USA > Iowa > Wapello County > History of Wapello County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 23
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On the 31st of January, 1889, Mr. Tisdale was united in mar- riage to Miss Myrtle L. Coombs, who was born in Indiana in 1868, a daughter of W. A. and Mahala (Davis) Coombs, the former now deceased, while the latter is a resident of Ottumwa. Mr. and Mrs. Tisdale became parents of two daughters: Flor- ence M., who was graduated from the University of Chicago in June, 1913, and is now at home ; and Mildred, who died in Feb- ruary, 1909, in her seventeenth year. The parents hold mem- bership in the Congregational church, in which Mr. Tisdale is serving as a trustee. His fraternal relations are with the Masons and his social nature finds expression in his membership in the Wapello and Country Clubs. In politics he has been a stalwart republican since 1896. For nine years he has been a member of the board of education in Ottumwa and at the present writing
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is serving as its president, the public schools finding in him a stalwart champion, looking ever to their interests and welfare. He stands at all times for material, intellectual, political, social and moral progress. He is not over zealous, nor is he indifferent to concerns of public policy, but in all things maintains an even balance and so directs his energies and efforts that desirable re- sults are accomplished.
SAMUEL Q. MCCARTY.
An excellent farm of one hundred and twenty acres pays tribute to the care and cultivation of Samuel Q. McCarty. His home is on section 3, Dahlonega township, and in connection with the cultivation of his fields he is successfully engaged in stock-raising. He was born in Wapello county, Iowa, October 8, 1853, and is a son of John and Catherine ( Anthony) McCarty, both of whom were natives of Franklin county, Pennsylvania. Removing westward to Ohio in early life, they were married in that state and in 1853 came to Iowa, casting in their lot with the pioneer settlers of Wapello county. They settled upon a farm, whereon they remained until their life's labors were ended in death, and they were classed with the representative and highly respected agriculturists of the community. In their family were eleven children : Elmina, now the wife of A. Gleason, of Mis- souri ; Samuel Q .; and nine who have passed away.
Samuel Q. McCarty was reared on the old homestead farm and remained with his parents until they were called to their final rest. He attended the common schools, dividing his time between his studies and the work of the fields. His practical training at farm labor well qualified him to take charge of the old home farm, which he did following the demise of his father. Hle has since cultivated this place and is now the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of rich and productive land, situated on section 3, Dahlonega township. He raises the cereals best adapted to soil and climate, and his timely and practical methods of planting his crops give promise of abundant harvests in the autumn. He also raises good grades of stock and both features of his business are proving profitable.
On April 2, 1895, Mr. McCarty was united in marriage to Miss Mary Reissinger, a native of Germany, as were her
اليد ئر
SAMUEL Q. MCCARTY AND FAMILY
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parents, Valentine and Magdalene (Lowenburg) Reissinger. About 1883 they crossed the Atlantic to the new world, accom- panied by their children, and established their home in Iowa. Later they removed to Montana, where their remaining days were passed. In their family were eight children, of whom six are living. Mr. and Mrs. McCarty have become parents of two children, but lost their daughter, who was the first-born, Doris V., who was born January 8, 1897, and died in 1904. The son, John H., born February 13, 1899, is now ready to enter high school. Mr. and Mrs. McCarty have adopted a little daughter, Helen M., who was born March 8, 1907, and who has taken the family name.
Mr. and Mrs. McCarty attend the Methodist Episcopal church, and in his life he exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the fraternal organizations with which he is connected. He holds membership with the Woodmen of the World and also with the Odd Fellows lodge at Highland Center. His political indorse- ment is given at the polls to the republican party, but he has never sought nor desired political office. He is interested in affairs relating to the upbuilding of the community, however, and for ten years he has served as school treasurer, the cause of education finding in him a stalwart champion. More than sixty years have come and gone since the McCarty family was estab- lished in this county. The same year the birth of Samuel Q. Mc- Carty occurred, so that he has long been a witness of the changes wrought here by time and man. He has lived to see the pioneer homes replaced by commodious and substantial farm residences, has seen the building of churches and schools throughout the county, indicating the moral and intellectual progress of the com- munity, and has witnessed the establishment of all kinds of busi- ness. His own life work has been a prominent feature in agri- cultural development here, and his success may be all attributed to his own efforts.
