USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. II > Part 5
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Mr. Aylesworth was married on the 20th of September, 1864, in Milford, New York, to Miss Marcella R. Winsor, a native of Otsego county, New York, and a daughter of Isaac C. and Sarah (Brockway) Winsor. They now have four children, three sons and a daughter, namely: Paul C .; Ellen W., the wife of Bruce L. Beals, of New York city; Egbert D .; and Winsor S.
Judge Aylesworth aside from his service on the bench has filled the office of city councilman and a member of the board of education. During the long years of his residence here his co-operation has been given to every movement that he has deemed of advantage to the community and his influence is ever on the side of right, reform and improvement. Socially he is connected with the Elks and the Eagles and he is a communicant of the Episcopal church.
WILLIAM H. WARE.
William H. Ware, an attorney of Council Bluffs and a recognized leader in the ranks of the democracy in Pottawattamie county, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but was reared in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the age of six years, when his parents removed with their family to La Salle county, Illi- nois. He there remained until 1867, when at the age of fifteen he came with his parents to Council Bluffs. Two years later, in 1869, he made a permanent location in Pottawattamie county. For two years he worked at farm labor and afterward engaged in teaching school in this county for four years He likewise devoted one year to that profession in Nebraska and published a paper in Nebraska called the Sarpy County Sentinel. After a year, however, he sold the paper and, having prepared for the practice of law, was admitted to the bar of Pottawattamie county in 1880. He engages in a general practice in all of the courts and has secured a liberal clientage. He is also attorney for the Eagle Life Association and for one term he served as county attorney.
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He prepares his cases with great thoroughness and care and enters the court- room well qualified to meet every point of attack.
Mr. Ware belongs to both the Modern Woodmen of America and the Fra- ternal Order of Eagles. His political allegiance is given to the democracy and aside from serving as county attorney he has twice represented his district in the state legislature, having been elected in 1890 and again in 1892. He was once candidate on the democratic ticket for the office of judge of the fifteenth district. His opponent was elected by a majority of only one hundred and fifty, although there is a usual republican majority of thirty-five hundred, so that Mr. Ware's defeat was one which amounted almost to a victory, as he ran three thousand votes ahead of his ticket-a fact which indicates his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. While he is undoubtedly not without that laudable ambition which is an incentive for capable service in office, he nevertheless regards the pursuits of private life as abundantly worthy of his best efforts and has made a creditable record in his chosen profession. He is a member of the County and State Bar Associations and in both organizations has gained the good will and friendship of many of the prominent lawyers of the state.
THOMAS B. LACEY, M. D.
Dr. Thomas B. Lacey, who for almost a third of a century was engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Council Bluffs, and whose pro- fessional skill and ability constantly increased as the years passed by reason of his study and investigation, was born in New Milford, Connecticut, in 1853, his parents being Thomas and Rachel (Noble) Lacey. On leaving New Eng- land the family became residents of Racine, Wisconsin, and in 1863 took up their abode in Chicago, Dr. Lacey being at that time a youth of ten years. His father and his grandfather were both members of the medical profession and whether an inherited tendency, environment or natural predilection had most to do with Dr. Lacey's choice of a life work it is impossible to determine. It is evident, however, that he was well fitted for the calling which he chose and in which he gained most desirable success. His common-school advantages were supplemented by study in Oberlin College, at Oberlin, Ohio, where he completed his more specific literary course prior to entering the Chicago Medi- cal College, from which he was graduated in 1875.
