USA > Iowa > Jones County > History of Jones County, Iowa, past and present, Volume II > Part 6
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Mr. Ellison and his family are members of the church of Christ at Mar- telle, and the son belongs to White Rose Lodge, No. 279, K. P. Although Mr. Ellison has never sought nor desired political preferment, his fellow townsmen, appreciative of his worth and ability, have several times called him to public office. He has served as township trustee for nine years and was a member of the school board of his district for about a quarter of a century. He has been called at two different times to serve on the United States grand jury and on
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numerous occasions has been on both the grand and petit juries of the county. He is a stanch advocate of democracy, believing firmly in its principles and there- fore giving unfaltering support to its men and measures. Mr. Ellison, moreover, is a man of kindly and generous spirit, befriending all who come to him in need. He gives generous support to the church and to public projects, meets every ob- ligation of life in an honorable method and has at all times the courage of his convictions. He and his family are prominent in the social life of the community and Mr. Ellison has for long years been recognized as an influential factor here, wielding a wide and beneficial influence.
JOHN RONEN.
John Ronen, proprietor of stone quarries at Stone City, Iowa, is numbered among the men of foreign birth, to whom the opportunities of the new world have opened avenues of success. He was born in Ireland, August 24, 1846, his parents being Moses and Catherine (Cloak) Ronin, the former a native of County Wexford, and the latter of the city of Wexford, Ireland. In the year 1852, the father came with his family to America, settling in Buffalo, New York, where he arrived on the 24th of May. A removal was made to Kankakee, Illi- nois, and in 1857, the family became residents of Waterloo, Iowa. There they remained until 1880, when they went to Viola, Iowa. The father died February 20, 1898, at the age of eighty-six years, while the mother passed away in 1868 at the age of forty-eight years. By occupation the father was a stone cutter, giv- ing his entire life to that work.
John Ronen, whose name introduces this review, was a lad of six summers when the family left the Emerald isle and came to the United States. He ac- companied his parents on their various removals, attending school in the differ- ent towns in which they lived, and at the age of nineteen years he engaged in the stone construction business at Waterloo, Iowa, where he remained for four years. In 1875 he removed to Stone City, where he leased a quarry from Dr. Natson and engaged in cutting out stone in this way for ten years. During that time he prospered and from his earnings saved sufficient capital to enable him to purchase the quarry which he now operates. It was formerly the property of Martin Heisey and since it has come into Mr. Ronen's possession he has con- tinuously and successfully conducted the business, being now one of the leading dealers in stone in this part of the state. His quarry produces an excellent quality of stone for which he finds a ready sale on the market.
Mr. Ronen is entitled to wear the grand army button from the fact that on the Ist of September, 1864, when but eighteen years of age he responded to his country's call for troops, enlisting in Company F. Seventh Iowa Cavalry, under the command of Colonel Sommer and General O'Conner. He saw service on the western frontier, fighting the Indians through the Yellowstone and the Wyoming. He fought the Sioux on the same ground afterward made famous by the Custer massacre. He also participated in other engagements along the little Big Horn, including one battle which took place on August 24, the anniversary of his birth.
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He continued in active duty until the regiment was mustered out and he was sent home. It was an arduous warfare for the tactics and military maneuvres of the Indians were unlike those practiced by civilized men, and the soldiers were, therefore, constantly on the alert.
On the IIth of September, 1869, Mr. Ronen was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Gleason, a daughter of Michael and Mary (O'Brien) Gleason. Seven children have graced this marriage : William, who wedded Prudence Hodgin and resides at Stone City ; Carrie, at home; Mary, the wife of J. J. Green, a railroad conductor who was killed in an accident; John Moses, postmaster at Stone City ; Charles, Anna and Walter, all at home. The family are well known in this part of the state, and the members of the household occupy an enviable position in the social circles in which they move.
Mr. Ronen is a member of Fred Steele Post, No. 4, G. A. R., at Anamosa, and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party, which was the defense of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war, and has always been the party of reform and progress. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church. He is known as a successful, enterprising business man, who owes his advancement in commercial lines to his own efforts. He has worked earnestly and persistently to achieve the prosperity which he now enjoys, and his labor and reliability have brought to him gratifying success.
GEORGE L. SCHOONOVER.
