USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading events in Johnson County, Iowa history, biographical > Part 14
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LEWIS GRANT LAWYER
Another of the native sons of Iowa who has achieved dis- tinction within the shadow of his alma mater is Dr. Lewis Grant Lawyer, the popular dentist of Iowa City. Reference has been made in biographies of other citizens of Johnson county to the remarkable percentage of graduates of the S. U.
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I. who remain within the borders of the state, largely within the borders of the county, of which this great institution of learning is so signally a factor. This notable fact is both a compliment to the alma mater and to the state, and in some sense is a foil to the charge of former United States Senator Lafayette Young that Iowans are inclined to run after strange gods of other states. Probably in no state of the Union, cer- tainly in no county thereof, can be found a greater percentage of alumni who have remained within earshot of their gradua- tion halls and made recognized progress in the manifold pur- suits of life than in Iowa and Johnson county. A directory of
RESIDENCE OF LEWIS GRANT LAWYER
the leading professional and business men of Johnson county would in large measure doubtless prove a "deadly parallel" to the roll of alumni of the State University of Iowa. Thus the value of the University, both as a coach for practical busi- ness and as a steadier of men's spirits for the responsibilities of life, is made manifest. The charge that such influence leads to provincialism is disproven in Johnson county, for nowhere do the tides of national patriotism run higher nor the broad views of the "Big American" more forcefully prevail than here. The alumni of S. U. T. are men of the wide vision, and their eyes are steadied for the sight of things by the quieting
L. G. LAWYER, D. D.
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shades of the campus and the peaceful presence of their fel- lows of the school room.
Dr. Lawyer is a native of Solon, Iowa, and the date of his birth was October 18, 1869. He was educated in the public schools of his native village, and afterwards took a course in the Iowa City Commercial College. This he supplemented by matriculation in the Dental College of the State University of Iowa. At the age of eighteen he learned the printer's trade, afterwards forming a partnership with V. L. Becter in the publication of the Solon Reporter. He began the practice of dentistry in Iowa City in March, 1895, and has built up a prac- tice which he admits is "of average size," but which is well known as one of the best in the city, the doctor's modesty to the contrary, notwithstanding. He is a member of the Fowa State Dental Society.
Dr. Lawyer is happy in his domestic relations, having for his wife Miss Mae E. Talbott, daughter of L. W. and Laurana Talbott, to whom he was married September 12, 1894, at Iowa City. The Talbott family came to Iowa City from Indiana in 1851. Mr. Talbott was a volunteer in the Civil War. He was. formerly city marshal and a trustee of the poor farm. He has been prominent in the work of the Methodist Episcopal church of Iowa City.
The parents of Lewis Grant Lawyer were Lewis Mathias and Nancy Jane Lawyer, the former a native of Maryland, and the latter of Pennsylvania. Lawyer, Sr., was a general merchant, and carried on his business at Solon following his arrival in Towa in 1855. For several years he hauled all his merchandise from Muscatine and Iowa City by wagon. He was formerly postmaster at Solon. In 1862 he took up a gov- ernment claim in Kansas, but was compelled to relinquish it on account of ill health and return to Solon ..
Dr. Lawyer is an active worker in the Methodist Episco- pal church of Iowa City, having united with that denomination at the age of seventeen at Solon. He has one child, Laura Jeanette, born November 15, 1900. The family reside at 402 South Linn street.
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JOSEPHI L. WILKINSON
The strength of the American republic rests in the native good sense, honesty, and integrity of its great common people, whose name is legion. Abraham Lincoln, remarking on the number of these, gave it as his quaint opinion that "the Lord must love the common people, for He made so many of them." In this country of matchless opportunity, where the springs of power have their source in the hearts and initiative of the electorate, men are ofttimes tempted to lay aside the homely garments of the commonplace and take on the habiliments of political preferment and power. Thus it has passed into an aphorism that "many a good citizen has been spoiled in the making of an indifferent statesman." In view of the number- less instances of such "indifferent" creations, it seems fitting to give a just meed of praise to those members of the com- monwealth who have had the inherent good judgment to live their lives in the simple environments of home and occupation, expressing their citizenship in terms of good fellowship, right living, and honest suffrage.
