USA > Iowa > Linn County > History of Linn County Iowa : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II > Part 53
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In his youthful years Frank Leidigh enjoyed the educational advantages afforded by the common schools and also became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist as he assisted his father in the work of the home farm. Following his marriage he was actively engaged in the oper- ation of a rented farm for six years, on the expiration of which period, in 1890, he bought his present place of one hundred and ninety-four acres in Monroe township, to the further cultivation and improvement of which he has since de- voted his time and energies. The fields annually yield golden harvests in return for the care and labor which he bestows upon them, and he is well known as a most progressive and enterprising agriculturist. He is also serving as president of the Monroe Telephone Company.
On the 22d of December, 1884, Mr. Leidigh was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Wilson, whose birth occurred in Monroe township, this county. She is a daughter of James P. and Mary (Waters) Wilson. Her father died in March, 1907, but her mother still survives and makes her home with our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Leidigh now have three children, namely: Earl, who married Irene Snyder and is a resident of Monroe township; Gailene; and Wilson.
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Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Leidigh has supported the men and measures of the republican party but the honors and emoluments of office have never had any attraction for him, though he served one term as school director. Both he and his wife have many friends in the county where they have always resided, having at all times displayed those sterling traits of character which in every land and clime awaken admiration and regard.
WILLIAM WILLIAMS WALKER
The men who blaze the trail for oncoming civilization merit the lasting grat- itude of those who come after them ; for through their pioneer labors it becomes possible for the settler to enter and possess the land and thus to enjoy its rich fruition. In the prairie regions of the middle west the trail for which the mil- lions of home-seekers waited was blazed by the railroad builder. Among the pioneer railroad builders of the '50s in the region now called the middle west, one of the foremost in achievement was William Williams Walker, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. During the eventful years extending from 1856 to 1872, Mr. Walker surveyed and built hundreds of miles of road in Iowa and hundreds more in other states. Early identified with the Blair and Ames projects, he personally supervised every mile of that portion of the present Northwestern system included in the state of Iowa. He onee remarked that he had "walked over every foot of land traversed by the Northwestern from the Mississippi to the Missouri, and that, too, many times over." But that is only a portion of this one man's achievement.
William Williams Walker was born in Middlefield. Otsego county, New York, on the 8th of August, 1834. His parents were William Ames and Sarah Williams (Ingalls) Walker. He received his early education in the Cortland Academy of Homer, New York, the Cherry Valley Academy. of Cherry Valley, New York, and Brown University, of Providence, Rhode Island. In 1853 he entered the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy. New York, from which institution he was graduated in 1856. Ilis thorough scholarship won for him the highest honors awarded his class - that of valedictorian. Thus thoroughly equipped, he at once entered upon his life work as a civil engineer. Not waiting for something to turn up which might be just to his liking, he started for that mecea of en- gineers in the '50s - the country beyond the Mississippi. Learning of a con- struction camp at Mount Vernon. Iowa, he made that his objective point. He was at once employed as a rodman but was not permitted to remain long in that humble capacity. Serions differences arose between the superintendent of con- struction and the officers of the road, the result of which was that the superin- tendent and his assistants "pulled out." The officers, not satisfied with the construction from Clinton westward, directed the young engineer, fresh from "Tech .. " to return to Clinton and take charge of the work of reconstruction to Mount Vernon. Thus early taking his measure and finding him strong in mental equipment, as he was stalwart physically. John I. Blair placed Mr. Walker in direct line of promotion. His advance thereafter was rapid.
In 1860. at the age of twenty-six, he was made chief engineer of the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River Railroad. The following twelve years covered perhaps the most active and resultful period in his professional career. The proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, of which he was a member from 1880 until his death, chroniele the surveying and building of two hundred and seventy-two miles of road between 1860 and 1870. From 1868 to 1872 he also held the position of chief engineer and general superintendent of the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad. During those years he constructed a hundred additional miles of road. From 1869 to 1872 he also filled the duties of chief engineer of
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the Iowa Falls & Sioux City Railroad and of the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad. Thus early in his thirties Mr. Walker found himself at the head of the vast railroad construction projects known in railroad history as "the Blair and Ames roads." In 1873 he became chief engineer of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota Railroad. In 1879 he became vice president and general superintendent of the St. Louis, Hannibal & Keokuk Railroad. Later he was also extensively engaged in other railroad enterprises in Missouri and the southwest.