JOHN WORMHOUDT.
John Wormhoudt is sole owner and manager of the Worm- houdt Lumber Company and president of the Ottumwa Supply Construction Company, which connections indicate his prom- inence in business circles. He possesses an initiative spirit and Vol. II-16
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does not have to wait for others to mark out the path which he wishes to tread. In fact, he has been a leader in the communi- ties in which he has lived, and his enterprise and determination have carried him into important commercial relations.
Iowa numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred at Pella in 1869. His parents, H. and Anna Worm- houdt, were natives of Holland, the latter belonging to one of the first Dutch families to settle in Iowa, arriving at about the time it was admitted into the Union. She was a daughter of G. H. Overkamp, and her parents journeyed by ox team from Keokuk to Pella. Her father was a cabinet-maker by trade and engaged in the manufacture of furniture. He belonged to the Dutch Reformed church, and it was a desire for religious freedom that led him to leave his native land and come to the new world. H. Wormhoudt arrived in Iowa about six weeks after his wife's family. He had crossed the Atlantic on a sailing vessel about 1847, and was married in Pella, Iowa, where he and his wife spent their remaining days. By trade he was a carpenter, but at one time owned and operated a sawmill on the Des Moines river. Business at that time was merely a trading proposition, no money being paid for labor. For some years the family lived in primitive style, but gradually as the country became more thickly settled and pioneer conditions gave way before the improvements and opportunities of ad- vancing civilization he worked his way upward and won for himself a place among the substantial and representative busi- ness men of his community. At length he entered the lum- ber business in connection with T. F. Baldwin and prosperity attended their efforts. Mr. Wormhoudt remained actively in commercial connections until he reached the age of seventy-five years, when he retired, while his death occurred at the ripe old age of eighty-three years. His widow survives and makes her home in Pella. Mr. Wormhoudt was a man of deeply religious nature and his church recognized in him one of its most earnest workers and generous supporters. His en- tire career was ever honorable and upright and gained for him the highest regard of the entire community. In his family were seven sons and two daughters, Garrett, Johannah, Henry, Effie, Isaac, John, Edward, Andrew, deceased, and Dominicus.
John Wormhoudt spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Pella, there remaining until 1891, when he came to Ottumwa, where he entered the employ of S. L. McGavice as yard man-
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ager of his lumber business. He occupied that position for two years, during which time he carefully saved his earnings and then bought out the business of Finley & Whipple on the south side. There he has since conducted a lumber business, which was carried on for a time under the firm style of Warden & Wormhoudt, but the latter is now alone. He conducts a retail lumber business, handling all kinds of building material, hard- ware, cement, etc., his yard being located at the corner of Divi- sion and Willard streets. Mr. Wormhoudt has made steady advancement since his father took him into the lumber busi- ness when he was sixteen years of age. The business arrange- ment was that the son should be paid ten dollars per month, out of which amount he was to pay four dollars per month board and five dollars per year to the church. Something of the enter- prise and ambition of Mr. Wormhoudt is indicated in the fact that during the first year he saved twenty-one dollars. The highest wage he ever received up to the time that he came to Ottumwa was thirty dollars per month. He was married at twenty-two years of age and had seven hundred dollars in the bank. One of the secrets of his success is that he has concen- trated his efforts along a single line, never dissipating his ener- gies over a broad field. He is thoroughly familiar with every phase of the lumber business, and his energy and persistency of purpose have enabled him to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in his path. He is also now a director in the South Ottumwa Savings Bank, is a director of the L. T. Cristman Planing Company and a director of the North Empire Timber Company.
In 1892 Mr. Wormhoudt was united in marriage to Miss Ina C. Kelley, who was born in Peoria, Iowa, in 1869, a daugh- ter of E. S. Kelley, an early settler of this state, who built one of the first macadamized roads in this section of Iowa. Mrs. Wormhoudt was one of a family of thirteen children, who were carefully reared, and by her marriage she has become the mother of a son and two daughters. The eldest, Henry, completed the high-school course at Ottumwa, spent two years as a student at Ames and is now associated with his father in the lumber business. Bertha Cleo, also a high-school graduate of Ottumwa, is now attending college at Ames. Anna Lucile, the youngest, is a pupil in the Ward school.
