USA > Iowa > Wapello County > History of Wapello County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 5
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Martin Hardsocg was there reared and, although his advan- tages in youth were somewhat limited, he has steadily worked his way upward and by industry, energy and ability has reached a place among the leading business men of Wapello county. When fifteen years of age he was apprenticed to the blacksmith's trade and there gained a knowledge of mechanics that constituted the basis upon which he has built his later success. His apprentice- ship covered three years, during which period he thoroughly mastered the business, and at the age of eighteen he felt com- petent to start out in business on his own account, establishing a shop at Smoky Hollow, in Wapello county, where he did such mechanical work as was brought to him. Many miners' tools were taken to him for sharpening, and he displayed such skill in that connection that he was offered a position by a mining com- pany, which he accepted. He also made new miners' tools, which sold for a much higher price than those manufactured in the factory. The first skates which he ever possessed he made and later sold for five dollars. He remained with the mining company for but a year, during which time he faithfully rep- resented them and gave them entire satisfaction, but as one of the partners wished to place a friend in the position Mr. Hard- socg was discharged to make room for the other man. He learned one lesson from that experience, which was that when in the employ of others the individual's position was never assured nor quite safe. As a result he returned to his little shop, although his earnings there were little more than fifty or seventy-five cents per day. He was ambitious, was not afraid of work and was eager to enlarge his business, with which end in view he was always trying to devise some manner to increase his pat- ronage. At length he decided that he would go to the different mining camps and solicit work. This plan proved successful and after the work was done he would deliver it. In this way lie built up a reputation for expert workmanship. He also began to make improvements on the old-fashioned tools, which he sold to his customers, and thus step by step he advanced until
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he took up the manufacture of miners' tools. He has told that at that time his highest ambition was to give two men steady employment, but each forward step in his career has brought him a broader outlook and wider opportunities. When two men were employed he was just as eager to increase his force to four and so on until his plants have reached the present extensive pro- portions. He had removed his business from Smokey Hollow to Avery, and as it there outgrew its surroundings he determined upon a further removal to Ottumwa. At that time he capitalized the business for seventy-five thousand dollars and was enjoying a very extensive and gratifying trade when the entire plant was destroyed by fire. The amount of insurance which he was car- rying was only sufficient to enable him to discharge his indebted- ness. He must formulate new plans, which would give him the necessary working capital, and this he did by organizing a stock company, of which he held the controlling interest. Soon his business was again in a flourishing condition and today the entire stock of the Hardsocg Manufacturing Company is owned by Martin Hardsocg and his children, while Mr. Hardsocg and his son are owners of the stock of the Nicholls Manufacturing Com- pany and the former is the largest stockholder in the Hardsocg Wonder Drill Company, the three concerns employing on an average one hundred workmen. His industrial interests have thus become extensive, and his energy has made him a leading figure in business circles. His interests have ever been of a char- acter that has contributed to public prosperity as well as to indi- vidual success.
When nineteen years of age Mr. Hardsocg was united in marriage to Mrs. Melinda Edwards, a widow with two children, and by this marriage there have been born four children : Dolce, at home; Lester, now manager of the Hardsocg Manufacturing Company ; Fred, manager of the Nicholls Manufacturing Com- pany, and Bane, superintendent of the Hardsocg Manufactur- ing Company. The sons are all married.
Mr. Hardsocg some years ago purchased from the estate of Charles F. Blake a tract of land of five hundred acres, just outside the city limits of Ottumwa. There he erected a palatial residence, surrounding which is a large and well kept lawn, intersected by walks and drives in an artistic manner. Mr. Hard- socg has ever taken great interest in this beautiful home and delights in doing such work as trimming the trees and shrubs upon the place and giving direction to the labors of others as
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to the further improvement of the grounds. He has set out many trees of different varieties and is most interested in their growth. Of this estate Mr. Hardsoeg has since sold all but twenty-three acres, of which he still retains possession, and he is likewise the owner of one hundred acres within the city limits of Ottumwa. There have been no spectacular phases in his whole life record, his career being characterized by that unfaltering energy which permits of no discouragements and brooks no obstacles. Steadily and persistently he has worked his way upward and is now at the head of a business of large and gratifying proportions, numbered among the leading industrial concerns of the city.
