USA > Iowa > Linn County > History of Linn County Iowa : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II > Part 6
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James W. Wolmutt, who was one of a family of ten children, remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority and then started out in life on his own account, operating rented land for ten years. On the expiration of that period he bought a traet of sixty-three acres in Buffalo township and at the end of two years traded the property for a farm of one hundred and twenty aeres in the same township. He has since extended the boundaries of the place to include one hundred and sixty-one aeres, constituting one of the attractive and finely improved farms of Buffalo township. The well tilled fields annually yield golden harvests in return for the care and labor which is bestowed upon them by the owner.
On the 9th of December, 1897, Mr. Wolmutt was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Reed, a daughter of Levi and Martha (Williams) Reed, both of whom were natives of New York. On leaving the Empire state the father took up his abode in Illinois and in 1857 eame to Linn county, Iowa. It was on the 19th of August, 1858, that he wedded Miss Martha Williams, who had come to this state in 1855. Levi Reed was first engaged in the operation of rented land and after- ward purchased a farm. After several years, however, he disposed of the property and again cultivated rented land. He put aside the active work of the fields in 1876 and spent the remainder of his life in honorable retirement at Prairieburg. His demise occurred on the 17th of February, 1904, and his widow makes her home with our subject. Mrs. Wolmutt, who was one of a
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
family of eight children, taught school for some time prior to her marriage. She has beeome the mother of four children, namely: Otto and Roy, both at home; Cleone, who died on the 9th of June, 1906; and Leone.
In polities Mr. Wolmutt has ever been a stanch republican and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have called him to public office. For two years he served as constable of his township, while for four years he capably discharged the duties devolving upon him in the capacity of trustee. Having resided in Linn county from his birth to the present time, he has gained a circle of friends that is almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintances, and his salient characteristics are such as have gained him the confidence and good will of all with whom he has been associated.
H. N. CRAEMER
H. N. Craemer, who for years figured prominently in connection with the dry-goods trade in Cedar Rapids, in which connection he built up a business of large and gratifying proportions, was born in Heidelberg, Germany, on the 11th of February, 1865. The father died in Germany and the mother afterward came to America when her son was only seven years of age. She first settled in St. Louis hnt subsequently H. N. Craemer went to Texas where he resided until 1893, when he returned to the north and located in Cedar Rapids, where he gave his attention to the dry-goods business as a member of the firm of Reps, Craemer & Company. He was thus engaged for five years, at the end of which time he disposed of his interest in the business and established an independent enterprise under his own name. In that connection he built up a large and gratifying trade, for he always carried a well selected line of goods and the methods pursued in the conduct of the store were such as commended him to the confidence and support of the general public. Ever fair and reliable in his dealings, his house became a synonym for commercial integrity and for pro- gressiveness.
In April, 1892, Mr. Craemer was united in marriage to Josephine M. Martin, a native of Missouri and a daughter of Frank and Minnie ( West) Smith, who were likewise natives of that state but both are now deecased. In their family were seven children. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Craemer were born two children, Gertrude J., who is now attending school in St. Louis; and Nicholas Z., at home. Mrs. Craemer is still conducting the dry-goods business which was established by her husband, who on the 25th of August. 1908, was called from the activities of this life to the home beyond. He left the record of an honorable name as well as a substantial business, and during the fifteen years of his res- idence in Cedar Rapids won many friends who greatly esteemed him beeause of his genuine personal worth and his many substantial traits of character.
WILLIS A. McCONKIE, M. D.