This mere outline of activities would of itself seem to round out a career of achievement. But, along with and following his active field work, from 1860 on into the '80s, Mr. Walker held several positions of honor and trust in the city which he early chose as his home. During portions of that period he was president of the First National Bank of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, president and sec- retary of the Cedar Rapids Water Company and also president, secretary and treasurer of the Republican Printing Company of Cedar Rapids.
Ifis connection with the press was far from nominal. While editor and gen- eral manager of the Cedar Rapids Republican he was elected president of the State Press Association of Iowa. Mr. Walker was a lifelong republican and, both as editor and as a public-spirited citizen, he was wont to express his views with much elearness and force on the political issues of his time. During the periods of his stay in Cedar Rapids he was active in all movements for the moral and material development of his home city and his adopted state. His practical knowledge of all forms of construction and his wide range of experience and observation proved of great service to his fellow citizens. His deep interest in moral and religious movements was a source of positive strength to all worthy causes which commanded his support. For years he was a trustee of Coc Col- lege at Cedar Rapids and at one time was urged to become the business head of that institution. In a critical period of its history the college would have sus- pended but for his stubborn insistence that it should continue.
Mr. Walker was an active and influential church member and on taking up his residence in Cedar Rapids, at the early age of twenty-six, he was elected an elder in the First Presbyterian church of that city - a position which he held until his death. He never departed from the strict observance of the Sabbath to which he was reared. In the most active period of his career, when rival lines were contesting for the rich fields beyond the Missouri, he never permitted any work on the Sabbath; and it was a fact mueh commented on at the time that Superintendent Walker's men and teams accomplished more in six days, after a whole day's rest, than those of rival roads accomplished in seven days.
Mr. Walker was twice married, first to Mary Ann Hitchcock, a daughter of Noah and Lucy Hitchcock, pioneers of Homer, New York. The wedding occurred on the 15th of October, 1857. Two daughters were born to them: Mary Ingalls Walker, in 1858; and Lucy Hitchcock Walker, in 1861. Both daughters are still living, the elder being the widow of A. W. Lee of Ottumwa, Iowa, founder of the Lee syndicate of newspapers. The younger is the wife of Johnson Brigham of Des Moines, state librarian of Iowa. The death of the first wife occurred April 28, 1862. On September 7, 1864, Mr. Walker married Laura, eldest daughter of John Weare, a pioneer capitalist and banker of Cedar Rapids. His widow survives him, still retaining the old home in Cedar Rapids.
Mr. Walker's ancestry on his father's side was of New England and old English stock -- most of them intelligent and progressive tillers of the soil. On his mother's side was the New England family of Ingalls and also the dis- tinctively Connecticut family of Wolcotts. Oliver Wolcott, one of the singers of the Declaration of Independence, (himself both the son and the father of a governor of Connecticut) was Mr. Walker's great-great-uncle.
Aside from a few addresses published in the engineering periodicals of his day, none of Mr. Walker's professional papers have been preserved. During his
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last years, when failing health debarred him from active service in his profession, he wrote a book for distribution among the members of the Walker and Weare families entitled "In Memoriam, John Wearc," a valuable addition to the pioneer history of Iowa, portions of which were reprinted in the Annals of Iowa. The book was prepared for the printer by Mrs. Walker and published in Des Moines in the year 1897.
