USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. II > Part 16
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Mr. Wilson is much interested in fraternal organizations and is prominent as a member of many of these orders. He belongs to Washington lodge, No. 21, A. F. & A. M., of Blair, Nebraska; Park City lodge, No. 606, I. O. O. F .; Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America, and to the Eastern Star, all of Council Bluffs. In his political affiliations he is a republican and form- erly was actively interested in his party but of late years has preferred to de- vote his time to other interests. He has always been strict in his business methods, meeting every appointment to the very letter. As is often the case with business men of this type they are the most easily moved by distress or suffering and Mr. Wilson is ever quick to relieve any suffering where it lays in his power to do so. His aid, however, is quietly and unostentatiously given. He does not wish the commendation of his fellowmen in his acts of charity. Public-spirited and enterprising, he has always taken a deep interest in every- thing pertaining to the public good.
MARION PALMER.
Marion Palmer has for almost a third of a century lived upon his present farm of two hundred acres comprising the southwest corner of the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 36, Valley township. He took up his abode here April 8, 1876, and his time and energies have since been de- voted to the cultivation of the crops, his labors resulting in making this one of the good farms of the locality.
Mr. Palmer is a native of Mercer county, Illinois, his birth having oc- curred there on the 5th of April, 1851. His parents were Minor T. and Caro- line Palmer, who in the fall of 1853 brought their family to Iowa, settling at Council Bluffs. About a year and a half later, in the spring of 1855, they re- moved to Big Grove, now Oakand.
Mr. Palmer of this review was therefore reared in this county and the story of pioneer life here is familiar to him as in his boyhood days he shared with the family in the hardships and privations incident to the settlement of the frontier. He spent the winter months in the acquirement of an education in the public schools and the summer seasons were devoted to farm labor upon the old homestead, for he lived with his parents until he attained his majority. He then married and established a home of his own.
On Christmas day of 1874 he was joined in wedlock to Miss Susanna Davis and unto them were born two children, who both died in infancy, while the wife and mother passed away on the 26th of April, 1882. On the 22d of
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March, 1883, Mr. Palmer was again married, his second union being with Miss Lizzie J. Scott, and unto them have been born seven children: Myrtle A., born February 9, 1884; Gertrude M., May 6, 1885; Earnest, May 11, 1887; Lorin, January 14, 1890; Iva, September 6, 1892; Calla L., August 10, 1895; and Marion A .. September 26, 1898. The family circle still remains unbroken by the hand of death and all of the children are yet at home, with the exception of the two eldest daughters, who are married and live in this neighborhood, Myrtle A., being now the wife of F. E. Putnam, while Gertrude M. is the wife of Roscoe Conklin.
Throughout his entire life Mr. Palmer has been connected with agricul- tural interests. He located on his present farm on the Sth of April, 1876, and the tract of two hundred acres is now under a high state of cultivation, re- sponding readily to the care and labor which he bestows upon the fields. In addition to this property he owns other land, including the northwest quarter of section 1, Center township, and the west half of the northwest quarter of section 6, Wright township. As he has found opportunity he has added to his original holdings until he now owns good farm property. well developed and returning to him a very gratifying income. He has worked diligently and per- sistently, accomplishing what he has undertaken by his determined purpose and laudable ambition.
JOHN OLSON.
John Olson, a well known grocery merchant and alderman at large of Council Bluffs, is a native of Denmark, where he was born on July 10, 1855. He received his educational advantages in that country and was there reared to manhood. At the age of twenty he was eager to try his fortune in the new world and he accordingly set sail, deciding to go directly to Council Bluffs. He was obliged to borrow the money for this trip and when he landed in Council Bluffs was not only empty-handed but in debt. The spirit of self- help has been the source of all genuine worth in this man and has been the means of bringing to him success when he had no advantages of wealth or in- fluence to aid him. With indomitable determination he set out to find work. He was first employed by General G. M. Dodge, who set him to picking cherries for a dollar and a quarter a day. He subsequently was a wiper in the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy roundhouse for a year.