The name of MeConkie has figured prominently in connection with the medical profession of Cedar Rapids for twenty-two years and for much of this time Dr. Willis A. MeConkie has been a practitioner. Joining his father, an eminent physi- sian, his reputation rivals that of the senior physican and his ability has gained him marked distinction as one of the best informed and most eapable practitioners of the eity. His birth occurred at Canal Winchester. Franklin county. Ohio. January 16, 1865. When two years of age he was taken by his parents to Allegan,
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Michigan, where he lived for twelve years, acquiring his early education in the schools of that plaee. He afterward was a student for one year in the high school at Traverse City in Grand Traverse county and subsequently entered the Univer- sity of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he completed the classical course. Enter- ing upon the study of medieine in the same institution, he was graduated with the class of 1889 and then came to Cedar Rapids to join his father who had opened an office here the previous year. The partnership that was then formed has since been maintained, although Dr. James J. MeConkie has practically retired from the profession, leaving the burden of the practice upon the young man whose ever-increasing ability well qualifies him for the onerous and responsible duties that devolve upon the capable and conscientious physician. He has further qualified for his chosen life work by a post-graduate course in Chicago in 1899 and private reading and research keep him in touch with the most advanced thought of the profession.
In 1892 Dr. MeConkie was united in marriage to Miss Mary Elsie MeDaniel of Cedar Rapids and they have become the parents of seven children, one of whom died in infancy, while six are yet living. Dr. MeConkie takes an active and helpful interest in the welfare and growth of the city. He became a member of the Pres- byterian church in early life and is still identified therewith as an active worker in the church and Sunday school.
His political affiliation for a few years was with the prohibition party but of late years his support has been mainly given to the republican party. Close attention has precluded his active participation in political affairs, yet he is never remiss in the duties of citizenship and aids in many progressive public movements. Notwithstanding all this his attention is chiefly fixed upon his chosen life work and he is deeply interested in anything which tends to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we call life. In a profession where advancement must depend entirely upon individual merit, he has made continuous progress and held to high ideals and his course will undoubtedly be marked by further advance- ment and higher professional attainments and success.
CHARLES B. WEBB
The improvement and cultivation of a farm of one hundred and five acres claims the time and attention of Charles B. Webb, who is a native son of Linn county, born February 21, 1857. He is a worthy representative of a pioneer family, his parents, John W. and Elizabeth (Tracy) Webb, having located in Linn county in 1853. The father was born in Kentucky, while the mother was born in Virginia. As above stated, they came to Linn eounty in 1853 and the father purchased land here, on which he erected a log cabin, in which the family lived for many years. He soon placed his land under cultivation and as the years passed and the country became more thickly settled and numerous improvements were being made, he replaced his crude home with a more modern structure and erected substantial outbuildings on the place. He was identified with the agricultural interests of this section of Iowa for almost four decades, or until his demise, which occurred June 24, 1891. His wife survived for a number of years, when in 1902 she, too, was called to the home beyond. In their family were twelve children, but only seven are now living.
Charles B. Webb remained under the parental roof until he reached the age of twenty-nine years. In the meantime he had been trained to the work of the fields as he assisted his father from the time of early spring planting until the crops were harvested in the late autumn, so that when he started out in life on his own account he understood thoroughly the best methods of agriculture.
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It was at the period in life above mentioned that Mr. Webb established a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Anna Adams, who was born in Linn county in 1866, a daughter of John and Myra J. Adams, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Following his marriage Mr. Webb took his bride to a farm near Center Point, which he had previously purchased and there he lived for fifteen years, when he disposed of that traet and purchased his present home- stead comprising one hundred and five aeres in Marion township. He is here engaged in raising the cereals best adapted to the soil but he keeps much of his land for pasturage, as he raises considerable stoek, and in this branch of business he is meeting with gratifying success.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Webb has been blessed with three children, but the second in order of birth died in infancy. The surviving members are Lindley and Marjorie M., both at home. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Webb is a democrat in his political views and affiliations but aside from serving on the school board as a director, he has never held publie office. Both he and his wife are natives of Linn county, where they have spent their entire lives and they are thus well known in this section of the state, being numbered among the esteemed residents of Marion township.