JOSEPH G. HUTCHISON.
Ottumwa was proud to number Joseph G. Hutchison among her citizens. Here he made his home from December, 1865, until his death and his life was one of increasing useful- ness to the community. His name figures in connection with progressiveness along commercial and financial lines, and he had marked influence in shaping the policy of the state on a number of important occasions. None questioned his public spirit, and his devotion to the welfare of the state, for many tangible evidences may be cited of his deep and abiding inter- est in Iowa's welfare, an interest which at times reached the point of self-sacrifice.
Mr. Hutchison was a native of Pennsylvania, his birth hav- ing occurred in Northumberland county in 1840. He was descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry, the paternal strain being Scotch. His maternal grandparents, Caldwell by name, came from the north of Ireland in 1798, while his grandmother Hutchison, whose maiden name was Guilford, was of English descent. His grandfather Hutchison was a prominent figure in public life in Pennsylvania and at one time was a member of the general assembly, representing a district which comprised about one-third of the state.
Joseph G. Hutchison received the advantages of college training and was a highly educated and classical scholar. He was a student in the Williamsport Dickinson Seminary at Wil- liamsport, Pennsylvania, completing a four years' course by graduation in June, 1862. He had but entered upon the period
J.J. Hutchison
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of early manhood at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war and in 1862, when a young man of twenty-two years, he offered his services to the government, becoming first lieutenant of the One Hundred and Thirty-first Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to duty with the Army of the Potomac. He was a brave, loyal and fearless soldier and participated in many of the hotly contested engagements which led up to the final victory that crowned the Union arms, in- cluding the battles of Fredericksburg, Antietam and Chancel- lorsville. In the report of the commanding general he was given special mention for gallantry in the charge of Mary's Hill at the battle of Fredericksburg. He also took part in the san- guinary conflict at Gettysburg as Captain of Company I, Twenty- eighth Regiment of Pennsylvania Infantry.
With the close of his military service Mr. Hutchison took up the study of law and following his graduation from the Cleveland (Ohio) Law School he came to Iowa in the spring of 1865, settling first at Des Moines. In December of that year, however, he removed to Ottumwa, where he continued to make his home until his demise. He was led to take this step through the influence and offer of Senator Stiles, a member of the Ot- tumwa bar, who in that year had been elected to the upper house of the Iowa general assembly and wished to enter into partnership with a promising and reliable young man who could take charge of the law practice during the absence of the senior partner of the firm at the capitol. Writing of this Senator E. H. Stiles said :
"Captain A. A. Stuart, who was then seeing through the press his 'Iowa Colonels and Regiments,' had, while in Des Moines for that purpose, become acquainted with Captain Hutchison, whom he strongly recommended to me. He said young Hutchison had served as a soldier and officer in the Civil war, that he had received a good education, legal and otherwise, and had entered upon the practice at Des Moines; that he was high-minded, honorable and altogether one of the most estim- able young men he had ever met. Upon this I wrote Mr. Hutch- ison, telling him of the high recommendation he had received at the hands of Captain Stuart and suggested that if he saw fit to come down to Ottumwa and hold an interview with me it might result in an association that would be mutually satisfac- tory. He accordingly came. I took him to my house and he remained with us until the next day. We were greatly pleased Vol. 11-4
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with him, for he was one of those men whose very presence indi- cates inborn high qualities. The result was that we formed a law partnership which continued for seven years and until he di- verged into more profitable lines. At the outset he became a member of my family and so continued until his marriage with Miss Sarah L. Taylor in 1868. He was one of the purest and most lovable of men. During the whole period of our part- nership there was not the slightest friction between us and I found that he possessed to the fullest extent all the fine quali- ties which Stuart had attributed to him. He was diligent and efficient as a lawyer and nothing was ever neglected either in the office or in the courts that came under his hands. He had a good legal epuipment and his industry was untiring. Had he strictly adhered to the profession and turned his face against all allurements to enter other enterprises he would have made a careful, deliberate and able judge and would doubtless have attained and graced that position had he continued in his pro- fession. He certainly would have been an incorruptible one, for I have never known a man with a higher sense of honor or more perfect integrity, and for these qualities he was dis- tinguished to the end of his days."
