USA > Iowa > Linn County > History of Linn County Iowa : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II > Part 22
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JAMES INGALLS WALKER
James Ingalls Walker, who became well known in business circles in Cedar Rapids in connection with real-estate operations, belonged to that class of men who have justly been termed self-made. Whatever success he achieved was attributable to his own labors, careful management in business and thorough reliability and trustworthiness. He was born in Middlefield, New York, on the 19th of June, 1832, and was therefore in the sixty-seventh year of his age at the time of his demise. Ilis parents were William A. and Sarah W. (Ingalls)
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Walker, both of whom were also natives of the Empire state, where they spent their entire lives. Their family numbered eight children, and as one of the household James I. Walker spent his youth in the enjoyment of such pleasures as engaged the attention of lads of the period, and in attendance of the public schools where he acquired a fair English education.
After arriving at years of maturity Mr. Walker was married in the state of New York on the 14th of February, 1855, to Miss Annie Maria Clark, also a native of New York, whose parents, Alexander H. and Mary L. (Loomis) Clark, always remained residents of that state, living upon a farm there. They too had a family of eight children. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Walker remained residents of the Empire state for fifteen years, and in 1869 arrived in Cedar Rapids where he turned his attention to the real-estate business, informing himself thoroughly concerning property values, negotiating many important realty transfers and carefully tending to the interests of a large clientage in this direction.
It was on the 11th of January, 1899, that Mr. Walker was called to his final rest. He had come to be known in Cedar Rapids as an enterprising citizen and a man of good business ability and executive force. He would brook no obstacle that could be overcome by determined and persistent effort and in all of his dealings was thoroughly reliable and straightforward. Such qualities, therefore, won him the respect and high regard of all who knew him and his death was the occasion of deep regret to many friends. Mrs. Walker still makes her home in Cedar Rapids. She is a member of the First Presbyterian church and is in hearty sympathy with its every movement for the benefit of mankind.
TIMOTHY MCCARTHY
The life record of Timothy McCarthy is one that should serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to young men just starting out in the busi- ness world, for it was entirely through his own labors, perseverance and diligence that he reached a prominent position in financial circles. He has now lived retired for several years in the enjoyment of well earned rest, and the fruits of his former toil supply him with all of the necessities and comforts and many of the luxuries of life. Moreover, his prosperity was so honorably won and has been so wisely used that his business record everywhere commands respect and admiration.
Mr. McCarthy was born in La Salle county, Illinois, March 12, 1849, and is a son of Michael and Mary (Mahaney) McCarthy, both of whom were natives of Ireland. When a young man the father emigrated to Canada and the mother became a resident of that country in her girlhood days, making the voyage across the Atlantic with other members of the family, although her parents remained on the emerald isle. Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy were married in Canada, where they lived for some time before removing across the border into the state of New York. Subsequently they sought a home in the middle west, settling in La Salle county, Illinois, upon a farm, which the father cultivated until his death in 1859. His wife afterward removed to the vicinity of Hastings, Nebras- ka, and later became a resident of Colorado. She married a second time, be- coming the wife of John Brynn, who is now deceased, while Mrs. Brynn is living in Greeley, Colorado, at an advanced age.
Upon the home farm in Illinois Timothy McCarthy spent his youthful days and in the public schools mastered the common branches of English learning. He was a young man of seventeen years when he left the parental roof and sought employment in commercial lines, securing a situation as driver of a
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delivery wagon for a grocery house in Ottawa .. The first year he worked for seventy-five dollars and his board. The second year he was promoted, beeom- ing a elerk, and after two years spent in the grocery store he secured a situation in a general store, where his capabilities, fidelity and trustworthiness continued him in the position for thirteen years. In the meantime he wisely saved a considerable portion of his earnings until his eareful expenditure and diligenee brought him sufficient eapital to enable him to engage in business on his own aeeount.