HON. JOHN T. HAMILTON
The analyzation of the life work of John T. Hamilton indicates that tireless energy, keen persistence, honesty of purpose, genius for devising the right thing at the right time, joined to every day common sense and guided by resistless will power, are the chief characteristics of the man. While he has gained notable success it has not been alone the goal for which he was striving. He has never been unmindful of the duties of citizenship and while advancing individual interests has promoted publie progress.
John T. Hamilton was born in Henry county, Illinois, on the 16th day of October, 1843, and is a son of James S. and Mary E. (Taylor) Hamilton, the former a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Antrim, New Hampshire. The American ancestors came from the north of Ireland and were of Seoteh-Irish lineage. The parents of John T. Hamilton were married in Henry County, Illinois, to which distriet they had accompanied their re- spective parents. Later James S. Hamilton turned his attention to agricultural pursuits with which he was identified during the active years of his life. On his retirement he removed to Geneseo, Illinois, where he resided until his death, which occurred when he was seventy-seven years of age. His wife also passed away there at the advanced age of eighty-two years. The Hamiltons were Seoteh Presbyterian in religious faith, while the mother's people were of the Unitarian belief.
John T. Hamilton, spending his boyhood days under the parental roof, ae- quired his education in the public schools and in the Geneseo Seminary. When he put aside his text-books he turned his attention to the fire insurance business, selling insurance to the farmers for three years, at the end of which time the company which he represented failed. He was given a note for his three years' salary but he never realized on it. The year 1868 witnessed his arrival in Cedar Rapids. He reached this city on the 2d of February, and from that time until the following October represented C. H. MeCormick of Chicago, in the reaper business, but anxious to engage in business on his own account he formed a partnership, under the firm style of Averill & Hamilton, and on the 1st of October, 1868, entered the agricultural implement business, thus laving a foundation for the extensive enterprise of Hamilton Brothers, one of the largest
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HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY
houses of its kind in Iowa. Late in the fall of 1873 Mr. Averill sold his interests to John R. Amidon and the style of the firm became Hamilton & Amidon. In the spring of 1891 Mr. Hamilton's brothers, W. W. and Porter Hamilton, ae- quired Mr. Amidon's interest in the business, which has sinee been eondueted under the firm name of Hamilton Brothers. Theirs is one of the most widely known implement houses of the west. They have maintained a high standard in the personnel of the house, in their business methods and in the character of the service rendered to the public. In 1899 the firm erected a commodious brick business block one hundred and twenty by one hundred and twenty feet and four stories and basement in height. It is one of the best structures in Cedar Rapids and at this point the firm handles farm machinery, farm wagons, buggies, binder twine and sceds and eoal. The trade of the house extends largely through- out the west and the business is constantly expanding along substantial lines, each year recording an increase in its volume.
Not only has John T. Hamilton been instrumental in developing and pro- moting the extensive commercial enterprise conducted under the name of IIam- ilton Brothers, but has also been one of the aetive promotors of financial inter- ests in this eity. In May, 1883, on the organization of the Cedar Rapids Savings Bank, he became president of the institution, which he had helped to organize, and has sinee remained its chief executive officer. On the 1st of July, 1899, he became identified with the Merchants National Bank and was elected its presi- dent, sinee which time he has filled the office. In these connections he has kept abreast with the rapid development manifest in financial centers, constantly broadening the policy of the institutions of which he is at the head and at the same time tempering the progressive spirit with safe conservatism. lle is also a stockholder and one of the directors of the Cedar Rapids Hotel Company, owners of the Montrose Hotel, and is a stockholder of the Aeme Fire Insurance Company of Cedar Rapids.
