USA > Iowa > Wapello County > History of Wapello County, Iowa, and representative citizens > Part 25
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Julian C. Manchester was reared and schooled at Bridgeport, Connecticut, and learned the trade of a machinist. But when seventeen years oldl. in January. 1864. he en- listed in Company E. Ist Reg. Conn. Heavy Artillery, and served for two years, being a sergeant when he was mustered out. He was in the nine months siege of Petersburg and the siege of City Point, and. after Lee's sur- render, was ordered with his regiment to Rich- mond to take charge of and ship home the guns and supplies. He was mustered out in December. 1865, at New Haven, Connecticut. being among the last of those mustered out. He then returned to his trade as a machinist. and followed it until 1871. when he moved to Big Rapids, Michigan, where he conducted the Manchester Hotel for some years. He then located at Muscatine, lowa. where he con- ducted the Eastern House from 1870 till 1882.
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and then came to Ottumwa. Here he became proprietor of the Ballingall Hotel, which was built by P. G. Ballingall, a prominent resident of Ottumwa, who died in 1891. Enterprising and progressive, Mr. Manchester soon made it the finest hotel in this section of the state, drawing to it the very best class of trade. It is complete in all its appointments, and its bar is one of the finest in the city. He also conducts a wholesale ligner department, the annual business of which is between $25,000 and $30,000. When he began he had 35 tran- sient rooms, which have since been increased to 93, the average number of transient guests being 75 daily. He has a regular Sunday trade of from 60 to 70 persons. He employs be- tween 45 and 50 people in the building, and, although he superintends the work, has an able assistant in his son, Edward, who is head clerk and assistant manager.
Mr. Manchester was united in marriage at Fort Wayne, Indiana, with Ella J. Burnabee. a native of Vermont. Two sons blessed this t.nion: Edward, assistant manager of the hotel, who married Natilia Grube, and has his home in the hotel; and Charles, who was born in the hotel, lived to be fifteen years of age and died September 13. 1890. Fraternal- ly. Mr. Manchester is a member of the Elks. and Knights of Pythias, and was formerly a member of the Odd Fellows. Ile filled all the chairs of the subordinate lodge of the K. of P .. and is now brigadier general of the lowa State Uniform Rank, having command of the state. Religiously, he is a Methodist. He has never engaged in politics to any extent.
EORGE HAW, vice-president of the First National Bank of Ottumwa and a prominent hardware merchant. was born in England October 8. 1836. He is a son of John and Mary ( Lazen- by) Haw, both natives of England.
John Haw came to America with his fam- ily and settled in Grant county, Wisconsin, where he died at the age of fifty years. llis wife died at the age of forty- seven years. They reared a family of nine children, namely: William, deceased : George. the subject of this sketch; Jane ( McMurray), of Evansville, Wisconsin; Si- mon, of Lodi, Wisconsin; John, of Hammond. Wisconsin; Christopher, of Ottumwa, Iowa; Thomas, deceased: Elizabeth (DeSellerst). deceased: and Mary (Smith), of West Su- perior, Wisconsin.
George Haw received his primary educa- tion in Wisconsin. Ile taught school one term and then read medicine a short time, and in 1857 engaged in the drug business. In 1862 he enlisted as first lieutenant of Company B, 33d Reg .. Wisconsin Vol. Inf., and was taken into General Sherman's army and later into Gen- cral Grant's. He was with the latter when he made the attack at the rear of Vicksburg while Sherman made the attack in front. After the fall of Holly Springs his regiment returned to Memphis and remained there until the spring of 1863, when it went down the river to jom in the siege of Vicksburg. He also participated in the Red River expedition. In May. 1864. he resigned from the service on acount of poor health. In September. 1864. he sold out his
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drug business, came to Ottumwa, lowa, and engaged in the hardware business. The firm of George Haw & Company, as organized at present, had its beginning in 1864. Mr. Haw started the business with Mr. Henry, under the firm name of Henry & Haw. Thus he con- tinued until 1868, when they had the misfor- tune to be burned out, and he then became con- nected with the First National Bank. . \- though he resumed the hardware business in 1871. he has not severed his connection with the bank. In 1871 the firm took its present name, which it has since retained. In 1878 F. W. Simmons became a member of the firm. since which time it has been composed of George Haw, Christopher Ilaw and F. W. Simmons. They do a retail and wholesale business, and it is with pride that they can re- fer to the fact that they have quite a number of customers on their books who have traded with them for twenty-five years. That alone proves their worthiness. They deal in shelf and heavy hardware, house furnishing goods. and mining supplies of all kinds. They occupy a handsome four-story structure, fronting on main street, and extending back to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and Chicago, Rock Is1- and & Pacific tracks.