Joseph L. Wilkinson, a native of Union township, Johnson county, Iowa, is known among his neighbors as a man of straightforward character, transparent honesty, and plain, common sense. Born of native Irish parents, he was given by inheritance the primary elements of success; and that he has "made fine capital of his birthright" his honorable life of forty-two years in Iowa City and vicinity abundantly attests.
The parents of Joseph L. were Robert Wilkinson and Anna Murphy. The former was born in the County of Antrim and the latter in the County of Kildare, Ireland, in the year 1824. Emigrating to America, Wilkinson, senior, landed at Quebec, near which for a time he was engaged in burning charcoal. In 1855 the couple, with their four children, came west, settling in Johnson county, lowa. The trip from Dubuque to Iowa City was made by wagon. For about ten years subsequent to his arrival Robert Wilkinson pursued the business of draving at Iowa City; thereafter living on a farm south of the city. In 1868 he purchased 240 acres of land west of Iowa City, in Union township, at the low price of $1.25 per acre. There he remained, with his growing family, developing his homestead,
J. L. WILKINSON
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until 1896, when he died. His beloved wife survived until September 1, 1910.
Anna (Murphy) Wilkinson was the mother of ten children, seven of whom are living. They are, in the order of their birth : James, of Iowa City; Mary J. Weeks, of Iowa City; Robert, of Iowa City; Frank and Thomas, of Scott township: Charles, of lowa City ; and Joseph L., of Penn township.
Father and Mother Wilkinson were faithful members of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic church, Mr. Wilkinson being one of the actual builders of the church edifice.
Joseph L. Wilkinson was raised on the home farm in Union township, where he remained until twenty-seven years of age. He received his education at the public schools and the Iowa City Academy. His attention was given to farming until 1898, when he opened a retail grocery store on South Dubuque street, between College and Washington, Iowa City. A splen- did, prosperous business is the outcome of his careful efforts.
His marriage to Miss Margaret Kenny, a native of Plato township, Cedar county, Iowa, has been ratified by the birth of seven children, named respectively : Thomas, Mary, Anna, Edward, Paul, Alice, and Bernard. The family reside upon the farm in Penn township, which Mr. Wilkinson owns - his time being happily divided between the prosperons business in Iowa City and the attractive home in the country.
In politics Mr. Wilkinson is a democrat and the family are members of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic church.
The introductory statements of this article apply with singular fitness to Joseph L. Wilkinson. He is an honored member of the great American majority, who find their chief delight in discharging the multiplied duties of life without ostentation, in the spirit of trne neighborliness and patriot- ism.
JOHN T. JONES
It is a natural desire, common to all who look beyond mere- ly the needs of the passing hour, to know something of our kin and also to leave some recorded story of our lives that those who live after us may know something more of their an- cestry than is carved on some marble shaft or pediment. A
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genealogy is a kind of an analysis of our particular tribe, so that we may consider the elements of which we are composed. Printer's ink outlasts the granite shaft and tells more than name, date of birth, and day of death. The men and women who made Johnson county, who labored and waited, who shaped events, formulated its government and forecast its prosperity, deserve a larger remembrance than an ummeaning line cut into the facet of a monument, for men's lives and the deeds they have done are worthy of comprehensive record, and in writing the commemorative history of Johnson county it is a pleasure to the biographer to record the history of those
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RESIDENCE OF JOHN T. JONES
who were factors in the growth and development of this part of the great commonwealth of Iowa.
The subject of this sketch, John T. Jones, is of Welsh parentage. He was born in Wales, December 10, 1845. When he was ten years of age he came with his parents, Thomas H. and An (Bruce) Jones to America. These parents were of the sturdy Welsh type which has found many representatives in the New World and is one that has ever been found fore- most in giving impetus to the march and progress of events and in directing affairs along safe and conservative lines. America owes much to this hardy Welsh stock and has hon- ored and been honored by noble men and women of this ex- traction.
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Upon the arrival of the family in Johnson county, the father secured a tract of land and immediately engaged in farming and continued in that pursuit until his death in 1885. The mother's death occurred in 1880.