Few among the younger generation of men today have played a more con- spicuous part in the financial prosperity of Anamosa than has George L. Schoonover. Not only has he evinced that fidelity to duty which has characterized those who have risen high in the affairs of the world, but he possesses those qualities of enterprise and organization, which, having been so early brought into a healthy exertion, should bring him to even larger fields than those which now know his labors. One of the native sons of Anamosa, he was born February 7, 1880, his parents being Lawrence and Amelia J. (Tanner) Schoonover.
During the early years of his life, George L. Schoonover was a pupil in the public schools of Anamosa, from which he was graduated in June, 1895. There- upon he entered the Iowa State University. He received the degree of bachelor of philosophy from that institution in 1900, but returned for two years to take work in its law college, not beginning his business career until 1901, when he entered the Anamosa National Bank as bookkeeper. After having proved his ability and his trustworthiness by less than three years of industry, January 12, 1904, he was elected cashier of the institution. This afforded him an oppor- tunity to exercise some of the power with which he felt he was endowed, and be- lieving that the future of the bank was large, he increased its capital stock to one hundred thousand dollars and guided its destinies along such a safe channel that in February, 1907, after the death of his father, he was appointed to succeed him in the presidency. That same year he organized the Schoonover Trust Company
GEORGE L. SCHOONOVER
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with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, and has since been president of the con- cern. Another venture of his which has proved equally successful was his estab- lishment of the First National Bank of Olin, Iowa, which was accomplished in the early part of 1905. Of this institution also he is president, and in his direction of its affairs has again proven that he is an able financier, a man upon whose judg- ment reliance may be placed, and one whose policies, while checked by a healthy conservatism, have tended in the main toward progress and advancement and the full utilization of all opportunities.
Shortly after he had embarked upon his business career, on the 29th of Octo- ber, 1902, Mr. Schoonover wedded Miss Grace Lovell, a daughter of George L. Lovell, of Monticello, Iowa. Three children have been born unto them, namely: Catharine, who was born August 14, 1903; Lawrence, who was born March 6, 1906, and Donald, whose birthi occurred September 25, 1907.
Politically Mr. Schoonover has given his allegiance to the republican party but has taken no part in public life. He is, however, prominent in the ranks of the Masons in this county. He joined the order in 1901, was elected junior war- den of Anamosa Lodge, No. 46, A. F. & A. M., in December, 1905, and in 1906 became worshipful master, an office which he filled for three years. He was ex- alted as a Royal Arch Mason by Mt. Sinai Chapter and later was knighted in the Order of the Temple, by the Mt. Olivet Commandery, No. 36. In May, 1907, he joined the DeMolay Consistory, No. I, A. A. S. R. and has since been very ac- tive in the Scottish Rite, being in 1909 appointed Knight Commander of the Court of Honor by the supreme council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite during the October session. True to the nobler ideals of manhood, he is not only a successful business man and financier, but loyal and faithful friend, of the many who coming to know him intimately regard him highly for the strong traits of his character.
JOHN SEELEY STACY.
John Seeley Stacy has for a half century been a prominent and successful rep- resentative of the legal fraternity in Jones county, though he has now practically retired from active connection therewith because of his advanced age. He was born at De Kalb, New York, on the 13th of May. 1833, a son of Pelatiah and Jerusha (Tanner) Stacy. The father, a farmer by occupation, was a man of great energy, benevolent, public-spirited and successful. Both the paternal and maternal ancestors of our subject fought in the Revolutionary war. One of them was taken prisoner on Long Island and for an entire winter was compelled to earn his own subsistence.
John S. Stacy supplemented his preliminary education by a course in the Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary of Gouverneur, New York, and also as a stu- dent in Union College at Schenectady, that state. He attended the latter in- stitution during the presidency of the celebrated Dr. Nott and was graduated therefrom in 1857. Early in life he manifested a fondness for reading and during his college days he followed the profession of teaching. After complet-
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ing his collegiate education he took Horace Greeley's advice and went west, locat- ing in Iowa, where he has since made his home. Having determined upon the practice of law as a life work, he immediately began studying with that end in view and was admitted to the bar in 1859. From that time until recent years, when the infirmities of age have necessitated his retirement, he practiced his pro- fession with signal success, winning an excellent reputation as a lawyer of force and ability. He was likewise connected with banking interests for a period of ten years and he and his partner established the first bank in Jones county.
