USA > Iowa > Hancock County > History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 2
USA > Iowa > Winnebago County > History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 2
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
In 1904 Mr. Thompson retired from active business and the following year sailed from New York to the Azores and through the straits of Gilbraltar to Italy. He visited Genoa, Naples, Corsica and other points and then proceeded to Alexandria, Egypt, and up the Nile for a distance of one thousand miles, taking numerous side trips as well. He visited various points in Greece and Smyrna and passed through the Dardanelles to Constantinople and on to the Black Sea and Odessa. Ile cruised among the Ionian islands and sailed to Brindisi, thence went to Naples and on to Rome, Florence, Milan, Venice and into France, where he visited varions cities and points of interest, thence across the channel to Eng- land, and after visiting London and other points in that country sailed from Liverpool for America. During his travels he picked up many curios now to be seen in his museum, including a bulrush which he found near the spot where Moses was said to have been placed by his mother, among the bulrushes, in his infaney. He secured fine Oriental rugs with Arabic inscriptions, tapestries from India, a metal shawl from the interior of Africa, a beautiful copy of Van Dyke's Repose in Egypt, a terra cotta copy of Diana at the Bath and a French bronze of Diana the Huntress. Mr. Thompson has traveled as well all over North America and has picked up many interesting relies in this country. He has a most complete library and an interesting feature of his home is a park in the rear of the house with a sun dial in the center and an Alaskan Indian totem pole at the entrance.
White success has brought to him leisure for the enjoyment of those things in which he takes an interest, even since his retirement from business Mr. Thompson has concentrated his efforts by no means solely upon following out his inclinations for recreation and pleasure. He is given to the serious consideration of significant problems affecting the individual and the community at large. Ile has thought with those who study the signs of the times in regard to the desertion of the farms for the city by the young people and has sought the reason and the remedy therefor. It was in watching a young Swedish girl who was in his employ that he came to a conclusion that semed to him the solution for the difficulty. He
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noted her loneliness and felt that she wanted to meet and talk with other young people, that she wanted entertainment, education, culture and the idealistie things in life. Ile felt he had here found the key to the situation which he had been studying and immediately sought to bring about different conditions with the result that he has today invested seventy-five thousand dollars in a plan to promote the social life of the community. That sum represents his investment in a farm and clubhouse which he crected thereon at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars. Ile employed an architect, who is also an artist, and the result was the erection of a building sixty-eight feet long and thirty-two feet wide, two stories in height, built of load-bearing tile with white stucco finish and cement slab porches. It was dedicated September 11, 1915. It is a building which in line carries out the wide sweep of the prairies and suggests in the gradual slope of the roof the gently undnlating fields. The art of landscape gardening has been utilized in the adorn- ment of the lawn and beautiful flowers add to the attractiveness of Community Hall, by which name Mr. Thompson has called the place. The institution is to be essentially a big farmers' club, to which all within traveling distance will belong. The farmers can meet there to hear a lecture on soil fertility and the wives and daughters may meet for social affairs. The building can also be used for a church and Sunday school, and the library has been equipped to suit the tastes of varied ages and dispositions. In the laboratory the farmer can make simple tests of his soil, his feeds and his seeds, and he can turn to enjoy the sports of the swimming pool, the tennis courts and baseball diamond. It is the plan to have moving pictures and good entertainment from time to time, besides lectures by experts from the State College on problems of farming and household work, and there will be every opportunity for the discussion of any question to which the members may wish to turn their attention.
