USA > Iowa > Wapello County > History of Wapello County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 42
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DANIEL F. STECK.
Daniel F. Steck, junior member of the firm of Steck & Steck, well known attorneys of Ottumwa, is one of the younger mem- bers of the bar who has won well deserved success. He has prac- ticed in association with his father for the past eight years and is now serving his second term as county attorney.
His birth occurred in Ottumwa, this county, on the 16th of December, 1881, his parents being A. C. and Ada ( Washburn) Steck. The father was born September 12, 1852, in Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel F. Steck, who were of good old Pennsylvania stock. A. C. Steck
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acquired his early education in the common schools, later pur- sued a course in the local academy and in 1872 was graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He read law under the preceptorship of United States Senator Cowan, one of the most eminent of Pennsylvania lawyers. He was deputy in each one of the offices at the Westmoreland county courthouse and was held in high favor by all the old resi- dents. Mr. Steck was admitted to practice in the various courts of the county and came to Iowa in 1875, opening an office in Ottumwa. His progress was rapid and well deserved. He was elected county attorney in 1886 and reelected two years later, in one of these election contests carrying every township in the county and nearly every voting precinct. In 1900 he was nom- inated for congress on the democratic ticket against his protest, and ran about fourteen hundred votes ahead of his party ticket. In this contest he was pitted against Hon. John F. Lacey, a man of national reputation. In 1878, A. C. Steck was married to Ada Washburn, her father being Erastus Washburn, at one time county auditor and an old settler held in high repute by every- one. By this union there are two children : Mrs. Alice Moss ; and Daniel F., of this review, who was named for his grand- father. The father has been a resident of Ottumwa for thirty-nine years; during that time he was for three years general counselor for the Colorado Coal & Iron Company, with headquarters at Pueblo. For a number of years he was the senior member of the legal firm of Steck & Smith, the latter being the Hon. J. J. Smith, state senator from Wapello county for four years and one of the leading lawyers of southern lowa.
After completing his high-school course Daniel F. Steck en- tered the State University of Iowa at Iowa City, from which in- stitution he was graduated with the class of 1906. In that year he began the practice of law in association with his father, the firm style of Steck & Steck being adopted. The relation has been maintained to the present time with mutual pleasure and profit. The zeal with which they have devoted their energies to the pro- fession, the careful regard evinced for the interests of their clients and an assiduous and unrelaxing attention to all the details of their cases, have brought them a large business and made them very successful in its conduct.
In 1908 Mr. Steck was united in marriage to Miss Lucile Oehler, of lowa City, a daughter of A. M. Oehler. She also en- joyed the advantages of a college education. Mr. Steck gives
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his political allegiance to the democracy and is now serving for the second term in the office of county attorney, making a highly creditable and commendable record in that connection. He is a popular member of the Wapello Country Club, and his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife also belongs. In both professional and social circles of his native county he has won an enviable reputation.
GEORGE A. BROWN.
The name of George A. Brown figures prominently in con- nection with banking interests in Ottumwa and has ever been a synonym for that progressiveness which insures a broadening field of activity and usefulness and at the same time is tempered by a wise conservatism that prompts the careful guarding of the interests intrusted to his care. He is today at the head of the banking firm of George A. Brown & Son and has been connected with other financial institutions of the county. His birth oc- curred in Ogdensburg, New York, July 18, 1845, his parents being William S. and Agnes (Weatherstone) Brown, who were natives of Scotland. They came to the United States in early life and were married in New York, after which they remained residents of Ogdensburg until called to their final rest. The father followed farming in early life and for many years was active as a merchant in his community. His religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church, and his political belief that of the Republican party, but, while he was interested in the success of the party and always voted for its men and measures, he de- clined to accept office.
