USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. II > Part 21
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In 1895 Mr. Rock was united in marriage to Miss Bertha W. Plantz, who was born in Indiana on the 1st of March, 1876, a daughter of Christian and Lomenia Plantz, both of whom were natives of Germany. They came to America in an early day, first locating in Illinois and later removing to Indiana, whence they came to Pottawattamie county, Iowa. Mr. Plantz de- parted this life in 1896, but his wife still survives him and now makes her home in Avoca, Towa. Mr. and Mrs. Rock are the parents of six children, as follows: Ella T., Alma W., Arnold F., Lola Louisa, Leonard J. and Herbert V.
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In his political views Mr. Rock is a democrat who is active in the local ranks of his party, having served as township trustee, school director and constable, while at the present time he is secretary of the school board. Both he and his wife are members of the Lutheran church at Avoca, lowa, and are well and favorably known throughout the community. Germany has furnished to the United States many bright, enterprising young men who have left the fatherland to enter the business circles of this country with its more progressive methods, livelier competition and advancement more quickly secured. The hope that led Henry Rock to leave his native land and seek a home in America has been more than realized, for here, with the aid of his estimable wife, he has gained the prosperity which he sought and which now numbers him among the representative and successful agri- culturists of Pottawattamie county.
HARRISON D. HARLE.
Harrison D. Ilarle, the general manager and treasurer of the Harle- Haas Drug Company of Council Bluffs, was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, in 1843. His father was Harrison D. Harle, a native of Virginia, where he was born in 1814. He passed away in 1857 in Council Bluffs, where he had been in the livery and grocery business for many years.
Mr. Harle of this review was educated in the common schools of his native town and in 1854 came with his parents to Council Bluffs, where he supplemented his early education by a course in the common schools of that city. His father died when he was but fourteen and the family felt that they could do better on a farm and accordingly took land in Pottawattamie county. It fell to the lot of the son Harrison to conduct this farm and to bring it to a point where it would yield crops which would insure a living for the widow and children left to his care. He worked faithfully for this until he had attained the age of twenty-three.
At the outbreak of the Civil war his patriotism was so aroused that he enlisted but was not allowed to serve, as his mother was a widow and he was her sole support. Feeling that he had brought the farm to a point where it could be easily taken care of, he came to Council Bluffs and entered the drug store of X. W. Kynett to learn the business. For ten years he was with this firm. acquiring an intimate knowledge of every detail and proving a valuable employe. For several years he was on the road selling proprietary medicines for the firm. His lack of an early education seemed to hamper him on all sides and he felt that before he could attain much more in busi- ness life he must acquire more of the advantages of education. For this purpose he went to St. Joseph and entered a business college, where he learned bookkeeping.
Upon his return to. Council Bluffs Mr. Harle had charge of the count- ing room of the Nonpareil and later kept books for a dry-goods firm. With the mastery of the druggist's business and with the business education he
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had acquired, he felt that he was now ready to forge ahead in the business world. Accordingly, in partnership with Dr. A. B. McKune, he bought a drug store, carrying on business under the firm style of Harle & McKune until 1883. At that time Samuel Haas bought Dr. McKune's interest and the firm became known as Harle, Haas & Company. The business had grown to such enormous proportions that they entered exclusively into the wholesale trade and in 1899 the present company was organized, with Mr. Harle as treasurer and general manager.
In 1872, Mr. Harle was united in wedlock, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Josephine Wood, a daughter of Amasa Wood. Their union has been blessed with one daughter, Cora Ethel Harle. Lacking early educational advantages, Mr. Harle has always felt eager to do all in his power to build up the oppor- tunities for the education of the young people today and served efficiently as treasurer of the school board. He is not actively interested in politics, preferring to devote his time to the interests of his business and the com- panionship of his family. He is a member of the Elks lodge and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having held all the chairs in the subor- dinate lodge and encampment. As a representative business man he is in- terested in the Commercial Club, of which he is an active member. In the prosecution of his business there has been manifest one of the most sterling traits of his character-his desire to carry forward to the highest perfection attainable anything that he undertakes. He is the man who has built up the firm of which he is the senior member and under his wise management the business has grown steadily from year to year. In his business affairs he is energetic, prompt and notably reliable. Tireless energy, keen percep- tion, honesty of purpose, a genius for devising and executing the right thing at the right time, joined to every-day common sense, guided by resistless will power, are the chief characteristics of the man.