His parents had not been able to give him many advantages but they had instilled into his mind lessons of industry, frugality and perseverance, so that he was well drilled in these lines, as is cvidenced by the fact that in these menial employments he was able to save four hundred dollars. With buoyant spirit and great hope, he and his brother purchased a restaurant but they knew little or nothing about the business and three months later Mr. Olson had no capital and no work. He was obliged to return to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy as wiper but he determined to go higher than this in the employ of the road. It was not long until he was made fireman and later engineer. In
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1888 he became convinced that the happiest life would come to him when he could be more at home and he accordingly left the employ of the railroad, which he had served so long and so efficiently, and started a small grocery-a business in which he has ever since been engaged.
Mr. Olson was married in Council Bluffs, in 1884, to Hannah Skakson, a daughter of James Skakson. Their union has been blessed with six children : Ella M., Amos C., Louis A., Clara, Ethel K. and Esther, the last two being twins. Mrs. Olson passed away on February 7, 1907, and was mourned by a most devoted husband and children, as well as by a large circle of friends, who admired her for her sterling qualities as wife, mother and friend.
Mr. Olson has been a republican since attaining his majority and has served for three terms as alderman, being the first man who has succeeded himself three times. He is a popular member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Tribe of Ben Hur, the Danish Brotherhood and the Dannebo Society. In his religious views he is a member of the Baptist church, which he has always been willing to support most generously. Success is not measured by the heights which one may chance to attain but by the distance between the starting point and the altitude he has reached. Therefore Mr. Olson has gained a great success-the just reward of meritorious, honorable effort, which com- mands the respect and admiration of all.
REV. MARCUS PARRETT MCCLURE.
Rev. Marcus Parrett MeClure, who since November, 1905, has been pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Council Bluffs, was born near Northfield, Louisa county, Iowa, April 9, 1872. His father, Isaac Newton McClure, is a native of the same place, his natal day being February 1, 1844. He acquired his education in the country schools and also attended Howe's Academy at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. He spent the earlier years of his life on a farm, being subsequently engaged in the mercantile business at Mediapolis, Iowa, for about thirty-three years or until 1907, when he retired from that line of activity. He was then engaged as field representative for the Presbyterian Ministerial Sus- tentation Fund and now makes his home at Waterloo, Iowa. On the 28th of December, 1870, at Lyndon, Ohio, Mr. McClure was joined in wedlock to Miss Elizabeth Susan Parrett. She was born at Lyndon, Ohio, July 30, 1844, and supplemented the education which she there received by a course at the academy at South Salem, Ohio.
Rev. Mareus Parrett McClure acquired his preliminary education in the village schools of his native state and afterward attended Parsons College at Fairfield, Iowa, from which he was graduated in the class of 1893. In 1894 he had a fellowship in Galludet College at Washington, D. C., and was then engaged as a private tutor in Bristol, Vermont, for the year of 1895. In the fall of the same year he entered McCormick Theological Seminary at Chicago, completing the course at that institution in 1898. He was then made pastor of the First Presbyterian church at Kilbourn, Wisconsin, remaining there for
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two years. On the expiration of that period he became pastor of Grace Pres- byterian church at Milwaukee, where he labored for three years, and for a similar period he was pastor of the Frame Memorial church at Stevens Point, Wisconsin. In November, 1905, he came to Council Bluffs to assume the pas- torate of the First Presbyterian church, located at the corner of South Seventh street and Willow avenue, the edifice being one of the largest in the city. There is a membership of over five hundred and Rev. McClure holds regular services twice each Sunday and prayer meeting every Wednesday evening. He is well liked by his parishioners, and is popular with people in general, in- cluding those of other religious denominations, for it is recognized that his . labors are a strong element in the moral development of this part of the state and that he has done not a little to uplift humanity by pointing the way to a higher and holier way of living than the mere striving for ereature comforts and worldly goods.