George A. Brown was the sixth in order of birth in a family of eight children, all of whom have passed away save himself and brother, Robert S., who is living in California. The youth- ful days of George A. Brown were spent in Ogdensburg, with experiences similar to those that fall to the lot of most lads. He remained in his native city until he reached the age of seventeen years and then, prompted by a spirit of patriotism, enlisted in 1862 with Scott's "nine hundred," the First United States Volun- teer Cavalry. He continued with that command for three years, or until the close of the war, and was on active duty with the Army of the Potomac, the Army of the Gulf and the Army of
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Mississippi and Tennessee, being mustered out at Memphis, Ten- nessee, in 1865. He entered the service as a private and came out with the brevet rank of captain after participating in all of the important engagements and military movements in which his regiment took part. The command was finally ordered to New York and became known as the Eleventh New York Cavalry.
Returning home after the war, George A. Brown attended school for two years at the old Wesleyan Seminary and in 1868 he made his way westward to Chicago and thence to Rockford. Illinois, becoming connected with the Rockford Fire Insurance Company at its organization. He remained with them until he came to Ottumwa in 1873, and here he has since resided. He has been general agent for the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company of New York for Missouri and the southwest for a number of years, while in Ottumwa he has been actively engaged in the banking business. He was one of the organizers and is the vice president of the Citizens Savings Bank of Ottumwa. He also helped or- ganize the Ottumwa National Bank and was one of its directors for a number of years. He also aided in organizing the City Savings Bank and was on its directorate for a number of years following its establishment in 1873. He likewise organized the State Bank of Ottumwa and the Citizens Bank of Ottumwa. The banking firm of George A. Brown & Son is today widely known, having continued in business since 1873. They can pay all liabil- ities on demand and there has never been a time in the existence of the firm this could not be done. Their business is today and has been for many years one of large extent and importance. When in the insurance business Mr. Brown covered the entire middle west country on horseback and is today recognized as one of the important factors in financial circles.
At Oxbow, New York, in 1874, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Euphemia Belle Elliott, who was born at that place and passed away in July, 1911. They had two children: Jeannette A., the deceased wife of Howard Herr; and Ray Elliott, who is a partner of his father in the banking business. In October, 1913, Mr. Brown married again, his second union being with Mrs. Mary E. Harper, the widow of Captain W. T. Harper. Mr. Brown has been a lifelong republican, indorsing the principles of the party because of his belief in their efficacy as factors in good government. His social nature finds expression in his member- ship in the Country Club, and his fraternal spirit in his con- nection with the Masons and the Odd Fellows. He is a member
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of the Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as elder, and his influence is always on the side of right, progress, reform and improvement. In business affairs he has maintained an unas- sailable reputation because of the integrity of his methods, while his enterprise and determination have been the foundation upon which he builded his success.
S. A. FUQUA.
S. A. Fuqua is one of the honored veterans of the Civil war and also one of the leading citizens of Dahlonega township. He is now living retired, but for an extended period was actively associated with general agricultural pursuits and the business ability which he displayed in that connection brought him the ' measure of success that now enables him to rest from further labors. He was born in Kentucky, August 22, 1838, and has, therefore, passed the seventy-sixth milestone on life's journey. His parents, John and Letta (Rigdon) Fuqua, were also natives of Kentucky and in the early '4os came to Iowa, where they remained until the mother's death. The father afterward re- turned to his native state and there spent his last days. In their family were six children.
S. A. Fuqua, who is the only one now living, remained at home until he had attained his majority and then started out to earn his own living by working as a farm hand. He was brought to Iowa during his early childhood and shared with the family in all of the hardships and privations of pioneer life when Wapello county was a fronter district. He also attended the primitive schools of this locality, but his opportunities in that direction were somewhat limited, owing to the fact that his services were needed in the arduous work of developing a new farm. He was a young man of about twenty-four years when, in 1862, aroused by a spirit of patriotism, he enlisted for service in Company E, Twenty-second lowa Infantry, with which he served for three years. He participated in twelve hotly con- tested engagements, including the battles of Vicksburg and Cedar Creek, where the regiment lost heavily. With the close of the war he was mustered out at Savannah, Georgia, and re- turned home with a most creditable military record.
