USA > Iowa > Muscatine County > History of Muscatine County, Iowa, from the earliest settlements to the present time, Volume II > Part 36
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ment of his fellow soldiers, the uniform respect of those his superior in rank in the army, is evidence enough that no common man is taken from us."
The family of General and Mrs. Hill numbered eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, namely : Edwin, who is a resident of Seattle, Washington ; Harry, who died in infancy ; Fred, who was killed in the Civil war when a youth of seventeen ; Mattie A., the deceased wife of John C. Kelley, proprietor of the Sioux City Tribune; Frank A., a mining engineer of Seattle, Washington; Will- iam S., of this review; Mary, the wife of Edwin Wade, of Wollaston, Massa- chusetts; Rowland G., who has passed away; Sallie O., the deceased wife of John C. Kelley; Susan, who is the wife of H. F. Clough, of Seattle, Washing- ton; and Sylvester G., a dentist of Seattle.
William S. Hill, whose name introduces this record, was reared in Muscatine and attended the public schools. He afterward became a page in the house of representatives at Washington, D. C., occupying the position from 1865 until 1870. For two or three years he worked at the printing business and later fol- lowed civil engineering until twenty-one years of age. At that time he began farming on the island south of Muscatine and devoted ten years to general agri- cultural pursuits. He next spent about two years in Ishpeming, Michigan, after which he returned to Muscatine and established a retail grocery business, which he conducted for eighteen years. In all of his business affairs he has been ac- tuated by a spirit of progress that has brought him substantial returns and his reliability in all trade transactions has gained for him the respect and confidence of his fellowmen. He is now one of the stockholders and directors of the Ger- man-American Bank.
On the 23d of September, 1880, Mr. Hill was married to Miss Lydia Free- man, who was born in Muscatine, September 7, 1858. Her parents were Joseph P. and Lydia M. A. (Parvin) Freeman, natives of Pennsylvania and Indiana re- spectively. The former was the son of William and Lucinda (Irwin) Freeman and William Freeman was a soldier of the war of 1812. The maternal grand- parents of Mrs. Hill were William and Hannah (Westcott) Parvin. Her father, Joseph P. Freeman came to Muscatine at an early period in the development of the city, arriving in 1840. Here he wedded Lydia Parvin, who came about the same time. The death of Mr. Freeman occurred in 1902, when he was eighty- seven years of age, and his wife passed away in 1885 at the age of sixty-two. They were the parents of nine children : Thomas J., who died in infancy ; William P., who is deceased; Franklin; Sarah M., the wife of Thomas Watson, of Mus- catine; Delia, the deceased wife of William Scott; Charles F., of Dallas, Texas; Lydia, who is the wife of our subject; Maggie, who died in early life; and Mary Ann, who also passed away when very young.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hill have been born a daughter and two sons: Laura M., the wife of Henry W. Metzger, of Muscatine, and the mother of one son, William Hill Metzger; Joseph F., a farmer living near Royalton, Minnesota, who married Miss Mary Battey ; and Ralph P., who died at the age of eighteen years.
In his political views Mr. Hill is a republican, having always supported the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. The splendid reputa- tion which he had made in business circles and his worth as a citizen led to his election to the office of mayor, to which he was called in the spring of 1910. He
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is giving a public-spirited, businesslike administration and already has accom- plished needed reforms and promoted valuable improvements in the city. In public affairs he manifests the same spirit which caused his gallant father, Gen- eral Sylvester G. Hill, to go to the front in the Civil war and valiantly lead his forces in the face of the enemy.
HENRY HEINZ.
Henry Heinz, editor and owner of the Muscatine Herold, a twelve page weekly newspaper published in German, was born in Davenport, Iowa, March 10, 1856. The family name indicates his German lineage. His parents, Bona- ventura and Margaret (Traenkenschuh) Heinz, were both natives of Germany, the former born in Baden and the latter in Bavaria. The father was a post and stage-coach driver of Baden but, leaving Germany in the early '40s, came to America, landing at New Orleans, whence he made his way northward to St. Louis. There he enlisted for service in the Mexican war. He was afterward married in that city, and he and his wife conducted a boarding house there. In 1855 they removed to Davenport, where Mr. Heinz conducted a commission house and also dealt in steamboat supplies. He died in Davenport at the age of seventy- five years, after celebrating his golden wedding. His widow survived him and passed away at the age of eighty years and six months, spending her last days at the home of her daughter in Chicago. The family numbered three sons and three daughters who lived to adult age: Frederick, an attorney who was once mayor of Davenport but is now deceased; Henry, of this review; John, who is engaged in the practice of law in Davenport; Caroline, who has passed away ; Fredericka, the wife of the Rev. Theodore Hansen, of Dubuque county, Iowa ; and Elizabeth, the wife of the Rev. Eugene Pfund of Chicago.