In addition to the family residence at No. 402 Chester avenue Mr. Wormhoudt owns a farm of one hundred and
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ninety-five acres west of the city and greatly enjoys superintend- ing the place and watching its development. He is a public- spirited citizen and assists every project and movement for the upbuilding of the city. He belongs to the Willard Street Meth- odist Episcopal church and for eighteen years has been a member of the board of trustees. He is also a member of the In- dependent order of Odd Fellows and of the Country Club and in all of the organizations of which he is a member he has taken a helpful interest. He was one of four who laid out the Jefferson Park addition of South Ottumwa and at all times his activities have been of a character which has contributed to public progress and improvement as well as to individual suc- cess. He is a large, finelooking man, standing six feet, three inches in height, and it is said of him that he is as good natured as he is tall. All who know him entertain for him a feeling of friendly regard. He easily wins the confidence and good-will of his fellow men because of his genuine worth and his unfeigned cordiality. There will be no dissenting voice to the opinion that he is one of the most prominent and representative resi- dents of his city.
DONALD McELDERRY.
Donald McElderry has been successfully engaged in the practice of medicine at Agency since August, 1908, and has won enviable recognition as one of the able representatives of the medical profession here. His birth occurred in Fairfield, Jefferson county, Iowa, on the 28th of February, 1874, his par- ents being John R. and Isabelle (Frush) McElderry, both of whom are natives of Ohio. They came to Iowa in 1857 and took up their abode on a farm near Fairfield. John R. Mc- Elderry responded to the first call for volunteers at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war, joining Company E, Second lowa Infantry, with which command he participated in most of the important engagements of the conflict. He was mustered out in 1865 and returned home with a most creditable military record. Unto him and his wife were born nine children, eight of whom survive.
Donald McElderry supplemented his early education, ob- tained in the common schools, by a college course. Subse-
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quently he entered the medical department of the State Univer- sity of Iowa, from which institution he was graduated in 1908. In August of that year he opened an office at Agency, where he has remained to the present time, having built up an extensive and lucrative practice. He has an attractive office and also a handsome residence in Agency.
On the 28th of November, 1907, Mr. McElderry was united in marriage to Miss Sadie McMillin, a native of Wapello county and a daughter of Frank and Deborah (Hendrickson) McMillin. The father still resides on a farm in this county, but the mother has passed away. Mrs. McElderry, who was one of a family of four children, prepared for the calling of a trained nurse in Ottumwa. She has had two children, namely : Donald, who died in infancy; and Frank R., who was born on the 8th of November, 1909.
Mr. McElderry is a republican in politics and is identified fraternally with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, be- longing to Lodge No. 4 at Fairfield. He is a member of the County, State and American Medical Associations, also of the Des Moines Valley and the Southeastern Iowa Medical Asso- ciations. He finds that membership in these professional socie- ties contributes much to his knowledge of present tendencies in the science and practice of medicine. Both he and his wife at- tend the services of the Methodist Episcopal church. In both professional and social circles of his community Mr. McElderry is popular, enjoying the esteem and friendship of all who know him.
GEORGE T. REEVES.
George T. Reeves, who owns a well equipped garage in Ottumwa, has here been engaged in business as an automobile dealer for the past four years and also conducts a repair shop. He is numbered among the worthy native sons of Wapello county, his birth having here occurred on the 20th of October, 1880. His father, Theodore Reeves, was a native of Indiana, born in 1848. The paternal grandfather of our subject came to this state from Indiana, taking up his abode among the earliest residents of Wapello county. The farm on which he settled is still in possession of the Reeves family. Theodore Reeves
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continued on the place until his demise, devoting his time and energies to agricultural pursuits with excellent success. His widow, who bore the maiden name of Eliza Cline and is a native of Kansas, now makes her home with her son George. She is a devoted and consistent member of the Methodist church and enjoys an extensive and favorable acquaintance in the com- munity which has so long been her home. Her children are four in number, as follows: Wesley and Charles, both of whom are residents of Ottumwa; Frank, living in Kirksville, Mis- souri; and George T., of this review.