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When the country no longer needed his aid Mr. Fuqua be- gan farming on his own account in Iowa and continuously fol- lowed that occupation until he retired from active business life about five years ago. He owned and cultivated a good tract of land, and the careful management of his business affairs, com- bined with the practical and progressive methods which he dis- played in tilling the soil, brought to him a most gratifying meas- ure of success. He still owns his home in Dahlonega township.
In August, 1866, Mr. Fuqua was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Pegg, who was born in Greene county, Indiana, a daughter of James and Julia Ann (Pagget) Pegg, the father a native of Kentucky and the mother of Indiana. In 1860 they came to Iowa, settling in Wapello county, where the father worked at the carpenter's trade. Both he and his wife remained residents of this county until called to the home beyond. They had a family of seven children, of whom six survive. To Mr. and Mrs. Fuqua nine children were born: Ida M., the wife of O. Carter of this county; Laura, the wife of Dan Rollison of Ottumwa; Minnie, the wife of Jake Simmers; John W., now of Mount Pleasant, Iowa; Julia Ann, deceased; Bertha, the wife of Fred Rutman; Bert, the wife of Emanuel Arandus; Minerva, the wife of V. Thorp; and Gertrude, the wife of Milton Cooper.
In his political views Mr. Fuqua is a republican, having sup- ported the party since attaining his majority. He has held no political office, but has served as school director, and is interested in many measures having to do with the progress, upbuilding and improvement of the community. He is a member of the Grand Army post of Ottumwa and thus maintains pleasant relations with the "boys in blue." In days of peace he has been as true and loyal to his country and her best interests as he was when he followed the old flag upon the battlefields of the south. He is, therefore, today classed as one of the representative and valued citizens of Wapello county as well as one of its worthy pioneers.
D. B. DAVIS.
D. B. Davis, an enterprising young business man of Ottumwa, conducts two drug stores in the city and is accorded a gratifying patronage in this connection. His birth occurred in Appanoose county, Iowa, on the 24th of August, 1884, his parents being W. Vol. II-29
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P. and Alma (Linch) Davis, likewise natives of that county. They are now residents of Pierre, South Dakota. Six of their seven children are still living.
D. B. Davis remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority and for some time served as deputy sheriff under his father. He enjoyed the advantages of a high-school education and is also a graduate of the Highland Park College of Pharmacy of Des Moines, completing the course in that insti- tution in 1905. Subsequently he undertook the management of a drug store at Centerville, Appanoose county, and in 1909 came to Ottumwa, opening the store on the south side of which he has since remained the proprietor. In 1911 he purchased the drug store of L. H. Young on the north side and has also conducted this establishment to the present time. An extensive patronage is accorded him, for he carries a complete line of drugs and druggists' sundries and both of his stores are attractive and well appointed. He likewise owns a wholesale and retail cigar store at Centerville, lowa, and is widely recognized as one of the pros- perous and able young business men of his community.
On the 14th of March, 1911, Mr. Davis was united in mar- riage to Miss Pearl F. Stewart, a native of Des Moines and a daughter of William and Alice Stewart. The father is deceased, but the mother still survives and makes her home in Ottumwa. Mr. Davis is a republican in politics but has never sought nor desired office as a reward for his party fealty. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Yeomen. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are young people of high standing in the community in which they reside, are sociable and hospitable to a degree and by their many excellent traits of char- acter have gained the respect and high regard of an extensive circle of warm friends.
EDGAR DAGGETT.
Edgar Daggett, engaged in the livery, transfer, undertaking and storage business in Ottumwa, was born in New York, Octo- Ber 9, 1843, and comes of New England ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Ebenezer Daggett, was born at Needham, Massa- chusetts, in 1762, and died in 1845. His wife, Jeanette Patterson, a native of Enfield, Massachusetts, was born in 17-8 and passed
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away in 1859. It was in Enfield that Ebenezer Daggett, father . of Edgar Daggett, was born in 1798. He became a manufac- turer, devoting his life to pursuits of that character. He died in 1859, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Pope, passed away in Ottumwa in 1862, at the age of sixty-one years, her birth having occurred in 1801.
