USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading events in Johnson County, Iowa history, biographical > Part 15
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In 1875 Mr. Dunkel was married to Miss Rosa Lutter, of Richmond, Iowa, who was born in New York of German parentage. Mrs. Dunkel died July 15, 1889, at the age of thirty-three. Three sons and one daughter were born, the lat- ter dying in infancy. The sons are: Engene W., born Febru- ary 25, 1877, a railway mail clerk on the Northwestern between Chicago and Omaha; George, born July 20, 1879, married to Miss Ida Hemstead, of Newport, Iowa, is a practicing physi- cian at Fairfield, lowa : William Benedict, born February 22, 1881, married to Miss Emma Mintzer, resides at Iowa City, and is also a railway mail clerk, operating on the Rock Island between Chicago and Omaha.
As stated before, Mr. Dunkel enjoys the honor and dis- tinction of being the first male child born in Iowa City. He first saw the light of day in the autumn of 1840, in a little log cabin then located on the corner of College and Linn streets. When our subject was two years old his father built a frame dwelling just west of the log cabin on the corner, where our subject lived until he was thirteen years old. It was at this time that his father built the old landmark at 125 North Lin street, where our subject has lived the greater part of his life.
Mr. Dunkel has been identified with the affairs of Johnson county all his life, and has always taken a prominent part. In the school days of his boyhood he always excelled in the ath- letic sports participated in by the young men at that time. He became an expert swimmer and diver. . It was known and conceded far and wide that there was no one in his vicinity who could surpass him in this sport. Many of the old resi- dents of Iowa City recall the athletic victories of Mr. Dunkel's boyhood. In later years, amid the grave cares and responsi- bilities of life, he has been equally successful. For thirty-five years he was engaged in the mercantile business in Iowa City. During all this time he made and kept a host of friends who admire and respect him for his adherence to the principles of
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strict honesty. He is now enjoying the well earned fruits of a life well spent in conscientious toil.
Mr. Dunkel had a narrow escape from drowning in the Iowa river when nine years of age. He was rescued by Peter Hepburn, former congressman, and John Gower.
JOSHUA HUNT SECREST
The advanced march of civilization from east to west, coin- cident with the inflow of immigration to Iowa, brought to Johnson county one of her most useful, successful, and hon- ored sons. To write the history of this county in all its phases, to tell of its improvement from the raw prairie, of its advance- ment morally, educationally, and financially, without proper mention of the assistance and influence of Joshua Hunt Se- erest, would be utterly an impossibility, as well as an unpar- donable injustice to a man who plainly demonstrated the value of the rare qualities of character, ambition, perseverance, and honesty.
Mr. Secrest most assuredly did possess these precious gifts of nature. His comfortable fortune, his beautiful home, his honored and respected widow, his talented children, all are evidences of a spotless character and a life well spent; in memory of which his host of friends bespeak, "Thou hast not lived in vain."
Mr. Secrest was born near Hartford in Guernsey county, Ohio, August 9, 1848. His father, Michael Secrest, was born at Capron Springs, Virginia, January 22, 1822. His mother's maiden name was Mary Hunt. She was born September 10, 1828, at Kimbalton, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Michael Secrest were married at Hartford, Ohio, in 1844. In 1852 they moved to Warren county, Ohio, and a year later to Mercer county, Ohio, which at that time was an unbroken wilderness of timber and swamp. The family lived in the covered wagon until a log cabin could be built. There was no railroad for miles, nor any schoolhouse in that locality.
In 1854 the first school house was built in Mercer county, and it was here that our subject attended one term, the first and only schooling he had for several years. About this time our subject lost his mother. Her death was caused from ex-
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cessive hardship incident to pioneer life, and a decidedly un- healthy condition existing in that country at that time. The loss of the mother, experienced in that pioneer region by the father and six small children, can never be told.
The children were Rebecca Elizabeth, Joshua Hunt, Rachel Marie, Amanda Melissa, David Elwood, and Samuel Filmore.
Our subject continued to live in his native state until 1869, when he came to Johnson county, arriving on the 25th day of February. At this time his only assets were a rugged consti- tution, an honest spirit, and a determination to be somebody.