The death of Mr. Walker occurred in Chicago on the 23d of September, 1893, in the sixtieth year of his age. His demise was the occasion of many tributes to his professional ability and personal worth. From two of these brief extracts are made. In the Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers for 1893 occurs a sketch of his life, concluding with this tribute of respect and re- gard: "In the private relations of life he was a man without fear or reproach and gained the esteem and confidence of all who became acquainted with him. Lovable by nature, he attracted to him many outside his own family circle, who learned to love him sincerely and respect him greatly." The Annals of Iowa for October, 1893, (Charles Aldrich, editor) thus concludes a sketch of this pioneer railroad builder: "He was widely acquainted with the leading men of Iowa for more than thirty years and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. His whole life was one of great usefulness, and his name will long be remembered as one of the pioneer railroad builders of Iowa, commencing, as he did, when the great system that now traverses every county in our state was in its infancy."
FRANCIS A. CASTLE
Francis A. Castle, who in partnership with his brother, Homer D. Castle, operates the homestead farm in Jackson township, is one of the representative men of his section of Linn county. He was born in that township, January 22, 1876, of the marriage of Daniel L. and Melissa M. (Gardner) Castle, the former a native of New York and the latter of Illinois. They accompanied their respec- tive parents to Iowa at an early day, the Gardner family locating in Delaware county, while the Castle family located on what is now known as the Valley farm in Jackson township, Linn county. Following their marriage, the young couple settled on the Castle farm, which Daniel L. Castle operated for a short time and then he purchased the present home of our subject, this tract comprising three hundred and twenty acres, located on section 6, Jackson township. He here made his home until 1902, when he retired from active life and has since lived among his children. The wife and mother died in 1903. The father is an ardent republican in politics and for many years served in various township offices, his labors aiding not a little in the progress and improvement that was car- ried on in Linn county along agricultural, political and moral lines. He is still an active worker in the Congregational church, to which his wife also belonged.
Francis A. Castle was reared on the home farm, acquiring his early education ยท in the district schools, which was supplemented by a course in the State Normal College at Cedar Falls and in Cedar Rapids Business College. In 1898 he and his brother Homer D. assumed the management of the home farm and have since cultivated the land, which, together with their two sisters, they now own. In connection with their farming interests, they also raise thoroughbred Poland China hogs and shorthorn cattle. They have been very successful in their bus- iness affairs and are classed among the progressive and substantial farmers of Jackson township. Francis A. Castle is a republican in politics. His fraternal relations are with Mecca Lodge, No. 523, A. F. & A. M., at Coggon, while his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. He is one of the younger rep-
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resentatives of farming interests in Jackson township, and here, where his entire life has been passed, he has a wide eircle of friends.
Homer D. Castle is also a native of Jackson township and is a graduate of the Business College of Cedar Rapids. He attended the State Normal at Cedar Falls and successfully engaged in teaching school in this county for several years. He is now living on the old homestead and is giving liis attention to agricultural pursuits. He was married October 29, 1902, to Miss Charlotte M. Trumbull, a daughter of Spencer and Martha Trumbull. She was born in Appleton, Missouri, and received her elementary education in the common schools of Fayette county, Iowa, after which she attended the Upper Iowa University at Fayette.
LUCIUS ELY HUBBARD
Lucius Ely Hubbard is now active in the control of one of the most extensive business enterprises of Cedar Rapids as the superintendent of the Hubbard Iee Company. He has been a lifelong resident of this city, his birth having here occurred February 11, 1870. His parents, Charles P. aud Martha E. (Haney) Hubbard, are represented elsewhere in this volume. He was reared under the parental roof and the public schools afforded him his educational privileges. His father refused to allow him to work in the ice business, saying that none of his sons should waste their lives in that field, so that at eighteen years of age Lucius E. Hubbard entered the employ of the United States Express Company, which he represented for seven years in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Muscatine. He then returned home and notwithstanding the father's early objections, be- came a factor in the conduet of the extensive ice business which Charles P. Hub- bard was building up. After five years' service in various positions, which won him comprehensive kuowledge of the business, the son in 1900 was promoted to the superintendency and in 1902, when the Hubbard lee Company was incorpor- ated, he was again chosen superintendent, in which capacity he has since served. In this connection he has carefully systematized the interests which he controls and the methods which he follows have contributed to the growing success of the enterprise.
