History of Linn County Iowa : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II, Part 8

Author: Brewer, Luther Albertus, 1858-1933; Wick, Barthinius Larson, 1864-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 896

USA > Iowa > Linn County > History of Linn County Iowa : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II > Part 8

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Mr. Weare was born on the 5th of October, 1815, in Stanstead, province of Quebee, Lower Canada, his parents being John and Cynthia (Ashley) Weare. The family is of English origin and the name Weare in America can be traced

سيممسؤول

HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY

back to 1638, where it appears in the town records of Hampton, New Hampshire, spelled by the town clerks in various ways, such as Ware, Wire, Wear, Weir, Weare and Wyer. Nathaniel Weare is the first of whom there is any mention. In 1659 he removed to Nantucket, where he died Mareh 1, 1680, leaving a son, Nathaniel, who was born in England in 1630 and became an influential man of the Province of New Hampshire. He held many minor offices, serving as chief justice from 1674 to 1696, as eouneilor of the government of New Hampshire from 1692 to 1699 and again from July 31, 1699, to December 24, 1715, when he resigned in consideration of his great age. Ile died May 13, 1718, when in his eighty-seventh year. His son, Hon. Nathaniel Weare, sometimes called Deaeon and at other times called Judge, was born August 29. 1669, and had two sons. Captain Peter Weare and Mishech Weare. The latter, who was a graduate of Harvard in the elass of 1735, became a very prominent and influential citizen of his community, holding many offices. In 1853 New Hampshire erected a monu- ment to his memory at Hampton Falls, that state. His brother, Captain Peter Weare, was drowned April 13, 1743. His son, Elijah Weare, was born October 29, 1729, at New Yarmouth, Maine, and married Susanna Bangs. IIis son, Peter John Weare, born December 3, 1752, in Ilampton, New Hampshire, married IJan- nah Nason and settled in Brome county, Canada, in 1793, but ten years later removed to Stanstead, where he died on the 20th of January, 1829, at the age of seventy-seven years. His second child was John Weare, Sr., the father of our subjeet.

John Weare. Sr., was born in Andover, New Hampshire, on the 28th of March, 1791, and was about three years of age on the removal of his parents to Canada. There he grew to manhood and was married August 1, 1811, to Miss Cynthia Ash- ley, whose birth oceurred in Claremont, New Hampshire, in August, 1791. Her father was Colonel Ashley, an officer serving under the colonial government. She was a most noble woman and it was her influence that gave our subject his great respeet for womankind and deferential manner in the presence of all ladies, which was one of his marked characteristics. His mother's splendid physique, rare mental endowment and character gave the son a standard to which he ever referred in the presence of his children. She passed away in Allegan, Mieh- igan, on the 16th of January, 1842, and the father died in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, April 6, 1856. He was a veteran of the war of 1812 and a man honored and re- spected by all who knew him. The children born to John and Cynthia (Ashley) Weare were as follows: Betsey Ann. born April 11, 1812, was married May 3, 1836, to John Little Shearer, who died February 20, 1859, while her death occur- red December 9, 1859. Samuel Ashley Weare, born September 9, 1813, died March 8, 1816. John Weare, Jr., the subject of this sketeh, is the next in order of birth. Henry, born April 22, 1817, died June 2, 1846. Mary Ann, born Febru- ary 25, 1819, was married December 25, 1835, to Alexander L. Ely, who died in Cedar Rapids, July 9, 1848, and on the 19th of January, 1853. she married John F. Ely, who died March 14, 1902, while her death occurred March 16, 1908. Lydia Baxter, born June 22, 1822, was married June 27, 1838, to Elisha D. Ely, who died January 18, 1849. She is still living in Boston, Massachusetts. Sarah, born May 7, 1823, died October 16, 1823. Sarah, born January 11, 1825, was mar- ried July 6, 1850, to Seymour David Carpenter and died in St. Louis, Missouri, March 8, 1889. Charles, born January 29. 1828, was married March 24, 1857, to Catharine Lavina Carroll and in 1848 became a resident of Cedar Rapids, where he died June 18, 1906. Harriette, born Angust 1, 1829, was married October 11, 1854, to Lowell Daniels, who died November 7, 1876, and on the 26th of July, 1882, she married Lawson Daniels, who died June 16, 1906. She is still living. George, born December 3, 1834, was married in Cedar Rapids, August 11, 1857, to Mary S. Carpenter, who died February 22, 1910. He died November 5, 1908, at

HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY

Sioux City, Iowa, where he had become a prominent banker and business man, highly respected and esteemed by all who knew him.