On January 15, 1873, he married Esther J. Hollingsworth. She was born in Warren county, Ohio, January 27, 1854. Her
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RESIDENCE OF JOSHUA HUNT SECREST
parents were Mahlon, who was born February 24, 1821, and Mary T. (Whitacre) Hollingsworth, born in January, 1824. Her parents were both natives of Ohio, were married there, and moved to this county when Mrs. Secrest was five months old. They had eight children, two of whom died in childhood. The children are Edward W., living in Missouri Valley, Har- rison county, Iowa; James H., who now resides in Muscatine county, Iowa; Rebecca, who died at the age of five years ; Rachel, now Mrs. Meade, residing at West Liberty, Iowa ; Aquila W., who is living in Colorado; Esther J., now Mrs. Joshua H. Secrest; and Harriet, who died when about five years old. Mr. Hollingsworth died February 21, 1901, his wife on February 24, 1883.
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Mr. and Mrs. Joshua H. Secrest have been blessed with seven children.
Guy R. was born April 14, 1874. He, as a boy, attended the county schools, and later the Academy at Iowa City, from which he graduated in 1892. HIe then took np farming on the old homestead in Scott township, and has been thus engaged since. On October 12, 1895, he married Miss M. Rose Wilson. She was born in Millville, Pennsylvania, April 20, 1884. She came to Johnson county with her parents a few years before her marriage. Her mother died in the fall of 1910. Her father is still living. They have two children: Walter Wilson, born December 19, 1905; and William Staddon, born May 6, 1909.
Mr. Guy R. Secrest is a republican. His family are mem- bers of the Methodist church. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., of the Modern Woodmen of the World, also the Masonic order at West Branch.
Walter, the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Secrest, was born December 25, 1878, and died August 23, 1898.
Mary A. was born May 5, 1883. She is now Mrs. John E. Dunn. Dr. Dunn received his degree of M. D. from the State University of Iowa in 1904. They were married September 25, 1905. Their children are John E., Robert, and Esther S. They are located at Stratford, South Dakota.
Edna R., born June 10, 1885, is now Mrs. E. S. Ney. Their children are Ethelyn and Edwin E. They reside at West Liberty, Iowa.
Charies M. was born February 12, 1887. He attended the county schools, also the Academy at Towa City, from which he graduated in 1904. He then attended the S. U. I., graduating from the electrical engineering department in 1909. Hle worked in Cincinnati, Ohio, one year, after which he engaged in the automobile business in Iowa City. He was married August 31, 1910, to Miss Pearl Jenkinson, of Downey, Iowa. Her father was a native of Ohio, and a prominent pioneer of C'edar county.
Charles M. Secrest is a republican as to national politics, and liberal in respect to local. He is an associate member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers; also a mem- her of the fraternity Sigma Xi.
Carrie B. was born October 11, 1888, and Florence E. born
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December 26, 1893. Both are living at home with their mother.
For twenty years after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Secrest farmed. Then Mr. Secrest engaged in the lumber busi- ness for the B., C. R. & N. Railroad Company, on the Cedar river near Conesville, Iowa. In 1895, and for four years thereafter, he engaged in the stock business, and during that period he handled over forty thousand sheep and many hun- dreds of cattle. His last business was that of real estate, mostly in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, where, at one time, he owned ten sections of land. He engaged in this business for five years or more, in the above named locality, and bought and sold many thousands of acres there. All of this time he retained possession of the old homestead, which contained, at the time of his death, February 26, 1911, 520 acres in Seott township.
In national polities Mr. Secrest was always a republican. In local matters he sought to support the best man. He was a member of the Ancient Order of Royal Arch Masons, and took great pride in his connection with this order. While not a fanatic upon any question, Mr. Secrest was an advocate and an upholder of all institutions for the betterment of society, and for the advancement and education of his fellow-men.
