History of Scott County, Iowa, Part 33

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1280

USA > Iowa > Scott County > History of Scott County, Iowa > Part 33

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Edward E. Cook, attorney, of the firm of Cook and Dodge (Frank L. Dodge), has been an active member of the Scott County bar since May, 1863. He was born in Scott Co., Iowa, Aug. 13, 1843. IIe is the son of John P. Cook, a native of New York State, and one of Scott County's earliest attorneys. He came to Daven- port in 1836, re d law, and was admitted to practice about 1841, in Cedar Co., Iowa, where he located in 1840; he was one of the earliest settlers of that county and one of the first settlers in the town of Tipton, and helped to make some of the first improvements in the place. In October, 1842, he married Eliza A. Rowe, a daughter of Christian Rowe, and a citizen of Scott County, to which she came with her parents in 1836, from Steuben Co., N. Y. In March, 1851, Mr. J. P. Cook moved his family to Davenport, where he remained an active member of the legal profession until his death , April 16, 1872. He was a member of the 33d Congress from this district, served in the sessions of 1853-'4, and 1854-'5. The subject of this memoir was educated in the cities of Washing- ton. D. C., Rochester, Geneva, and Albany, N. Y .; was also a year in Griswold College, Davenport, and was the first student in the collegiate department in that institution. He graduated from the Albany Law School in May, 1863, and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of New York. He came home to Davenport, and was admitted on motion at the May term of the District Court of 1863. He then entered the office of his father, for law prac- tice, and Jan. 1, 1865, he became a member of the law firm of Cook & Drury. Jan. 1, 1871, the firm changed to Cook & Brun- ing. This relation continued until the death of Mr. Cook, Sr. In May, 1872, Mr. C. formed a partnership with Judge J. S. Richman, under the firm name of Cook, Richman & Bruning, continuing until Dec. 1, 1875, when Mr. Bruning retired, the firm remain. ing Cook & Richman till May 1, 1880, when the present partner- ship was formed. This firm does a general law practice, have been attorneys for the C., R. I. & P. Ry., and its predecessor, the Miss. & Mo. Co., and have paid considerable attention to corporation law. Mr. Cook affiliates with the Democratic party politically, and has done considerable committee work in an official way in its be- half and as an expositor of its principles, but has refused to become a candidate for any office.

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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.

W. A. Foster, attorney, began the practice of law in Scott County in October, 1866, and has been an active member of the bar to the present time in both State and United States courts. Mr. Foster is a native of Seott Co .. Iowa, born in 1842; he is a son of Asa Foster, born in Ohio, and married a Miss Wray, a native of Kentucky. They came from Indiana in 1839 and settled in what is now Blue Grass township, where he followed farming. He died in 1855. his wife in 1880. The subject of this memoir was educated in Davenport, and read law with Davison & Truein this city, and was admitted to the bar in 1866 and at once opened an office for the practice of his pro- fession. The year following he married Lucy Birchard, a resident of Scott County. Mr. Foster was elected to the State Senate on the Republican tieket, andjserved from Jan. 1, 1878, to Jan. 1, 1882; this is the only office he has been a candidate for, and declined a re- nomination. Ile has attained quite a reputation as a criminal law- yer, in the higher grades of eriminal eases, and has been called to try capital suits in Iowa and adjacent States; he also does a general court practice.

Hugh M. Martin, lawyer, of the firm of Martin, Murphy & Lynch, read law in Tiffin, Ohio, with Gen. Win. H. Gibson, and was admitted in 1855. The following year he moved West and lo- cated in Marengo, Iowa, and there practiced till 1867. He came to Davenport in company with his present partner, G. H. Murphy, in June, 1867. In 1876 Mr. Lynch became a member of the firmn. They have a large general court practice. Mr. Martin has rather avoided than courted politics, but has held several local positions. He was elected prosecuting attorney for Iowa County at the August election in 1857. and served until the office was abolished by the then new constitution, which took effect in 1858. He represented Iowa County in the Ninth General Assembly of the State, as a mem- ber of the House and as a war Democrat ; was a candidate for Congress in the campaign of 1862, in what was then known as the fourth congressional district; had a majority of the home vote of 1,100 as a candidate against Hon. J. B. Grinnell, and was defeated by the soldiers' vote outside the State, by a majority of 1,300; was a candidate in 1868 for attorney general of the State on the Demo- eratic ticket and was only beaten, he says, by about 60,000 majority. He has served as city attorney of Davenport from 1873 to 1881, except the year 1879. Mr. Martin was born near Tiffiin, Ohio, and was reared on a farm. His education was ob- tained in the common schools, the Republic Academy and Heidel-

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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.

berg College, Ohio. He was married at Marengo, Iowa, May 10, 1859, to Ellen A. Parker, a native of Massachusetts, and reared in Virginia.