His business interests, extensive, varied and important as they are, do not cover the field of his activities, for in public relations Mr. Hamilton has done work as effective, far-reaching and beneficial as are his business interests. He is a recognized leader of the democratic party in Iowa and in 1878 was called to the mayoralty, thus guiding the municipal affairs of the city after a residenee here of only ten years. In the early '80s he was chosen a member of the board of supervisors of Linn county for a term of three years and still higher honors awaited him in his election to the state legislature in which he served in the twenty-first, twenty-second and twenty-third general assemblies, being three times chosen a member of the house and honored with the speakership in the twenty-third assembly - the year of the deadlock. He was elected to the fifty- second United States congress, and from 1906 to 1909 served as a member of the board of control of state institutions. He was first appointed to fill an un- expired term of two years because of the death of Judge Kinnie and at the expira- tion of that time he was reappointed for six years, but resigned a year or so later. The fact of his reelection to office is the highest encomium that can be paid to the serviee that has ever been characterized by unfaltering loyalty to duty, prompted by high sense of conscientions obligation and patriotism.
Mr. Hamilton laid the foundation of an attractive home life in his marriage, on the 16th of October, 1873, to Sarah Ann, daughter of Edward and Phoebe (MeArthur) Jones of St. Andrews, Canada, and unto them have been born four children, of whom two are yet living: James E., second vice president of the Merchants National Bank; and Mabel Fawn, the wife of Robert S. Cook, pur- chasing agent for the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway and Light Company. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton hold membership in the Episcopal church, in which he is one of the vestrymen. He is highly ranked in Masonry, holding membership in Crescent Lodge, No. 25, A. F. & A. M .; Trowel Chapter, No. 49, R. A. M .;
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Apollo Commandery, No. 26, Knights Templar; Iowa Consistory, No. 2, A. & A. S. R .; and El Kahir Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is also a demitted member of the Star of the West Lodge, No. 1, K. P., of which he was one of the organ- izers, and is a member of Cedar Rapids Lodge, No. 251, B. P. O. E. Such is the history of John T. Hamilton, who by the consensus of public opinion is accorded a prominent position in the commercial and political cireles of Iowa. Those who differ from him in opinion entertain for him the highest admiration and respect because of his known loyalty to his honest convictions and because of the straightforward policy he has ever followed in commercial pursuits. Ilis life has been varied in activity and its effects have been so far-reaching and beneficial as to become not only an integral part of the history of Cedar Rapids, but also of the state.
JOHN LOCKHART
Jolm Lockhart, one of the prominent and representative farmers of Wash- ington township, his home being on section 8, just west of Center Point, has spent his entire life here, his birth occurring Mareh 6, 1851, upon the farm where he still resides. Ilis father, Thomas G. Lockhart, was born in Adams county, Ohio, May 28, 1814, and was a son of Thomas and Mary (Brown) Lockhart, both natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in 1789 and the latter in 1788. They were of Scotch descent and at an early day became residents of Adams county, Pennsylvania, where the grandfather owned and operated a distillery, becoming one of the prominent men of his community. He was a soldier of the war of 1812.
Thomas G. Lockhart, the father of our subject, spent his boyhood and youth in the county of his nativity and in 1837 removed to Sangamon county, Illinois, where he resided for a few years. There he was married December 10, 1837, to Miss Lettie Osboru, a native of Indiana and a danghter of Jonathan and Snsan Osborn. In 1838 they came to lowa and two years later settled in Linn county, being among the pioneers of this region. Here the father entered the land on which our subject now resides and to its improvement and eultivation devoted his energies throughout the remainder of his life. As time passed he converted the place into a most productive and valuable traet and made many excellent improvements, including the ercetion of three sets of farm buildings. He prospered in his life work, becoming the owner of three hundred and three aeres of very valuable land, and was numbered among the most substantial farmers of Washington township. He was also prominent and influential in public affairs and served for twelve consecutive years as justice of the peaec and also as township treasurer for some years. His political support was given to the democratic party and he was an active and faithful member of the Church of Christ at Center Point, with which he was officially connected. He died on the home farm, January 24, 1891, and his wife passed away July 5, 1899, both being laid to rest in Davis cemetery, Grant township. They were the parents of eleven children, but only three are now living, namely: Craton, who is a resident of the state of Washington; Mrs. Amanda Bunker, of Urbana, Iowa; and John of this review.