GEORGE S. CARSON
One of the passengers on the first passenger train which entered Iowa City over the Rock Island Railway in January, 1856, was Thomas C. Carson, father of the subject of this sketch. The traveler was a young man twenty-two years of age, and had come all the way from Philadelphia, his native city, to identify himself with the new and wonderful west. He brought with him the Philadelphia idea, "Everlastingly at it brings success," and the application of that idea, togeth- er with the exercise of the dominant principle of honesty, made him one of the most important factors in the develop- ment of Iowa City and a leader among its great financiers. Mr. Carson was unmarried when he reached Iowa City, but there was a fair young woman baek in the city of Philadelphia who somehow exercised a strong drawing attraction over the
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long-distance telepathic route, and we are therefore not sur- prised to learn that one year later this young adopted son of Iowa returned to Philadelphia and joined his heart and hand with Miss Mary Josephine Reiff, born in Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, in 1835. The honeymoon trip of these two young Pennsylvanians was a westward journey to their new home in the beautiful university city of the Hawkeye state, "where they lived happily forever afterwards." This happy bride of 1857 survives her beloved husband, who died in October, 1905, and at the advanced age of seventy-six resides at the old home, 906 East College street.
Thomas C. Carson had been engaged one year in the hard- ware business when he brought his bride to Iowa City. He was among the first of the progressive merchants of the city. His operations in the hardware trade continued until January 1, 1860, when he enlarged the scope of his business and began to handle agricultural implements. In all his business rela- tions Mr. Carson was a man of serupulous honesty and up- rightness, and on that account he inevitably won the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens. Ilis business judgment was essentially sound, and was frequently sought by his asso- ciates in the settlement of enterprises and questions of im- portance. For a half century he was closely identified with the commercial development of Iowa City and Johnson county. In 1874 he became vice president of the Johnson County Sav- ings bank which position he held three years. Three years later he succeeded to the position of president. being identified with this institution for a period of over thirty years. It is scarcely necessary to recite the fact, well known to all his con- temporaries, that the high standing of this bank among the financial institutions of lowa is attributable in great measure to the integrity and ability of Thomas C. Carson.
Six sons were born to Thomas C. Carson and Mary Jose- phine Reiff, five of whom are living at this writing, the eldest (Chas. Reiff Carson) having died in December, 1866. Their names in the order of birth are : Chas. R., Thomas B., residing at Davenport, Iowa, secretary of the Bettendorf Wheel Com- pany, with which enterprise he has been identified for twenty- five years ; George S., our subject ; Frank C., secretary of the Iowa City Gas & Electric Company and a director and presi-
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dent of the Johnson County Savings bank ; Haves H., engaged in the live-stock business at Iowa City; Robert N., treasurer of the Iowa City Gas & Electric Company and president of the lowa League of Comnereal clubs.
George S. Carson, our subject, was educated in the public schools of Iowa City, his native town, and spent one year in the State University. He entered the implement business in 1882 and continued therein for ten years, when he became ac- tively associated with the Iowa City Electric Light Company. which afterwards was consolidated with the Iowa City Gas Company under the name of the Iowa City Gas & Electric Company, of which latter concern he has been president and active manager for over five years. The plant of the Iowa City Electric Light Company was first started in 1886 by M. T. Close with the modest capital of $3000, and its operations were carried on in a simple way, Jack Paintin, of Coralville, walking back and forth to attend to the lights. The consoli- dated company is now one of the most completely equipped in the state, and is provided with every modern appliance, both in machinery and supplies, for the production of elec- trieity and gas for lighting, fuel, and power.
Mr. Carson was married in 1904 to Miss Celia Namur, a native of Iowa City, educated at the State University. Her father was born in France and her mother in Germany. Three sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Carson: Thomas C., born October 20, 1905 ; George S., born June 1, 1907 ; Burke N., born May 20, 1909. The family reside at 103 South Governor street, Iowa City.
CHRISTIAN SENNER
After three years' service in the German army, Christian Senner (born in Germany, February 11, 1858) came to Amer- ica. He was a young man of twenty-three when he landed in New York, and he had the strong good sense, after looking over the new world metropolis for about two months, to turn has face westward to the land which Horace Greeley immor- talized. His first location was at Iowa City, where he re- mained seven years. Thereafter he spent eight years in the state of Washington. This brought him up to the year 1896,
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when he returned to Iowa City. He has been a resident of the University city continually since that time.
Mr. Senner was employed at Simon Hotz's Brewery, and when that establishment passed into the hands of Conrad
RESIDENCE OF CHRISTIAN SENNER
Graf and then later the Graf Brothers, Mr. Senner remained in connection with the establishment.
On September 16, 1896, our subject was married at Iowa City to Mrs. Anna M. Graf, a native of that city. Her par- ents were natives of Germany. Her father came to Johnson county at an early day and was one of the pioneer business men of lowa City. Her mother came in 1840. Both parents are buried at Iowa City.
