USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading events in Johnson County, Iowa history, biographical > Part 26
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12, 1907) he was licensed to practice by the supreme court of the state of Iowa. He immediately united with the State Bar Association and hung out his shingle in the city of his alma mater.
Mr. Stevenson's collegiate career was characterized by dis- tinet evidenees of proficiency. Recognition was given this by his selection as one of six out of a class of forty-eight to de- liver an address on Commencement Day. He was also chosen as one of three speakers in the first joint debate between the State University of Iowa and the University of Minnesota, held at Minneapolis, the result of which was a unanimous de- cision for Iowa. While in student life at S. U. I .. Mr. Steven- son constantly took au active interest in the affairs of the student body. He was president of the Zethagathian literary society during the fall term of 1892: business manager of the Tidette Reporter, the university paper, in 1892-93; and trea- surer and one of the organizers of the University Lecture Bureau.
While serving as school superintendent Mr. Stevenson read several papers on educational themes before the State Teach- ers' Association, the most notable being "School Libraries, How to Establish and Maintain Them," and "School Exhi- bitions - Are They Beneficial ?" The data as well as the logic for these practical papers were undoubtedly the outcome of his personal, successful experience. Reference has already been made to his valuable work in establishing school libraries. His views on "School Exhibitions" were most likely crystal- lized by his personal efforts in organizing and holding school exhibitions at the Johnson county fairs.
The activities of a strenuous life have not prevented Mr. Stevenson recognizing his fraternal and political obligations, evidenced by his active membership in the Masonic order, the Woodmen of the World, and the Improved Order of Red Men : as well as by practical work in the membership of the state central committee of the republican party. extending into the current year of 1911.
And so, at the age of forty-four, in the full vigor of healthy, hopeful manhood, this strenuous son of Johnson county is "a prophet not without honor in his own country and in his own house" - bringing eredit to the illustrious name of the great
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Iowa statesman, and fairly started on the highway of success, the further stretches of which may give him opportunity of vet greater service in the interest of the mighty commonwealth of his nativity.
DAVID KIRKPATRICK
The history of the Mississippi Valley would be a dull and spiritless tale were it not for the reconnted deeds of a long line of hardy, indomitable men who literally carved victories out of defeats and defied misfortune by carrying to the heights of success the brave flag of excelsior. Pitiful is the fact that numbers of heroes entitled to places of honor in the pages of courageons story have passed into oblivion, "unwept, unhon- ored and unsung" - their graves unknown and the memories of their chivalry hidden among the shadows of the world's yesterdays. History, at best, is but a remnant of the tale of humanity - the tardy, fractional tribute of the world at the shrine of its forbears. It is a gratifying privilege for the present-day chroniclers, and particularly for the writers of this current history of Johnson county, to be able to preserve in the transparent amber of their thought the recital of the lives and activities of some of the men whose names are worthy of record in the state's book of remembrance; and perhaps there is comfort in the thought that the recounting of the deeds of a few of the host of worthy ones may shed a measure of lustre over their countless nameless contemporaries.
In the beautiful hillside cemetery overlooking the town of Lone Tree, Iowa, at this writing stands a cut-stone mausoleum, bearing the name of "Kirkpatrick." It is no discredit to the lifelong thrift and forethought of its builder to say that this "mute mansion" is a fitting keystone to the life-arch of David Kirkpatrick, whose remains and those of his wife it is in- tended to sepulchre. Being constructed under the personal supervision of its future occupant, this "storied urn" indeed points the final moral of a life story. For what more fitting than that a man who has carved a pathway of success, self- aided, from boyhood to old age, should, at the eventime of life, erect his own final mortuary temple?