Reared upon the home farm, John Loekhart carly acquired an excellent knowledge of every department of farm work and his literary education was obtained in the public sehools which he attended to a limited extent, but at the age of thirteen years began plowing corn and from that time on his attention was principally devoted to agricultural pursuits, pursuing his studies in the schoolroom only when there was no work to be done on the farm. After
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reaching man's estate he remained at home and cooperated with his father in the operation of the farm which they successfully operated together until the father's death in 1891, when the place passed into the possession of our subject. Ile has since sold twenty acres of the tract but still has a very valuable farin of two hundred and eighty-three acres which is under a high state of cultivation and supplied with all the modern accessories found upon the model farm of the twentieth century.
Mr. Lockhart was married October 12, 1882, in Benton county, Iowa, to Miss Belle Cross of Vinton, that county. Her father, Solomon Cross, was a native of Tennessee, but just prior to coming to Iowa made his home in Indiana. He was one of the pioneer settlers of Benton county, but is now residing near Hobart, Oklahoma. Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart have three children, namely : Inez May, now the wife of J. W. Warmer who is engaged in the grain and elevator business at Center Point, lowa; Ross W. and Paul C., twins.
In connection with general farming Mr. Lockhart has devoted considerable attention to the handling and raising of thoroughbred Hereford cattle and keeps on hand high grade stock. Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise he has been an earnest supporter of the democratic party and in November, 1908, was elected to the board of township trustees, in which position he is now serving. He also filled the position of township treasurer for six years and his official duties have always been most promptly and ably dis- charged. Fraternally he is an honored member of Vienna Lodge, No. 142, A. F. & A. M., and a demitted member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Both he and his wife take an active and prominent part in church work, holding membership in the Church of Christ, of which he is now an elder. They are regarded as among the leading and prominent citizens of Washington township and they have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances throughout Linn county.
FRANCIS J. CLEVELAND
Francis J. Cleveland, who since January, 1907, has capably discharged the duties devolving upon him in the capacity of county auditor of Linn county, is numbered among the worthy native sons of this county. his birth having occurred . in Marion on the 14th day of January, 1868. His parents were David and Sarah (Carver) Cleveland. The father, who was engaged in business as a carpenter contractor, came to this state from Washington county, New York, in early man- hood. When the Civil war broke out lie enlisted in defense of the Union, becoming a member of Company K, Twenty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served throughout the entire period of hostilities. After being honorably dis- charged from the army he went to Johnson county, Iowa, but soon afterward took up his abode in this county. Here he resumed work at his trade and thus re- mained an active factor in industrial circles of Marion until the time of his death, which occurred in November, 1872. His widow is living at the age of sixty-seven years in Marion and still enjoys good health. Unto them were born two children, namely : Mrs. Caroline Kerr, residing in Ramona, California ; and Francis J., of this review.
Francis J. Cleveland attended the public schools in the acquirement of an edu- cation and after putting aside his text-books seeured a position in the First National Bank of Marion, while later he entered the Cedar Rapids Savings Bank and next became employed in the Mount Vernon Bank. He afterward re-entered the First National Bank at Marion, remaining in the service of that institution until 1903, when he was appointed deputy auditor of Linn county. After acting in that
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capacity for four years he was elected county auditor, in which office he has re- mained the efficient incumbent since January, 1907.
In July, 1895, Mr. Cleveland was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Walter, a daughter of B. F. and Abbey (Schenck) Walter, of Mount Vernon. They are now the parents of four children : Lester Francis, Walter Newell, Elizabetli Grace, and Grover, born February 9, 1910.
Mr. Cleveland is a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the blue lodge, the chapter, the commandery and the shrine. He is likewise identified with the Knights of Pythias and also belongs to the Presbyterian church, in the work of which the members of his family take an active and helpful part. As a citizen he is public spirited and whatever tends to promote the best interests of the community receives his endorsement and hearty support. He has spent his entire life in this county and is therefore widely and favorably known, commanding the high regard of all with whom he has been associated.
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