John T. Jones grew to manhood on the old homestead and attended the public schools of the county until ten years of age, when he commenced farm work and was employed at different places in the neighborhood for a period of abont eight years. In the spring of 1863 he answered the call of his adopted country, then in the midst of a civil war, and enlisted in Co. K, of the Sth Iowa Cavalry, and remained in the service until the close of the war. In the winter of 1863-4 when his regiment was in Tennessee, he had some very thrilling expe- riences with "bushwhackers." He was engaged in skirmish- ing at Lookout Mountain and at Chattanooga and Rosque. Later he was with Sherman on his eventful "march to the sea." He was in the battles of Lost Mountain, Tilton, Al- toona, and many others. At Neuman, Georgia, July 30, 1864, he was taken prisoner and conveyed directly to Andersonville, where he remained nine months, suffering the undescribable tortures, starvation, and hardships of that infernal hades, the cruelties of which bore the stamp and approval of the president of the Southern Confederacy. On March 30, 1865, after long days and nights of suffering and waiting, when hope had almost fled, one can easily imagine the joy which must have filled his weary heart when he found he was to be exchanged and released from that awful prison. On June 30, 1865, he was discharged from further service and returned to his home.
In April, 1872, he was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Baxter, who was born in Ebensburg, Cambria county, Pennsyl- vania, July 16, 1849. She was but six years of age when her parents removed to Johnson county and settled on a farm in Sharon township. She remained on the old farm until their death. The father died December 8, 1898, aged ninety-five; the mother died Angust 13, 1873, aged sixty-two. They are both laid at rest side by side in the old churchyard.
Mr. and Mrs. Jones are blessed with three children : Eliza- beth Grace, born September 3, 1875, who married A. F. Weeber, and they are living on a farm in Sharon township,
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Johnson county; R. B. Jones, born September 7, 1877, who married Annie Weaver and is living on the old homestead south of Iowa City; Margarette Ann, born July 13, 1881, now Mrs. L. C. Yoder, and resides with her parents in Iowa City.
Mr. Jones is a republican and has served three years as supervisor of the county.
In his social relations Mr. Jones is a member of A. F. & A. M., Iowa City lodge No. 4, Iowa City No. 2 of Royal Arch Chapter, Palestine Com. No. 2 of Iowa City, and of I. O. O. F. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are both members of the Congregational church and are held in high esteem by all who know them.
In tracing the life story of Mr. Jones we find an example of what may be accomplished by integrity of purpose, indus- try, tenacity of will, and strict honesty. He began his career in life with only a pair of willing hands and an honest deter- mination and has steadily progressed until he has secured not only a competency, but an unblemished name and character, a heritage of honor, and the fragrance of a life well lived and days well spent.
ALBERT J. HERTZ
One of the most faithful, painstaking, and efficient public servants of Iowa City in his generation is Albert J. Hertz, the subject of this sketch. Probably no man has a more complete knowledge of the general conditions of both city and county, and certainly none has a more thorough grasp of the public school system of the city or of matters affecting the welfare of the youth of Iowa City. He also has special knowledge of as well as long experience in the subject of fire protection for the city, having served actively twenty-five years as a volunteer fireman and three years as chief of the fire department. For sixteen years Mr. Hertz has been secretary of the board of education of the public schools of Iowa City, and for the past two years has devoted his entire time to that work. The po- sition involves supervision of the janitors of the various school buildings, as well as of the buildings and grounds, and the duties of truant officer. To the discharge of his various duties Mr. Hertz applies the power of practical and conscientious effort.
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The parents of our subject were Henry Hertz and Anna Tilton. The former was a native of Darmstadt, Germany, and was born January 9, 1824. His parents were Daniel and Chris- tina Hertz, natives of Germany, who settled in Easton, Penn- sylvania, in 1827, making the voyage from the Fatherland in an old sailing vessel, a journey requiring about nine weeks. At the age of eighteen Henry Hertz went to Philadelphia, where he became an apprentice at coach blacksmithing for two years, afterwards serving as a journeyman for fifteen years. In 1857 he came west to Johnson county, where he resided until his death, April 24, 1904. His wife, Anna Tilton, was a
RESIDENCE OF ALBERT J. HERTZ
native of Easton, Pennsylvania. She died soon after the birth of her fourth child. The names of the children of Daniel and Christina Hertz are : Henry, William, George, Jacob, Gustave, Dehlia, Lena, Mary, and Sarah. The three children of Henry Hertz and Anna Tilton were: Albert J., our subject; Harry F .; Cordelia, wife of G. Blessin. Mr. Hertz was a man of affairs in Johnson county, serving in many positions of trust in his township.