In his youth John Weare, of this review, endured more privations than befall the average boy of the times. The condition of the country and circumstances of the family were such that he could devote but a few months each year to attending sehool, yet through the assistance of his mother and intelligent observation he became a well informed boy at the age of thirteen years. At that early age he began his business career as a elerk in the general store of his eousin, Portus Bax- ter, of Derby Line, Vermont, who afterward was a member of congress from that state from 1861 to 1867. It was there that Mr. Weare made his first venture in business, buying and selling cattle. In the spring of 1835 he accompanied his parents on their removal to Michigan, loeating near the present eity of Allegan, where he and his father bought land and engaged in the lumber business. It was while thus employed that his father met with an aeeident, having his leg crushed . by a falling tree, and this placed the burden of the support of the family upon the son. During their residenee in that state both took a very active part in territor- ial affairs and John Weare, Jr., cast his first presidential vote for Henry Clay, the whig candidate.

On the 1st of February, 1841, was celebrated his marriage to Miss Martha Parkhurst, who belonged to an old and influential family of Vermont, and who had removed to Michigan. She died on the 11th of August, 1858, at the early age of thirty-seven years. There were eight children born of that union, five sons and three daughters. Portus Baxter Weare, eldest son of John Weare, early devel- oped great business ability. He made his home in Chieago and was a factor in the upbuilding of that enterprising city. He was a pioneer in the development of Alaska's riehes, being interested in the Klondike mines, and many of the vast fortunes made in that country are indebted to his enterprise and untiring energy. In the summer of 1892 his steamboat, the P. B. Weare, was taken in pieces to the mouth of the Yukon at St. Michiel island and put together by native workmen, superintended by P. B. Weare and his son W. W. Weare. It was the first boat to go up this great river into the untold riches of this vast country. Ile died in Los Angeles, California, February 23. 1909. Laura, born May 19, 1843, was mar- ried September 7, 1864, to William W. Walker, who died in Chicago, September 23 1893, and further mention of whom is made on another page of this volume. Alexander Ely, born April 15, 1845. died July 4, 1848. Mary Lucy, born Feb- ruary 23. 1847, died JJune 26, 1848. Ebenezer Ely, born May 16, 1849, died July 22, 1904. He married Miss Mary Fellows at Dawson, Yukon Territory. Alaska, on the 15th of February, 1899, and had two children. Martha and Buell Weare. Mrs. Weare and children now reside in Cedar Rapids. Charles Ashley, born September 7, 1852, was married May 26. 1880, to Lillie Compson and resides in Chicago. Edward, born February 27. 1855, died in November, 1856. Martha Parkhurst, born July 15, 1858, was married January 20, 1887, to Mark Morton and resides in Chicago.

During his early married life Mr. Weare removed to Otsego, Allegan county, Michigan, where he made his home for several years, engaged in agricultural pur- suits. Believing that he might better his condition by a removal farther west, he eame to Iowa in 1845, being attracted to this state by his sister, Mrs. John Shearer. He finally entered one hundred and sixty aeres of land on the west side of Cedar river, opposite Cedar Rapids, and became identified with the early development and improvement of this region. Ile brought the first steel plow into Linn county, buying this at the Deere plow factory at Grand Detour, Illinois. In the year of his arrival here he took an aetive part in building a permanent dam in the Cedar river and also in the ereetion of a saw and grist mill, which became known as the Alexander Ely mill, named for his brother-in-law. In 1846 Mr. Weare brought his family to this county and his pioneer home here became the

HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY

regular stopping place for the temperance lecturers and itinerant preachers who visited this region. His fellow citizens soon recognized his worth and ability and from 1845 until 1849 he had large sums of money entrusted to his care by immi- grants, and this suggested to him the establishment of a bank and land offiee here. He therefore opened the first bank in Linn county, which was started during the rush of the gold seekers to California. In 1855 Mr. Weare, in company with others, established a chain of banks throughout the state, at Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Des Moines, Fort Dodge and Iowa City, the last named being then the capital of the state. This firm did business under the name of Greene, Weare & Sherman, the senior member being the HIon, George Greene, mentioned elsewhere in this volume. All of Mr. Weare's business associates were men of worth and integrity and in this enterprise they mnet with most excellent success. In 1858 he assisted in the establishment of the railroad from Clinton to Cedar Rapids, giving it his financial support, and it became known as the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad, now a part of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad systtem. He provided the money for the first labor done along the line and as a railroad promoter was in- strumental in opening up this state for settlement.