Edgar Daggett is indebted to the public-school system of New York for the educational privileges which he enjoyed dur- ing his youthful days. In early manhood he made his way west- ward to Wapello county and began clerking in Ottumwa for the firm of Daggett & Edgerly, the senior partner being his brother. They were proprietors of a hardware store, in which Edgar Dag- gett remained for six years, during which time he carefully saved his earnings until his capital was sufficient to enable him to em- bark in the dairy business on his own account. He continued in that line until 1900 and something of the growth of his patron- age is indicated in the fact that, while he started with six cows, ere he closed out his business he had one hundred and thirty-five cows. He conducted both a retail and wholesale business, run- ning three wagons. After closing out he embarked in the livery, transfer, undertaking and storage business and still conducts all these. Since its organization the business has grown year by year, having increased at least fourfold, and he now employs thirty- five people. He has never been afraid of work. Indolence and idleness are utterly foreign to his nature, and through his deter- mination and unflagging energy he has reached success.
On the 2d of March, 1865, Mr. Daggett was united in mar- riage to Miss Helen Hammond, who was born in Wapello county, in December, 1844, a daughter of Harrison and Eliza (Baker) Hammond, the former a mill man before the roller system of flour manufacture was introduced. Mr. and Mrs. Dag- gett have become parents of three sons : Henry and Ernest Lee. who are associated with their father in business; and Frank. The eldest married Sarah Coffin and they had one child, Helen. Fol- lowing the death of the mother Henry Daggett wedded Etta Jones and to this union has been born a daughter, Dorothy. Ernest Lee married Anna Doty and has two children : Doty and Mary. Frank married Leora Sprague and has one child, Jean- nette. The family are members of the Methodist church, and : Mr. Daggett belongs also to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, while his political allegiance is given to the republican party. Mr. Daggett deserves much credit for what he has ac-
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complished, for his success is attributable entirely to his own efforts. Gradually he has worked his way upward, and what he has undertaken he has accomplished. He is now at the head of an important and growing business, and the future seems to hold out promises of still greater success.
CAPTAIN CHARLES PERRY BROWN.
When the tocsin of war sounded men flocked to the nation's standard from the fields, the work shops, the counting rooms and the offices, the spirit of patriotism burning proudly within each breast, each soldier being ready to face danger and if necessary meet death in defense of the stars and stripes and the cause repre- sented by Old Glory. Iowa has reason to be proud of her military record during its darkest hour in our country's history. Captain Charles Perry Brown was among the number who almost before the smoke from Fort Sumter's guns had cleared away offered their aid to the government and went to the front, and he proved a most brave and loyal soldier throughout the period of hostili- ties. Captain Brown is now living retired in Ottumwa, spending his days in well earned ease. He was for a number of years prominently identified with financial interests as president of the Ottumwa Savings Bank, which he organized in the fall of 1887.