One of the Des Moines papers, writing of this subject, said : "One can hardly learn of this experiment and become interested in it without finding interest also in its author. Jasper Thompson is a powerful, charming gentleman. At nearly eighty years of age he is strong and vigorous and keenly intellectual. He is the finished product of a long life spent on the land, planning and executing of big projects, world-wide travel, and constant thoughtfulness. His life experiences have given him a delightful philosophy which looks always toward the best there is in civilization. Ile regards his attempt at socializing rural life as one of the most important things he has ever done. To him it is a purely philanthropic enter- prise. Ile is too old to care for the reputation he might gain personally by being the first to inaugurate such an effort. 'I feel that the people are waiting for this movement,' he said in the first interview he has consented to about his enterprise. "The people do not know what it is they want but they want something. I feel that the real call to the land is the call of better social relations. Our civilization is based in the land. Our prosperity must emanate from out there in the fields. Build a great strong manhood and womanhood on the prairies and your villages, cities and towns will be great. We have tried to get at the right solution by putting our social center out in the country, where the farmers will feel that it really belongs to them and where they will make use of it. They don't like to go to social gathrings in town because they feel out of place. Whatever you may say, there is no getting around the fact that there is no close union in feeling between
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town and country. But once you start social gatherings in the country you will see a change. The farm people will naturally feel at home out there, and town people who visit them there will feel at home because their daily social intercourse makes them freer and easier. By and by they will begin to see the advantages of farm life and you will have the current flowing back to the land. I don't know what will come of our experiment. I hope it will prove a success and that it will not be long till these country houses are seattered broadcast throughout the rural distriets, furnishing the people that opportunity for social life and enlture that they need.'" Such is the crowning effort of the life of Mr. Thompson, whose efforts, intense and determined, have bronght him success-a success which he is thus sharing with others.
JAMES C. WILLIAMS.
The demise of James C. Williams, which occurred in 1914, was felt as a serious loss in Lake Mills, for he was prominently identified with the business development of the city and also with its advancement along moral and eivie lines. He combined the sound judgment, the power of quick and acenrate decision and the enterprise of the successful man of business with good will and publie spirit which found expression in much work for the general welfare. He was born in Quincy, Illinois, March 14, 1847, a son of Dr. Robert S. and Florence C. (McPhail) Williams, natives respectively of Westmoreland; Maryland, and Mont- gomery county, Illinois. The father studied medieine in a college at Steubenville, Ohio, from which he was graduated, and began practice at Quincy, Illinois, whence he removed to Caledonia, Minnesota, and there he remained until his death in 1870. The mother died soon afterward.
James C. Williams spent his boyhood and youth in Quincy, Illinois, and in Minnesota, and after his father's death operated the home farm in Minnesota for some time. Subsequently he elerked for his brother-in-law, A. D. Sprague, a merchant of Caledonia, but in 1872 he became a resident of Northwood, Iowa, where he engaged in the lumber business in partnership with O. V. Eckert, an association that was pleasantly maintained for more than four decades, or until the death of Mr. Williams, and the estate still retains the interest in the business. In 1881 the partners started a branch at Lake Mills but later disposed of their lumber- yards and engaged in the implement and grain business. They operated a chain of elevators along the Rock Island line and handled enormous quantities of grain annually. In 1881 they established an implement and elevator business at Lake Mills, of which Mr. Williams became resident manager and which a few years before his death he converted into a corporation known as the Lake Mills Imple- ment & Hardware Company. He became president and treasurer of the new concern, with L. E. Ludvig as manager, and he continued at the head of the company nntil his death. This concern is one of the largest of the kind in this section of the state and in addition to serving as its president Mr. Williams was vice president of the First National Bank and president of the Lake Mills Canning Company. He also had large farm holdings in Winnebago county, Iowa, in Minnesota and in the Dakotas and the supervision of all of his interests made demands upon his time and energy that would have taxed to the utmost the
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powers of a less able or less enterprising man. His opinion upon any business problem was listened to with great respect and it was recognized that he ranked among the foremost men of his county.