The last named was reared on the home farm and attended the common schools in the acquirement of an education, but since attaining his majority has spent most of the time in Ot- tumwa. On the 20th of August, 1910, he began business in the garage which he had erected at No. 207 West Second street and has since been accorded an enviable patronage as a dealer in Hudson, Paige and Overland cars, selling a large number of machines annually. He likewise conducts a repair shop and furnishes employment to four men.
On the 24th of December, 1901, Mr. Reeves was united in marriage to Miss Lillie Harter, a native of Mahaska county, Iowa, and a daughter of A. F. and Lizzie (Cassle) Harter. The father still resides on the home farm, but the mother is deceased. Mr. Reeves is a republican in his political views, loyally sup- porting the men and measures of that party at the polls. He has won many friends in the community where his entire life has been spent and enjoys an enviable reputation as a young business man of enterprise and ability.
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J. B. McCARROLL.
J. B. McCarroll is sole owner of a hardware, stove, tinware and sporting goods business, conducted under the name of McCarroll Brothers, and Ottumwa classes him with her repre- sentative merchants. He early recognized the eternal principle that industry wins, and industry became the beacon light of his life, guiding him to the present goal of successful endeavor.
He was born at Leesville, Ohio, October 29, 1859, a son of W. F. and Mary M. (Millisack) McCarroll, who were also natives of the Buckeye state. About 1865 they removed west-
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ward, settling at Kirkville, Iowa, where they resided until 1871, when they came to Ottumwa, where the death of the father occurred twenty years later, on the 24th of December, 1891, when he was sixty-eight years of age. His widow survived for about eight years and passed away in 1899 also at the age of sixty-eight. In early life the father followed farming, continu- ing in that occupation until he came to Ottumwa, when he entered the stove business under the firm style of W. F. McCar- roll & Son, the junior partner being his son, C. T. McCarroll. He remained actively in the business until his death and from a comparatively small beginning developed it into an extensive wholesale and jobbing business. He also conducted a retail department, and his patronage was a liberal one, for his business methods and his enterprise commended him to the confidence and support of the public. At one time he was alderman of Ottumwa from the fourth ward, being elected to the office as the candidate of the republican party, of which he was a stalwart advocate. He made for himself a prominent place in public regard not only by reason of his success in business but also owing to his devotion to the general welfare and his co-operation in many movements looking to the public good. To him and his wife were born five children: Phoebe, the wife of P. C. Bidder- son of Ottumwa; J. B .; Laura, the wife of E. L. Kilby of Ottumwa; W. F., deceased ; and C. T.
J. B. McCarroll, whose name introduces this review, pursued a public-school education in Ohio and Iowa and on the 20th of June, 1876, when a young man of about seventeen years, began learning the tinner's trade. He was associated with his father in the management of the business until after the father's death, when J. B. McCarroll and his brother, C. T., succeeded to the business and conducted it until 1898. They then sold out to the firm of Harper & McIntire. J. B. McCarroll then spent a year in settling up the accounts of the old firm. At that time his brother-in-law, P. C. Bidderson, was conducting the hard- ware business now owned by our subject, and when the accounts of the old firm had been settled up Mr. McCarroll took the management of the business, and his brother, W. F. McCarroll, became his partner. This relation was maintained until 1909. when, following the death of his brother, J. B. McCarroll pur- chased the widow's interest and has since conducted the business alone, although retaining the old firm name of McCarroll Broth- ers. He has been continuously connected with the hardware
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trade in Ottumwa for thirty-eight years and is today one of the leading merchants of the city. He carries a large and well se- lected line of hardware, stoves, tinware and sporting goods, and his patronage is extensive. He always endeavors to please his customers, and his promptness and reliability are features in his growing success.