Mr. Senner is a democrat. His religious faith is Catholic. and he is a member of St. Mary's church. He takes an active interest in the work of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the German Aid Society, being an honored member of both organ- izations.
WILLIAM LE CLAIRE BYWATER
The state of Iowa is conspicuous because of the great num- ber of her native sons who have received the fundamentals of classical and scientific education within her borders, added
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thereto both at home and abroad by post-graduate attain- ments, and settled within the bosom of their mother state to bring honor to themselves, their almae materae and their com- monwealth, The pages of this history are crowded with such examples, and the gamut of their services touches every ac- tivity of their times. The Home Successes of the Native Sons and Daughters of Iowa would furnish the text for a stirring chapter of the state's history. It is to the eternal credit of a commonwealth that within her borders her sons and daughters find congenial conditions for the exercise of their talents, and remain to become weavers of her garment of destiny rather than emigrants to other states and toilers in other workshops. Iowa City and Johnson county furnish many prominent ex- amples of such sons and daughters. Whether the attachments for alma mater and the friends of the University days, or the natural charm of the University City and the University coun- ty, account for this evident condition, is not known; but the sons and daughters are here, marching on to success and re- joicing in the facts of success already achieved.
William Le Claire Bywater, the subject of this sketch, is one of such conspicuous examples above recited. Born in Tama county, Iowa, in 1867, his preliminary education was obtained in the public schools of his native county. He grad- uated from the Gladbrook high school in 1883, after which, in preparation for the work of teaching, he attended the State Normal and Western college. He entered the State Univer- sity of Iowa in 1894, and graduated from the Medical Depart- ment (Homeopathy) in 1897. He supplemented this with a post-graduate course in ophthalmies in 1899-1900 at New York City and took also special degrees in ear, nose, and throat. His attainments were given recognition in 1902, when he was elected vice dean and chosen to succeed Professor Gilchrist as secretary of the faculty of Homeopathy, S. U. I. In 1903 he was made a director of the University Homeopathic Hos- pital and professor of eye, car, nose and throat, succeeding in that chair Professor F. J. Newberry. As a clinical operator Dr. Bywater demonstrates the value of his pedagogie educa- tion and training, his lectures being lucid, practical, and in- structive. Dr. Bywater is a member of the medical and sur-
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gical societies of his school in Johnson county, as well as of the state association. He is a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy and of the American Ophthalmological, Onto- logical and Laryngological Society. While a resident of Tama county, Dr Bywater had as preceptor Dr. C. M. Morford, a distinguished practitioner.
Reference has been made to the pedagogic experience of our subject. This relates to his election, on the democratic ticket, to the office of county school superintendent of Tama county, and his service of four years (1890-94) in that capac- ity. It was this position which the doctor states gave him his greatest opportunity for the " study of humanity."
Dr. Bywater's ancestors were Welsh and Irish. His par- ents were Napoleon and Sarah (Fitzgerald) Bywater, who reside at Garwin, Tama county, Iowa.
In the county of his nativity, Tama, Dr. Bywater found his wife and was united to her in wedlock. Her name was Miss Jessie M. Cannon, daughter of Erasmus J. and Harriet (Collins) Cannon. The father is a distant relative of "Uncle Joe" Cannon, the famous ex-speaker of the United States house of representatives. One daughter, Ruth Elizabeth, has blessed the union of Dr. Bywater and Jessie M. Cannon.
Dr. Bywater is a 32nd degree Mason and a member of the K. of P. and M. W. A. He is a member of and takes an active interest in the Country Club. Mrs. Bywater and he are both active members of the Christian church. They reside at 316 East Brown street, Iowa City, and are held in high esteem by a large circle of friends.
