USA > Iowa > Linn County > History of Linn County Iowa : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II > Part 19
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Aside from his other interests Mr. Boyson was one of the organizers of the Peoples Savings Bank. He is a progressive business man, watchful of all opportunities pointing to legitimate success, his course characterized by close application and unremitting energy. As he has prospered in his undertakings he has made investments in property and is now the owner of lands in Texas and Minnesota and also considerable real estate in Cedar Rapids.
On the 12th of May, 1897, Mr. Boyson was united in marriage to Miss Sarah J. Larson, of Cedar Falls, and they have two children, Gladys and Gilbert, aged respectively twelve and seven years. Mr. Boyson belongs to the Odd Fellows Society, the Modern Woodmen Camp, and the Independent Order of Foresters. In manner he is ever genial and courteous and stands today a strong man - strong in his honor and good name, strong in his ability to plan and perform and strong in his high and ereditable purposes. He is a man of action rather than of theory and while working toward ideals, utilizes practical methods for their accomplishment.
FRANK C. BYERS
Frank C. Byers, a young attorney of Cedar Rapids, is working his way steadily upward and, although one of the younger representatives of the pro- fession, has gained a creditable place in its ranks. He was born in Alden, Hardin county, Iowa, June 20, 1883, and is a son of Joseph and Annie M. Byers. The father was a native of Galena, Illinois, and on coming to Iowa settled in Hardin county, where he carried on general farming until 1878, when he turned his attention to the harness manufacturing business, becoming one of the promi- nent representatives of industrial life in Alden.
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Frank C. Byers was a pupil in the public schools of his native town until graduated from the high school with the class of 1900. He afterward attended Iowa College at Grinnell, Iowa, for a year and in preparation for the practice of law matriculated in the University of Iowa, from which he was graduated with the LL. B. degree in 1904. He then came to Cedar Rapids and opened an office, sinee which time he has continued in the practice of law in this eity and has made substantial advance in his profession. He was appointed assistant city attorney in 1908 and in that office capably defended the interests of the city in litigation. He is also a teacher of commercial law at the Cedar Rapids Business College. His professional career altogether has been a most successful one and many a lawyer of much older years might envy him the position which he has already attained.
On the 27th of October, 1909, Mr. Byers was married in Iowa City to Miss Myra Lyon. He is a member of the Masonic lodge. His political views are in accord with the principles of the republican party and his religions faith is that of the Episcopal church.
MARSIIALL SWAYNE
Marshall Swayne, a substantial farmer and representative citizen of Linn county, where he occupies a high place in the regard of his fellowmen, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of January, 1863. Ile was a son of David C. and Emeline R. (Walton) Swayne, also natives of the Keystone state, where their entire lives were spent, the mother passing away on the 2d of December, 1885, while the father survived until 1897. They were the parents of three children: J. W., a resident of Leonard, Pennsylvania; Marshall, of this review ; and Anna, the wife of T. N. Pile, of Malvern, Pennsylvania.
No event of special importance came to vary the routine of life for Marshall Swayne during the period of his boyhood and youth, which was quietly passed in the Pennsylvania home, his education being acquired in the common schools of that state. When not engaged with his text-books he was busy in the fields, early learning the various phases of farm work and becoming familiar with the best methods of plowing, planting and harvesting. He remained with his par- ents until twenty years of age, when, desiring to enter the business world on his own account, he came to Linn county, Iowa, and, wisely choosing as his life work the occupation to which he had been reared, hired out as a farm hand, remaining in that capacity for three and a half years. He then went to Sac county, Iowa, and purchased a farm, his earnest labor, untiring industry and striet economy during the previous years making that step possible. There he remained for seven years, on the expiration of which period he sold the farm and returned to Linn county. For a period he rented the farm which later, in 1908, through purchase, became his own property and upon which he has since con- tinued to reside. The place constitutes one hundred and twenty-three and a half acres of land, a large portion of which he has greatly improved and devel- oped. He cultivates the cereals best adapted to the soil and climate, and in addition devotes much of his time to his stock interests, raising and fattening all kinds of stock. This branch of his business is proving most remunerative, the high grade of his product demanding excellent prices and ready sale on the market.