In 1899 Mr. McCarroll was united in marriage to Miss Ida B. Amos, of Lima, Ohio, and to them were born three children, Ida Blanche and two who died in infancy. Mr. McCarroll is an active member of the Masonic fraternity and is now a past master of Ottumwa Lodge, No. 16, A. F. & A. M .; and a past commander of Malta Commandery, No. 31, K. T. He is likewise a charter member of the Elks lodge of his city, and he belongs to the Wapello and the Country Clubs. His religious faith is that of the spiritualist sect, with which his parents and grandparents were also connected. In politics he is a republican and the family were strong abolitionists in ante bellum days. Thus it was that the son was given the name of John Brown McCarroll. For forty-three years a resident of Wapello county, he is widely known and the many sterling traits of his charac- ter have gained him the favorable regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact through business or social relations.
REV. URIAH B. SMITH.
Rev. Uriah B. Smith, founder, promoter and superintendent of the American Home Finding Association of Ottumwa, was born March 13, 1840, in the mountains of Pennsylvania. He says that in school he was generally at one end of his class and remembers that once that end was the head. His parents with their large family removed to Illinois in 1851. When the boy Uriah was eleven years of age, an old Dunkard, who had a contract for carrying the United States mail overland a distance of ninety-five miles, and whose wife was taken suddenly ill, went to Daniel Smith to ask if his boy could go with the mail in his stead. Consent was given. It was midwinter. The boy started on an old horse that knew the way, the mail sack thrown across the saddle. The first day he fell behind, the cold chafed his legs, which rubbed against the saddle skirts until they bled. People along the route were indignant that the man Kerr should
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have sent such a little boy in his stead in such weather. The next day he crossed fifteen miles of prairie, on which was not a house, and secured his dinner two hours after the regular meal- time, the roads being too rough to travel fast with a fourteen year old horse. At dark the second evening he was still fourteen miles from the end of his journey. A good farmer came to his relief and gave him a ride, so that he arrived at his destination at 10 P. M. At daylight he started on the return trip. When within eight miles of home the second day the poor old horse gave out and lay down in the road. It was very dark. The boy could find nothing wrong so whipped the horse and started on. At length he saw a light at a farm house ahead, and there re- mained until morning. He arrived at the postoffice seventeen hours late and found a crowd of angry men waiting to see if the boy would show up or be found on the way frozen to death, in which case threats of lynching had been made for the man whose place he was filling.
Some time afterward Uriah B. Smith with his brother David was employed for two years by a liberal-minded farmer. Later his father took a contract to furnish the rock for culverts on a railroad ten miles out of Galesburg, and the boy was one of the teamsters employed in filling the contract. Late in the fall of that year, 1854, the family removed to Iowa save the older brother, David, who became overseer on the farm where the brothers had previously been employed for two years. He fol- lowed the family to Iowa the following spring and is well known in Ottumwa, being the Rev. D. C. Smith, now seventy-six years of age. He was a member of the Iowa conference of the Metho- dist Episcopal church for forty-nine years and was twice presid- ing elder. The next important event in the life of U. B. Smith was his conversion together with that of thirteen other boys and young men, five of whom afterward became ministers of the gospel. It will be remembered that a great revival swept over the country as though the Creator was preparing his people for the awful conflict which was soon to follow. About that time Henry Ward Beecher sold by auction the beautiful white slave girl with negro blood in her veins to three thousand of his hearers in Plymouth church at Brooklyn, New York, in his des- peration to show up slavery. Men needed much religion to maintain civility toward each other. The big giant, Lincoln, and the little giant, Douglas, in the middle west were arguing hotly the issues of the day with the intensity of the two natures.
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Their subjects were pointed and the discussions ofttimes waxed hot. Then followed the four-cornered election for president. It seemed that Providence had chosen its instrument in the rail- splitter of Illinois. Then came secession and the clash of swords, war cries, and the sound of fife and drum. Who would go? Two from the township responded; then six, and U. B. Smith was one of the six. By a sacred agreement he was to become the husband of Miss Harriet Newell Riley three weeks later, but they hastened the wedding and were married that evening, August 13, 1861. After taking his oath as a soldier and in the presence of five comrades, Mr. Smith spoke the marriage vows and entered into a sacred bond that has remained for fifty-three years.
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