For a year following his graduation he was in active practice at the Sol- diers Home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but in March, 1876, came to Council Bluffs, where he remained until his death on March 24, 1907. He was not long in demonstrating to the public that he possessed an accurate knowledge of the scientific principles of medicine and was correct in his application thereof to the needs of his patients. Moreover, he gave evidence of his skill and ability in diagnosing a case and his broad humanitarianism was proven in his ready sympathy. Within a short time he had gained a liberal patronage and became recognized as one of the most prominent and able physicians of western
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Iowa. He was made medical director of the United States Masonic Benevolent Association of Council Bluffs and for a period of four years was associated with Drs. Macrae and Thomas on the board of pension examiners. Anything which tends to bring to man the key to that complex mystery which we call life was of interest to Dr. Lacey, who was ever a deep student, carrying his in- vestigations far and wide into the realm of medical knowledge. Dr. Lacey was also a prominent Mason, having attained the thirty-third degree. He was ac- corded high honor by the craft, serving as past grand commander and also that of past grand high priest in the grand commandery and in the grand chapter, respectively. He was ever in thorough sympathy with the principles and purposes of the order and did much to advance its interests in the state. He had ample opportunity to put his knowledge into practice in the discharge of his professional duties and he neglected no opportunity to assist his fel- lowman.
Dr. Lacey was married to Miss Mary C. Adkins. Dr. Thomas B. Lacey, Jr., the only son of Dr. T. B. Lacey, Sr., was born October 12, 1880, in Council Bluffs, and spent his youth in this city. He acquired his primary education in the public schools and was afterward a student in Cornell University for two years. Subsequently he attended the University of Southern California, at Los Angeles, and in 1906 he was graduated from the Creighton Medical Col- lege, at Omaha, Nebraska. He then located for practice in Council Bluffs, where he has since remained and although one of the younger he is also one of the stronger members of the medical fraternity, having the ability and the ambition to advance in his profession. He belongs to the American Medical Association, the Iowa State Medical Society, the Pottawattamie County Medi- cal Society, the Council Bluffs Medical Society and the Medical Society of the Missouri Valley.
Something might be learned of the character and interests of Dr. Lacey from the fact that he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being also a Knight Templar, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and also holds membership in the Episcopal church. His entire life has been passed in Council Bluffs and the fact that many of his friends are numbered among those who have known him from his boyhood is an indication of an honorable and upright career.
WILLIAM STULL.
William Stull, equal partner in the Avoca Printing Company and super- intendent of the printing department, was born in Saunders county, Ne- braska, January 2, 1874, a son of Mr. and Mrs. M. P. Stull. He spent his first eight years in the place of his nativity and then went to Marengo, Illi- nois,-the home of his father in boyhood days. In 1884 he returned to Ne- braska, locating at North Bend, and having in the meantime acquired such an education as is afforded in the common schools, he began learning the printer's trade ir the office of the North Bend Flail, January 9, 1888. He has worked
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along this line almost continuously since and on the 1st of July, 1907, formed a partnership with G. D. McClaskey under the name of the Avoca Printing Company. They are publishers of the Tribune and in connection do a large job printing business, Mr. Stull being superintendent of the printing depart- ment, his previous years of practical experience well qualifying him for the work.
WILLIAM N. HATCH.
More than a third of a century has come and gone since William N. Hatch arrived in Pottawattamie county and became identified with its farming interests. He had previously lived in Mills county for a few years and in 1873 arrived in this county, where the years have witnessed his steady progress in business life until he has today gained the plane of affluence. His farming interests embrace three hundred and forty acres of rich and productive land on section 36, York township, and he is well known as a successful stock raiser and feeder, at the same time carefully cultivating the crops which are best adapted to the soil and climate.
Mr. Hatch has always lived in the Mississippi valley, his birth having oc- curred in Menard county, Illinois, December 11, 1848. There he was reared on a farm and to a limited extent attended school but is largely self-educated, acquiring his knowledge to a great extent through reading, observation and experience since attaining his majority. He remained with his father up to the time of his enlistment for service in the Civil war, being, however, but six- teen years of age when in 1864 he offered his services to the government and joined Company E of the Tenth Illinois Cavalry. He then went south and did scouting duty in Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas, serving until the close of the war when he was mustered out at San Antonio, Texas, and honorably discharged at Camp Butler in Springfield, Illinois, January 6, 1866.