It was about this time that Mr. Weare lost his first wife and she was laid to rest in Oak Ilill cemetery. Not many years prior to her death they had become interested in organizing a cemetery company in Cedar Rapids, which finally developed what is now Oak Hill, and to John Weare more than to any other man does this city of the dead owe its establishment and for thirteen years he served as president of the company. On the 26th of December, 1861, he was again married, his second union being with Miss Martha Campbell Rogers, a daughter of Dr. Rogers, of Clinton, Iowa, formerly of Buffalo, New York. Three children blessed this union. Susan Campbell, born April 9, 1863, is now the widow of William Hammond Hubbard, whom she married on the 15th of October, 1884. John, born November 7, 1866, died October 7, 1867. Sophie Rogers, born August 30, 1871, was married in October, 1893, to Eli Alexander Gage, now deceased. In the qualities which add to the attractiveness and comfort of the home Mrs. Weare is richly endowed. As wife and mother she has always done her full share in mak- ing the home attractive and hospitable throughout the community she is held in the highest esteem, enjoying the warm regard of friends and neighbors. In 1864 the national banking system was introduced and Mr. Weare was not long in adopting it, his bank becoming the First National Bank of Cedar Rapids. He filled the offices of cashier and president successively for a quarter of a century and on his determination to retire from the business he liquidated the affairs of the bank most creditably. He then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits and to stock raising, trading his city home for a country place overlooking the city. There he spent his remaining days, surrounded by a loving family and many friends. The poor and needy were always sure of his assistance and the strug- gling young men always found in him a friend, many of these owing their start to "Uncle John Weare," as he was familiarly called. His influence and capital were factors in the establishment of many important business enterprises, which were carried forward during his life time in Cedar Rapids. He believed in mak- ing the town a railroad center and became financially interested and also an officer in several railroad companies. When the eity aspired to the improve- ments of a city he was foremost in investing his money and exerting his influ- ence in its behalf. He advocated and gave substantial support to the paving of the streets and his plans were accepted for the water works. Many factories also owe their presence in Cedar Rapids to Mr. Weare and it is safe to say that during the development of the city no man bore a more active or prom- inent part. He never cared for official honors, though he onee served as a trustee of Linn county and as a member of the board of education, always taking an active interest in educational affairs, and was a helpful friend of Coe

HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY

College. At one time he purchased an interest in the Daily Republiean in order to save it and it has sinee become one of the leading newspapers of the state. An earnest and consistent Christian gentleman, he became one of the first. members of the Young Men's Christian Association in Cedar Rapids and always remained one of its most helpful friends. He was also greatly interested in the Home for the Friendless, which often received his support, and no worthy enter- prise was ever neglected that needed his financial support or influence. He was an ideal gentleman of the old school. dignified yet genial and approachable, was a fine horseman and very fond of musie. During the last ten years of his life his winters were spent mostly at resorts, where he went with the hope of benefit- ting his rheumatism, and his death occurred at Hot Springs, Arkansas, on the 10th of March, 1891. ITis remains were brought back to Cedar Rapids for interment, and here he was laid to rest four days later. During the funeral services the banks of the city were closed in honor of one who for many years was so prominently identified with the banking interests of Cedar Rapids and the state. Those who knew him best speak in the highest terms of his business ability, integrity and honor, and the important part he bore in the development of Iowa ean never be estimated. The Republican, in speaking of him, said : "He was genial, affable, courteous and obliging in manner, a gentleman of the old school, of which Sir Roger de Coverley is in literature the best type. He was a careful and shrewd observer of social and business movements and a thor- ongh student of men and motives. In early years he was by nature and eduea- tion a leader among the pioneers. Long before many of us who are now engaged in active work were residents of the state this man of affairs had done enough work as a commonwealth builder to have earned the right to 'rest and dignity." which of late years he had in a large measure enjoyed."