On the 17th of May, 1899, Mr. Hubbard was united in marriage to Miss Emma B. Markert, a daughter of Julius H. and Minnie (Weise) Markert, of Cedar Rapids. They are well known and prominent in the social circles of the city and theirs is one of the hospitable homes of Cedar Rapids. Mr. Hubbard has demonstrated his right to be classed with the representative business men here, proving his worth in commercial connections and gaining recognition as one whose judgment is uniformly sound and whose enterprise is unfaltering. In his politi- cal views he is a republican but votes independently on local issues.
F. A. SIGMUND
The farm of one hundred seventy-two and a half acres, located in Buffalo township, which is now the home of F. A. Sigmund, has been in possession of the family since the early '50s. This farm was also the place of his birth, which oc- curred on the 9th of November, 1867. His parents were Christopher F. and Mary M. (Rusheck) Sigmund, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Bohemia. In his native land the father served for five years in the army and remained in that country until he reached years of maturity. At that time he emigrated to America and upon reaching St. Louis had but one dollar in his pocket.
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He joined the regular army soon after his arrival in this country and took part in the Mexican war. In the early '50s he came to Linn county, locating on the farm which is now owned by our subject, this tract comprising one hundred seventy- two and a half acres. He was here engaged in farming until the outbreak of the Civil war, when, his patriotic spirit being once more aroused, he joined the army, serving at the front for one year. Returning from the scene of hostilities, he resumed work on the farm and continued in that field of activity until his death, which occurred on the homestead December 11, 1884. He was a democrat in his political views, while in religions faith he was a German Lutheran. The mother, who still survives and is now living in Cedar Rapids, is a communicant of the Catholic church.
F. A. Sigmund was trained in the work of the farm during the summer sea- sons, while in the winter months he pursued his studies in the district schools. He remained at home until his twenty-first year and was then married on the 4th of August, 1888, to Miss Laura E. Grayson, a native of Decatur county, Indiana, but at the time of her marriage a resident of Linn county. The young couple began their domestic life on the farm, Mr. Sigmund operating the home- stead as a renter for ten years. In March, 1902, he purchased this tract, and, having in the meantime resided on another farm, he removed to his present home on the 1st of January, 1904, and is here successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has a well improved place, supplied with all modern conveniences. and he today occupies a substantial place among the farmers of Buffalo township.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Sigmund have been born five children but only two sons survive, Glen C. and Gale G., both at home. Following in the political footsteps of his father, Mr. Sigmund gives stanch support to the democratic party. II'e has served as a member of the school board, while in November, 1908, he was elected justice of the peace by a very flattering majority. Hc belongs to Central City Lodge, No. 284, A. F. & A. M .; to Wapsie Lodge, No. 235, I. O. O. F .; and Justice Lodge, No. 253, K. P. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Having spent almost his entire life on the farm of which he is now the owner, it has been made dear to him through the associations of his early boyhood and youth as well as the experiences of later life, and he now takes a just pride in keeping everything about the place attractive in appearance.
WILLIAM G. LOFTUS
On the roster of county officials in Linn county appears the name of William G. Loftus, the popular, capable and efficient sheriff who makes his home in Mar- ion. His birth occurred in Waterloo, Black Hawk county, Iowa, on the 20th of April, 1869, his parents being Michael and Ellen (Fairsee) Loftus. The father, a native of Ireland, cmigrated to the United States in 1860, locating in Pennsyl- vania. Subsequently he removed to Missouri, where he took up land and suc- cessfully followed farming for a time. He next went to Freeport, Illinois, and thence to Waterloo, Iowa, while afterward he settled on a farm near Emmets- burg, Iowa. After leaving there he took up his abode in Dallas, Oregon, where he was accidentally killed, losing his life as the result of the caving in of a tunnel. During the period of the Civil war he had served as a member of Company A, Tenth Missouri Cavalry. Unto him and his wife were born six children, namely : Mary ; John; William G., of this review ; Margaret; Helen, who died in infancy ; and Robert. The mother still survives and lives with her son William, who has always provided and cared for her with true filial devotion.