At length, however, Mr. Hutchison abandoned professional activity to enter into other lines of business that promised quicker returns and from that time forward was a leading factor in industrial, commercial and financial circles in Ottumwa. In 1872 he aided in the organization of the Johnston Ruffler Com- pany, which conducted business successfully for a number of years, when its shareholders organized the Ottumwa Iron Works. During his connection with the former company Mr. Hutchison and his wife went abroad and resided in England for a year, representing the interests of the company in that land. On the return voyage to the United States he formed an ac- quaintance with T. D. Foster, who was then on his way to America with a view of establishing a large packing house for the English firm of John Morrell & Company, and it was through Captain Hutchison's influence that Mr. Foster chose Ottumwa as a favorable site for the new undertaking, and thus won for the city an industry that has been of incalculable benefit in the promotion of the material progress and welfare of this section.
After continuing actively in business for a few years Mr. Hutchison reentered the field of law, forming a partnership
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with I. N. Mast, but in three or four years he again diverged from the profession, entering the political arena and later be- coming once more active in business. His fellow townsmen, appreciative of his worth and ability, called him to serve the public by electing him to the state legislature in 1879. His term of service was one of great efficiency and was followed by his election to the state senate in 1881 and his reelection in 1884. For ten years, therefore, he continued a member of the general assembly, winning a most enviable reputation by reason of his connection with much important constructive legislation. He was able in argument upon the floor of the house and senate and was most careful and persistent in his advocacy of wise meas- ures. Of his public career a contemporary biographer writes :
"During his senatorial terms he was a member of the ways and means and judiciary committees and, it is said, he had more to do in shaping the policy that paid off the state debt than any other man in the legislature. He was the author of the registra- tion system for elections, which is now giving the greatest satis- faction to men of all parties, although it was opposed at the beginning by those who did not understand its beneficent effect in securing an honest ballot. Mr. Hutchison also devoted a great share of his attention to railroad legislation and organized the committee which took the matter in charge, and at last brought about reforms that were advantageous to the people."
Touching this subject Governor Gue, in volume 4, page 141, of his History of Iowa, says :
"Senator Hutchison was the author of the law for the regis- tration of voters which has become the settled policy of the state. As a member of the committees of judiciary, appropriations and chairman of the ways and means committee he became a leader of the senate and by wise measures relieved the state from a large indebtedness during his term of service."
The indebtedness referred to by Governor Gue was the large one owing to the school fund from the state and which was paid, through the efforts of and under an act drafted by Senator Hutchison, from the money refunded by the general govern- ment for the direct tax which it had received from the state. The payment of this obligation left the state entirely free from debt. William H. Fleming, who had been private secretary under five different governors and was thoroughly informed concerning the legislative history of Iowa, wrote concerning
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the extinction of that debt and how it was brought about through the act of Senator Hutchison :
"The final extinction of this debt came about in Governor Boies' administration, but it was because of the operation of an act drafted in 1888 by Senator Hutchison, whom Boies defeated for the governorship a year later. That act directed that the proceeds of the expected refund should be applied to the pay- ment of the debt from the state to the school fund. The money came in 1891 and the school fund debt was paid from it, as di- rected by the act referred to. Thus, while it might be said that the debt was actually liquidated during Boies' administration, it was because of Hutchison's work that it was done."