EDGAR H. MERRIAM.
Edgar H. Merriam is one of the representative business men of Council Bluffs and the president of the Commercial Club of that city. He is today the vice president and treasurer of David Bradley & Company, wholesale dealers in agricultural implements, and is also identified with other busi- ness enterprises which have had important bearing upon the development and prosperity of the city.
Mr. Merriam was born in West Meriden, Connecticut, on the 15th of August, 1849, a son of Lauren T. and Susan J. (Hubbard) Merriam, also natives of that state, and he was a lad of ten years when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Chicago, where he attended the common and high schools. Laying aside his text-books at the age of sixteen years, he commenced clerking and was thus employed in Chicago for one year. He then went to Galesburg, Illinois, where he attended a commercial college and after his graduation became a bookkeeper in that city, remaining there for
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two years. During the following year he engaged in clerking at Black- berry, Illinois, and on leaving there went to Savannah, Illinois, where he was employed in the hotel conducted by his father, Lauren T. Merriam, for about two years, at the end of which time he returned to Chicago. After clerking in a grocery store in that city for a year, he went to Decatur, Illi- nois, and accepted a position as clerk in a hotel. Subsequently he obtained work in an implement house and during his five years' connection with that firm he became thoroughly familiar with the business. He next went upon the road for the Fürst & Bradley Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of agricultural implements, who were succeeded by David Bradley Manu- facturing Company. In 1882 he came to Council Bluffs as secretary of David Bradley & Company and served in that capacity until 1902, when the company was re-incorporated, Mr. Merriam becoming secretary and treas- urer. In 1906 he was made vice president and treasurer and still holds those offices. This is one of the leading industrial concerns of the city, doing an extensive business in various kinds of farm machinery, wagons, buggies and carriages, wind mills, pumps, tanks, pipe, gasoline engines, steam en- gines, threshers, power corn shellers, shredders, supplies and machine repairs. They are a branch house of the David Bradley Manufacturing Company, which has a large manufacturing plant at Bradley, Illinois, fifty-four miles south of Chicago. For many years business was carried on in Chicago, hav- ing a plant in the very heart of the city, but needing more space it was re- moved about ten years ago to Bradley. Their warehouse in Council Bluffs is seventy-five by one hundred and fifty feet in dimensions and four stories in height and large shipments are made from this point each year.
Mr. Merriam has not confined his attention alone to this business but has become interested in other enterprises, being a director and vice presi- dent of the Independent Telephone Company of Council Bluffs. His stand- ing in business circles is plainly indicated by his election to the presidency of the Commercial Club of this city in March, 1907. Although he started out in life with no capital, he has made good use of his opportunities and has steadily prospered. He has conducted all business matters carefully and successfully and in all his acts has displayed an aptitude for successful management. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, while religiously he is connected with St. Paul's Episcopal church and is a member of its vestry.
THOMAS J. SHUGART.
Thomas J. Shugart, president of the Shugart-Ouren Seed Company, of Council Bluffs, has made steady progress in his business life until he has long since become one of the successful, capable and enterprising merchants of his adopted city. He was born in Bureau county, Illinois, on the 23d of May, 1855, and there resided until twenty-three years of age with the exception of four years spent in Iowa City, Iowa. His early education was
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acquired in the district schools of his native county and to some extent he attended school in Princeton, Illinois, remaining a resident of his native state until November, 1888.