Mr. Haw married Henrietta R. Meeker, of lowa county, Wisconsin, in 1860, and she died in November, 1861. Ile married. secondly. Anna M. Henry, who died in September, 1869. having had two children : Minnie F. and Hat- tie T. Ile next married Anna M. Corkhill, in 1873. She was born in New London, lowa, and died in 1895, leaving four children :
George C .. Vice Jane, Cari T. and James G. Mr. Haw was married again, in 1899. to Kath- erine Jeardeau, of Platteville, Wisconsin. Re- ligiously he is a strong member of the M. E. church. He is a Knight Templar, and belongs to Ottumwa Post, G. A. R. He is a director of the Dain Manufacturing Company. Politically he is a Republican.
APT. W. H. C. JAQUES, a member of the firm of Jaques & Jaques, at- torneys-at-law, is an ornament to the bar of Wapello county. He has practiced in Ottumwa ever since his admission to the bar, and has a large and well established clientage. He was born October 29. 1841. at Abingdon, Virginia, and was two years oldl when brought to lowa by his parents, William and Mary Jaques, who located in Jefferson county. His father was a bricklayer, and al- ternated his duties on the farm with working at his trade as opportunity permitted.
Mr. Jaques attended the district schools three months of the year until 1802. when he enlisted as a private in Company D. 19th Reg .. łowa Vol. Inf. He served with his regiment through the campaign in southwestern Mis- souri and northwestern Arkansas, in the fall of 1802, and in 1863 in the campaign around Jackson and at the siege of Vicksburg. From there his regiment was sent to New Orleans, but on account of sickness he was granted a furlough and remained at home several months. While on his return to his regiment, then In-
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cated at Brownsville, on the Rio Grande River. he was commissioned second lieutenant of the 56th United States Infantry, then at Helena, Arkansas, and joined his new regiment in Feb- ruary. 1864. Hle soon rose to the rank of first lieutenant, and afterward served on the staffs of Generals MeCook, Thayer, Carr and Col- onel Bentzoni, while they were in command of the eastern district of Arkansas, as aid-de-camp and assistant adjutant-general, until promoted to be captain of Company B, of the same regi- ment. After serving a while with his regiment he was detailed as a member of the court mar- tial at Little Rock, Arkansas, which was ap- pointed to conduct the trial of Capt. Green Durbin, assistant quartermaster, a trial which lasted over three months. While acting as a member of this court he first conceived the idea of studying law. Ile was mustered out of sery- ice with his regiment in September, 1866. .
Immediately upon returning home from the war he took a course of lectures in the law de- partment of Harvard University, and in the spring of 1867 came to Ottmowa, where he entered the law office of Judge Williams, one of the leading jurists of southern lowa at that time. Here he continued to pursue his studies and was admitted to the bar the same year. Ile immediately thereafter began the practice of law in Ottumwa, where he has continuously followed it since. He is careful and painstak- ing in the preparation of a case for trial, and as an advocate is forcible, agreeable and per- suasive, -possessing natural talent as an or- ator. He is an extensive reader, and takes an intelligent interest in general and political mat-
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ters. At present he is serving as city solicitor of Ottumwa, having been elected to the office on the Democratic ticket. He has had im- portant cases that called him outside the state ; he has been very successful in his practice be- fore the supreme court, and wherever he has come in contact with legal minds, his ability and integrity have been recognized.
Captain Jaques was married August 29, 1869. to Flora Williams, a sister of Judge Will- iams. To this union have been born four chil- dren, namely : Stella W. : J. Ralph, now junior member of the firm of Jaques & Jaques : Edna, and Mabel.
1. BUCHANAN, of the firm of Jones & Buchanan, wholesale deal- ers in flour and feed, has been located in Whpello county since 1870, and is a very prominent business man. He was born in New Jersey, in February, 1848, and is a son of AAlexander and Anna (Cameron) Buchanan.
Alexander Buchanan followed the occupa- tion of a farmer until the Civil War, when he enlisted in the Union army. He lost his life at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, June 27. 1864. He was of Scotch descent, and was married, in New York State, to Anna Cam- cron. They reared five children, as follows : .A. W., the subject of this biographical record ; Christiana (Scott), who resides near Hed- rick. lowa: Agnes (Thompson), who lives near Fremont, Iowa; Mrs. Alice ( Bowlin), at
W. R BECK.
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whose home at Highland Center, lowa, her mother resided at the time of the latter's death, July 22, 1901 ; and Robert, of Ringgold coun- ty, lowa.