Herman Block, of the law firm of Bills & Block, has been an active member of the Scott County bar since 1865. He was born in 1840, in the duchy of Lauenburg, Germany. He was educated in the Gymnasium of Kiel, in Holstein, and at 18 years of age immi- grated to the United States and located at Davenport. Dependent upon his own resources, he worked at such employments as were accessible to earn a livelihood and enable him to prosecute the study of law, in which he zealously engaged without the advantage of an instructor. In 1865 he was admitted to the bar and soon after commenced practice, having desk-room in the office of Parker and McNeal the first year. He practiced alone until 1870, when a law partnership was formed with John C. Bills, which still con- tinues. The firm of Bills & Block is one of the ablest and most prosperous in this part of Iowa. Mr. Block is a Republican in sentiment, but has eschewed politics, and has applied himself steadily to his profession. He was united in marriage on Christ- mas day. 1867, with Miss R. V. VanEpps. a native of New York State. Two sons, Louis, born in June, 1869, and John C., born in May, 1871, comprise their family. Mr. Block served six years, consecutively, as a member of the City School Board, and from 1873 to 1876 he served as its president. He has been an active mem- ber of the I. O. O. F. since 1866; was chosen Grand Patriarch of the State in 1874, serving one term ; in October, 1876, he was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Iowa for one year. He has filled the office of Grand Representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge of that order for four years.

William K. White, attorney, of the firm of Stewart & White, has been an active member of the Scott County bar since 1868. He was born in Saratoga Springs, N. Y., in 1844. His early life was passed there, and he attended the Saratoga schools. He read law with Chancellor Reuben H. Walworth, of New York; finished read- ing with J. A. Shoudy, now a prominent attorney of New York City; was admitted in the early part of 1865, at the general term of the Supreme Court at Plattsburg, N. Y .; went South soon after and served by appointment as assistant in the Freedmen's Bureau; filled the position until 1868, was then mustered out and came to Davenport, stopping accidentally, and, forming some acquaintances he opened a law office that fall. After practicing some time alone

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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.

he took John Ackley as a partner. which continued about a year; he then practiced alone until January, 1873, when he took charge of the District and Circuit Courts to which he had been elected clerk the fall before. He served one term. Previous to the termination of his official career he formed the present law partnership, and upon retiring from the clerkship resumed the practice of law in which he has been since actively engaged. Mr. White was mar- ried in 1872, in Ottawa. Ill .. to Nellie Barger, a native of that city. They have one daughter aged six years. His residence is a beautiful structure. erceted by him in 1876. It is located at 1,026 Brady street. on the bluffs, and overlooks the Mississippi Valley. He has always been a Republican, but was elected on the Liberal or Greeley ticket : since then has been identified with the Repub- lican party, but has not been a candidate for any office.

John W. Green, attorney at law, has been a citizen of Scott County since 1852 and a member of the Scott County bar since 1868. He was born in Vernon, Ind., in 1842. He came to this county when 10 years of age. He was educated at, and gradnated from, Monmouth College, Ill., in 1862. He entered the army soon after as a private in the 83d Ill. Infantry, and served three years; was promoted to adjutant in 1863, and held that position when mustered ont in 1865. He was chiefly in the army of the Ten- nessee. Soon after retiring from the army, he went to Albany and entered the law school there, from which he graduated in 1867. He came to Davenport and was a student with Putnam & Rogers until 1868, when he commenced practice on his own account. The present law partnership of Green & Peters was formed about eight years ago. He was elected twice to the Iowa Legislature, served in 1870 and 1872, and the special session of 1873. In 1869 he was elected city attorney, which office he resigned when elected to the Legislature. He was appointed United States Collector of In- ternal Revenne by James A. Garfield on March 10. 1881. IIis district embraces 10 counties. Mr. Green is a decided and pronounced Republican in political views. His father, Adam Green, spent the last years of his life in this city, dying here in 1876. During life he was engaged in railroad and canal contraet- ing. His wife, a native of Kentucky, is still a resident of the city.