HENRY GOOD

Henry Good is now living retired in Cedar Rapids where for more than half a century he has made his home, arriving in 1858 when the eity was a small village, its industrial and commercial prominence very limited while its boundaries did not include much of the territory which is now within the corporation limits. He was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, December 26, 1832, and has therefore passed the seventy-seventh milestone in life's journey. His father, Henry Good, was also born and reared in Lehigh county, as was his wife, who bore the maiden name of Lydia Stoney. The youthful days of IIenry Good were spent upon his father's farm where he early beeame familiar with the work of the fields. His

education was partially received in the schools of Lehigh county. At the age of nineteen years he decided to start out in the world to try his fortune and went to New Jersey where he learned the trades of miller and distiller. Realizing, too, that a more advanced education would prove advantageous to him, he attended night school in New Jersey. Experience also broadened his knowledge and equip- ped him for life's practical duties. He remained in New Jersey for six years and then removed to Linn county, Iowa, in 1858. ITere he has sinee made his home with the exception of a brief period of eighteen months spent in California. Throughout the period of his residence in Linn county he devoted his time and attention to farming until 1899 when he retired and has sinee resided in Cedar Rapids, enjoying a well earned rest in the evening of life.

In 1864 Mr. Good was united in marriage to Miss Margaret E. Combs of Jef- fersonville, Indiana, and unto them have been born six children of whom five are yet living, one son, Delbert E., having died at the age of fourteen years. The others are: Josephine M .; Harriett L., who married George Alsop, a resident of

HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY

Sylvia, Iowa; Margaret C., the wife of C. C. Miller, of Marion, Iowa; Irene A .; and the Honorable James W. Good, who is now a member of congress from this district, having been elected in 1908 on the republican ticket. He is a promising and influential citizen here, popular with his fellow townsmen and recognized as a leader in the ranks of his party.

Mr. Good belongs to the Granger Society and is a faithful member of the Presbyterian church with which he has long been identified, taking an active and helpful interest in the church work. In matters of citizenship he has ever stood for that which is progressive and beneficial and Cedar Rapids numbers him among her honored and representative men as well as among her pioneers. IIis memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present and he relates many interesting incidents of the early days.

FRANCIS M. YOST, M. D.

From no professional man do we expect or exact so many of the cardinal virtues as from the physician. If a clergyman is austere, we imagine that his mind is absorbed with the contemplation of things beyond our ken. If the lawyer is brusque and crabbed, it is the mark of genius; but in the physician we expect not only a superior mentality and comprehensive knowledge but sympathy as wide as the universe. Dr. Yost in large measure meets all of these requirements and is regarded by many as an ideal physician. Certainly if patronage is any criterion of ability he ranks high among the leading medical practitioners of Linn county, where he has followed his profession for fifty-five consecutive years, being the oldest practitioner in the county and probably in the state. Throughout the entire period he has maintained his office at Center Point.

Dr. Yost was born March 13, 1825, on the border between Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and in the former state he grew to manhood. He obtained his primary education in the public schools of the Keystone state and later attended the higher schools and academies. Having determined upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he began studying along that line and attended lectures at the University of Pennsylvania in 1851. Locating for practice in southern Pennsylvania, he there followed his profession for two years and in the spring of 1855 came to Iowa in search of a favorable opening. After traveling through the state to some extent he finally decided upon Center Point as a good location for a young man of his calling, though the present prosperous and thriving town was at that time but a crossroad village with one or two business houses. That his choice was a wise one cannot be questioned when it is known that he has maintained his residence here throughont all the intervening years and that his practice has continually grown in volume and importance. His professional duties have taken him over a large part of Linn and into adjoining counties, and his practice has been large and lucrative. Thoughi now well advanced in years and the oldest physician in Linn county, he still responds to the call-of many friends whom he has long attended in a professional capacity and who would be loath to hear of his retirement. Physically he is well preserved and his mental faculties are unimpaired. Dr. Yost has won financial as well as professional success and in addition to his present residence owns one of the best business blocks in Center Point and two valuable farms near the town.