Seeking a favorable loeation, Mr. MeCarthy came to Cedar Rapids after hav- ing made an inspection trip to this point in the summer of 1880. He entered into partnership with J. H. Schindel, who had been a fellow elerk with him in the same store in Ottawa. Here under the firm style of MeCarthy & Sehindel they opened a dry-goods store and subsequently added a earpet department. In the conduet of their enterprise they met with immediate and substantial sueeess, gradually inereasing their stoek to meet the growing demands of the trade until their's was one of the leading business houses of the city. They carried on merchandising until February 1, 1899, when they sold their busi- ness to The Martin Dry Goods Company. In 1900 Mr. MeCarthy became one of the organizers of the Peoples Savings Bank and was elected president, in which eapaeity he served for three years, or until ill health caused him to resign. He, however, retains a finaneial interest in the bank and is also a member of its board of directors. During his service as chief executive offieer he established the business upon a thoroughly safe and conservative basis, systematized the work in every department and instituted many progressive measures in management and control.
In 1893 Mr. MeCarthy was married to Miss Margaret Fagan, of Cedar Rapids, and unto them have been horn five children, of whom two sons and two daughters are yet living, namely : Mary Alice, Lueille, Desmond and Franeis. The elder daughter is now a student in St. Joseph Academy in Des Moines and the younger children are at home.
Mr. MeCarthy is a member of the Catholic church and also of the Knights of Columbus. He gives his political endorsement to the demoeratie party, but has never sought nor desired office, preferring to eoneentrate his energies upon his business affairs, in which he has met with signal success. He has never heen unmindful of his duties and obligations in a publie connection, and during the period of his residenee in Cedar Rapids has supported and cooperated in many movements for the general good. As the arehiteet of his own fortunes he has builded wisely and well, and his eommereial record, containing not a single esoterie phase, proves the truth of the old adage that "honesty is the best poliey."
JUDGE WILLIAM GEORGE THOMPSON
While a resident of Marion, Judge Thompson is widely known throughout the state and even far beyond the boundaries of Iowa. He was one of the founders of the republican party in Iowa, has been active in framing as well as interpreting the laws of the commonwealth and has also been a factor in shaping national legis- lation. His record is an honor and eredit to the state which has honored him and the publie service of no resident of Marion has been more fearless in conduet and stainless in reputation than that of Judge William George Thompson, who sinee 1853 has borne an important part in affairs of general moment.
A native of Center township, Butler county, Pennsylvania, he was born on the 17th of January. 1830, and in the paternal line eomes of Seotch aneestry. His grandparents, John and Martha (Humes) Thompson, were both natives of Seot-
JUDGE WILLIAM G. THOMPSON
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land and arrived in this country during the closing years of the eighteenth een- tury - the time of their emigration being 1798. John Thompson entered a farm in Butler county, Pennsylvania, and it was upon that place that William II. Thompson, the father of the Judge, was born and reared and there lived until his death, which occurred when he was seventy-three years of age. He left his fam- ily in comfortable cireumstances as the result of his well directed energy and thrift. A gentleman of commanding stature, he stood six feet and five inches in height and weighed two hundred and forty pounds. His nature was a most peace- ful one and in his disposition he was ever retiring. He never quarreled with any- body or entered into a law suit, and his influence was ever on the side of progress, reform and improvement rather than contention. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Jane McCandless, was also a native of Center township, Butler county, Pennsylvania, and was a daughter of John and Mary Ann (Smythe) McCandless, who came to America from County Antrim, Ireland, in 1798 and were of Scotch-Irish extraction. The maternal and paternal grandparents of Judge Thompson were all strict Presbyterians. Ilis mother died at the age of sixty-eight years. She was never away from home over night in all her married life of forty- five years, displaying almost unparalleled devotion to her family.