Charles M. Waterman, attorney, of the firm of Waterman & Boyle, was admitted to the bar in Scott County in 1871, and has been in active practice ever since. Ile practiced alone until 1877, when the partnership above named was formed. Mr. Waterman

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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.

is a native of Frankfort, Ky., born in January, 1847; was educated in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. After traveling about consider- ably he became a resident of Scott County in 1864; began reading law in the spring of 1869 with Davison & True, and was admitted to the bar in 1871; remained with his preceptors nntil 1873 before opening a law office. Mr. W. is a Republican and has taken quite an interest in politics. He was elected representative from Scott County to the State Legislature, and served in the session of 1878. Mr. Waterman's mother is a resident of this county.

Wm. A. Lynch, attorney, of the law firm of Martin, Murphy & Lynch, has been for 10 years an active practitioner at the bar of Scott County, and a member of the above-named firm since Janu- ary, 1876. He is a native of Virginia, born in Greenbriar County in 1846. His parents moved West in 1849, and settled in Mt. Pleasant, Henry Co., Iowa. There the subject of this record re- ceived his education in Iowa Wesleyan College, read law in Mt. Pleasant one year, then entered the law department of the Iowa State University, from which he graduated in June, 1871, and located in Davenport one year later. He has been a close student and a very successful practitioner. He has studiously avoided politics but votes the Democratic ticket. He married in Davenport, Iowa, in February, 1875, Josephine McConnell, a native of Indiana. They have one child, a daughter.

Roderick Rose, attorney, a native of Canada was born in 1838; received an academical education, and taught school there one year; was employed as book-keeper in a wholesale mercantile house at that place; came to the United States and to this county in 1858; taught school a number of years in the Davenport schools, studying law meanwhile; was elected county superin- tendent of schools in 1870, but resigned two months after. In 1871 he was admitted to the bar, and opened an office for practice the next year. In 1875 he was elected mayor of the city, and re-elected in 1876. In the fall of 1879 he was nominated by the Democratic party, and ran for representative to the State Legislature, but was defeated. In 1880 he was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for Congress, but was again defeated, there being a strong Repub- lican majority in the district, though he ran largely ahead of his ticket in bothi instances. Mr. Rose was the prime mover in origi- nating the public evening school, and was its principal a number of years. He is a member of the A. O. U. W., and is Past Supreme Master of the United States having served in that capacity in 1830;

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served as Grand Master of the State in 1877, and was Supreme Representative to the Supreme Lodge in 1878. He is a charter member of the second lodge in the State of Iowa. Ile served as chairman of the finance committee of the Grand Lodge, and subse- quently in the same position in the Supreme Lodge. Mr. Rose is a member of 12 different social and benevolent orders, among them the Masonic, I. O. O. F., K. of P., and L. of H. He came to Davenport a poor boy, 23 years ago, but is of that temperament that takes hold of whatever he undertakes with a will and energy that insures success. He was married in Canada in 1856 to Amelia Leakwood, who died of consumption a few years latter. He was married again in 1865 to Anna E. Fernean. She was born in Ohio. They have two children, viz .: Edwin S., aged 12, and Nellie A., aged eight years.

George E. Gould, attorney, was born in Cumberland Co., North Carolina, Dec. 4, 1848. His parents were Wm. E. and Frances E. (Sweet) Gould, of English birth, who emigrated to America about 1844 and settled in North Carolina; they removed to Iowa in 1856 and located in Scott County. Here the subject of this record was educated by a three years' course in Griswold Col- lege; read law in Davenport and was admitted to the bar in No- vember, 1871. The following year he opened an office in Davenport and has since been in active practice, devoting his energies stu- diously to his profession with marked success. In politics he is a Republican, but not a radical partisan. In 1872 he married Em- eline L., daughter of J. J. Humphrey, an early settler in Scott County and at present a resident of the city.