It was on the 10th of March, 1887, that Mr. Swayne was united in marriage to Miss Emma Cook, a native of Linn county and a daughter of William and Mary C. (Swayne) Cook, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania. They came to Linn county in 1851 and here Mr. Cook entered a traet of land which he
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developed and upon which he erected a fine brick house which is still standing. He passed away March 22, 1905, his remains being laid to rest in the Oak Shade cemetery. He is survived by his wife and three children. Mrs. Cook, who is now eighty-three years of age, is a member of the Friends church and makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Swayne. The latter, a high-school graduate, is an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which she is deeply and helpfully interested, and she has many warm friends throughout the locality in which she resides who admire her for her many excellent traits of heart and mind.
Well known in fraternal circles, Mr. Swayne is a member of Osceola Lodge, No. 18, I. O. O. F., of Marion, in which he has filled all of the chairs, and he is likewise identified with the Mystic Toilers, acting as secretary thereof for the past nine years. Stanch in his support of the republican party, he was elected by his fellow citizens to the office of constable, and during his term of incum- beney in that office he performed all duties that devolved upon him in connection therewith in a manner that not only reflected honor upon himself but called forth the commendation and respect of his colleagues. Aside from this instance, however, he has not sought nor desired office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs, and by constant exertion, associated with good judgment, he has gained a place among the substantial farmers of Marion town- ship and commands the high regard and confidence of all with whom he has business or other relations.
LOUIS ARTHUR GEROLAMY
Although a native of Iowa City, Iowa, born in 1867, Louis Arthur Gerolamy was ouly six months old when brought to Cedar Rapids and during much of his life remained a resident here, always maintaining the deepest interest in the city and her welfare. He was one of her representatives who have gained wide distinc- tion in the field of art, his name becoming known and honored. Ile was a son of William Gerolamy, who was born in Canada in 1824 and was there educated. Early in life he learned photography and after living for a time at Iowa City, he removed with his family to Cedar Rapids in 1867. Here he opened the first sewing machine establishment and sold the first machine in the city. Ile met with sub- stantial success in the undertaking, enjoying an extensive and growing patronage up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1869. While in Canada in 1855 he had married Harriett Seymour Thorp and unto them were born eight children of whom only two, however, are now living: Alfred, a resident of Texas; and Mrs. Stella Defenbaugh of Cedar Rapids, who occupies the old home with her mother.
Louis A. Gerolamy acquired his education in the schools of Cedar Rapids and went as a young man to Chicago where he entered the employ of Mandel Brothers, leading merchants of that city. However, as his ability and talent for drawing became known and recognized, his skill being especially marked in portrait work, he was induced to study along that line in Chicago. His uncle, Francis L. Thorp, of that city assisted him as he pursued his course and at length he opened a studio in Chicago but later returned to Cedar Rapids. Ile afterward traveled in Mon- tana where he did much work in copying and enlarging portraits, his superior skill in that field winning him a reputation that made him known throughout the country. He afterward spent several years in Old Mexico where he sketched pic- tures of the governor and other famous men of that country. His patronage was extensive and came to him from the old and prominent Mexican families. In 1904, returning to Cedar Rapids, he opened a studio which he conducted to the
L. a. Girolamy.
THE N . Y .... PUBET: LAVARY
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time of his demise. Having prospered in his undertaking, he erected the finest apartment house in this city, at No. 616 Fourth Avenue, it proving thereafter a profitable source of income. Mrs. Gerolamy, the mother, always accompanied her son on his travels and was his constant companion. There was an unusually strong tie of comradeship between them for their tastes and interests were much in harmony.