He then came to Council Bluffs, where he engaged in the hardware business with his uncle, E. L. Shugart, so continuing for three years, when he sold out and engaged in seed business. In the latter line he has since remained and in November, 1905, the business was incorporated under the present name. A large trade has been worked up and the company now receive a very liberal patronage, making the volume of business transacted over its counters one of the important commercial enterprises of the city. Mr. Shugart has ever wrought along modern business lines. His labors have been effective and resultant and today he is enjoying the fruits of his former toil as one of the prosperous citizens of Council Bluffs.
In September, 1880, in Iowa City, Iowa, Mr. Shugart was united in marriage to Miss Anne B. Rice, a daughter of J. H. Rice, and they have three children: Rice Shugart, Mary Edith and Mildred. Mr. Shugart is a republican in politics and is now serving the third term as a member of the school board. The cause of education finds in him a warm friend and he is active in his efforts toward improving the public school system of the city. In his fraternal relations he is connected with the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he attends the Christian church, of which Mrs. Shugart is a member. These relations indicate much of the character of the man and the rules which govern his conduct and mold his life. He ever has due regard for the rights of others and in his business life has followed closely those prin- ciples which ever awaken respect and confidence.
MARY E. ALLEE.
Mrs. Mary E. Allee, living in Walnut, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, on the 22d of July, 1848, her parents being W. R. and Edith (Griffith) Belmont, who were likewise natives of the Buckeye state. Their family num- bered twelve children, of whom Mrs. Allee is the eldest, and the others still living are: Alderman, Almon and Edgar, who are residents of Hancock, Iowa; John, whose home is in Walnut, Iowa, and Leahann, the wife of H. V. Van Beck, of Hancock, Iowa, and Worthington, of Clarks, Nebraska. Five of the family are now deceased. The father died in the year 1893, but the mother still survives at the age of eighty years and is yet living in Hancock, Iowa.
Mrs. Allee spent her girlhood days under the parental roof and was trained in the labors of the household, so that she was well qualified to take charge of a home of her own at the time of her first marriage. In 1868 she became the wife of Benjamin Huxford, who died on the 2d of February, 1873. She was again married on the 5th of September, 1877, when she became the wife of Francis M. Allee, who was a native of Parke county, Indiana, born
Mary & alleE
Y. M. aller
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS.
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June 25, 1844. He enlisted for service in the Civil war as a member of the Ninth Indiana Battery and served throughout the period of hostilities, par- ticipating in the engagement at Shiloh and in several other battles and skir- mishes. He was on the steamer Eclipse when it exploded and was thrown out in the river, sustaining a slight injury in the shoulder, but he never re- ceived a gunshot wound while in the service, although he remained at the front until the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged at In- dianapolis, Indiana, in 1865.
When hostilities had ceased and the country no longer needed his aid, Mr. Allee returned home and resumed farming, which he followed continuously until 1902, when he retired to private life. He came to Pottawattamie county in 1880 and bought a farm in Lincoln township, which he at once began to cultivate. As the years passed he continued its further development and improvement, transforming it into a fine property, from which he an- nually gathered good harvests as a reward for the care and labor he bestowed on the fields. He continued actively in the work of the farm until 1902, when, having acquired a handsome competence, he put aside further busi- ness cares and took up his abode in the village of Walnut, where his remain- ing days were passed. His rest was well merited, as it came to him in reward for his untiring labor and diligence in former years. He still retained the ownership of his farm, however, having one hundred and sixty acres in Lin- coln township, from which he derived a good income, and which remained his property up to the time of his demise.
In his political views Mr. Allee was a stalwart democrat and kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He held several local town- ship offices, the duties of which he discharged with the same fidelity and stal- wart purpose that characterized him in his army life when he followed the old flag upon the battle-fields of the south. Fraternally he was connected with the Masons and with the Odd Fellows, being a charter member of the lodges of those organizations in Walnut. He was also a member of John A. Dix Post, No. 408, G. A. R., and his widow is a member of the Eastern Star and Daughters of Rebekah at Walnut. Both attended and supported the Methodist Episcopal church and in the community were held in high esteem. The death of Mr. Allee, which occurred February 17, 1906, therefore was the occasion of deep and widespread regret. His widow still resides in Walnut, where she is much esteemed, her good qualities of heart and mind having gained for her a large circle of warm friends.