.A. W. Buchanan spent most of his carly life in Illinois, whither his parents moved in 1850. locating near Princeville in l'eoria coun- ty. lle took an academic course at Princeville and pursued it until within a short time of the graduating period. Ilis business career has been spent mainly in the grain trade. lle lo- cated in Highland township. Wapello county. Iowa, in 1870, where he purchased land and engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1878. In that year he moved to Ottumwa, where he has since been continuously engaged in busi- ness. He formed a partnership with Mr. Jones and embarked in the wholesale flour. feed, grain and seed line in a small store on Market street. The concern at the present time, in point of size, is four times larger than in the early years of its existence. It is now located on Second street, between Court and Market, in a two-story building. 33 by 132 feet in dimensions. The firm employs a force of seven men, and also has a number of teams for draying. Jones & Buchanan are the only grain shippers in the city, and keep one man on the road all the time, covering a territory within a radius of 50 miles of Ottumwa. Mr. Buchanan also has extensive farm interests in 1 the county. He has been very successful in' a business way, and by his honesty and straight forwardness in dealing with all has won the confidence and respect of his fellow men.
Mr. Buchanan married Martha Albertson,
in Illinois; she was a native of Ohio. In poli- ties he is a Republican, and served as aller- man of the Fourth Ward for a period of four years. Fraternally he is a member of the Sons of Veterans, and has represented Donel- son Camp, No. 32, of Ottumwa. In religions attachments he is a Presbyterian, and is a trus- tee of his church. In 18gg he was elected to the lowa State legislature, and is now serving in the 28th general assembly.
R. BECK. a prominent druggist, who has been engaged in that line of business in Ottumwa since 1802. is also president of the Beck Chem- ical Company. He was born in 1866, at Bloomfield. Davis county, lowa, and is a soll of M. H. Beck.
M. 11. Beck was formerly from Indiana, but is now retired from active business and re- sides at Bloomfield. He was at one time en- gaged in the general mercantile business at Ashland. Wapello county, lowa.
W. R. Beck was reared in Bloomfield, Iowa, and took a course in pharmacy at an early age, serving an apprenticeship at Moulton, Iowa. Ile engaged in the drug business for himself at Eldon, Iowa, in 1880, conducting a store there until 1802, when he came to Ottumwa, and established a retail drug store at No. 601 East Main street, which he still conducts. The Beck Chemical Company, located just across from the drug store, is at No. 602 Main street. and was incorporated in January, 1900, with
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Mr. Beck as general superintendent and man- ager : Judge Charles Hall, vice-president ; M. Griswold, secretary; and C. Manning, treas- urer. It was organized as a stock company with a capital of $25,000. A large line of pro- prietary medicines is manufactured, and two salesmen. G. R. Hartson and W. F. Moss, rep- resent the company on the road. Twenty dif- ferent preparations are manufactured and a number of people employed. Under succes ;- ful management, the business of the company has flourished, and they have a large trade throughout this section of the state.
Mr. Beck was united in marriage with Min- nie C'allen, of Moulton, lowa, and they have a very pleasant home in Ottumwa. In politics. he is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a mem- ber of the K. of P. and B. P. O. E., and has filled some of the chairs. Mrs. Beck belongs to the Daughters of the American Revolution : and the P. E. O. Sisterhood ; she is a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Beck has many friends in Ottumwa, who hold him in high esteem for his many sterling qualities. Ilis portrait accompanies this sketch.
11. 11. ASBURY, the well-known real estate dealer of Ottumwa, and one of the very carly residents of this section of the State. located in Monroe county, near the Wapello county Ime, as early as 1850. He was born in Parke county, Indiana, April 4, 1840, and is a son of Benjamin and Mary ( Porter) Asbury. He is
a grandson of Joseph Asbury, a Revolutionary soldier, and comes of English stock.