Henry Heinz was reared in Davenport and attended the public schools and also some German schools. When but fourteen years of age he began learning the printer's trade in the office of Der Demokrat, a daily German newspaper, which is still published there. In the latter part of 1880 he came to Muscatine and secured a position on the German paper called Die Wacht Am Mississippi, with which he was connected for six years. He then worked in the News Tribune office for a year and in 1889 began the publication of a paper of his own called Der Correspondent, a German weekly, which he conducted for nearly eighteen years and then consolidated it with the Anzeiger. At that date both names were dropped and the new publication was issued under the name of Der Herold. This is an independent democratic paper published in German and has a large pat- ronage among the German speaking people of Muscatine and this section of the state. He has made it one of the leading German papers of the middle west. and it has a marked influence among the sons of the fatherland through the intelli- gent discussion of public questions.
On the 16th of May, 1888, Mr. Heinz was married to Miss Anna Schmelzer, a daughter of Henry C. and Elizabeth (Doerring) Schmelzer. Mrs. Heinz was born in Muscatine, January 1, 1860. Her parents, who were natives of Hessen,
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Germany, became early settlers of this city, where they were married and spent their remaining days. They had five children: Anna; Elizabeth, deceased; Henry; William; and Charles. The father belonged to the regular army in Ger- many. After coming to America he conducted a wagon manufacturing plant at Muscatine and was closely associated with the industrial development of the city. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Heinz have been born two sons: Carl B., who is now collector for the Iowa Telephone Company; and Henry F., who is employed in the office of the wholesale grocery house of J. M. Gobble & Company.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Heinz were reared in the Lutheran faith, and he belongs to the Odd Fellows and to the Modern Woodmen of America. He is also presi- dent of the Turners Society and is secretary of the Maennerchor, both of which societies he founded. He is likewise secretary of the German-American Press Association of the west and is a member of the National Geographic Society. These associations indicate much of the nature of his interests and the breadth of his thought. He is likewise a member of the executive board of twenty-one members from Iowa of the National Economic League. He keeps abreast with the best thinking men of the age in the discussion and investigation of political sociology and economic questions, and his opinions carry weight not only among the people of his own nationality but among others as well.
ADAM OGILVIE.
In the month of June, 1836, a westward bound sailing vessel had among its passengers Adam Ogilvie, then a young man in the early thirties. In July he landed at New York and soon afterward started for the Mississippi valley, arriv- ing in September at the little trading post then known as Bloomington, the pred- ecessor of the present flourishing city of Muscatine. With marked prescience he recognized the opportunities here owing to the advantageous geographical situation and resolved that he would locate. He was for many years the oldest general merchant in the city and no history of Muscatine would be complete with- out extended reference to him who was ever an honored and respected citizen here during the period of his residence in the county.
He was of Scotch birth and parentage. At the manse of Glengarrick, which figures in Scottish history, he was born in January, 1804. This farm, which is situated in the parish of Keith in Banffshire, Scotland, has been in possession of the family from remote generations and is still owned by one of the branches of the Scotch Ogilvies. He was the tenth son of William and Margaret ( Anderson) Ogilvie, and his early life was passed at the manse. When eighteen years of age he was apprenticed to a merchant, John Ingraham, in the city of Keith, serving a three years' term of indenture, and his ability was such that in course of time he was promoted to the position of head man in the establishment. Subsequently he engaged in the same line of business on his own account, being numbered among the merchants of Keith for eight years.