Mr. Williams was married in 1875 to Mrs. Nellie Dickson, who died three years later, leaving a daughter, Winifred M., who is now teaching physical culture at Kirksville, Missouri. On the 23d of April, 1902, Mr. Williams married Odella J. Blackiston, a daughter of William B., and Cecelia C. (Hayes) Blackiston, natives of Ohio. The father removed to Geneseo, Illinois, in 1858, and there resided until called by death on the 4th of November, 1894. He was a merchant by occu- pation but owned sixteen hundred acres of land in Winnebago county. The mother passed away in March, 1896. To them were born four children, namely: Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Laura A. Price, of Butler, Missouri; Mrs. Nora B. Chapin, of Canton, Illinois; and William P., who died at Madison, South Dakota, January 14, 1889. Mrs. Williams is a charter member of Lake Mills Chapter No. 452, O. E. S., and has been elected matron five times. She is also a member of the Saturday Afternoon Book Club, and the Taka Art Club. Mr. Williams supported the republican party at the polls, was a member of the town council at the time of his death and kept thoroughly informed as to public affairs. He held membership in the Lake Mills Business Men's Association and his work was of great value in carrying out the plans of that organization for the advancement of the city. In fact every movement seeking to further the interests of Lake Mills received his full support. He was for thirty years a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, a record of faithful and efficient service for the cause of righteousness seldom equaled. For years he belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows but eventually demitted from that organization but continued active as a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Yeomen. He contracted pneumonia while visiting the old home in Geneseo, Illinois, and passed away on the 15th of March, 1914, after an illness of only four days. Ilis sudden death was a great shock not only to his family and immediate friends but to the entire community and the memory of his life is cherished by those who were privileged to know him well. He was upright and honorable in all things, was constant in his friendships and was always ready to place the good of the public above his personal interests. Mrs. Williams is still living in Lake Mills and is well known and highly esteemed in the community. While she retains her membership in the Congregatonal church in Geneseo, she succeeded her husband as a trustee of the Methodist church and is president of the board and, like him, takes a keen interest in the civic and religious advancement of Lake Mills.
GUSTAVE A. KAHLER.
Gustave A. Kahler, a well known and highly respected farmer of German town- ship, Hancock county, makes his home on section 17, where he has one hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive land which he is now carefully and syste- matically cultivating. Ile was born October 29, 1867, near Green Bay, Wisconsin, a son of Christian and Dora (Gade) Kahler, who were natives of Germany and came to America about 1847. They settled in Wisconsin, where they followed farming and both are now deceased.
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It was upon the homestead farm there that Gustave A. Kahler was born, and in 1876 he became a resident of Iowa, making his way to Wright county, where he attended school to the age of fifteen years. Ilis textbooks were then put aside that he might assist his father in the farm work, and for two years thereafter he remained upon the old homestead. Ile afterward worked for three years by the month and then returned to the old homestead where he continued for one year. On the expiration of that period he began buying horses and also breaking prairie. He purchased land at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre and put in twenty acres of oats. In the fall he operated a threshing outfit and for three years he devoted the spring months to breaking sod and the fall seasons to threshing. His entire life has been one of industry and activity, and whatever success he has achieved has resulted entirely from his own efforts. Ile purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Emmet county, Iowa, and after cultivating it for a time sold it. Later he rented land in Emmet county for three years, after which he returned to Wright county, where he purchased the old family homestead, which he cultivated for four years. On the expiration of that period he sold that property and in 1902 came to Hancock county, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 17, German township, constituting his present home place. Through the intervening period of fifteen years he has carefully and persistently carried on the work of the farm and his labors have resulted in making this a productive tract of land from which he annually gathers golden harvests.
Mr. Kahler was united in marriage to Miss Barbara Myers, a daughter of Fred and Kate Myers, who were natives of Germany and on coming to America settled first in Pennsylvania. They afterward removed to Iowa, establishing their home in Grundy county. Mr. and Mrs. Kahler have become parents of three sons and a daughter: Earl E., who married Lily Velau, a daughter of Charles Velau, and who engages in farming ; and Ethel I., Raymond and Emmett C., all at home.
The family are members of the German Methodist Episcopal church. In his political views Mr. Kahler is a republican and for three years has filled the office of township trustee. He has also been school director, and he takes an active and helpful interest in everything pertaining to the welfare and progress of the com- munity with which he is identified. From the age of fifteen years he has been an active factor in the world's work, earning his own livelihood throughout the entire period. He is a man of upright character and sterling worth and he has con- tributed much to the agricultural development of the county.