The splendid record made by Senator Hutchison in legis- lative halls led to his nomination by the republican party for the office of governor in 1889. Writing of this his old law part- ner, Senator Stiles, said :
"For thirty-five years the republican party had been con- tinually in power and no democrat had occupied the guberna- torial chair; but the immense republican majorities had been declining in the latter years because of popular dissatisfaction, especially in the larger cities, with the radical attitude of the party on the question of general and absolute prohibition. It was thought by many that in the cities referred to it was a dead letter and furnished the pernicious example of constant law breaking. So strong had this feeling become on the one hand and so strong the radicalism of the republican party on the other that it made the political condition not only critical but threatened party defeat; and the party was defeated. Horace Boies, the democratic candidate, was elected. The same experi- ence was repeated at the next gubernatorial election when Gov- ernor Boies was reelected over Hiram Wheeler, the republican candidate. And the same results would have continued had not the party leaders joined in enacting the local option or Mulct law; upon which the republican party was restored to power. It is thus clear that Mr. Hutchison's defeat was not attributable to any personal ground, but solely to the causes alluded to. If the election had rested alone on personal grounds he would undoubtedly have been triumphantly elected."
In the meantime Mr. Hutchison engaged in banking, be- coming one of the promoters of the Ottumwa National Bank, of which he served as president for seven years, when he resigned to accept the nomination for governor. The policy which he
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
had inaugurated and maintained was such as left the bank in excellent condition. In 1891 he entered the mercantile field as founder and proprietor of an extensive wholesale grocery house, conducted under the style of J. G. Hutchison & Company. He built up a large business and carefully and successfully guided its destinies until his life's labors were ended in death in April, 1910.
Mr. Hutchison was twice married. He first wedded Sarah L. Taylor, on the 4th of November, 1868. They traveled life's journey happily together until separated by death on the 2d of November, 1896. On the 23d of June, 1898, Mr. Hutchison wedded Miss Mabel Vernon Dixon, a daughter of Hon. J. W. Dixon, of whom more extended mention is made on following pages of these volumes.
J. G. Hutchison & Company, wholesole grocers, is one of the visible evidences of the marked ability of Mr. Hutchison, who was ever a man of action rather than of theory, and when he saw opportunities-which by the way he readily recognized -he utilized them to the full. He was a distinguished lawyer, an able business man and a gifted statesman, and most of all he was a public-spirited citizen and a high-minded Christian gen- tleman. In all of his public career he ever placed the general welfare before partisanship and the public good before per- sonal aggrandizement. He did not hesitate to sacrifice his own interests if the welfare of the community could be advanced. Life was to him purposeful and no duty was ever neglected. When he came to the parting of the ways between right and wrong he never hesitated as to his course, and his path was ever one of ascent to the higher planes of citizenship, morality, duty and integrity.
MRS. MABEL V. DIXON HUTCHISON.
ยท There have been exhibited in the life of Mrs. Mabel Ver- non Dixon Hutchison many phases which perhaps might be more aptly termed many lines of capability. Thoroughly womanly in all those qualities which have made her a leader in social circles and placed her at the head of the Iowa Feder- ation of Women's Clubs, she is now proving equally successful as the head of an extensive wholesale business house, taking up
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the work of management and control following the demise of her husband.
A native of Iowa, she belonged to a well known family, her parents being J. W. and Sallie Ann ( Vernon) Dixon, who came from Pennsylvania to Ottumwa immediately after their mar- riage. The Vernons came originally from Cheshire, England, their ancestors being possessors of Haddon Hall, from which Dorothy Vernon eloped with Sir John Manners, a romantic story of which use has been made by a novelist and also a play- wright. Both the Dixon and Vernon families were from good old Quaker stock of Pennsylvania. J. W. Dixon, following his graduation from the law school at Poughkeepsie, New York, removed to lowa in 1856 and soon became a prominent factor in connection with the history of the state. He represented his district as senator in the ninth and tenth general assemblies and as representative in the fifteenth and sixteenth general assem- blies. His statesmanship and the ability with which he handled many important problems did much toward shaping the public policy of lowa concerning legislation at that period. He was the opponent of ex-Governor Gear for speaker of the house in a contest that continued for two weeks. His marked intellectual strength and broad knowledge, his independence and originality of thought and his pleasing and persuasive oratory made him a man of marked influence, and he left the impress of his individ- uality upon the history of the commonwealth. His position was never an equivocal one. He stood loyally for what he be- lieved to be right and when convinced that he was following a correct course neither fear nor favor could cause him to change. Of his wife it has been said : "Mrs. Dixon was possessed of rare traits of character and her friends spoke of her as unselfish to a fault." A happy, carefree childhood was that of Miss Dixon, spent largely in the companionship of her sister, in the enjoy- ment of outdoor pleasures. A newspaper of recent date wrote : "To her everything and everybody was interesting. The family . home was apart from other houses, in the midst of spacious grounds, which favored an early tendency to search for geo- logical specimens and also form acquaintance with the birds that filled the woodland with song-a nature study which she pursues with interest to the present time."