In the spring of 1836, however, he sold out and in the month of June, as pre- viously stated, sailed for the United States. He remained for only a brief period
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in New York city and then started with relatives for the "far west," as the Mis- sissippi valley was then considered. It was about the Ist of September when he reached Bloomington, a little trading post on the western frontier. He pur- chased several lots and decided to establish his home. Yet desiring to know something of this section of the country, he started on a trip that took him up the river as far as Dubuque, thence castward to Galesburg, Illinois, and from that point across the country to Burlington, Iowa, and on back to Bloomington. He traveled the entire journey on foot, much of the way in deep snow through an almost unsettled country. His sagacity was the source of his belief in the future and in 1837 he opened a general stock of goods in a little log cabin on Water street. This was the second mercantile house in Bloomington, if the old trading post is to be regarded as the first. The log cabin was soon supplanted by a sub- stantial two-story structure on the same street, the lower story of which he oc- cupied for business purposes, while the second story was used as a residence. Thirteen years later this building was removed to make way for a brick building of much greater pretentions. The timbers of the old wooden building were all fitted, squared and framed on the lot where the house stood. Joists, studding, rafters and weatherboarding were made from trees generally growing in close proximity to the lot, while the flooring, which was of oak, was brought from Drury's Mills in Illinois, and the pine lumber for sash, doors and finishing and all the shingles were brought from Cincinnati, Ohio, at considerable expense. In 1844, having purchased a tract of sixty acres adjoining the town, Mr. Ogilvie built an elegant and commodious residence, which in honor of the ancestral home of his native land he called the Manse of Glengarrick. There he spent the re- mainder of his days in the company of his wife and children and his home was ever the center of his universe.
Mr. Ogilvie was married in New York city, August 9, 1837, to Miss Isabella Milne, a daughter of Peter and Isabella Milne. Mrs. Ogilvie was born in Keith, Scotland, and after her mother's death in that country, she accompanied her father to America, the time of their arrival in the new world being in June, 1837. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Ogilvie were born four sons and one daughter. Charles Duff, the eldest, died in childhood. William Henry, who lived to mid- dle age, died unmarried on the 9th of March, 1878. Charles B., who was born in Muscatine, January 14, 1845, was graduated from Princeton College with the class of 1867. He later studied law in Columbia College of New York and was admitted to the bar in 1872. He was married in Muscatine, October 17, 1877, to Miss Lucy Jackson, a daughter of Alexander Jackson, a prominent pioneer of this city. Frank A., the next member of the family, passed away April 17, 1878. Isabella, the only daughter, and the second in order of birth, is the wife of Colonel C. C. Horton, who served in the Civil war as a member of the Second Iowa Cavalry and was later an officer of the pension department, making his home in Muscatine.
Mr. Ogilvie continued in active connection with merchandising up to the time of his death and for a long period was the oldest merchant in years of con- tinuous connection with the trade in Muscatine. His business increased with the growth of the city and he became one of the prosperous and substantial residents there. He also engaged during the later years of his life in the real-estate busi-
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ness but his success was mainly attributable to his operations in mercantile lines. He was an upright, honorable man in every relation of life, both public and pri- vate, was genial and affable in manner and was always ready to accomodate a neighbor or a friend to the extent of his ability. His substantial qualities there- fore won him the good-will and high regard of all with whom he came in contact. His death occurred on the 5th of February, 1865, when he was in the sixty-first year of his age and was sincerely mourned by the community in which he had so long occupied a prominent place as one of the most worthy of the early pioneers. His estimable wife survived him for many years.
His part as a factor in public life was such as contributed in large measure to the improvement and development of this section of the state. He was regarded as a most enterprising and progressive citizen and, moreover, he was a man of most charitable and kindly spirit, giving freely of his means to benevolent and religious work. He contributed most generously toward the erection of the Presbyterian church of this city, of which he was a devoted member. In the early settlement of Muscatine, section 35 of township 77 north, range 2 west, was granted to Muscatine county for public purposes and the county commis- sioners appointed Mr. Ogilvie their agent to receive payments and to deed to each one his particular lot. This delicate duty was performed with entire satisfaction to all concerned. No trust reposed in him was ever betrayed in the slightest de- gree. He deserves to be honored as one of the upbuilders of the community, his labors at all times proving an element in the substantial growth, progress and development in material, intellectual, social and moral lines.