William G. Loftus began his education in the common schools of Freeport, Illinois, but when still very young left school and went to work in a paint shop.
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He continued his studies in the evening when the day's toil was over and also pursued a business course in the commercial college of Freeport. Subsequently he went to Helena, Montana, as manager of a wall paper house and twelve months later removed to Great Falls, that state, where he remained for three years. During the following four years he was engaged in the theatrical business and on the expiration of that period located at Cedar Rapids, Linn county, Iowa, where he became associated with his brother in business as a painter and paper hanger.
In November, 1909, as the candidate of the republican party, Mr. Loftus was elected sheriff of Linn county by a large majority. He was the first man to carry every ward in Cedar Rapids and also the youngest man, as regards years of resi- dence, to be elected in this county. He is widely recognized as a reliable and efficient incumbent and is popular with all those who hold themselves amenable to the law, but his name creates terror in the hearts of those who are addicted to crime, for it is well known that he is fearless in the discharge of his duties. On the 7th of June, 1910, he was renominated by the republican party for sheriff, receiving twice as many votes as all the other candidates for that office combined. His nomination practically insures his election in November. He had the unani- mous support of every paper in the county except one small weekly. He is a member of the Sons of Veterans and also belongs to various other lodges. No trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree and his fidelity to honorable, manly principles has ever won for him the good will and friendship of those with whom he has been brought in contact.
JAMES H. HUGHES
James H. Hughes, conducting a profitable blacksmithing business in Cedar Rapids, is a native of New York city and a son of Edward and Jane (Newton) Hughes. The former was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, in which country his father also remained to the time of his death. Edward Hughes, however, came to America when a boy and acquired much of his education in New York. city, attending school on Twelfth street. He afterward learned the stone mason's trade which he followed for a long period. In 1870, believing that he could pro- vide better opportunities and advantages for his family in the west, he came to Cedar Rapids.
James H. Hughes was one of a family of six children and was quite young at the time of the removal of the family from the east to this city. He is largely indebted to the public school system here for the educational opportunities which he enjoyed and when he put aside his text-books he took up the blacksmith's trade and was employed by others for a time. His first service in this line was in a shop which stands on the site of his present place of business. He was employed by John Meehan for some time and subsequently entered into a partnership with another man. At a later date he purchased his partner's interest and has been conducting the business at his present location for ten years. He is known as one of the best horse-shoers in the county and the other work done in his shop is of an expert character. He has ever been very thorough in his workmanship and reliable in his dealings and has thus been accorded a liberal patronage.
In 1889 Mr. Hughes was united in marriage to Miss Mary R. Seabrook, and unto them has been born a daughter, Adele, who lives at home. She is a grad- uate of the Convent of St. Joseph and is now engaged in teaching school. The family are prominently connected with the Catholic church, in which they hold membership, while to the work of the church they are generous contributors. Mr. Hughes belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men, to the Royal Arcanum, to the Foresters, and to the Knights of Columbus, No. 903 His political allegiance
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is given to the republican party and he is recognized as one of the local leaders in this eity. He was elected on the republican tieket to the office of councilman in a demoeratie ward, a faet which is indicative of his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him by his fellowmen.
JAMES HILL
For about eighteen years James Hill was a resident of Cedar Rapids and during that time lived retired, but for a long period followed farming south of the eity and diligently and persistently sought suecess along honorable lines until he had acquired a competence sufficient to enable him to put aside further business eares. As he is yet remembered by many residents in the city and county, his life history cannot fail to prove of interest to the large majority of the readers of this volume. He was born on the 6th of November, 1834, in Warren county, Ohio, and was a son of James and Deborah (Davis) Hill. The father was a farmer and removed from Virginia to Warren county, Ohio, becoming the first of the family to settle in the latter state. He was numbered among the prominent agrieulturists of that locality and there he reared his family.
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