LAMBERT B. BAILEY.
Lambert B. Bailey, of Garner, is one of the venerable citizens of Hancock county, having celebrated the eightieth anniversary of his birth on the 24th of January, 1917. He was born in Granville, Licking county, Ohio, a son of John A. and Nancy A. (Washbond) Bailey, who in June, 1864, came to Hancock county, Iowa, with their two sons, Lambert B. and Rolla E. The latter was killed by lightning July 28, 1876, while working in a harvest field.
Lambert B. Bailey attended the public schools and an academy of Granville,
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Ohio, in the acquirement of his education and during his active business life devoted his time and attention to school teaching and to farming. He was a young man of twenty-seven years when he came to lowa and throughout the inter- vening period he has lived in Hancock county, his time and energies being devoted to general agricultural pursuits.
Previous to this time Mr. Bailey had attempted to join the army, enlisting for service in the Twenty-first Wisconsin Infantry. He was rejected on account of physical disability and in the fall of 1863 he was drafted for service, but was again rejected for the same reason, so that he never had an opportunity to go to the front. In 1866 he was called to public service in Hancock county, being elected to the position of county recorder, in which he served for two years. In November, 1868, he was elected clerk of the courts and served in that position for two years. In October, 1870, he was elected county recorder, was reëlected in 1872 and at each biennial election up to and including 1884, so that he served altogether in that office for eighteen years, a notable period for length of service and character- ized as well by marked fidelity to duty. No higher testimonial of his faithfulness can be given than the fact that he was again and again chosen for the office. He has always given his political support to the republican party since its organization, yet has never been an active partisan.
In November, 1864, in Waushara county, Wisconsin, Mr. Bailey was married to Miss Frances A. Ocain, a daughter of Isaac and Cynthia Ocain. Their children are: Charles A., who married Mamie Tierney; Elwin R., who married Rena Cuppett; and George L., who wedded Grace Rosecrans.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Congregational church and fraternally Mr. Bailey is a Mason. He took the degrees of the lodge in 1868, of the chapter in 1884, and in the latter year also became a Knight Templar. He is widely and favorably known in Hancock county, where he has made his home for home than a half century and where he has so long filled public office. His fellow townsmen bear testimony to his worth and ability and no history of the county would be complete without mention of him.
GEORGE A. BEMIS, M. D.
Dr. George A. Bemis, recognized as a capable representative of the medical profession practicing in Garner, where he opened his office in 1912, was born in Spencer, Iowa, April 27, 1884, a son of W. S. and Flora R. Bemis, the former a native of Independence, Iowa, and the latter of Janesville, Wisconsin. The paternal grandfather, George W. Bemis, was a native of Spencer, Massachusetts, and came to Iowa as a pioncer settler about 1860. He was very prominent in shaping the policy of the state and promoting its progress along many lines. As state senator he aided in framing its legislation and from 1878 until 1882 he filled the position of state treasurer. In fact he exerted a widely felt influence over political affairs and was ever actuated by a public-spirited devotion to the general good. His son, W. S. Bemis, studied law and for many years practiced at Spen- cer, Iowa.
George A. Bemis, after acquiring a public school education, attended the Culver 11-2
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Military Academy and was graduated from the University of Iowa with the class of 1909. For two years he practiced at Hawarden and in 1912 removed to Garner, where he opened an office and has since successfully followed his profession. He is a member of the County, State and American Medical Associations and keeps in close touch with the advanced thought and scientific investigations of the pro- fession.
Dr. Bemis belongs to the Scabbard & Blade, to the Sigma Chi and the Phi Beta Pi, college societies and fraternities. In Masonry he has taken the Royal Arch degrees and he also has membership with the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Eagles and the Elks, loyally adhering to their teachings concerning mutual obligation and responsibility. Ilis political allegiance is given to the republican party but he has never been an office seeker, preferring to concentrate his time and energies upon his business affairs.