Mr. Gerolamy not only possessed marked artistie ability but also considerable talent as a singer and always sang in the choir of the Episcopal church of which he was a communicant. He died May 27, 1909. He possessed the nature that commonly accompanies artistic talent and a keen appreciation of the beautiful in nature as well as art, a repulsion for all that was low or degrading and continu- ally reached out for all that was uplifting. The best in music and art, therefore, made a strong appeal to him and his life, moreover, was an expression of those higher sentiments which are manifest in filial devotion and a generous response to the obligations and claims of friendship.
CHARLES H. BIRDSALL
Charles H. Birdsall, at the age of seventy years, is living retired from the active work of the farm to which he long gave his attention, but is filling the office of justice of the peace to which he was elected in 1905. He has served in other local offices and in all these positions has proved his loyalty in citizenship and his devotion to the general good.
Mr. Birdsall was born July 25, 1839, near Detroit, Michigan, his parents being Carey W. and Roxanna (Cross) Birdsall. The father came from New York to the middle west, settling in the vicinity of Detroit, Michigan. He was a carriage maker by trade, living an industrious life, but was called to his final rest when his son, Charles H. Birdsall, was only about four years of age. The mother reached the age of sixty-six years and passed away in Linn county.
Charles H. Birdsall acquired his early education in the public schools of the state of New York and afterward continued his studies in Illinois. He arrived in Linn county in March, 1866, and for forty-four years has been identified with this section of the state, lending his aid and support to every project for public benefit. During the first two years of his residence here he engaged in the culti- vation of a rented farm, after which he purchased one hundred and thirty acres of land near Marion. With characteristic energy he began its further develop- ment and improvement and year after year carefully tilled his fields, bringing the farm under a high state of cultivation. He is still the owner of the property although in 1904 he took up his abode in Marion and has since left the active work of the fields to others.
In early manhood Mr. Birdsall responded to the country's call for aid and was sworn into the United States service on the 24th of May, 1861, at Rockford, Illinois. He served under Colonel Turner in the Army of the Tennessee and was a private of Company C, Fifteenth Regiment of Illinois Infantry. His first term of enlistment covered three months and he was honorably discharged in October, 1861, after which he reenlisted, becoming a member of the One Hun- dred and Forty-sixth Illinois Infantry with which he continued throughout the remainder of hostilities. He participated in all of the important engagements with his regiment and was discharged when the war was over, returning to his home with the most creditable military record.
On the 13th of March, 1866, Mr. Birdsall was married to Miss Sarah Harris, a daughter of R. H. and Mary Harris, of Winnebago county, Illinois. Four children blessed this union : Jessie O., the wife of George Bayley, by whom she
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has four children, Roy, Olive, Robert and William Howard, living in Seattle, Washington ; Jennie M., the twin sister of Jessie; Nettie R., at home; and Ros- well Carey. The family hold membership in the Christian church and take a very prominent, active and helpful part in its work, being closely associated with its various activities. Mr. Birdsall is one of the prominent members of the Grand Army post at Marion and has served as its commander. He has reached the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten, but while he has retired from active farm life his thoughts are not retrospective but are in close touch with modern ideas and projects, and matters of publie progress are of deep inter- est to him. His life has been well spent, commending him to the confidence and good will of all with whom business or social relations have brought him in contact.
M. J. MILES
Occupying a prominent position before the public and "making good" in the office of mayor, M. J. Miles, although one of the youngest men ever called to the position of chief executive of Cedar Rapids, is displaying in the discharge of his duties qualities and purposes that would be a credit to many a man of older years. Ile might be termed a practical idealist, for while he labors for ideal con- ditions the methods he employs are such as recognize the forces that prevail. He is a native of Iowa although not of Cedar Rapids. His birth occurred in Davenport, September 8, 1878. His father, James M. Miles, was born in Wis- consin and first came to Cedar Rapids in 1871. Here in connection with his brother, John, he established an offiec for the Aetna Life Insurance Company. Later lie removed to Davenport, where he continued for a year, but finding that Cedar Rapids was better adapted for headquarters he returned to this city and has since been active in business here. He is now the senior member of the firm of J. M. Miles & Son, and it is one of the leading mortgage loan firms of the city, having secured an extensive clientage. He is not a politician in the ordinarily accepted sense of the term but has served as alderman, and at all times is interested in the welfare of the city to the extent of giving his aid, cooperation and influence to support various publie projects. He married Elizabeth Sullivan, a native of Dunkirk, New York, who came to Cedar Rapids in 1868.