W. G. TITTSWORTH.
There are few men of W. G. Tittsworth's years who can boast of hav- ing served their country in the Civil war, and indeed there are few who can relate so many thrilling incidents and events as a matter of personal experience. The life of Mr. Tittsworth has indeed been varied and fietion furnishes no stranger tales than some of the chapters in his life record. He
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was born in Franklin county, Arkansas, on the 10th of September, 1847, his parents being David and Elvina Tittsworth, who were natives of Ten- nessee, and at an early day removed to Arkansas, where the father died, the mother afterward going to Missouri, where her last days were passed, the family settling on a farm in Taney county. There were six children: A. D., William D., William G., Mary, Nareissa and Annie. After losing her first husband, Mrs. Tittsworth was married in Taney county to James Clev- enger, a farmer, and W. G. Tittsworth of this review not being satisfied at home, went to live with his maternal grandmother, who resided on a farm in Taney county. He was but five years of age at the time of the removal of the family to Missouri, and owing to his father's early death he had no educational privileges but through reading, observation and investigation he has continually broadened his knowledge, being long recognized as a well informed man.
The year 1859 witnessed his removal from Missouri to Iowa, where he was employed at herding cattle by I. C. Cooper, of Des Moines. Returning to Missouri, he was there at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war. The condition of affairs which existed in the border state is too well known as a matter of history to need recounting here. It was a time when party feel- ing ran very high and long time friends and even families were separated and became enemies because of opposing views in regard to the questions at stake. Missouri became principally the scene of the operations of the guerrillas, who, under the guise of loyalty to the south carried out their real object of murder and plunder. These bands were composed of many of the most desperate men of the state. On one occasion they visited the home of Mr. Tittsworth's mother, searching for arms and plunder. The second eldest son, William D. Tittsworth, then a youth of fifteen, was at the home of a neighbor four and a half miles away. The raiders found him, and being aware that his step-father had voted for Missouri to remain in the Union and that the family entertained Union sentiment, remorselessly shot him down. Wounded, he managed to escape to the bushes and at length reached a vacant log cabin in the woods where he was cared for by sympa- thizing neighbors. Scenes of bloodshed and cruelty were everywhere prev- alent and it was with such that William G. Tittsworth became familiar at a time when most boys are acquiring an education. Seizing a rifle and mounting a horse which his mother gave him, he joined the Home Guards, May 2, 1861, and served under Captain Jesse Gallaway, who was shot down at the threshold of his own door, with his child in his arms, by a relentless guerrilla who fired upon him from the dark. The Home Guards fought a skirmish with bushwhackers at Forsyth, Missouri, and later General Sweeney came upon the scene with a regiment from Kansas and two pieces of artil- lery and attacked the bushwhackers at Forsyth, dispersing them. Mr. Tittsworth was present at both engagements. Later he returned to Des Moines, Iowa, and subsequently went to St. Louis, Missouri. He desired to enlist again for service in the Civil war but was rejected on account of his youth. He then joined Company B, Eighteenth Missouri Infantry and served without muster or pay until later on near Atlanta, Georgia, where
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he was mustered and remained with the regiment until 1865, when he was mustered out at St. Louis. He was with the army of the Tennessee when it participated in the battles of Atlanta, Resaca, Dallas, Snake Creek Gap and many others, and was with Sherman on the famous march to hte sea. He also went with the army as it proceeded northward through the Carolinas, on to Washington and was present at the grand review.