COLONEL BENJAMIN BEACH.
Colonel Benjamin Beach, overseer of the poor at Muscatine, is a citizen whose position in the public regard is a most enviable one. He is an old settler and an old soldier, and in days of peace as in days of war he has ever been most loyal to the best interests of his country. Progress and patriotism might well be termed the keynote of his character.
His birth occurred in Hamilton, Butler county. Ohio, January 20, 1827, and in March, 1850, he came to Muscatine, where he has now made his home for more than sixty years. His father, John Beach, was a native of New Jersey, and after arriving at years of maturity he wedded Rosanna Wilson, a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She was born in 1800, and when four years of age went to Hamilton, Ohio, with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Wilson. Her father. who was a farmer by occupation and an early settler of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, died when about eighty-six years of age. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. John Beach was celebrated in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1820, and they became the parents of six children, two sons and four daughters: Mary, who married Orrin Line; Susan, the wife of Johnson McGehen; Wilson; Benjamin; Sarah Jane, the wife of John Hart; and Catharine, the wife of A. Chumley. . All are now deceased with the exception of Colonel Beach. The father was a blacksmith and for a long period followed that trade at Hamilton, Ohio, where he died in 1832,
BENJAMIN BEACH
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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when forty-one years of age. His wife passed away in 1877 at the age of sev- enty-seven years. They were Presbyterians in religious faith.
Colonel Beach lived in Hamilton, Ohio, until fifteen years of age and at- tended school there. He afterward went to Richmond, Indiana, to learn the tinner's trade, which he followed for many years. In 1846 he enlisted at Ham- ilton, Ohio, for service in the Mexican war, joining the company commanded by John B. Weller. He served for a year as a private, and again he responded to the country's call for aid on the 17th of April, 1861, when he enlisted as a Union soldier and was made first lieutenant of Company A of the First Iowa Infantry, with which he served for three months. He then organized a com- pany for the Eleventh Iowa and was made captain of Company H in October, 1861, acting as its commander for three years. Later he was promoted lieu- tenant colonel and took command of the regiment at Galesville, Alabama, in October, 1864. He had command of the regiment on Sherman's march to the sea and participated in all the Atlanta campaign. He took part in many hard fought battles of the war, never was known to flinch or falter in the face of danger, and when hostilities had ceased participated in the grand review at Washington, D. C. He had taken part in the battle of Monterey in the Mexican war, and in the Civil war was in the battles of Wilson's Creek, Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, and the Atlanta campaign.
After the war Colonel Beach returned to Muscatine and was in the hard- ware business with William McQuesten for a short time. He then turned his attention to the grocery business, in which he continued for about thirty years, being one of the most respected and worthy merchants of the city. He also acted as postmaster for eight years or until President Cleveland's election, when he resigned and turned his attention to the manufacture of tile. He filled the office of assessor for a number of years, and for the past twelve years has been overseer of the poor. In the discharge of his duties he has proven most com- petent and faithful, and his record is one which has won for him the high esteem of his fellow townsmen.
On the 29th of November, 1854, Colonel Beach was married to Miss Mary Stevenson, a daughter of George D. Stevenson, and they had one child, but the mother and child died at its birth in 1857. On the 3d of January, 1866, Colonel Beach wedded Miss Mary Josephine Mason, who was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, May 4, 1841, a daughter of George and Mary E. (Ewing) Mason, who were natives of the Keystone state and in 1852 came to Muscatine. They were prominent residents here and her father served as county judge. He died at the age of eighty years, and his wife also passed away at an advanced age. They were the parents of fifteen children. Unto Colonel and Mrs. Beach have been born three children: George, who died at the age of eighteen years; Fred, who is manager of the Hershey Lumber Company; and Benjamin Robertson. Fred married Emily Rankin and has two children, Glyde and George Burton. Benjamin R. Beach wedded Marie Rankin and has two children, George and Mary.
Colonel and Mrs. Beach are devoted members of the Presbyterian church. He was made a Mason in 1852 and is a member of De Molay Commandery No. I, K. T., and of nearly all the Masonic bodies of Muscatine is a charter
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member. He likewise belongs to Shelby Norman Post, G. A. R., and his po- litical support is given to the republican party. He is indeed Muscatine's "grand old man." Remarkably well preserved for one of his years, he believes in look- ing on the bright side of life and his optimism has been one of his salient char- acteristics. No man is held in higher esteem in this community than Colonel Beach.