Our subject was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, No- vember 13, 1848. He accompanied his father to Johnson county in 1857 when nine years of age. His education was secured in the public schools of Iowa City. In the spring of
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1880 he entered business for himself in the dry goods trade, and continued therein for sixteen years, when he sold out and went into the employ of Denecke & Yetter as a salesman. He remained with this firm for three years, after which he en- tered the employ of II. A. Strub & Co., with whom he contin- med as a salesman for ten years. For the past two years, as heretofore stated, he has devoted his entire time to the duties of secretary of the board of education.
Mr. Hertz has a worthy wife in the person of Miss Sarah E. Gobin, a native of Iowa City. Her parents were natives of Pennsylvania and came to Johnson county in 1849. They were among the well-known pioneer settlers and were identified with the early growth and development of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Hertz have six children: Charles, Henry, George, Sophia, Ada, and Elsie.
The family are all members of the English Entheran church. Although a large part of Mr. Hertz's time has been spent in the service of the public, he has been accumulating a modest fortune, which, with the beautiful home which he owns, guarantees him a competence for the years of retirement, to which, though considerably removed as yet, he naturally looks forward with expectation of comfort and the consciousness of duty well performed. The family residence is at 624 Summit street, Iowa City.
WILLIAM E. PRATT
The founder of this branch of the Pratt family in the United States was William, one of the passengers of the pilgrim ship Mayflower, who settled near the old town of Boston, Massa- chusetts. The heads of the generations in direct succession of William are James, Robert, Edward, James, Cotton, James C., Edward, and William Edward, our subject, the latter bo- ing the ninth generation of his family in America. Edward, the father of our subjeet, was born in Massachusetts and re- moved to Pennsylvania. He married Malinda Davidson, a native of Massachusetts, who was the mother of our subject.
William Edward Pratt was born June 30, 1837, at Mead- ville, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and educated in the dis- triet schools of Trumbull county, Ohio. He took up the car-
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penter trade as an occupation, and on reaching Johnson county, Iowa, in 1854, was employed at his trade until 1863. Immediately upon his arrival, however, he became a land owner, and during his long residence in the county has owned farms in East Lucas, Scott, and Graham townships. For many years he has been a practical farmer, and at this writing re- sides on the old Muscatine road, near lowa City, in honorable retirement. His present farm is recognized as a model, and contains everything essential to up-to-date farming, with splendid residence and complete fences.
Mr. Pratt was married October 26, 1863, to Miss Emma D. Trotter, born in Johnson county, September 25, 1842, and
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RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM E. PRATT
raised and educated in Johnson county. She is the daughter of Samuel B. and Martha G. (Sanford) Trotter, Johnson county pioneers of 1839. Mrs. Trotter was among the first white women of the Iowa frontier, and endured many of the privations of pioneer life. She was born in New York state, Mr. Trotter being a native of Ohio. The children of William E. Pratt and Emma D. Trotter are: Elmer G., married to Henrietta Stevenson; Martha E., now Mrs. E. G. Ten Eyck, living in Oklahoma ; Calista L., living at home ; and Sanford J., married Mable Rice, living in Nebraska.
Mr. Pratt has held many positions of trust, and has always evinced a strong interest in local and national political issues.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
SAMUEL EDGAR CARRELL
Samuel Edgar Carrell was born near Aledo, Mercer county, Illinois. April 1, 1862. He is a son of E. L. Carrell and Mrs. Eliza (Cowgill) Carrell. E. L. Carrell was born in Logan county, Ohio, in 1830, and Mrs. Carrell was born in Cham- paign county, Ohio, the same year. He was a carpenter by trade, as was his father before him, and the first years of his life were spent in pursuit of this vocation. Later he became interested in land ownership and farming, and the last years of his business life were spent in the grain and coal business at Adel, Iowa. He has now retired from active duties and he
RESIDENCE OF SAMUEL EDGAR CARRELL
and his wife are pleasantly spending their declining years in a comfortable residence at that place.
Mrs. E. L. Carrell's parents were early pioneers of Cham- paign county, Ohio, and endured all the privations, hardships, and dangers of a new and wild country, and it was here in this community in its primitive state that Mrs. Carrell was reared and grew to womanhood.