When the country no longer needed his aid, the preservation of the Union being now an established fact, Mr. Hatch returned to the home farm, where he remained for a few years. As a companion and helpmate for life's journey he chose Miss Hanna Sampson, whom he wedded in Menard county, Illinois, October 10, 1867. She was born and reared, however, in Davis county, Iowa. Following their marriage the young couple lived upon a rented farm in Davis county for three years and then returned to Menard county, Illinois, where Mr. Hatch carried on general agricultural pursuits until his re- moval to Mills county, Iowa, in 1871. A year and a half later he became a resident of Pottawattamie county and invested in one hundred and sixty acres of land of which eighty acres had been placed under the plow, while the re- mainder was raw prairie. There were also some buildings upon the place and he at once took up the task of further developing and improving the farm. He prospered in his undertakings and added to his prosessions from time to time until he now owns three hundred and forty acres of valuable land, of which one hundred and sixty acres is in the home place, one hundred and
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twenty acres just across the road in Washington township, and sixty acres on section 36, York township. Upon the home farm stands a comfortable dwelling and two good barns. He also has a good orchard and the farm presents a neat and thrifty appearance with its substantial buildings, its well kept fences, its richly cultivated fields and its good stock. Mr. Hatch raises, feeds and fattens stock, annually shipping about one carload of hogs and three or four carloads of cattle, for which he receives a good price on the market, this adding ma- terially to his yearly income.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hatch were born the following children, those living being: T. J., a resident of McClelland, Iowa; Newton, who assists his father on the home farm; Mary, the wife of Dr. Means, of Holyoke, Colorado; Gertie, the wife of J. O. Griffith, of Winona county, Iowa; Emma, the wife of Fred Reser, a farmer of York township; Jennie, the wife of Harry O'Donnell, of Janesville, Wisconsin; Cassie, the wife of Charles Bonham, living near Pol- lard, Washington; Louise, Frances and Inez, all at home. Of the three chil- dren who have passed away Nellie reached womanhood, was married and died in 1900; Birdie died when about two years of age; and E. W. Hatch passed away July 18, 1907, at the age of thirty-six years.
Mr. Hatch is a stalwart republican who cast his first ballot for General Grant in 1868 and his last presidential vote for Theodore Roosevelt. He has never desired public office as a reward for party fealty and the only political office he has ever filled was that of road boss. He has ever been deeply inter- ested in the cause of education and has done effective work in its interests while serving for a number of years on the school board. He has found in his business life ample opportunity for the exercise of his industry and energy -his dominant qualities. For forty years he has lived in Iowa and its history is therefore largely familiar to him, while in the county of his residence he has been connected with many events which have left their impress upon public progress. His life has been honorable, his actions manly and sincere, and the principles which have governed his conduct are those which ever command confidence and good will.
WILLIAM P. HOMBACH, M. D.
The state of Iowa with its pulsing activities and rapid development has attracted within its confines men of marked ability and high character in the various professional lines, and in this way progress has been conserved and social stability fostered. He whose name initiates this review has gained recognition as one of the able and successful physicians of the state, and by his labors, his high professional attainments and his sterling chracteristics has justified the respect and confidence in which he is held by the medical fraternity and the local public.
Dr. Hombach is a native of Germany, having been born there on December 24, 1862. At the age of six he came with his parents to America and with them took up his home in Boone county, Iowa. removing eight
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years later to Carroll county, this state. It was there that he received his primary education, supplementing it later by a course at the University of Illinois. The medical profession had always held great attraction for him and he decided to take up study along that linc. Accordingly he entered the College of Physicians & Surgeons in Chicago, from which he was grad- uated in 1901 and located immediately in Council Bluffs, where he has since built up his large and successful practice. He has not been contented with . the information gained alone in his college course but has always kept pace with the times by pursuing post-graduate work at the Illinois School of Therapeutics, at the College of Eye, Ear, Nose & Throat, and by courses in gynecology and abdominal surgery in the same city. The medical practice is not an experiment with him, for he is particularly strong in diagnosing cases-the most difficult and the most necessary work which a physician encounters.
Not only is Dr. Hombach a prominent physician of the city but is well known throughout the state and the Missouri valley. He belongs to the American Medical Association, the Iowa State Medical Society, the Pot- tawattamie County Medical Society, the Council Bluffs Medical Society, the Medical Society of the Missouri Valley and the Northwestern Medical Society. He is also a member of the medical staff of Mercer Hospital.