Judge Thompson acquired his early education in a log schoolhouse about two miles and a quarter from his home. IIe attended there each winter between the ages of seven and seventeen years, after which he began teaching school in the winter seasons, while in the summer months he worked in the fields, thus assisting in the improvement and development of the home farm. At the age of nineteen years he entered the Witherspoon Institute, where he remained for two years as a student, although he continued to work on the farm during the harvest seasons. It was his desire to enter upon the study of law and to this end he became a student in the office of William Timblin, an attorney of Butler, Pennsylvania, taking care of the office and doing chores in payment for his board in the family of his em- ployer. In two years he had qualified for the bar and was given a certificate entitling him to practice after thorough examination by a committee of which Judge Daniel Agnew was the chairman. This examination was held on the 15th of October, 1853, and in little more than a month later - on the 27th of Novem- ber - Judge Thompson started west for Iowa, not knowing where he would locate. In Davenport he heard about the promising little town of Marion and hither wended his way, arriving in December of that year. He had neither capital, law library nor acquaintances, but he possessed good health, industry and ability and, deciding to remain, soon established himself firmly in public regard by reason of his salient characteristics and his professional qualifications. His first dollar was earned about two weeks after locating here in the trial of a suit before the justice of the peace. Those who listened to the trial recognized his ability and from that time on his success as a practitioner was assured. His reputation as a lawyer soon extended all over the state and he won considerable.renown in the practice of criminal law, having defended in twelve murder cases, losing bnt two. He was also connected with the famous Bever contested will ease and his name fig- ures in connection with other important cases that have awakened widespread interest and have involved important points at law.
Judge Thompson is perhaps even more widely known in connection with his public service as a lawmaker, for he has been active in framing legislation in both the state and nation. He has always been a stalwart republican and for many years was the dominant leader of the party in this state. He was a delegate to the convention at Iowa City on the 22d of February, 1854, when James W. Grimes was nominated for governor and the republican party was organized in Iowa. Judge Thompson was first ealled to offiee when, in 1854, he was ehosen prosecuting attorney of Linn county, being the first republican elected to office in this county.
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On the expiration of his term in that position he was elected to the state senate and sat as a member of the last senate held in Iowa City and at the first held in Des Moines. In 1864 he was chosen a presidential elector at large and with Ben C. Dar- win as the other eleetor at large stumped the state and east Iowa's vote for Abra- ham Lincoln, which he says was the proudest act of his life. Later he was eleeted district attorney for the distriet composing the counties of Linn, Jones, Cedar. Johnson, Iowa, Benton and Tama and served for six years, after which he declined to again become a candidate. His ability as a practitioner received further recog- nition when, in 1879, he was appointed chief justice of the territory of Idaho by President Hayes. He declined to accept but was urged to do so so strongly by his friends and members of congress that he at length acquiesced and held the term of court then provided for, but in March, 1879, having completed the term, he re- signed. In November of the same year he was elected to congress and in 1881 was reëleeted, so that he sat for four years as a member of the house of representatives, giving to each vital question his earnest consideration and supporting or opposing each as his judgment dictated would be for the best interests of the nation. In 1886 he was elected to the lower house of the legislature and served for two years, during which time he was made one of the committee froni the house to try John L. Brown, auditor of state, before the state senate. sitting as a court of impeach- ment. In September, 1894, he was appointed judge of the eighteenth judicial district by Governor Jackson to fill the vacaney caused by the resignation of Judge Preston and was immediately thereafter nominated and eleeted to that office, in which he served for twelve years and four months, retiring from the bench in January, 1907, with a most ereditable and honorable judiciai record. His decis- ions were notably free from all personal prejudice or bias arising from any pecul- iarities of disposition or previously formed opinions; they were always a clear exposition of the law as related to the facts and the equity in the ease, and he left the office with the honor and respeet of his contemporaries in the courts and with a record which for ability falls in not the least iota short of that of any one who has sat upon the bench of the state.