Bleik Peters, attorney at law, of the firm of Green & Peters, has been a resident of Davenport since 1855. He was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, in 1825; was educated in the Uni- versity of Germany, from which he graduated in the classical course. He entered the army as a volunteer and participated in the cam- paign of 1848-'9. He studied law in 1846-'52 and in August. 1852, he immigrated to America, locating in Marion Co .. Iowa, where he remained until February, 1853, when he went to St. Louis; stayed there until 1855, when he came to Davenport, and engaged in the mercantile business. Upon attaining his citizenship he was appointed notary public, and was elected justice of the peace in the fall of 1862, assuming the duties of the office in January, 1963, he held this position until Jan. 1. 1873, and the last four years of the time was police magistrate also. During that time he paid more

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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.

than half of the grand total $1,162,465 of fines and costs into the school fund treasury that was paid in by the justices and police magistrates of the township and city of Davenport, and tried within 61 of one-half of the 13,984 of the justices and police mag- istrates cases during that period. During his term of office he united in marriage 1,160 couples. Upon retiring from the office he entered upon the practice of law, as a member of Green & Peters, which is one of the leading law firms of Scott County. Previous to coming to the United States he was engaged to be married in his native country to Matilda Henningen. In 1854 she came to Davenport, where they were married Ang. 5 of that year. Mr. Peters served as alderman from the second ward of the city in 1860 and '61. He has taken an active part in politics, and has discussed the political issues of the day in most of the campaigns since he became a citizen, from the stand point of Republicanism, from the stump, in the county and vicinity.

Fred Heinz engaged in the legal practice in Davenport in 1873. His parents, B. and Margaret Heinz emigrated from Germany in 1845 or '46, and settled in St. Louis, Mo., where Fred was born May 8, 1852. His father served with a Missouri regiment in the Mexican war, in which he received a wound which entitles him to a pension. In April, 1855, they removed to Davenport, which is their present home. The subject of this memoir was educated in the city schools and Griswold College. He entered the law office of Parker & Mc- Neal when 16 years of age. One year later he became a student with Herman Block, remaining with him and the firm of Bills & Block three years. May 2, 1873, Mr. Heinz was admitted to the bar and at once commenced practice. At the end of six months he entered into partnership with Ernst Clanssen, which expired April 5, 1880. In October, 1875, he was licensed to practice in the United States Courts. He has been somewhat active in politics, in connec- tion with committee work and public discussions. He was two years secretary of the Democratic Committee, was one year its chairman, and is now chairman of the Democratic City Committee, in which capacity he has served several years. Mr. Heinz began his law practice with a capital of $20, half invested in law books, and the remainder in office furniture. He is now doing a thriving and profitable legal business. He is a member of several social orders, of the Davenport Shooting Association, and the First Ward Hose Company. In September, 1876, he married Minnie Steffen, daugh- ter of Claus Steffen, one of the pioneer German settlers in Daven- port.

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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.

H. H. Ascherman, attorney at law, Davenport, was born in Warburg, Prussia, Sept. 15, 1852, son of Conrad and Antoinette ( Fecke )'Ascherman. They were married in Warburg, Prussia, about 1840. By this union there were nine children, six of whom lived to be adults, viz. : Ferdinand, Carl A., H. H., Augusta, Albert and Louisa. They migrated to the United States in the fall of 1856, locating first in Milwaukee, Wis., where they remained a few months and then eame to Davenport, where Mr. Ascherman's father engaged in the grocery business, which he followed until his death, in 1876. The subject of this sketch attended the common schools of Daven - port, completing his education in Griswold College. He then entered the Iowa State Law School, and at the age of 21 years commenced reading law with the firm of Putnam & Rogers. In June, 1875, he was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of his pro- fession in Davenport, where he still has an office at the corner of Main and Second streets.

Nathaniel S. Mitchell, attorney, was born in Davenport, Iowa, Feb. 18, 1853. His father, Gilbert C. R. Mitchell, was a native of Tennessee, and settled in Davenport in 1835. . He married Miss Rose A. Clark, of Irish nativity. Mr. Gilbert Mitchell was a prac- ticing attorney, having read law in his native State, and practiced in Alabama for a time. He was elected judge of the 14th judicial district, under the old constitution in 1856 or '57; failing health compelled him to resign the office not long after. He traveled for some time in the South, to regain his health. He died in Daven- port in 1865. Nathaniel S. Mitchell is one of a family of two sons and four daughters, of whom the brother and three sisters are dead. He read law in Davenport with John W. Thompson, after having been educated at Notre Dame, Indiana, graduating from there in 1872. He was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1875, and the following spring established an office in this city, and has sinee been engaged in general law practice. In politics he is a Repub- lican. He married Miss Charlotte McMenomy in 1874. She was born in New York. His mother, who came here in 1842, and his sister. Mrs. W. J. Mccullough, are residents of this city.