Dr. Hombach belongs to the Elks and the Knights of Columbus, and in his religious relations is devoted to the Catholic church. He has always been a stanch and active democrat and was chairman of the Carroll county (Iowa) democratic central committee. He served as auditor of Carroll county for four years, and for four years was a member of the city council in Carroll, as well as being a justice of the peace in that county for ten years. From this it will readily be seen that while the Doctor is devoted to his profession and is an unusually busy man he has had time to do his duty as a citizen. He is a very successful practitioner and is a man of the highest and purest character, an industrious and ambitious student and an able physician. Genial in disposition, unobtrusive and unassuming, he is patient under adverse criticism and in his expressions concerning brother practitioners is friendly and indulgent.
CHESTER D. BOILER.
Chester D. Boiler, a capitalist of Walnut, whose intense and well directed activity is manifest in his successful control of invested interests, was born in Muscatine, Iowa, January 25, 1875, his parents being Joseph and Julia (Dickinson) Boiler. The father, a native of Piketon, Ohio, was born December 10, 1834, and was reared to farm life, acquiring his educa- tion in the common schools. He remained at home until he attained his majority. He then engaged in farming on his own account and early in the '60s he went west with three brothers to Montana, traveling from Musca- tine county, Iowa, with ox teams. In Montana they were engaged in min-
JOSEPH BOILER
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILD: N FOUNDATIONS.
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ing gold. They were associated in their mining operations for about one year, but not meeting with the success they had anticipated they separated, each starting out for himself. Joseph Boiler afterward discovered a pay- ing placer mine, which he sold to good advantage. He then returned to Iowa, after three years spent in Montana, and settled in Muscatine county, this state, where he carried on agricultural pursuits.
In 1874 he came to Pottawattamie county and in company with his father purchased land in Wright township, after which he brought his family to Walnut in 1875. At the time of the building of the railroad through the town, he purchased a section of land in Shelby county, near the proposed line of the road and from this time on he continued to deal in farm lands, which he purchased at a low price, holding them until his death. They greatly appreciated in value owing to the settlement of this section of the state and the improvements made upon the farms, and thus through his operations in country property Mr. Boiler became a wealthy man. He had faith in the future of Iowa and with wonderful sagacity foresaw the rapid growth of the state and the splendid business development which would follow. His investments were extensive, including lands in Cass, Cherokee, Pocahontas and Pottawattamie counties, and thus at the time of his death he was enabled to leave his family a very valuable estate. Moreover, during his entire business life he was honorable and reliable, never taking advantage of the necessities of his fellowmen in any business transaction. He died on the 24th of June, 1900, and thus the county lost one of its prominent and honored citizens.
In politics he was a sound money democrat, but was without desire or aspiration for public office. He was a consistent member of the Presby- terian church. Though his business interests were extensive, he was pre- eminently a man of domestic taste, whose interest centered in his family. He loved his home, was devoted to the welfare of his wife and children, and his best traits of character were reserved for his own fireside. Mrs. Boiler still survives her husband and is yet living in Walnut. They were the parents of four children: Nettie, now the wife of H. M. Wilson, of Spencer, Iowa; Nora, the wife of E. H. Carey, of Le Mars, Iowa; Ada, at home; and Chester D.
The only son spent his boyhood days in his parents' home and supple- mented his preliminary education by study in the Iowa College at Grinnell, from which he was graduated with the class of 1896, when the degree of bachelor of arts was conferred upon him. Following his graduation he re- turned home and was connected with his father in the management of his landed properties up to his death. Later, Chester D. Boiler purchased an interest in the Exchange State Bank and for four years was assistant cashier of that institution. In 1904 he resigned his position in the bank but still retained his stock therein and is a member of the board of directors. Since leaving the bank he has given his entire time to the management of his own and his mother's business interests.