Benjamin Asbury was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, and when a youth moved to Kentucky, thence to Indiana and finally to lowa. His occupation was that of a black- smith and farmer. He was a soldier of the "Graybeard" regiment. the 37th Reg .. lowa Vol. Inf. He made his home in Monroe and Ringgekl counties, lowa, until his death, which occurred in 1899, at the age of ninety- five years. He was a stanch Whig and later a Republican, and was a great admirer of Henry Clay. He married Mary Porter, who was born in Kentucky and is now living in Ringgold county, lowa. at the advanced age of ninety-one years. Her grandfather was also a soldier in the Revolutionary War. This union was blessed with five children, as fol- lows: Emily (Cleary), who was born in In- diana and resides on a farm in Keokuk county. Iowa: Thomas, a physician and druggist of Ringgold county. Towa : W. H. H .. the subject of this biography : and Mary Ann (Neidigh), and Benjamin. Jr .. a mechanic. both living in Ringgold county, lowa.
William H. H. Asbury attended the com- mon schools in Indiana and Iowa, and engaged in farming up to the time of the Civil War. He then enlisted in Company E. 3d Reg .. Iowa Vol. Cav., as a private. and later served as sergeant for one. and a half years. He was wounded to such an extent that he was inca- pacitated for duty, and was discharged on that account, after participating in several minor engagements. He was mustered out in 1863.
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and returned to lowa, where he. in turn, farmed and taught school in Monroe county until 1865. when he came to Wapello county and engaged in merchandising. Here he served as deputy sheriff for two years. In 1872-1873 he served in the capacity of deputy county treasurer. He served as treasurer during 1874. 1875. 1876 and 1877. and again as dep- uitwtreasurer in 1880 and 1881. He next en- gaged in the mercantile and real estate lines, and for a time, prior to 1895, was in the gov- ernment revenue service. Since that date he has devoted his attention exclusively to the real estate business, in partnership with John B. Mowrey, his present office being at No. 101 North Court street. He is very progressive and enterprising in his business methods, and has met with marked success. He is a man of pleasing personality and has scores of friends wherever he has lived.
Mr. AAsbury was united in marriage. in Wa- pello county, with Mary E. Jay, who was born in Ohio in 1841, and came to this state at the age of thirteen years, accompanying her ia- ther. Job P. Jay, a prominent Quaker. They became the parents of three children,-two of whom, sons, died in infancy. . \ daughter. Bertha, aged twenty years, is a graduate of the Ottumwa public schools, and is living at home. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mr. Asbury is a Republican in politics, and has served in the city council from the Third Ward, in which he lives, having built a comfortable home on Maple avenue. Fraternally, he is a Knight Templar and a member of Cloutman Post. No.
(1), (. A. R., having served in all chairs of the local post. He is also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. Mrs. Asbury is a member of the Women's Relief Corps. Mr. Asbury holdls to Unitarian doctrines, while his wife is a member of the Presbyterian church and of the various church organizations.
EATON L. ARRISON, who has been a resident of Wapello county, lowa. since 1877. is efficiently serving in the capacity of assistant city clerk vi (t-
tumwa. He was born in Greene county, Penn- sylvania, in 1853. and is a son of G. W. and Clara ( Humberts) Arrison.
G. W. Arrison was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1823, and was of Scotch de- scent. His father was an extensive slave- holler in old Virginia. G. W. Arrison fol- lowed farming all his life, and died in Penn- sylvania in 1890. He married Clara Hum- berts, who was born near Wooster. Ohio, in 1828, and is now a resident of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Ten children blessed this union, six of whom are living: Jennie ( Schmitz ). a widow living in Greene county, Pennsylvania: Ethelbert, mayor of Carnegie. Washington county, Pennsylvania: Newton I. : George J. mayor of Mount Morris, Penn- sylvania: Sarah (McConnell). a widow, of Greene county, Pennsylvania : and Nellie ( Hitchens), whose husband is an attorney-at- law in Mckeesport. Pennsylvania.
Newton 1. Arrison attended the common
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schools of Greene county, Pennsylvania, and left for the West on July 10, 1877. He was a schoolhate of .A. B. Cummins, prospective gov- ernor of the State of Iowa. His intention was to visit Indianola and, perhaps, to locate there. but he decided on Ottumwa as the better and more prosperous location. Hle first began painting and paper hanging, which he fol- lowed until some years after his marriage. Ile then served fourteen years as clerk in the Ottumwa postoffice, and later in various cleri- cal positions. Since April, 1951, he has been assistant city clerk, and is discharging the du- ties of that office in a most satisfactory man- Her.