FRANK MARION HANSON.
Frank Marion Hanson, president of the First National Bank of Garner and a prominent figure in financial circles of the state through extensive connection with many banks in various parts of Iowa, belongs to that class of representative business men who are ever ready to meet any emergency with courage and whose ability enables them to successfully cope with complex situations. Iowa claims him as a native sou. He was born March 28, 1873, at Cedar Falls, a son of James and Mary Hanson, who were uatives of Denmark. They emigrated to the United States soon after the Civil war and made their way to Iowa, settling on a farm in Grundy county.
Reared under the parental roof, Frank M. Hanson attended the country schools until sixteen years of age and later became a student in the Waterloo (Iowa) Col- legiate Institute, from which he was graduated on the 1st of June, 1891. In the intervening period he has made for himself a most creditable name and position in the banking circles of the state. He first entered the employ of the Citizens State Bank of Goldfield, Iowa, as bookkeeper on the, 1st of October, 1892, and on the 1st of July, 1893, he became bookkeeper in the Iowa Valley State Bank at Belmond, lowa, where he remained until September 1, 1896, acting for the last two years of that period as assistant cashier. He then resigned to accept a position with Leavitt & Johnson, private bankers, by whom he was employed during a part of the years 1896 and 1897. He next became cashier of the State Savings Bank of Klemme, where he remained for two years, when he organized the State Savings Bank of Kanawha, now the First National Bank. In that institution he continued as cashier from June 1, 1899, until July 1, 1905, when he resigned and accepted the cashiership of the First National Bank of Garner. Later he was promoted to the vice presidency and on the 1st of January, 1916, became president. In the meantime he had extended his connections and is now president of the State Savings Bank of Ventura. a director of the First National Bank of Kanawha, the State Savings Bank of Goodell, Iowa, and the State Savings Bank of Woden, Iowa, while in the Bank of Hayfield, Iowa, he is a partner. He is like- wise a director of the Hancock County Abstract Company of Garner and presi-
FRANK M. HANSON
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dent of the Oregon Timber & Investment Company of Garner. He is likewise interested in eleven hundred and twenty acres of land in Hancock county, near Garner, and has other financial interests.
On the 12th of September, 1906, at Kanawha, Iowa, Mr. Hanson was united in marriage to Miss Ada Adell Huyck, her parents being John and Alice Huyck, who reside on a farm near Kanawha. Mr. and Mrs. Ilanson now have two chil- dren : Morris Frank, born July 1, 1907; and Edna Genevieve, whose birth occurred on the 28th of April, 1911. Mr. IIanson and his family attend the Congregational church. His political endorsement is given to the republican party but he has never sought nor held public office. In fact, he has never had any desire for political positions, feeling that his time has been fully occupied with other interests. In fraternal circles he is well known, being now treasurer of Bethel Lodge, No. 319, A. F. & A. M., of Garner, which office he has filled for ten years. Ile is likewise a member of Bethel Chapter, No. 116, R. A. M .; Bethel Council, No. 33, R. & S. M .; and Antioch Commandery, No. 43, K. T., of Mason City. He is likewise connected with El Kahir Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Cedar Rapids, and he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. Throughout his entire life he has practically concentrated his efforts along one line and it is this singleness of pur- pose which has constituted one of the strong forces in his success. He has com- prehensive knowledge of the banking business and his pronounced ability is widely recognized by his colleagues and contemporaries throughout the state.
MIKKEL J. HOLSTAD.
Mikkel J. Holstad, deceased, was for many years one of the leading farmers of Winnebago county, his home being on section 25, Norway township. Ile was a native of the land of the midnight sun, his birth occurring in Norway, Novem- ber 5, 1837, and he was a son of John and Gjori Holstad, in whose family were five children. The parents never came to the United States, but on crossing the Atlantic Mikkel J. Holstad was accompanied by his brother, A. J., who bought land adjoining his farm and continued to reside there until 1900, when he returned to Norway, where he is now living.
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