JUDGE O. A. BYINGTON
Judge Byington is a lawyer by inheritance, education, and training. No natural gifts, it is well understood, will com- pensate for a lack of definite knowledge of the law books in the practice of the legal profession, and yet, all things being equal, it will be conceded that the born lawyer, like the born poet, has a distinct advantage in the forum. There came to Judge Byington, through his father, the Honorable Le Grande
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Byington, the indefinable momentum or swing of heredity which gave him his liking for the law. "Fra Elbertus," in his quaint terminology declares that "Art is the expression of a man's joy in his work." Even so, a liking or bent for Justinian discipleship may properly constitute "Exhibit A" in the curriculum of the courts. But Judge Byington supple- mented Folio 1 of his chosen Brief with Nos. 2 and 3, namely, graduation in liberal arts in the State University of Iowa in 1880 and matriculation in the law department of his alma mater in 1881. Then, to add to his faith a knowledge of hu- man nature, he accepted the superintendency of schools of Johnson county from 1886 to 1890; and to further coach him- self in the intricacies of law, became a member of the 26th general assembly of Iowa and worked with his colleagues in a revision of the Iowa Code. From this point the step to the bench seemed both easy and natural, and he became judge of the district court on January 1, 1903, and served to January 1, 1907. Today he is a regular practitioner in all courts and has further widened his sphere of activity by becoming presi- dent of the Citizens Savings bank, of Iowa City.
Reference has been made to Judge Byington's father. Other details of this able man and late respected citizen of Iowa City may be appreciated. LeGrande Byington, born March 24, 1816, in New Haven county, Connecticut, was the youngest of eight children. His career, from early orphanage and com- parative poverty to influence and prominence socially and po- litically, is most striking. In 1831, at the age of fifteen, he entered a printing office as an apprentice, and his aptitude may be guaged by the fact that three years later he was the publisher of a newspaper. While the venture from a financial standpoint, following the accepted standards of rural journal- ism, was not a gold mine, still the training and experience were of great value to the young publisher and stood him well in after years. In 1836 he settled at Elyria, Ohio, and edited the Republican, a democratie organ. While thus engaged he took up the study of law. Two years later found him at Ra- venna, Ohio, engaged on a salary as editor and publisher of The Buckeye Democrat. In 1839 he started westward with the intention of locating at St. Louis, but en route he met Sen-
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ator William Allen (" Bill" Allen, of Ohio), at Chillicothe, and was induced to stop off and take temporary charge of a news- paper. This stop marked the beginning of his legal and po- litical career. The first case of prominence in which he fig- ured was the prosecution of a homicide. Judge Allen G. Thur- man and Thomas Ewing appeared for the defense, and Mr. Byington's victory in securing a conviction was on that ac- count the more notable. The advance of the lawyer-journalist was rapid from that time. During the fall of 1841 he was elected to the 40th general assembly of Ohio, and was honored
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RESIDENCE OF JUDGE O. A. BYINGTON
by the chairmanships of the judiciary committee and the com- mittee on corporations. He was reelected to the next legisla- ture of Ohio, and later became a candidate for Congress.
Hearing the "Call of the West," Mr. Byington resolved to carry out his impulses of former years to identify himself with the region west of the Mississippi, and in 1849 removed to Iowa City. Land operations first engaged his attention, and he became an extensive dealer. His success was such that great wealth was assured him. The adherence to his concep- tion of right characterized all the acts of the elder Byington. His opinions respecting the liquor question were emphatic, and he was a lifelong temperance advocate and opponent of the saloon. For nearly sixty years he was a prominent and influential factor in Johnson county, a leader among men, re-
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speeted by all as an honest man and beloved by a host of per- sonal friends. Ifis death, November 23, 1907, at Iowa City occasioned universal regret. His estimable wife died at the old home September 1, 1911.
Le Grande Byington's wife was Miss Mary McCollister. and the date of their marriage was 1845. They enjoyed the unique privilege of celebrating together the sixty-second anni- versary of their wedding. They were survived by three chil- dren : Judge O. A. Byington, Mrs. Towa B. Reed, of Coral- ville, and Mrs. J. H. Whetstone, of Iowa City. Four grand- children gladdened their declining years: Miss Nellie By- ington, of Chicago, and Robert Whetstone, William and Le Grande Byington, of Iowa City.
Judge O. A. Byington was married on June 1, 1887, to Miss Frances Bremner, of Marshalltown, who is a native of Iowa. Her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Hampton, were residents of Iowa City. Mr. Hampton was clerk of the supreme court at an early day. Two sons are the offspring of this union: Le Grande, aged sixteen, and William H., aged twelve years. Mr. and Mrs. Byington are most happy in their domestic relations and have a beautiful home on the west side of the city, over- looking the picturesque Towa river.
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