Mr. Arrison was united in marriage with Anna L. Caldwell, a daughter of Paris Cakl- well, one of the pioneers of the county. Paris Caldwell was born in Ohio county, Virginia, March 13. 1818, and was a son of John and Sarah ( Mulligan) Caldwell, the former a na- tive of Scotland, who died when Paris was eleven years old. Paris Caldwell came from Virginia to Burlington, Iowa, in 1841, and after the lapse of seven months went to what is now Davis county, Iowa. He remained there until May, 1843. when he located in what is now Wapello county, taking as a claim a tract of land which is now situated in the western part of the city of Ottumwa; this he purchased from the government. When he first came to lowa it was a territory, and so remained for five years. For fourteen years after he came there was not a single mile of railroad in the State. That part of the terri- tery now comprised in Wapello county was
almost unknown, there being only the Indian agency where Agency City now stands. He was a public-spirited man, and always contrib- uted to public improvements and enterprises. He was reared under the influences and refine- ment of society in the okler settled states, and was well suited to assist in the opening of a new territory. He was a superbly constituted man, both mentally and physically, retaining his activity and energy almost up to the time of his death, which occurred . April 5, 1899. at the ripe old age of eighty-two years. In 1845 he was united in marriage with Margaret Hack- ney. a daughter of William and Ellen Hack- ney, of Virginia. She was born December 22. 1824. and died November 26, 1863. Eight children were born to them: John R., who married Clara J. Jordan and resides at Kan- sas City, Missouri: Sarah R., deceased : Clara A., wife of Edward Graves; Mary F .. de- ceased : Anna L., wife of the subject hereof : Charles S .. deceased: Joseph S. : and Cassius C' .. deceased. Mr. Caldwell later married Re- becca J. Walker, widow of William Walker. This lady was born October 8, 1825. and died September 17, 1877. leaving a daughter. Blanche E., who became the wife of James 1. Campbell. Mr. Caldwell was a Republi- can in politics, and a member of the Masonic fraternity.
Mr. and Mrs. Arrison have two sons : Harry, aged eighteen years: and Ralph, aged sixteen years. Their home is the original house built by Mr. Caldwell. in which Mrs. Arrison was born. They still possess the original patent to the claim obtained from the
J
ALLEN JOHNSTON.
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government. At one time Mr. Caldwell owned 320 acres, all in the city of Ottumwa. and there are still 30 acres of the old homestead intact. Politically Mr. Arrison is a Demo- crat, and under Governor Boies hekl a secre- taryship of election committees. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World, Mod- ern Woodmen of America, and Union Central. In religious views he is a Presbyterian.
LLEN JOHNSTON, of Ottumwa. lowa, whose portrait is shown here- with, was born in Muskingum coun- ty, Ohio in 1848. He came to Wa- pello county with his parents in 1855, they lo- cating on a farm one mile northeast of Blakes- burg. Allen remained on the farm until he was nineteen years old, and received a common school education. In 1867 he came to Ottum- wa to study dentistry with his brother, W. T. Johnston, who was also agent for the Singer sewing machine, but taking a greater interest in the sale and mechanism of sewing machines than dentistry, he ceased his preparation for that profession.
Allen Johnston showed his inventive genius at a very early age. In 1862, while carpenters were working on the erection of a new frame house on the farm, he sat watching them as they used the crank auger and chisel in mak- ing the mortices, and he conceived the idea of putting a chisel on the auger, so that the work of the auger and chisel would be done by the same crank at the same time, and thus the
auger would throw out all the chips made by the chisel, forming a square hole. He explained his theory to the workmen and they thought there was a possibility of making a tool of that kind, but their remarks were of such a character as to discourage his saying anything further about it. Later such a patent was taken out by other parties, and became a very valuable discovery. He was not like most boys on the farm, and although he was eager for sports and spent much time in that way, he passed most of his leisure hours at home, working in a little shop which he had fixed up in the attic. He spent his spare cash (which was small in amount ) for tools and chemicals, with which to make experiments. When young he made wagons and sleds. In. his neighborhood hazel nuts were plentiful, and young Johnston made a machine to hull them. He made silver and gold rings for the neighboring children, also repaired revolvers, guns and other implements. It was while selling sewing machines that Mr. Johnston first began to make extensive use of his inventive power along commercial lines. Ilis first patent was taken out jointly by him- self and brother, W. T. Johnston, in ISTO, and was an embroidery attachment for sewing ma chines. His second invention was a rufler at- tichment, contrived, also, jointly with his brother. The first of these articles were made in his brother's dental office; they were first sold by canvassing from house to house. Is trade increased there was a demand for more room and they moved into the third story of a Main street buikling, where he made tools
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