On the 1st of September, 1897, at West Union, Iowa, Rev. MeClure was united in marriage to Miss Stella E. Fuller, a daughter of Hon. William E. Fuller, who served for five years as member of congress from the fourth Iowa district. He was appointed United States assistant attorney general to repre- sent the government in the Spanish-American treaty elaims. He married Miss Lourisa J. Harper and makes his home at West Union, Iowa. Unto our sub- ject and his wife were born two children : Donald Fuller McClure, whose birth occurred June 26, 1898; and Kathryn McClure, born April 15, 1900.
In his political affiliations Rev. McClure is a republican and fraternally is connected with the Masons. He lives at No. 40 Bluff street, and on week days he may be found at his study at the church after nine o'clock in the morning. In every relation of life he has commanded the confidence and respect of his fellowmen and, honorable and upright at all times, has enjoyed to the fullest extent their confidence and regard. As a minister of the gospel his influence for good is immeasurable and his labors are widely recognized as an important. factor in the moral and religious development of the county.
CALVIN HAFER.
Calvin Hafer, a successful and enterprising lumber merchant of Council Bluffs, is a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where he was born Oc- tober 28, 1858. He spent his early years acquiring an education in the common schools and assisting his father in the work upon the home farm. When he had reached his twenty-first year he decided it was time for him to start out for himself and he accordingly came to Council Bluffs, where he se- cured employment in the lumberyard of Lewis Hammer, where he remained for fourteen years. He was an example of a determined, self-reliant boy, will- ing to work for advantages which other boys secured through inheritance, and he was destined by sheer force of character to suceed in the face of any opposi- tion. During the last three years of his connection with this company he was a partner, the firm being known as the Lewis Hammer Lumber Company, Mr.
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Hafer being the company. While he appreciated the kindness of this firm and their recognition of his merit, he felt anxious to conduct a business alone and in 1897 opened a lumberyard for himself. In March, 1907, the business was incorporated as the C. Hafer Lumber Company, the subject of our sketch being the president and general manager; Wiley W. Hafer, vice president; Paul I. Van Order, secretary; and Clarence H. Hafer, treasurer. The business has met with an unusual degree of success and has grown so rapidly that the gentlemen who have been most influential in its progress can scarcely believe that it is the same business in which they started. At its head is a man whose managerial ability enables him to control its interests with a steady, guiding hand that insures prosperity to the undertaking. Though the above mentioned business forms one of the most important and extensive of Mr. Hafer's inter- ests, he is also president of the Iowa Lumber & Box Company at Medford, Ore- gon, of which his son, Edgar, is general manager and Clarence assistant gen- eral manager. Mr. Hafer is also a director in the Western Mutual Life Insur- ance Company of Council Bluffs.
In 1879 occurred the marriage of Mr. Hafer and Alice Hambright, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Cyrus Hambright and by her marriage has become the mother of four children: Edgar S., Clarence H., Wiley W. and Stella Maud.
Mr. Hafer is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and re- ligiously affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal church. His political support has always been given the republican party and though he has never sought for its offices or honors he has been ready to assist those who have. His busi- ness has occupied so large a part of his time that he has not been able to devote his energies to politics. He is modest and unassuming and indisposed to at- tract attention, either to his success in business or to his efforts in aiding the growth of Council Bluffs. From him few would learn how much he has done in his life but his most intimate friends attribute to him unlimited energy, equal to grasping and mastering anything which may present itself. He landed in Council Bluffs with only thirty-five cents in his pockets, and without acquaintances or friends and through his own unaided efforts he has acquired a competence and an honored place in business circles.
FRANK SHINN.
It is imperative that mention be made of Frank Shinn in the annals of Pottawattamie county. That he is one of the most popular among the old settlers is indicated by the fact that he was elected the first president of the Old Settlers' Association, organized by the pioneer residents of Pottawat- tamie, Mills and Fremont counties. He now resides at Carson and is accounted one of its most prosperous citizens, who deserves, moreover, great credit for what he has accomplished, inasmuch as he started out in life empty-handed. He was born at Jackson, now Peebles, Adams county, Ohio, October 28, 1843, and is a representative of an old American family. In the year 1735 John
Frank Shinn
TR NDW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
TILDEN FOUNDATION.