"Self-aided" describes aptly the career of David Kirkpat-
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rick, of Lone Tree. Deprived of a father in babyhood and of a mother at the infant age of six years, this orphan son of the Emerald Isle virtually was thrown upon his own resources from birth. Fortunately the young Celt yielded to the prompt- ings of the spirit of liberty which burns in every true Irish- man's soul and early came to America, landing at Boston, under the shadow of Bunker Hill and Plymouth, at the age of twelve years. He remained at the American Athens for fifteen years, during ten of which he served as coachman for a rich
RESIDENCE OF DAVID KIRKPATRICK
widow. But the spirit of David Kirkpatrick was not to be satisfied with the place of a servant. He longed for inde- pendent, initiative effort, and, having heard of the opportuni- ties of the great west, in 1860 he hade good-by to his friends of the Atlantic coast and started for Johnson county, lowa. Among the number from whom he parted in Boston was a cer- tain winsome young lady, Eliza Jane Corbett, with whom his troth had been pledged - the understanding being that young Kirkpatrick should first test out the opportunities of the Mis- sissippi Valley and later return to claim his bride. Tarrying
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in Ohio for a time at the farm of an elder brother, who had preceded him to the new world, David got his first taste of the western spirit, and the brother being the owner of eighty acres of land about six miles southeast of Lone Tree, the young man concluded he would push out to Iowa and make a start for himself. Arriving in Johnson county, he bought a yoke of oxen with borrowed money and began operations on the eighty acres belonging to his brother, which he afterwards purchased. Discouraging results followed the young Irishman's first farming efforts. Having "broken" with his ox team twenty acres of prairie, he sowed it to wheat, only to have the grain largely destroyed and overrun by chinch bugs. Hoping to profit by the residue, he bought a drove of hogs and fed them with the smitten wheat crop. The hogs contracted the cholera when in marketable condition and to a porker died or became unsaleable. Undiscouraged, the young farmer ventured into cattle raising, again borrowing money with which to make the investment. In the hard winter which followed, his stock, with the exception of two head, were smothered by the deep snow covering the shed built for their protection, and, as Mr. Kirk- patrick expressed it, all he had left was a "fine lot of hides." Undaunted, however, he again borrowed money and continued his farming operations and stock raising - all the time during these varied experiences working by the day for neighbor farmers and making good his financial obligations. Need it be written that final success crowned his persevering efforts? Year after year he added to his original purchase, until at the time of this writing he owns in Johnson, Muscatine, Washing- ton, and Louisa counties, Iowa, 2,500 acres of the best farming land in the state, besides farms in other states and valuable business blocks and residence property in Lone Tree. Mr. Kirkpatrick attributes his business success to his ability properly to use borrowed money, and he has made it a rule of his life to make "his word as good as his bond." With unim- peachable credit at the banks, he broadened his operations from time to time, engaging in cattle raising on a large scale and buying and selling farm property and dealing in lumber and grain. Today he is reckoned one of the wealthiest citizens of his community and is credited with a display of public spirit worthy of emulation.
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David Kirkpatrick did not lose sight of that "winsome colleen" in Boston. Early in June, 1861, he made the back- ward trip to his former New England home, and when he re- turned to Johnson county Miss Eliza Jane Corbett accompan- ied him as Mrs. David Kirkpatrick. For a little time, or until he could ereet a house for their shelter, he left his wife in Iowa City. That first house, by the way, was a small affair, the humber for it being hauled by ox-team at one load from Musea- tine by David himself. The structure was only one-story 12x14 feet, yet it was the abode of two hearts of love and in its one plainly furnished room two children of their family of four came to gladden the home.
Herself a native daughter of Ireland, Eliza Jane Corbett possessed those qualities of mind and heart that have made her a worthy wife and true mother. Constant in her affections and untiring in her efforts, she wears today the crown of old age glorious in the love-light of four score years and six. Her birthplace was near Castlewellan, County Downe, Ireland, and the date of her birth February 12, 1825. She emigrated to America in 1856 and June 30, 1861, was married to David Kirkpatrick. The young couple came together to Iowa July 5, 1861. On Friday, June 30, 1911, this venerable couple cele- brated at Lone Tree the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage in the presence of beloved relatives. Automobiles in waiting on the occasion emphasized the far cry from the ox-team which marked the locomotion of their early life.
The date of David Kirkpatrick's birth was March 15, 1832. His parents were Archie L. Kirkpatrick and Sarah Ann Kel- ley, whose home at the time of David's birth was only a short distance from the birthplace of the latter's wife.
Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Kirkpatrick. namely : David, who died in infancy; Jackson, who died at the age of nineteen ; William John, married and the father of four children, residing on a farm in Muscatine county; and Eliza- beth Mary, unmarried, residing at home with her parents and ministering to their comfort in their declining years.
In politics Mr. Kirkpatrick is a republican. His church membership is with the Methodist Episcopal of Lone Tree.
To thus struggle through adversity to success, and all the time to keep his honor pure; to live and mingle among the
DAVID KIRKPATRICK
THE NEW YORK JDLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR. LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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same neighbors for fifty years, and in the end have the heart's affection of them all; to bask in the sunshine of a true wife's love for half a century and gaze into her eyes on a golden wed- ding day with a heart beating loyal and true; to stand at the threshhold of the Evermore undismayed, prepared to leave with posterity the mantle of a character unsullied -- this is a record worthy of inscription in the history of his day. And across the top of this page of biography of Johnson county let the name of David Kirkpatrick be written.
JOHN CHESLEY WARNER
On December 22, 1904, John Chesley Warner took the posi- tion of night operator on the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Rail- way (the Interurban Line), under Frank D. Lindsley, the agent for the company at Iowa City. This position he held for six months, after which he became Mr. Lindsley's chief clerk. On September 17, 1909, Mr. Lindsley died, and Mr. Warner was appointed acting agent, serving in this capacity until January 1, 1910, when, in recognition of his abilities and knowledge of the office, he was appointed agent for the com- pany at Iowa City. (A full account of the Interurban Line will be found in the general history in Volume I of this work .--- Ed.) The steady, speedy advancement of Mr. Warner to this responsible position marks him as a man of ability and action, characteristics which his friends are free to say are dominant in him.