His birth occurred in Warren, Herkimer county, New York, on the 30th of October, 1840, his parents being the Rev. Charles Edward and Frances (Lyon) Brown. The father, who was born in Oneida county, New York, February 23, 1813, was a son of Rev. Phillip Perry Brown, whose birth occurred in Bennington, Vermont, September 17, 1790, and who died in Madison, New York, September 23, 1876. Rev. P. P. Brown was a Baptist minister, holding pastorates of various Baptist churches in cen- tral New York. His mother, Anna Perry Brown, was a member of the family of Oliver Hazard Perry of naval fame. Betsy Dickey, wife of Rev. P. P. Brown, was born in Weathersfield, Vermont, October 23, 1788, and died in Hamilton, New York, April 2, 1862. Her father was a Scotch-Irishman, who came from Londonderry in the north of Ireland to Londonderry, New Hampshire, before the Revolutionary war. Rev. C. E. Brown, in telling the story of his life, said : "My parents moved from Augusta to Smithfield in Madison county, New York, and there
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I lived amidst the privations of pioneer life until my eighteenth birthday." In 1831 Rev. C. E. Brown started out in life for himself and began to work on a farm. At a revival meeting in 1832 he became a Christian and was baptized by his father, shortly afterward entering the Hamilton Literary and Theolog- ical Seminary. He then taught school until 1835 and did some ministerial work. On July 15, 1838, he reentered the Hamilton Seminary and was ordained on the 20th of September. On the 26th of September, 1838, in the Baptist church at Little Falls, he was married to Frances Lyon, the Rev. H. Beach officiating. He then became pastor of a church at Norway, Herkimer county, New York, but in 1840 was assigned to missionary work in Iowa. On May 2, 1842, he and his family left Utica, New York, for the west. His story of the journey, the hardships and privations of pioneer traveling, is most interesting and covers many pages of a book written by his son, Captain Charles Perry Brown. He was appointed to Iowa by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. He made his first home at Maquoketa, Jackson county, and in the following fall removed to Davenport. After nine years of arduous and successful labor in his calling failing health obliged him to return to New York in May, 1851, where he spent six years in central and western counties, returning to Iowa in July, 1857, to make a home in Howard county. He was a man of excellent executive ability and sound judgment, was enter- prising and progressive and possessed unusual strength of char- acter-qualities which insure success in the commercial world. However, he preferred to devote his life to the betterment and uplift of humanity in the service of his Master. His demise occurred at Ottumwa, Iowa, on the 23d of July, 1901, while his wife was called to her final rest on the 12th of June, 1887. The latter, a noble Christian woman and a devoted, loving wife and mother, was a daughter of Dr. Benjamin Lyon, of Herkimer county, New York, whose wife, Mrs. Brown's mother, was Margaret Duncan, daughter of Richard Duncan, a prominent Scotchman who left his native land on account of political dis- turbances and settled near Schenectady, New York, at an early dav.
To Rev. Charles E. and Frances (Lyon) Brown were born five children. Benjamin P., a native of Norway, Herkimer county, New York, was drowned in the Maquoketa river. in Jackson county, Iowa, on the 20th of June, 1848. On the morning of that day he had read, with his parents and younger brother,
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the first chapter of Mark. The next in order of birth is Charles Perry of this review. James De Grush, born in Le Claire town- ship, Scott county, Iowa, February 9, 1846, was connected with the freight department of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad at Ottumwa and is now general agent of the New York Central lines at St. Joseph, Missouri. George Lyon Brown, born in Herkimer county, New York, July 29, 1853, died from in- juries received while coupling cars at St. Paul Junction, Minne- sota, September 1, 1871. William Carlos, twin brother of George L. Brown, was formerly general manager of the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad and in 1901 became vice president and general manager of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern and Lake Erie & Western Railways. On January 1, 1909, he was made president of the New York Central lines and held the office until he retired in January, 1914.
Charles Perry Brown acquired his education in the common schools of New York and Iowa and was a teacher in country district schools in northern Iowa during the winter terms of 1859, 1860 and 1861. He was the first volunteer from Howard county for the Civil war, enlisting about April 20, 1861, in the Decorah Guards, a Winneshiek county company, which was mustered into the service of the United States as Company D, Third Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, at Keokuk, Iowa. The first, second and third regiments of Iowa infantry were organized at Keokuk about the same time, all being there to- gether before any left for the field. At the organization of his company Mr. Brown was elected third corporal and in March, 1862, was promoted to be second sergeant. He was made first lieutenant of artillery in May, 1863, and in September, 1864, was appointed captain and assistant adjutant general of volunteers by President Lincoln, holding that position until discharged in December, 1865. He served continuously from April 20, 1861, until December 31, 1865, when he was honorably discharged by war department order, for the reason that his services were no longer required. He was on staff duty about three years as regi- mental and brigade quartermaster, aide-de-camp and assistant adjutant general, serving more than a year with Major General Stephen A. Hurlbut, who commanded the Fourth Division, Army of the Tennessee, at Pittsburg Landing, Shiloh and Corinth, and later the Sixteenth Army Corps and the Depart- ment of the Gulf. He participated in every battle and campaign in which his command was engaged.
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