HAROLD BEECHER STRONG.
Harold B. Strong was born in Wilton Junction, Iowa, where he now lives, December 27, 1880. His father, C. B. Strong, was a native of Otsego county, New York, and came to Iowa about 1860. He located at Wilton Junction and was identified with the grocery business for thirty-five years, a part of the time handling general merchandise. He became quite prominent in mercantile and financial circles and served for eleven years as president of the Union Bank, being instrumental in connection with Dr. A. B. Cooling and J. M. Rider in securing the establishment of the German-American College at Wilton Junction. He was a man of positive convictions and refused at all times to take any active part in politics. Fraternally he was identified with the Masonic order and was a member of the commandery at Muscatine and Kaaba Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Davenport, Iowa. Religiously he was connected with the Presbyterian church and for many years served as trustee in that denomination. He departed this life in 1897 and his remains were interred in Oakdale cemetery. The mother of our subject, Harriet ( Beecher) Strong, is a native of Hannibal, New York, and a relative of the famous Henry Ward Beecher. She is now living in Wilton Junction. There were three children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Strong : Etta L., now the wife of K. J. McCauley, a Presbyterian minister, of Fulton, Illinois ; Anna B., deceased; and Harold Beecher, our subject.
Reared under the parental roof, Harold B. Strong received his preliminary education in the public schools and then took a four years' course at St. John's Military Academy, at Delafield, Wisconsin, graduating in 1901. Desiring to pursue his studies further, he spent one year at the State University of Iowa and two years later entered the general merchandise business at Wilton Junction under the firm name of Strong & Potter. This firm owns a fine new building thirty by one hundred and ten feet in foundation area and carries a large and well selected stock which meets the demands of a wide region in Muscatine county.
In 1903 Mr. Strong was united in marriage to Miss Mabelle Eversol of St. Louis, and one child, Virginia Louise, born February 8, 1910, has blessed this union. Mr. Strong is an active member of the Masonic order, serving as master of the blue lodge at Wilton Junction in 1909-1910. He is identified with the chapter and commandery at Muscatine and the consistory and shrine at Daven- port, Iowa, and he and his wife are both members of the Eastern Star at Wilton Junction. For three years he was the youngest Scottish Rite Mason in this part of the state. He is a stanch believer in the Christian religion and served as
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chairman of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian church for three years. A man of fine social qualities and pleasing manner, Mr. Strong has many friends in the county with whose interests he has been intimately connected since his earliest recollection, and he justly ranks as one of the representative citizens of the county.
WILLIAM R. SCHMITT.
One of the most successful of the younger representatives of business in- terests of Nichols is William R. Schmitt, a member of the firm of Schmitt Broth- ers, dealers in agricultural implements. In the various duties of life, both public and private, he has aimed at high ideals and has seldom attempted anything that he has not accomplished. He was born in Nichols March 15. 1878, and is a son of Adam and Margaret (Hartman) Schmitt, a record of whom appears in the sketch of Frederick H. Schmitt, brother of our subject, elsewhere in this work.
The early years of William R. Schmitt were spent upon a farm, and there he received a training which has been of great value to him as years have passed. He attended the public schools of Nichols and then became a student of the Muscatine Normal School, later matriculating in the Valparaiso (Ind.) Univer- sity, from which he was graduated in 1900, having pursued a teacher's and busi- ness course. He received an excellent education and after leaving school taught for five years, acquiring a reputation which indicated thorough mental training and unusual ability in school management. However, he was attracted to mer- cantile life and entered the implement business at Nichols with his brother, in which he has ever since continued. They lost everything in a fire about 1906, the entire establishment being swept away, but they are not men to be easily discouraged, and the store was rebuilt, their patronage being much more ex- tensive now than ever before. In the last two years W. R. Schmitt has also been connected with the real-estate business, buying, selling and listing property for sale. He owns a one-third interest in a section of land in Pike township with F. B. Mapes and G. C. Lindee, and also owns his home and considerable real estate in Nichols.
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