On the 13th of March, 1857, in Linn county, Dr. Yost was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte A. Gitchell, a daughter of Benjamin Gitchell, who came to this county from Pennsylvania at an early day. John R. Gitchell, a brother of Mrs. Yost, now deceased, was a banker and financier of Center Point. Dr. and Mrs. Yost are the parents of four children, as follows : Jessie, the wife of W. G. Porter,

HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY

a prominent lawyer and assistant United States attorney at Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Frank L., a substantial business man and hardware dealer of Center Point; and Bartley B. and Charles G., who were graduated in the same elass at the St. Louis Medical College and are now engaged in practice at Center Point.

In polities Dr. Yost is a Jeffersonian democrat, having east his first presidential ballot for Franklin Pierce in 1852. Though the honors and emoluments of office have never had any attraction for him, he is nevertheless a most loyal and public- spirited citizen, cooperating in all movements and measures calculated to promote the general welfare. He joined the Masonie fraternity and the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows before coming to this state but has not been affiliated with the Masonie society during his residence here, finding that his professional labors demanded his entire attention. Ile has now passed the eighty-fifth milestone on this earthly pilgrimage and as he nears the end of the journey - but may he be spared many years to come - he is surrounded by the veneration and respect of those among whom he has long lived and labored, his years fraught with good deeds and with splendid results.

EDWARD LECLERE

One of the representative business men of Central City is Ed Leclere, the well known cashier of the State Bank of Central City. He is a native of Linn county, his birth occurring in Boulder township on the 24th of November, 1876. Ilis father, Charles F. Leclere, was born in the state of New York. During the greater part of his life he followed farming in Linn county, but a few years ago he removed to Cedar Rapids, where he is now living retired, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of former toil. After coming to this county he married Miss Thresa Ken- ling, a native of Germany, who was brought to the new world by her parents dur- ing her girlhood. She is still living and by her marriage became the mother of fourteen children, namely : Ilenry C., an up-to-date farmer of Boulder township ; George L., who is also engaged in the same pursuit in that township ; William, who makes his home in Monticello, Iowa, and is engaged in the threshing and sawmill business; Frank, also a farmer of Boulder township; one who died in infancy ; Alexander, a retired farmer of Coggon, Iowa; Ed, of this review; Fred L., who is engaged in clerking in a hardware store at Alta, Iowa ; Lena, the wife of Harvey Whitney, a farmer of Boulder township; Mamie, the wife of William H. Trefz, who follows farming in the same township; Anna, at home with her parents; Nettie, a trained nurse now located in Waterloo, Iowa ; and Elmer D. and Clara, both at home.

Reared on the home farm. Ed Leelere acquired his early education in the country schools of Boulder township and later attended the high school at Monti- cello, Iowa. He also pursued a commercial course in the Cedar Rapids Business College and was thus well prepared to engage in business pursuits, having obtained a good, practical education. On leaving the parental roof he went to Coggon and on the 1st of July, 1900, accepted the position of assistant cashier in the bank at that place, where he remained for five and a half years, giving the utmost satisfac- tion. He then came to Central City to become cashier of the State Bank of Central City, which position he is now filling to the entire satisfaction of all con- eerned. IIe is also financially interested in the bank and, being a good. reliable business man, conservative in his methods, yet progressive, he has done much to promote the interests of the institution.

In 1901 Mr. Leelere was united in marriage to Miss May L. Savage, of Coggon, Iowa, and they have become the parents of three children, namely: Fay E .. Roy W. and Donnell M. Since attaining his majority Mr. Leclere has east his ballot

HISTORY OF LINN COUNTY

for the men and measures of the republican party and, taking an active interest in public affairs, served as township clerk and treasurer while a resident of Cog- gon. Religiously he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is the owner of one of the nieest residenees in Central City and his home is a hospitable one, the many friends of the family always being sure of a hearty welcome there. Mr. Leclere is very popular both in business and social life and is a man who has the respect and confidenee of all with whom he is brought in contact.

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History of Linn County Iowa : from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II, Part 8

Author: Brewer, Luther Albertus, 1858-1933; Wick, Barthinius Larson, 1864- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago : Pioneer Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 896

Author: Brewer, Luther Albertus, 1858-1933; Wick, Barthinius Larson, 1864-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 896