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Shinn, a Quaker, came from England to the new world, settling at Burling- ton, New Jersey, where he founded the family in America. One of his five sons was James Shinn, the father of Francis Shinn, and the two succeeding generations in the line of direct descent to our subject were represented by George Shinn, first and second. The last mentioned was the grandfather of our subject and the father of Allen T. Shinn, whose son, Frank Shinn, is the immediate subject of this review.
Allen T. Shinn was born in Hillsboro, Highland county, Ohio, Janu- ary 14, 1812, and learned the trade of a saddler and harness-maker, which he followed in early life. In 1849 he joined the Ohio conference of the Methodist Episcopal church and afterward engaged in preaching the gospel in Ohio, Kentucky and Iowa, being a member of the upper Iowa conference at the time of his death, which occurred November 6, 1898. Before the first legislature that convened in Des Moines in 1858, when prohibition and state banks were the principal issues, he offered the opening prayer, saying: "Great God; bless the young and growing state of Iowa; bless her senators, repre- sentatives and chief officers ; give us a sound currency, pure water and undefiled religion, for Christ's sake. Amen." This prayer was widely commented upon by the newspapers of New York and the press in other sections of the coun- try. It was characteristic of the man, who always expressed himself clearly and forcibly upon every subject which he felt to be a momentous one. In 1832 Rev. Shinn was married to Malinda Fenton, who was born in Adams county, Ohio, July 9, 1812, and when six weeks old was taken by her par- ents to Kentucky, where she was reared. She was a daughter of John and Sarah (Field) Fenton, natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia respectively. Her last days were passed in Carson, Iowa, where she departed this life on the 26th of December, 1885. In their family were nine children, of whom five are now living, while Elizabeth, Asa, John and Benjamin L. have passed away. Those who still survive are: Frank; George, a resident of South Dakota, who for some years was a minister of the Methodist church but is now retired upon a farm; Andrew, a retired farmer living at Sioux City. Iowa; Fermon, a minister of Mound City, Missouri; and Findley, a farmer of Woodbine, Iowa.
Frank Shinn, a representative of the seventh generation of the family in America, spent the first nine years of his life in the place of his nativity and then removed with his parents to Quincy, Lewis county, Kentucky. He afterward lived in Claysville, Harrison county, Kentucky, and in Newport, Campbell county, Kentucky, until October, 1856, when he became a resident of Marshalltown, Iowa. The 4th of March, 1858, witnessed his arrival in Macedonia, and for almost a half century he has resided in Pottawattamie county. He had attended school until his removal to this county. On the 6th of November, 1858, only a few months after the removal to western Iowa, the father died and in February, 1859, the eldest brother of our sub- ject urged the mother to return to Ohio but this she refused to do, saying she could not leave her sons a richer heritage than a home in this country, believing this the best place for poor people to live. Her son then returned to the Buckeye state, leaving Frank Shinn as the eldest member of the
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family in Iowa, there being four younger brothers. Upon the father's death the possessions of the family consisted of a team of horses, two cows, one hog and two hundred bushels of corn, together with the household goods and a few chickens, but there was also an indebtedness of seventy dollars. Frank Shinn resolutely took up the work which devolved upon him as the eldest member of the family in Iowa. In the spring of 1860 his older brother returned home and remained for three weeks, after which he went to Omaha, where he lived with his uncle, the Rev. Moses F. Shinn, until the spring of 1861. He then volunteered for service in the Civil war, becoming a member of Company A of the First Nebraska Infantry, and on the 10th of July with his regiment went down the Missouri river, remaining with the command until the 16th of November, 1861, when he died of typhoid fever and was buried in an unknown grave in Missouri.
Frank Shinn remained at home, cultivating rented land until the fall of 1864, when as the result of his industry and the frugality of the family, they were enabled to purchase a farm of sixty acres in Mills county. The property was in the mother's name and Mr. Shinn performed the active work of the fields, while the mother managed the business affairs, he following her suggestions in all things. He proved to her a dutiful, loyal and loving son, remaining with her until twenty-five years of age. In 1867 it would have been possible for Mrs. Shinn to have sold the property they had accumulated for thirty-five hundred dollars, which was a considerable sum of money at that time. Land was worth only five dollars per acre, but they had accumu- lated much stock and valuable personal property. Mrs. Shinn possessed not only excellent business ability and executive power but was widely recognized, moreover, as a lady of strong intellectual force. She was always a great reader, making a specialty of history, and on that subject was particularly well informed.