On the 26th of April, 1899, Mr. Boiler was married to Miss June Mosher, daughter of Orris Mo-her, cashier of the Exchange State Bank of
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Walnut. They occupy a very enviable position in social circles and are greatly esteemed throughout the community. Mr. Boiler has no political ambitions but exercises his right of franchise at the ballot box in support of men and measures of the republican party. He belongs to the Presby- terian church and for a number of years has been one of its trustees. His interests are thoroughly identified with those of western Iowa, and at all times he is ready to lend his aid and co-operation to any movements calcu- lated to benefit this section of the country or advance its wonderful develop- ment.
HENRY FRANZ.
Henry Franz, a retired agriculturist living in Avoca, Iowa, was formerly extensively connected with the farming interests of Pottawattamie county, be- ing still the owner of six hundred acres in Pleasant township. He was born in Germany on February 4, 1848, a son of John and Martha E. (Baker) Franz, who were also natives of the fatherland. John Franz died in that country and the mother afterward came to America, in 1875, remaining a resident of the new world until her death in the year 1897. She had become the mother of eight children, five of whom still survive, as follows: Catharine, the wife of Chris Young, living in Hancock, Iowa: Henry, of this review; Elizabeth, residing in Oklahoma; Martha E., the wife of Charles Baker, who lives in Iroquois county, Illinois; and Helweg, of Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Henry Franz pursued his education in the schools of his native country and remained under the parental roof until he had attained the age of seven- teen years, when he determined to seek his fortune in the new world. After his voyage across the briny deep he took up his abode in La Salle county, Illi- nois, in the fall of 1865, making his home with his mother's brother for a time. Later he worked for his brother-in-law and another man for two years and then hired out as a farm hand to C. W. Wagner, in whose employ he re- mained for three years, receiving fifteen dollars per month for two years and twenty-one dollars the third year but not his washing. He then began busi- ness on his own account, operating a rented farm for six years. During all these years he labored indefatigably and perseveringly and thus acquired the capital which in 1877 enabled him to purchase a farm of two hundred acres in Pleasant township, Pottawattamie county, Iowa. As his financial re- sources increased he gradually added to his holdings and is now the owner of six hundred acres on sections 14 and 23, Pleasant township, and one hun- dred and sixty acres near Redfield, Spink county, South Dakota. In addition to carrying on the work of the fields Mr. Franz also fed and raised stock, principally shorthorn cattle, the latter enterprise also proving a source of profit to him. He was widely recognized as one of the prominent and representative agriculturists of the county, having acquired his prosperity entirely through his own efforts and capable business management. In 1899 he left the farm and removed to Avoca, where he and his wife are now living retired in their
HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY
beautiful home, which was built by him in 1898. He also purchased a fourth of a business block here and is well known as one of the town's progressive and enterprising citizens.
In 1870, in La Salle county, Illinois, Mr. Franz was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Berg, who was born in Prussia, Germany, in 1852, a daughter of John and Mary Berg, also natives of Germany. Her father came to this country in 1868, locating in La Salle county, Illinois, where he followed farm- ing until 1873, when he removed to Cass county, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Berg are both now deceased, and in their family were four children. Mr. and Mrs. Franz became the parents of nine children, five of whom are still living: Au- gusta, the wife of Edward Everhart, of Pleasant township, Pottawattamie county ; William, who is now operating his father's farm; Mary, the wife of George Busse, living in James township, this county; Henry A., at home; and Eleanor, also under the parental roof. Of the four children, Helena, Louisa, John and William, who are deceased, three were laid to rest in Avoca cemetery and the other lies buried in the cemetery at Ransom, La Salle county, Illinois.
In his political affiliation Mr. Franz is a republican and has served as school director for several terms. He and his family are members of the Con- gregational church at Avoca, in the work of which they are deeply and help- fully interested. The subject of this review is a self-made man, who, without any extraordinary family or pecuniary advantages at the commencement of life, has battled earnestly and energetically, and by indomitable courage and integrity has achieved both character and fortune. In an anlyzation of the character and life work of Henry Franz we note many of the characteristics which have marked the German nation for many centuries,-the perseverance, reliability, energy and unconquerable determination to pursue a course that has been marked out. It is these sterling qualities which have gained to our subject success in life and made him one of the substantial and valued citizens of the land of his adoption.
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