In the public schools of this city M. J. Miles pursued his early education and later entered St. Ambrose College of Davenport, from which he was graduated in 1895. The following year he was graduated from St. Mary's College of Kan- sas, while his more distinctively classical course was pursued in Georgetown University of Washington, D. C. After his graduation there in 1898, he took up the study of law and completed the course in the law department of the Iowa State University in 1903. He then entered his father's business and is now a member of the firm. The energy and enterprise of the young man, combined with the broader experience of the elder, made this a strong firm and from the beginning they have enjoyed substantial and increasing success.
M. J. Miles has also taken active part in municipal affairs. standing at all times for that spirit of progressive citizenship which believes in subordinating party interests to the general good and never placing personal aggrandizement before the municipal welfare. In short, he stands for reform and improvement. On the inauguration of the commission plan of government he was elected com- missioner of finance, and when, on the 24th of May, 1909, Mayor Carmody was shot by a burglar Mr. Miles became acting mayor, and upon the death of Mr. Carmody, was elected on the 13th of August, 1909, to fill the vacancy, and in the
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spring of 1910 was reelected by the vote of the people. He is, therefore, chief executive of the city and is giving to Cedar Rapids a public-spirited, business- like administration that seeks to place the interests of the city upon a commercial and not a political basis and to uphold law and order and advance intellectual and moral progress.
On the 24th of March, 1907, Mr. Miles was united in marriage to Miss Kath- ryn Kanealy, a daughter of John and Mary Kanealy, of Benton county, lowa. He is well known socially, holds membership in the Country Club, the Commer- cial Club, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and other societies. Ho stands today as a splendid type of American manhood and citizenship, with a splendid record in business and in office, his administration winning him wide endorsement even from those who hold opposite political views.
JOHN BURIANEK
From an early age dependent upon his own resources, but actuated at all times by a laudable ambition for advancement, John Burianek is both a self- educated and self-made man, and as the architect of his own fortunes has builded wisely and well. He is now cashier and manager of the Peoples Savings Bank of Cedar Rapids and by all who know aught of his history is honored and respected for what he has accomplished. He was born in Bohemia, October 20, 1871. His parents, John and Sophia (Deml) Burianek, were also natives of the same country and in June, 1877, crossed the Atlantic to the United States, settling in Cedar Rapids, where the father secured a position in the Sinclair Packing House. That he was capable and faithful is indicated by the fact that he remained in that connection during his active life, or for twelve years. He died December 18, 1893, and is still survived by his widow, who yet resides in Cedar Rapids. In their family were three children. The sister of our subject, Sophia, was employed for years in the Bazaar of Cedar Rapids and was one of the best known young business women of the city. She is now the wife of F. J. Stepanek, of Woodstock, Minnesota. The brother, Joseph, is a cigar manu- facturer of Elgin, Iowa. He employs thirteen men and handles practically all of the tobacco grown in his section of the state.
John Burianek was reared in his parents' home and attended the public schools until in his eleventh year, when he began providing for his own support as an employ in the drug store of W. Benesh. There he worked for two years, during which period he continued to study privately, for he realized his lack of educational opportunities and recognized the value of intellectual training as a preparation for life's practical and responsible duties. On leaving the drug store he accepted the position of office boy with Dr. G. R. Skinner, with whom he remained for two years. During his connection with the office he continued his studies and used a portion of his salary in employing a teacher, who instructed him at night. He also attended the evening sessions of a business college. His employer wished him to take up the study of medicine, but he was ambitious for a college education and bent every energy toward the accomplishment of that purpose. He left the employ of Dr. Skinner in 1886 to enter the Merchants National Bank of Cedar Rapids and thus became connected with the financial institutions of the city. He first served as messenger boy, but from that humble position worked his way upward, being promoted from time to time until he became chief clerk. On the first of January, 1904, after seventeen and a half years with the Merchants National Bank, he left that institution. He then took charge of the Peoples Savings Bank, which at that time employed but one clerk. Under Mr. Burianek's management through the past six years the business of
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the bank has been increased to such an extent that nine clerks are now employed. He has carefully systematized the work, is methodical and accurate in all that he undertakes and in business judgment is sound and reliable. He is numbered among the directors of the bank and gives almost undivided attention to the development of the business, having already won for the institution the creditable and well merited reputation of being one of the strong financial concerns of the city.
