing at Quebec, Ontario, from which place he at once came to the states, taking up his abode in Sabula, Iowa. There he bought a wagon shop and immediately began working at his trade. But one year, however, was devoted to that line of activity, for, after becoming more acquainted with the country he came to the conclusion that the field of agriculture would be more profitable and consequently purchased forty- three acres of land from Captain N. C. White, upon which place he at once began the occupation of farming. He was successful from the first, for the soil of Iowa is naturally rich and productive, and as the years passed his fields were brought under a high state of cultivation, responding readily to the care and labor bestowed upon them. He is systematic, progressive and up-to-date in his methods and so carefully has he managed his affairs that with the passing of the years he has been able to add to his original purchase until today in partnership with his two sons he is the owner of two hundred and eleven acres of valuable land which con- stituted one of the desirable properties of Iowa township.
In 1883 Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Leah Louisa Markham, who is also a native of England, her birth there occurring on the Ist of April, 1861, and is a niece of Alfred Giddings, a well known nursery man. They had been engaged to be married for about four years prior to Mr. Clark's arrival in the United States, but owing to the failure on his part to find work in the line of his trade in England, the wedding was postponed and he came to the new world, thinking here to establish a home for his bride. Successful from the beginning, in about a year he was able to send for her and she arrived in March, 1883, their wedding being celebrated on the 3Ist of that month. Unto this union have been born four children, namely : John Percy, born January 28, 1884; Joseph Vernon, March 4, 1885; Alfred Blaine, April 11, 1891 ; and Mabel Anne, April 6, 1898.
Although Mr. Clark is widely recognized as a most progressive and successful business man, yet he is perhaps equally well known by reason of his activity in community affairs, his efforts being potent factors in public life and also in local political circles of Jackson county. A stalwart republican, he has been called to fill many important offices, being at present justice of the peace, which position he has held for twelve years, his long continuance therein testifying to his efficiency and faithfulness in the discharge of his duties. A stanch champion of the cause of education, he is a member of the-township school board, of which he was at one time president. Prominent in local republican ranks, he has been sent as delegate to various state and national conventions and was appointed assistant sergeant-at-arms at the republican national convention held at Chicago on the 16th of June, 1908, and on that occasion was presented with the badge of Iowa, only seven hundred of which were distributed. Fortunate in possessing ability and character that inspired confidence, the simple weight of his char- acter and ability has brought him into positions of trust and responsibility and he ranks high among the well known and valued citizens of Iowa township.
Fraternally Mr. Clark holds membership with the Masons, being senior warden of his lodge, and also with the Modern Woodmen of America, now serv- ing as treasurer of the latter organization, which office he has filled for four years. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Congregational
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church, and he is the president of the association of that institution. Possessing much musical taste and ability, while still a resident of England he belonged to a brass band, but since his arrival in the United States he has not indulged his fondness for that art to the extent of allying himself with any musical organ- ization. A man of good business ability, he has ever been watchful of oppor- tunities, seizing legitimate advantages as they have arisen, and he has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek his fortune in the new world for here, where advancement depends so much upon individual effort, he has found the opportunities which he sought, his perseverance, diligence and integrity hav- ing brought him to the honorable place which he now occupies among his fellow citizens.
FRANCIS THOMAS McGOVERN.
Francis Thomas McGovern, who owns two hundred and seventy acres of land on section 9, Washington township, is meeting with notable success in his agri- cultural undertakings and deserves mention among the representative citizens of the county. He was born in that township, June II, 1852, his parents being Francis Thomas and Bridget (Morn) McGovern. The father was born in County Mayo, Ireland, and in 1848, in the hope of bettering his fortunes in this land and of affording his children opportunities he did not enjoy, he emigrated to the United States. In 1850 he located in Jackson county, Iowa, buying two hundred and forty acres in Washington township, and the remainder of his life was de- voted to farming, his death occurring on the homestead in 1873, when he was fifty-five years of age. His wife, whom he had married in 1842 while still living in Ireland, survived him for a long period and reached the venerable age of ninety years before she passed away in November, 1909. There were ten chil- dren in their family, five of whom are living.
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