When the war was ended Mr. Tittsworth again went to Des Moines, Iowa, and later proceeded to Michigan and to Chicago. In that city, meet- ing an old acquaintance, he was enabled to secure a position as cook on a vessel on Lake Michigan, being thus employed for two seasons. In 1868 he went to Wyoming, where he remained until 1880, and the story of his life on the plains of the west was a thrilling one, oftentimes fraught with great hardships and dangers. He became a trapper and hunter, selling the products of his skill to the builders of the Union Pacific Railroad until 1871, when he returned his attention to the ranch, raising horses and cattle in Sweetwater county, Wyoming, and also carrying on business as a drover. He became a noted cowboy and expert trailer. He lived in Wyoming at the time when the gamblers almost ran that country and when no man's life was really safe, but though often the companion of desperate characters whose entire lives showed scarcely a trace of goodness, such was his char- acter and his principles that he came unscathed from the fire. During his residence in the west he visited many parts of Wyoming, Utah, Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and other territories, and became a great hunter, killing many deer, elk, mountain sheep, bears and other wild animals. He was connected with one event notable in the history of Colorado-the open- ing of the Henpeak mine, when two hundred warriors of the Ute tribe, who had just murdered the Van Dyke party, ordered the Henpeak miners to leave the country. The celebrated scout, Jim Baker, an old companion of Kit Carson and Jim Bridger, was with the miners. He had in early days mar- ried several different Indian squaws and was the father of many half-breed Indian children. It is said he could count upon his fingers as many as from twenty to thirty. His son, William, a half breed, then about thirty years of age, was then with him. Jim Baker was a very fearless and pow- erful frontiersman and had killed many Indians. He met the warlike party of Utes in council and boldly told their chief that he had been to Washing- ton and seen the great White Father, who had given him that country to Bear river and that they must leave. The chief replied that the whites had killed their buffalo and mined their gold, and he demanded that they leave. Baker seized the chief and roughly jerked him off his horse, telling him he would kill him, and Baker stepped into his camp and seized his rifle, ordered the Indians to leave or he would open fire and the fight would begin at once. The sagacity of the Indians convinced them that discretion was the better part of valor and they departed, and Baker sent three men, one of whom was our subject, to see that they crossed the Bear river.
Among the various experiences of Mr. Tittsworth when a young man struggling to gain a position in life, is his career as a circus man. For one season he was with Yankee Robinson's circus in Illinois and Iowa, his busi-
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ness being to describe for a side-show the relies left from the burning of Barnum's famous museum in New York. Thus he obtained a wide knowl- edge of human nature, which has been of great value to him.
The summer ranch of Mr. Tittsworth was in Salt Wells Basin and he wintered his cattle at Brown's Park, Colorado and Utah, which is a deep depression in the ground, the sides rising from four to seven thousand feet.
During his residence in the wilds of the west Mr. Tittsworth always had a faithful companion in his wife, whom he wedded on the 24th of July, 1872. She bore the maiden name of Jean Law and was born in Scotland in 1857, a daughter of George Law, whose birth occurred in Fifeshire, Scot- land, in 1812. Her mother bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Phillips. Mrs. Tittsworth was one of a family of ten children and it was in Rock Springs, Wyoming, that she was married. She lived with her husband in that wild western country and was often alone for weeks at a time, save for the company of her little daughter Florence, her husband being away on trading expeditions or acting as guide to parties crossing the desert. For nine months at one time she never saw the face of a woman, white or black. The ranch was fifteen miles from the nearest neighbor and thirty-five miles from the railroad. For nine years Mr. and Mrs. Tittsworth there resided, the year 1880 witnessing their arrival in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, where he has now a highly improved farm of one hundred and twenty acres. His home is pleasantly located within a short distance of Avoca and is thoroughly equipped with all modern accessories and conveniences. Mr. Tittsworth has · made a specialty of raising and feeding stock and is widely recognized as one of the leading stock-raisers of this portion of the county, and the family residence stands on a natural building site, commanding a fine view of the surrounding country, and its furnishings are attractive and tasteful.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Tittsworth have been born five children : Florence Eliza- beth, who was born June 30, 1875, and is the wife of Joseph True, of Knox town- ship; David, who was born January 15, 1877, and is deceased; William D., who was born November 24, 1879, and is now in northern Wyoming; John C., who was born August 23, 1882, and is in Utah; and Bertha B., who was born March 31, 1885, and is a graduate of the Avoea high school. She is, now a teacher in the rural schools of the county.
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