Judge Thompson has never been defeated for any office for which he has been a candidate, and his conspicuous ability, vigorous character and innate honesty have won him many loyal friends among the able men of the state and nation. When in congress he was a member of the committee to try the contested election eases, upon which Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll was the attorney employed in seating many of these politicians. One morning before the court opened the Colonel entered and found Judge Thompson at work looking over some of the records. The great orator looked at the Iowa congressman and said: "Major, I like you." The Judge, hearing such an expression from the silver-tongued orator, questioned why. "Well, you see," said Ingersoll, "if I ean establish the fact that my client has run on the republican ticket I have won my case, but it takes a good deal more to satisfy the other members of your committee." Judge Thompson won his mili- tary title, and by this he is frequently called, through active service in the Civil war. In 1862 he was commissioned major of the Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infan- try and was in command of the regiment for more than a year. He was severely wounded at the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, December 7, 1862, and was at the siege and eapture of Vicksburg. He then went to Texas and was present at the capture of Fort Arkansas Pass. A post was established there and Major Thomp- son was placed in command, so remaining until 1864, when he was honorably discharged from the service. He belongs to the Grand Army Post of Marion and is a member of the Loyal Legion. Fraternally he is connected with Marion Lodge, No. 2, I. O. O. F .; Marion Lodge. No. 6. F. & A. M .; Marion Chapter, No. 10, R. A. M. ; and Patmos Commandery. No. 27, K. T.
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It was on the 12th of June, 1856, that Judge Thompson was married to Miss Harriet J. Parsons, now deccased. One of their two children died in infancy, while the surviving son, John M. Thompson, is a prominent member of the Mar- ion bar.
Along various lines Judge Thompson has won distinction, being recognized as a prominent representative, an able lawyer, a distinguished legislator and a fair and impartial judge. Of a long and crowded line of illustrious men of whom Iowa is justly proud the public life of few has extended over so long a period and none has been more varied in service and more constant in honor. Fame and promi- nence have come to him in recognition of his sterling qualities of mind and a heart true to every manly principle as well as his preëminent ability as manifest in the framing and in the interpretation of the law through long years of active connee- tion with the bench and bar.
GEORGE LINCOLN SNYDER
George Lincoln Snyder, a retired merchant who is yet interested in financial enterprises and is widely known throughout Iowa as one of the most prominent Odd Fellows of the state, was born June 10, 1861, in Cambria county, Pennsyl- vania, and is a son of Samuel and Nancy (Hoover) Snyder. The father was also a native of the Keystone state and was a farmer by oeeupation. Removing to the middle west he brought his family to Linn county, Iowa, and purchased a farm in Marion township about three miles north of the county seat. The place is still known as the old Snyder homestead. The father devoted his energies untiringly to the development and cultivation of his farm until his death, which occurred September 13, 1893. He had survived his wife for only about a year, her death occurring on the 13th of August, 1892. Both were laid to rest in one of the Linn county cemeteries. In connection with general farming Mr. Snyder had carried on stock-raising and was well known because of his activity and success in that direction. His opinions came to be recognized as authority upon the work which engaged his attention. He was also interested in educa- tional affairs of the public schools.
George L. Snyder became a pupil of the publie school when five years of age and was graduated when fifteen years of age. The succeeding three years were devoted to farm labor, after which he pursued a course in the college at Mount Morris, Illinois. On leaving that institution he engaged in teaching school for about two years and then became a student in Coe College. Later he again followed teaching for a year, at the end of which time he turned his attention to eommereial pursuits, securing a position as clerk in a grocery store. The firm for which he worked failed and Mr. Snyder then bought the business and resolutely took up the task of building up a good trade. He was not long in proving to the public that his methods of business and the well selected line of goods which he handled entitled him to a liberal patronage and he became the owner of one of the best grocery houses in Marion and enjoyed a very grati- fying suecess. The extent of his business brought him a measure of sueeess that at length enabled him to live retired. He is, however, one of the directors of the Home and Building Loan Association.
On the 27th of September, 1888, Mr. Snyder was united in marriage to Miss Cora Margaret Garrett, a daughter of Samuel A. and Mary E. (Webster) Gar- rett. Her parents eame to Iowa from the east and are well known and prom- inent citizens of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder have four children : Mary Lucille, who is a graduate of the Marion high school of the class of 1910; Paul De Witt, Ruth and Margaret who are at home. They also lost one child, Samuel.