At Buda, Illinois, Mr. Stacy was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte A. Kellogg, a daughter of Rev. E. W. Kellogg, who for forty years preached in the Congregational churches of Vermont and Illinois. She is eight generations re- moved from Governor William Bradford and John Alden, of the Plymouth colony, and her grandfather and great-grandfather served in the Revolutionary war at the same time. Mr. and Mrs. Stacy are the parents of four children, as follows: Marian Luella, now the wife of Dr. W. B. Skinner, of Anamosa ; Edson Eugene, who wedded Miss Martha Fisher, of Grinnell, Iowa; Bertha Sybil, who gave her hand in marriage to Dr. A. G. Hejinian of Anamosa; and William Kellogg.
In politics Mr. Stacy has ever been a stanch advocate of the republican party, doing all in his power to forward its interest. He served as county judge for one term, held the office of mayor at Anamosa, acted as a member of the coun- cil and was also on the school board for many years. During the Civil war he was president of the Union League of both town and county, which served a patriotic purpose during the period of hostilities between the north and the south. It kept in check a rebellious element equal to the disorderly element in Indiana. He was offered the nomination for circuit judge of the eighth district but de- clined, and subsequently was nominated for judge of the district court, but was defeated on account of the rupture in the republican party over the prohibition question. In 1888 he was nominated for state senator and was defeated for the same reason, but carried his own county. He has been a member of the Con- gregational church for fifty-two years, serving much of the time as Sunday- school superintendent, trustee and deacon. While there is not about Judge Stacy the least shadow of mock modesty, he disclaims any great credit for what he has done and yet his fellow citizens recognize the fact that he has left the impress of his individuality for good upon the county of his residence in its political and legal interests, in its social life-for he is a man of many friends-and in mold- ing public thought and action as well.
One who knows Judge Stacy well has said: "John S. Stacy has been a man of more than ordinary ability. He has been preeminently a man of in- tegrity and of unimpeachable character. Those who have been most intimate with his personal history can best testify as to the sacrifices he has made, the trying ordeals he has experienced. and the mastery he has accomplished in the main- tenance of manhood, humanity and personal character. Fate has raised her arm mightily against his efforts to accomplish several gigantic tasks he has under- taken. In the promotion of several railroad lines, he has found himself on the hill-top ready to claim the promised land when the financial panic of 1873 and other panics have crushed to earth his months of heroic effort. In these calamities, he may have had the power to save himself at the expense of others,
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but this his manhood would not allow him to do. He has been a clear and logical thinker, had a well trained mind well stored with useful information, was of a judicial temperament, and well qualified for a business career. He has been abundantly fitted to occupy a high station in life."
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ERB, D. D. S.
Dentistry is unique among the professions in that its demands are of a three- fold character. He who would win success in this field of labor must possess marked mechanical skill and ingenuity, must have comprehensive knowledge of scientific principles bearing upon the work and, moreover, must possess the business ability so to finance his interests that his labor shall bring its just and merited remuneration. Lacking in none of these qualities, Dr. B. F. Erb is practicing denistry in Anamosa and the number of his patients is increasing year by year.
A native of Muscatine, Iowa, he was born October 14, 1867, of the marriage of Jacob and Susan (Funk) Erb. The father removed from Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania, to Iowa in 1848. The mother, who also spent her early life in Harris- burg, came to this state in 1847. With her parents she started on the Ohio river on a boat which burned below Cincinnati. The famliy lost all of their possessions, escaping with only their night clothes, and Mrs. Erb, then a little maiden of twelve summers, was badly burned. Jacob Erb was proprietor of the first tobacco store in Muscatine and for a long period was identified with the business interests of that city. In 1850, however, during the gold fever on the Pacific coast, he went to California, spending four years in that state. In 1855, he returned and became a bookkeeper in the lumber office of S. T. Steen, while subsequently he became manager and acted in that capacity until his death in 1895, his connection with one firm covering forty years. He was seventy-one years of age at the time of his demise. His widow still survives and yet makes her home in Muscatine.