Peter A. Boyle, lawyer, of the firm of Waterman & Boyle, has been practicing law in Scott County since 1576, as a member of the above firm. IIe was born in Connecticut, and is now 33 years of age; came to Scott County when 16 years old; was educated in Griswold College. Davenport, graduating in 1870; entered Har- vard Law School that fall, and graduated from there in 1872, and

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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.

was admitted to practice that fall; entered the law office with Da. vison & Lane, and remained until 1876. His parents, John R. and Mary J. (Copley) Boyle, are residents of Davenport township, Scott County.

Charles A. Ficke, attorney, has been a member of the bar of Scott County since October, 1877. He is a native of Mecklenburg, Ger- many, born April 21, 1850; was brought by his parents to America in 1852. They located in the northern part of this county; later they removed to the city of Davenport, where they now reside. The subject of this sketchi left the farm and came to the city in 1863 for the purpose of securing an education. In 1866 he obtained em- ployment as salesman in a dry goods store, and continued in that capacity until 1868; then elerked for an insurance firm about two years, at the close of which time he entered the Davenport Na- tional Bank as corresponding clerk, occupying that position until July, 1876, studying law meantime. Subsequently attended the Albany Law School, from which he graduated in May, 1877. After spending five months in Europe he located in Davenport, in the practice of law, and has been an active member of the bar of Scott County since, and his success has been particularly flattering. Mr. Fieke is a Republican in politics, and has been somewhat active in committee work, having served as chairman of the Congressional Committee, and of the Republican County Central Committee; but has never sought or accepted the candidacy of any office.

William O. Schmidt, member of the Iowa Legislature and a lawyer, was born in Davenport, June 9, 1856. His father, John Schmidt, was a native of Oldenburg, Germany, and came to Amer- iea in 1834 or '35, and located at St. Louis, Mo. He was for many years a seafaring man, and later ran on the lower Mississippi River. He married Margaretta Sehricker, a native of Bavaria, in St. Louis. They located in Davenport about 1849, and still reside here. He operated heavily in the mercantile business for years, and was one of the founders of the first Board of Directors of the First National Bank of this city, which was the first institution of the kind organized in the United States. He has been retired from business about 10 years, and only looks after the interests of his large estate. William O. is a graduate of the public and high schools of Davenport ; graduated from the law department of the Iowa State University in 1877, and in June of that year was ad- mitted to practice in the Iowa Supreme Court. On attaining his majority he was elected Director of the Davenport Savings Bank, a position he still holds. He read law with the firm of Putnam &

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HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.

Rogers. He was elected alderman from the first ward in the spring of 1880, notwithstanding an opposing majority of about 200. He was elected to the Iowa Legislature in October, 1881, by a major- ity of only 63 votes ; the two Republican candidates were elected by large majorities. He and Mr. Leonard, Sheriff, were the only Democrats elected. Mr. Schmidt immediately opened a law office after graduating and has enjoyed a very successful practice. He is a Mason and has taken the 32d degree. He is a member of the K. of P., also the A. O. U. W., and has filled official chairs in each. His mother is his father's second wife, whom he married a short time prior to coming to Davenport. Three sons of their family are now living. One is in the boot and shoe trade in Dav- enport, the other is in Cherokee Co., Iowa.

Frank L. Dodge, attorney, of the firm of Cook & Dodge, was admitted to the bar June 18, 1877. He then entered the office of Cook & Richman, as assistant and bookkeeper, which relation he sustained until the dissolution of the firm. May 1, 1880, he became a partner with E. E. Cook, in the present firm. Mr. Dodge was born in Buffalo, Iowa, July 20, 1856; he is a son of Leroy and Susan (Jones) Dodge. His father came to Iowa in 1832, and in 1836 he came to Davenport. He engaged in boating on the Mis- sissippi River, first as a elerk, later as pilot, and finally as an owner and operator of steamboats on the river, among them the " James MeKee " and the " Keokuk," of which he was sole owner. He finally abandoned the river in 1859 or '60 and retired to his home in Bnf- falo, where his family had lived a number of years previously. He purchased a large tract of land in Buffalo township, about 1841, and settled there a number of years later. He died in 1871. His first wife, the mother of our subjeet, died in his early childhood. Frank L. attended school at the Iowa State University, from which he was graduated in the literary course in the class of 1875; he re- turned to the law department of that institution in 1876, from which he graduated in 1877.

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History of Scott County, Iowa, Part 33

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing co. Number of Pages: 1280

Author: Inter-state Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, Inter-state publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1280