Samuel Edgar Carrell came to Washington, Iowa, with his parents in 1865 and from there went to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1870 and shortly afterward moved onto a farm in Dallas county, Iowa. Here he attended country school and taught
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school in that county for some time, finally moving to Adel, Iowa, where he graduated from the high school.
In 1883, at the age of twenty years, he started in the news- paper business as part owner of The Dallas County Demo- crat. Here he remained as proprietor and editor of this publi- cation for eight years, during four years of which time he was postmaster of Adel. From here he went to Des Moines and for a year's time was city editor and editorial writer on the Des Moines Leader.
In 1891 he moved to Perry, Iowa, buying the Perry Adver- tiser. Soon after this, in order to be in better position to take care of his new acquisition, he sold his interest in the Adel paper and for thirteen years his life was coincident with the development of Dallas county and the welfare of its people, spent in the publication of its official newspaper.
He sold the Perry Advertiser in 1904 and came to Iowa City, where he has been engaged in publishing and editing the Iowa City Daily Press ever since.
Mr. Carrell was married to Miss Rachel Diddy in 1883, at Adel, Iowa. Her parents were Levi and Sarah Diddy, who were natives of Indiana and who came to Dallas county in 1849. Here they outlived all the newness of the times, gained a comfortable competence, and died a few years ago.
Three children came to gladden the home of Mr. and Mrs. Carrell, two sons, who are still living, and one daughter who died when a baby. The older son, Dale E., was born January 19, 1885, and Clarence C., the younger, on July 31, 1891. Both are working with their father in the newspaper office.
Mr. and Mrs. Carrell are members of the Christian church.
Mr. Carrell is a democrat and has held numerous positions of distinction, honor, and trust conferred by his party. Dur- ing much of the time he lived at Adel he was chairman of the central committee.
WILLIAM J. DUNKEL
The distinction of being the first-horn male white child of Iowa City belongs to William J. Dunkel, the subject of this sketch, whose birthday was October 9, 1840. He also bears the honor of being the first child baptized in Iowa City in the
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Catholic religion, this rite being performed by the first priest who ever came to Iowa City. The fact that he is now a citizen of his native city, retired at the age of seventy-one, proves that he is satisfied with the place of his birth and consecration.
The parents of our subject were Caspar Dunkel and Mary Axnor, both natives of Bavaria, Germany. The former was born in 1809 and the latter in 1817. Caspar Dunkel emigrated to America in 1836 and settled at Boston, remaining there for about two years. There, in September, 1837, he married Mary Axnor, who came to America with her parents and settled at Roxbury, Massachusetts. In the spring of 1838 the young couple went to Natchez, Mississippi, and in July two years later continued their journey to Iowa City, where the husband took up work at his trade, carpentering. Wm. J. Dunkel and his wife were among the original members of St. Mary's Roman Catholic church. Mrs. Dunkel died of cholera in Iowa City in August, 1855; the father survived until 1898. Both were excellent people, highly esteemed. The old family resi- dence at 125 North Linn street, built by Caspar Dunkel in 1853, is one of the landmarks of Iowa City.
Our subject is the second of the seven children of Caspar and Mary Dunkel, only three of whom survive, namely : Hen- ry, a dentist, residing at Gunnison, Colorado ; our subject, and Frank P., proprietor of the Dunkel Hotel, Iowa City.
William J. Dunkel was educated in the public schools of Iowa City. At the age of seventeen he went south to Natchez, Mississippi, where he learned the cabinet maker's trade. He resided there three and one-half years and then returned to Iowa City, where he attended Professor Brownson's high school for one year. For a time he held a position in a gen- eral store. In 1865 he went to Chicago, where he remained five years. This time was spent in the pursuit of different vo- cations. Ifis purpose in going to Chicago was to attend business college, which he did for the first year of his sojourn in the city. Later he was engaged in a gent's furnishing store. The last two years were spent in the pursuit of his trade. During this time he was identified with one of the large planing mills of Chicago, holding a very important po- sition. In 1870 he returned to Iowa City and took a clerkship in John Brosshart's store, remaining four years. Beginning
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with April 6, 1875, he elerked for one year for Frederick Kriz, and for something over one year following was in the employ of the Union Brewing Company. He started in the grocery business for himself in the fall of 1877, continuing therein until May, 1910, when he retired.
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