Dr. Erb enjoyed the educational advantages offered by the public schools of his native city, continuing his studies in successive grades until he was grad- uated from the high school with the class of 1887. He afterward attended the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, where he completed a course by graduation in 1889 and in 1892 he was a student in Haskell's Post-Graduate School of Pros- thetic Dentistry. When a boy he had delighted in designing and working with the zig saw or any tools which he could obtain. He was always fond of live stock especially horses. After leaving the public schools the desire for mechanical work and the love of instruments led him to take up the study of dentistry which he began at once. He entered upon the work at Iowa City on the 5th of October, 1887, and the following summer worked for Dr. Rundle at Monticello, Iowa. In September, of the same year, he left for Cincinnati and was graduated from the Ohio College of Dental Surgery on the 4th of March, 1889. He then went to Monticello. Iowa, where he was associated with Dr. Rundle until the Ist of November following, when he opened an office on his own account in Lisbon, Iowa, practicing there until the 15th of August, 1892. On that date he went to
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Chicago, where he pursued a post-graduate course, and on October, 1893, he came to Anamosa, where he has since practiced. This town is almost in the center of his professional territory so that he regarded it as an excellent loca- tion. That he was wise in his choice time has proven. He has been very success- ful in his practice and has never been away from his work in twenty-two years more than eighteen days at a time. He keeps abreast with the improvements and advances made in the processes of modern dentistry, possesses superior mechani- cal skill, uses the latest instruments that invention has produced and in all ways his work is so satisfactory that his practice has contsantly grown.
On the 8th of July, 1896, Dr. Erb was united in marriage to Miss Anna Kurtz. Her grandfather, John E. Kurtz, built the first gristmill in Linn county, Iowa, and platted the town of Lisbon. He was also prominent in political circles and served for one term as representative from Linn county in the state legis- lature. Her father, Henry C. Kurtz, was for four years a soldier of the Civil war. He has been engaged in merchandising throughout the greater part of his life and is one of the representative business men of his home town. In politics he is a stanch republican and is active in all that pertains to the welfare and progress of his community. He married Hannah Harper, a native of Indiana, while his birth occurred in Pennsylvania, and in the early '40s they arrived in Iowa. Unto Dr. and Mrs. Erb have been born three children: Dorothy K., Laurence W. and Marion E. The doctor is a man of domestic tastes. He joined the Knights of Pythias lodge in Monticello in 1889, but gave it up when he was married. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church and contributes liberally to its support. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and while he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day as every true American citizen should do, he does not seek nor desire office, preferring to con- centrate his energies upon his professional duties, which are performed with a sense of conscientious obligations, that has brought him gratifying success. He is, however, serving as president of the Anamosa school board.
W. F. HINTZ.
W. F. Hintz, one of the well known agriculturists of Lovell township. was born in Cook county. Illinois, March 31, 1870, and is a son of William and Ida (Ehrke) Hintz. The parents were natives of Germany, but came to the United States in 1868, locating first in Cook county, Illinois. After about seven years' residence in that state they came to Iowa, settling in Buchanan county, where the father engaged in agricultural pursuits. He is still living there, but his wife has passed away.
W. F. Hintz attended the district schools of his native county, while he obtained practical instruction for the responsibilities of life at home, under the wise guid- ance of his parents. Until he attained his majority. he remained upon his father's farm, but it was not until 1905 that he came to Jones county and located in Lovell township. In that year he purchased a tract of one hundred and eighty-two acres, on which he is living today. It is cultivated carefully for the
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production of cereals, but Mr. Hintz gives much attention to the raising and feeding of cattle and hogs, which he ships in large numbers to the important markets. His land is improved according to the best methods, while it is culti- vated with full regard to the rotation of crops, a consideration of which sub- ject does so much toward prolonging the fertility of the soil.
It was in 1898 that Mr. Hintz was united in marriage to Miss Anna Rettig. She was born in Fostoria, Ohio, in 1868, and is a daughter of George and Louise Rettig. Her parents, who were natives of Germany, had come to America shortly after their marriage, and after spending a number of years in Ohio came to Iowa, where Mr. Rettig followed farming for many years, but he has now retired and with his wife is enjoying a well deserved rest in Monticello. One of the twelve children born to her parents, Mrs. Hintz received a good educa- tion in the public schools and then attended Highland Park College, from which she was graduated. The five years before her marriage she spent in teaching, winning a reputation as a successful and progressive member of the profession. She has become the mother of two children : Irving R. and Paul W.