It had been the father's desire that Frank Shinn should become a law- yer but the opportunities of his youth were limited and fate seemed to will otherwise. He had attended the public schools of Kentucky up to the time he was fifteen years of age, when the family removed to western Iowa. There were no organized school districts in the county at that time but in the spring of 1858 the Macedonia district was established and Mr. Shinn attended the first school for four months and eighteen days, which was the length of the school year. Thus was ended his education at the age of fifteen, save that since that time he has constantly broadened his knowledge by reading, expe- rience and observation. He has possessed an observing eye and retentive memory and through his own efforts became a well informed man. When in school he studied McGuffney's reader, in which he took great pride, and also received instructions in geography, history and grammar. The father had a library of five hundred volumes, which, however, were largely upon theological works. Frank Shinn, however, read as opportunity offered and thus continually developed a naturally strong intellect. In February, 1864, he tried his first case to help a neighbor out of trouble, the neighbor insisting that he act as attorney in recovering attached property. He succeeded admir- ably after being shown the law by Squire Thomas Connor, of Grove town-
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ship, and his desire to attain a broader knowledge of legal principles was met with in a degree when Henry C. Watkins, of Glenwood, loaned him a copy of Blackstone. He then began trying cases in the justice courts and in this way secured quite a clientage. In the meantime he read law books as opportunity offered and eagerly availed himself of every chance to augment his legal knowledge, and on the 16th of April, 1877, he was admitted to the bar. "In the meantime he had been winning considerable success at his farm work and because of this he hesitated about taking up the law, which was to him an untried field. However, upon his admission he put aside active agricultural pursuits in order to devote his entire attention to law practice, opening an office in Emerson, where he remained for six years. In 1883 he removed to Carson, where he has since resided, being here actively engaged in the practice of law for almost a quarter of a century. Trial work is his strong forte and he has tried cases in all of the courts. Much important litigation has been entrusted to him and he has had a very large clientage, his legal interests and other business winning for him a goodly share of success, so that he is now one of the men of affluence in Pottawattamie county, if not one of the men of wealth.
Widely known because of his activity in the field of politics, Mr. Shinn gave stanch support to the democracy until 1881, since which time he has been a loyal republican, and during the past twenty-four years he has been active in campaign work. In 1887 he was prevailed upon to accept the nomination on the republican ticket for state senator at a time when the district was largely democratic, and although he was defeated, he ran far ahead of his ticket. He wrote the bill that first brought forward the enjoining of saloons for the legislature of 1884, known as house bill No. 481. This bill was taken before the supreme court of the United States and was held to be constitutional. In his political work his mind has been free from the bias of animosity. Strong and positive in his republicanism, his party fealty is not grounded on partisan prejudice and he enjoys the respect and confidence of all his associates irrespective of party. Of the great issues which divide the two parties, with their roots extending down to the very bedrock of the foundation of the republic, he has the true statesman's grasp. Well grounded in the political maxims of the schools, he has also studied the les- sons of actual life, arriving at his conclusions as a result of what may be called his post-graduate studies in the school of affairs. Such men, whether in office or out of it, are the natural leaders of which ever party they may be identified with, especially in that movement toward higher politics which is common to both parties and which constitutes the most hopeful political sign of the period.
On January 25, 1869, Mr. Shinn was married to Miss Almira Schenck, a daughter of James and Almira (Fisher) Schenck, the father a farmer of Macedonia township. Mrs. Shinn was born near Rockville, Parke county, Indiana, and was married in Council Bluffs. The children of this marriage are: Addie, who was born October 28, 1869, and died at the age of thirteen years ; Linnie, the wife of Ira Stitt, who is an attorney in the office with her father; James A., who died October 28, 1882, at the age of ten
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