In his political views Mr. Burianek is an earnest republican and served for two and a half years as treasurer of the school board. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Commercial Club of Cedar Rapids in 1907 and 1908, and he was one of three men selected from Iowa to serve on the committee of one hundred representative men of the United States to present resolutions to Roosevelt relative to the deep water way from the lakes to the gulf in 1908. In August, 1909, he was appointed by Governor Carroll of Iowa as one of three men to represent this state in the conservation congress in Seattle, but he was unable to attend at that time. It is well known that his influence is always on the side of progress and improvement, that his labors and ideas are practical and that his work is resultant.
Mr. Burianek has a ereditable military history, covering four years' service as a member of Company C, of the first Iowa National Guard, from 1901 until 1905. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, holding membership in Crescent Lodge, No. 25, A. F. & A. M .; Trowel Chapter, No. 49, R. A. M .; Apollo Commandery, No. 26, K. T .; and lowa Consistory, No. 2, A. A. S. R., of which he has been recently elected treasurer. He is also a member of El Kahir Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., and for a number of years has served as treasurer of the Shrine. IIe likewise belongs to Cedar Rapids Lodge, No. 98, K. P., in which he has filled various offices ; Cedar Rapids Lodge, No. 278, A. O. U. W., of which he was for five years receiver; Kingston Lodge, I. O. O. F .; and Cedar Rapids Lodge, No. 251, B. P. O. E. He is also connected with the Eastern Star, an auxiliary of Masonry, and is a member of the Bohemian Lodge, Prokop Velky, No. 46, of Cedar Rapids. He is connected through membership relations with the Cedar Rapids Country Club, is a member of the Bohemian Dramatic Club and a fine Bohemian scholar. His religious faith is indicated by his member- ship in the Presbyterian church. He is a man of forceful character, enterprising and determined, who earries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes, and achieves results that would be impossible to a man of less resolute spirit.
JOHN HENRY FRENCH
Among those who have borne a part in the upbuilding of Linn county and have passed on to a higher life was John Henry French, who left behind him a memory that is an inspiration and a benediction to those who knew him. He was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1841, and his life record covered the intervening years to the 31st of December, 1893. He was a son of Lemuel and Marcia French. The father was a native of Ithaca, New York, and owned and operated a factory on the Mohawk river. He became a very prominent and influential citizen in the community in which he made his home.
Spending his hoyhood days in the Empire state John Henry French there acquired his education and early became identified with the work of the Christian religion here in charge of several churches. He taught school when but nineteen years of age and also became a teacher in a singing school. His influence was ever cast on the side of righteousness and truth and his interest and activity in church
J. H. FRENCH
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work led him to be ordained a local deacon - a merited recognition of his services. He always assisted the local preacher in the church of which he was a member and his counsel, advice and efforts were ever at the call of those who were managing church affairs.
At the outbreak of the Civil war, although he had not yet attained his majority, Mr. French responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in the One Hun- dred and Seventeenth New York Infantry under command of Colonel Wolcott. He had two brothers, Edwin and David, who were also in the service, and his brother-in-law, Oscar F. Ilill, was in the same regiment as our subject and served for three years. John H. French served throughout the war and suffered from typhoid fever in the last year of his identification with the army. While in the hospital he took up nursing and during the latter part of the war was identified with the Red Cross corps. His wife's uncle, Thomas Clark, and his two sons, Delos and Melville Clark, were also Union soldiers.
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