Mr. and Mrs. Hintz are members of the Presbyterian church, making its teachings of practical value in their daily lives. Since he has been of an age to exercise the franchise right of an American citizen, Mr. Hintz has invariably given his political support to the candidates of the republican party, feeling the utmost confidence in its principles. For himself, however, he has not sought for official perferment, although he has rendered valuable service to the people of Lov- ell township as a school director.
CYRUS LAMB, JR.
Cyrus Lamb, Jr., is one of Rome township's native sons, who after having tried life in other fields of activity returned to the place of his birth and engaged in the pursuit of farming. He was born May 18, 1863, and is the son of Cyrus and Elizabeth (Smith) Lamb. The father was born in Ohio, while the mother was of Pennsylvania nativity. When a struggling nation sent forth the call for her sons to rally to hier support, Cyrus Lamb, Jr., responded and was numbered among those who sacrificed their ambitions and their lives upon the altar of their country. The mother, however, is still living at the age of sixty-six.
Cyrus Lamb, Jr., the only child of his parents, was reared by his grandpar- ents and with them made his home until maturity. He received his education in the public schools of the county and then prepared for college. After several terms in college, he engaged in teaching. to which he devoted himself with suc- cess for a number of years. In 1900. he bought the farm in Rome township on which he is now living, and has since followed agricultural pursuits. In con- nection with it, he has devoted himself to the nursery business, making small fruit a specialty.
In October, 1890, Mr. Lamb was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Pfeifer, a native of Rome township and a daughter of George and Barbara Pfeifer, who have now passed away. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lamb.
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They are consistent members of the United Brethren church and take an active part in religious work. Politically Mr. Lamb affiliates with the republican party, and his vote is ever given in support of its candidate. He is public-spirited, but has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, but when his fellow citizens, appreciating the strong qualities of the man urged him to serve as a trustee of his township, he did not refuse and for the past two years has filled the position to their entire satisfaction. An educator himself it is but natural that his prime interest should be centered in the school, and that he should use every means to increase its effectiveness in his township. In his capacity as president of the board of education he has been able to institute some needed improvements and to raise the standard of the schools to a considerable degree.
HOWARD MARSHALL REMLEY.
Howard Marshall Remley, to whom the consensus of public opinion accords leadership at the Jones county bar, is now practicing as the senior partner of the law firm of Remley & Remley. He has been a representative of the legal profes- sion here for thirty-seven years, making steady progress in a calling where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit.
He was born January 17, 1843, at Lewisburg, Greenbriar county, Virginia, now West Virginia, his parents being the Rev. James and Jane C. (Alderson) Remley. In the paternal line the family is of German lineage and was founded in America by the great-grandfather of Howard M. Remley, who crossed the At- lantic during the period when this country was still numbered among the colonial possessions of Great Britain. His son, Elias Remley, became a resident of Green- brier county, West Virginia, in 1791, and there the birth of the Rev. James Remley occurred January 15, 1812. He was educated at William and Mary's College in Virginia and on the IIth of September, 1838, was united in marriage to Miss Jane C. Alderson, whose great-great-grandfather came from England in 1699. Her father was Colonel George Alderson, an officer of the war of 1812. His brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather were ministers of the gospel and were pioneers in the religious advancement of the state of Virginia. Her uncle, the Rev. Lewis Alderson, was the first pastor of the First Baptist church of Atchison, Kansas. The birth of Mrs. Remley occurred March 12, 1816, in Randolph county, West Virginia, and, as previously stated, she gave her hand in marriage to James Remley on the 11th of September, 1838. They came to Iowa in October, 1855, settling at Oxford, Johnson county. Lycurgus Remley, their first born, and George A., the second son, laid down their books to take up their muskets in defense of the country and gave their lives upon its altar. The surviving chil- dren of the family are: Ex-Attorney General Milton Remley, of Iowa City ; Judge H. M. Remley, of Anamosa ; Mrs. J. D. Glass, wife of Ex-Senator Glass, of Ma- son City, Iowa ; and Miss Clara Remley, also of Mason City.
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