In 1898 Mabel Vernon Dixon gave her hand in marriage to the Hon. J. G. Hutchison, who in 1866 had become a law partner of her father and of Judge E. H. Stiles. Mr. Hutchi-
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Me Js Hutchison
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son and Mr. Dixon held property interests together for many years, and as an intimate friend of the family Mr. Hutchison was the legal adviser to whom Miss Dixon turned when she was made acting executrix and had full charge of the estate of her father following his death in 1889. Like her father, Mr. Hutchison was active in public life and few men were more thoroughly informed concerning affairs relative to state and nation. He was chosen to represent his district in the eighteenth general assembly in 1882 and through the nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-first and twenty-second general assemblies was state sen- ator. In the year preceding his death he established a whole- sale house, founding the important and extensive enterprise of which Mrs. Hutchison is now the head.
Long before assuming charge of this business, however, Mrs. Hutchison had become a recognized leader. At all times she has been actuated by broad humanitarian principles. For twenty years she labored untiringly in the Sunday-school work of the Trinity Episcopal church of Ottumwa and was instru- mental in the organization of the boy choir. She was at one time on the board of directors of the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation of Ottumwa, and she has done splendid work in sup- port of the Ottumwa Hospital Association. In club circles, too, she rose to prominence. She was one of the founders of the Ottumwa Women's Club and for several years most of the meet- ings of the art department and the domestic science depart- ment were held at her home. She is president of the Art Club of Ottumwa and has a sincere interest in all those activities wherein women are broadening and uplifting the standards of the home and at the same time increasing its influence toward a happier condition among the human brotherhood. Her interest in the club movement resulted in her attending the State Feder- ation of Women's Clubs at its meeting in Cedar Rapids, and there she was elected treasurer of the state organization, in which capacity she served for four years, from 1895 until 1899. She was elected president of the state federation in 1899 and rendered a permanent service to the club movement in Iowa by the formation of district organizations, through which a closer bond is felt among clubs of neighboring counties and the worth of the state federation is brought nearer to individual clubs. She was president of an organization known as the Iowa Ex- Presidents Association, comprising all women who have held the office of president of the Iowa Federation of Women's
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Clubs. This was formed chiefly for the pleasure of social inter- course among its members and is now an advisory committee of the state organization. She has not allowed practical affairs to crowd out tastes fostered through years of careful study. She is deeply interested in all art subjects and her musical nature has enhanced her pleasure in life and contributed to the develop- ment of things musical about her.
Mrs. Hutchison has recently built the wholesale house which J. G. Hutchison & Company now occupy. The building is ideally located facing a city park as well as being provided with all necessary facilities for shipping. Of her work Mrs. Hutchi- son says : "After the death of Mr. Hutchison I found I was fac- ing new and strange conditions. Bowed to the earth in the loss of my life's inspiration and having few relatives and no one available to assist in the situation, I decided that the only thing for me to do was to take up the work laid down by my husband and seek to carry out his ideas and ideals. This I have striven hard to do. I have found that the president of a wholesale gro- cery has little time for thought outside of the routine of business. My work has grown interesting, as success will in any line. There are so many women in business these days that no sur- prise is shown in meeting a woman in place of a man at the head of any enterprise. Business men are always most courteous to women in business.
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