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Mr. Snyder is one of the most prominent Odd Fellows of Iowa and has been accorded high honors in the society. He was made a member of Osceola Lodge No. 18, I. O. O. F., on the 7th of November, 1882, and is still identified with that organization. He was elected first to the position of outside guard, was later ehosen secretary, afterward viee grand and then noble grand. He was chosen to represent the distriet in the grand lodge and was appointed one of the five members of the board of construction. Later he served successively as grand warden, deputy grand master and grand master, which is the highest office within the gift of the lodge in the state. He was further honored with election as grand representative to the sovereign grand lodge of the world. His wife belongs to the Daughters of Rebekah in which she takes a very prominent and helpful part. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder hold membership in the Presbyterian church, contribute liberally to its support and do all in their power to promote its progress. Wherever Mr. Snyder goes he wins high regard and in his home county the most unqualified respect and confidence is entertained for him.
AMBROSE S. JEFFREY
Ambrose S. Jeffrey is closely associated with one of the important productive industries of this eity as president of the Cedar Rapids Sash & Door Company and is likewise well known in financial eireles, having voice in the management of the Commercial Savings Bank. For more than a half century he has been a witness of Iowa's growth and development as the conditions of pioneer life and early progress have been replaced by those of modern civilization and develop- ment. He was born in Cedar county, this state, on the 25th of June, 1858, and is a son of George and Lydia (Strong) Jeffrey, natives of England and Canada respectively. The father eame to the United States with his parents in his boy- hood days, at which time a settlement was made in Illinois. They had previously lived for a time on Prince Edward Island, had later removed to Canada and thenee erossed the border into the American republic. Mrs. Jeffrey, the mother of our subjeet, had come to the new world with her parents in her girlhood and they, too, settled in Illinois, where she gave her hand in marriage to George Jef- frey. After living for a brief period in Illinois they came to Iowa about 1849 or 1850 and established their home in Cedar county, where Mr. Jeffrey entered government land. The state was then largely undeveloped and unimproved, many sections being still covered with the native prairie grasses and wild flowers, which gave beauty to the seene in the summer months. while in the winter the same distriet was covered with one unbroken sheet of snow. Mr. Jeffrey walked to Iowa City, then the capital of the state, to pay his taxes as occasion demanded and said there was but one house between his home and his destination. He died npon the old homestead farm which he had elaimed on coming to Iowa and which he had developed and improved as the years passed by. He had survived his wife for five years, her death occurring in 1905.
Ambrose S. Jeffrey was reared on the old homestead and mastered the lessons in which instruetion was given in the public schools. When seventeen years of age he began earning his own living and entered upon an apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade, which he followed in the employ of others for a time and then began contracting and building on his own account. He was thus associated with the substantial improvements of the community in which he lived, but later withdrew from that field of activity to engage in the lumber business. In 1887 he came to Cedar Rapids and for six years was employed as bookkeeper by F. H. Juekett, a lumber dealer. In 1883 he formed a partnership with Joseph H. Zimmerman and they purchased the lumber business of HIart Brothers. The partnership was maintained for two years, at the end of which time Mr. Zimmer-
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man sold his interest to J. A. Limback, at which time the firm name of Limback & Jeffrey was assumed. This has since remained the style of the honse and it has become a synonym for progressiveness in business and reliability in trade transactions. In 1903 the Cedar Rapids Sash & Door Company was organized and a year later Mr. Jeffrey was elected president, in which capacity he has since remained. He was also one of the organizers of the Cedar Rapids Savings Bank in 1907 and a year later was a factor in the organization of the Commercial National Bank, becoming a director of same. He possesses marked ability in coordinating forces and producing a unified and harmonious whole, and his success has followed as the legitimate sequence of his industry, determination and enterprise.
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