Mr. Warner is a native son of Johnson county, and his progenitors on both sides were pioneers of Iowa. John Ardery Warner, his great-grandfather, and William Ardery Warner, his grandfather, were Maryland farmers, the latter being born in Maryland in 1809. Grandfather Warner came to Iowa in 1853, and settled on a farm in Washington county. From there he removed to Iowa City, and after a brief stay pur- chased a farm in Pleasant Valley township, where he died in September, 1862. Mr. Warner was a widower when he came to Iowa, his wife, whom he married in Baltimore, having died in that city. John Ardery Warner, the father of John C., is the only surviving member of William Ardery Warner's fam- ily. He was born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, in 1846,
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being at this writing (1911) in his sixty-fifth year. He was seven years of age when he came to Iowa with his father. His early life was spent on the farm, and his education was re- ceived in the Iowa City schools. John A. Warner married Martha B. Loan, a daughter of William Loan and Mary Bash- ford, the latter born June 21, 1806, and married to William Loan March 27, 1823. Mrs. Warner is the youngest of twelve children. William Loan was a farmer and well-to-do. Mrs. Loan herself entered 1,680 acres of land in Chickasaw and Floyd counties, Iowa, her object being to leave her children
RESIDENCE OF JOHN CHESLEY WARNER
well provided for. She died at the home of her daughter, our subject's mother, December 28, 1884.
John Ardery Warner was a corporal in Company A of the famous Twenty-second Iowa, and served with this gallant fighting regiment during the Civil War in nearly every south- ern state from Virginia to the mouth of the Rio Grande. The Twenty-second made a complete circuit of the Confederacy and traveled by land and sea more than fifteen thousand miles. Corporal Warner enlisted in 1862, and the following winter marched under General Curtis in southwest Missouri two hun- dred and fifty miles through the Ozark Mountains. His first
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serious taste of the realities of war was in the midnight march to Port Gibson. His regiment was in the battles of Champion Hills, Black River Bridge, and led the assault on Vicksburg May 22, 1863. In this last engagement the regiment lost 170 men out of 200, an average of eighty-five per cent, which stands without a parallel in modern warfare. The time con- sumed in these fatalities was less than ten minutes and the ground covered in the engagement not more than one-half acre. Corporal Warner was in the very midst of the enemy at this time, being in company with Captain Samuel David Pryce, scouting within the rebel lines. Corporal Warner served three years and three months, being honorably discharged Septem- ber, 1865. (For further particulars of this memorable regi- ment, see sketch of Captain Samuel David Pryce .- Ed.)
On his return to Iowa in 1865, Corporal Warner rented a farm in Pleasant Valley township, which he farmed for sey- eral years. Thereafter he engaged in the grocery business in Iowa City, and up to 1882 was more or less engaged in farm- ing operations in connection with his other business interests in Liberty township. His last enterprise in Madison township was a general merchandise store at North Liberty, from which he removed in 1909 to Hills, where he purchased the general merchandise store of Jess Sydell, which he conducted in con- nection with his son, George C. Warner, as associate partner, until April 15, 1911, when he sold the enterprise to the latter. He has since been incapacitated for active work, and lives in retirement at his home in Hills. Although quite ill at this writing, he conducts all his own affairs. For three years fol- lowing 1889 Corporal Warner was deputy sheriff of Johnson county under Sheriff John Englert. For a time he also held the position of special deputy for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad at Iowa City. He is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders at Iowa City. He has taken an active interest in politics in the democratic party, and has repre- sented the party in county, state, and congressional conven- tions. By his marriage to Martha B. Loan, Mr. Warner had five children : William Edward, residing in Wyoming; George Clinton, residing in Hills, Iowa ; Charles Henry, a farmer of Pleasant Valley township; James Everett; and Jolin Chesley,
ยท
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our subject. Six grandchildren have gladdened his declining years.
John Chesley Warner was educated in the public schools of Iowa City, graduating from the high school. He assisted his father in farming in Pleasant Valley township until the spring of 1902. In 1903, in connection with his father, he opened a grocery store in Iowa City. This he sold in 1904, and entered the employ of the Interurban Railway, as hitherto stated. On February 19, 1901, he was married in Iowa City to Miss Mamie S. Ruppert, daughter of George L. and Mary Ruppert, the latter now living in retirement on the west side of Iowa City, near the city park. Mr. and Mrs. Warner own their own home at 419 Sonth Capitol street. Mr. Warner is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and I. O. O. F. of Iowa City.
Since this biography was prepared the father of our subject passed away. He died in Hills, Iowa, at his residence, Oc- tober 24, 1911.
WILLIAM J. BOWEN
William J. Bowen, a veteran of the Civil War, former city clerk, and for the past fifteen years assistant postmaster of Iowa City, comes of pure American stock of Maryland and Ohio nativity. His parents were Isaac Bowen and Miss Susan P. Williams, the former born in Ross county, Ohio, August 23, 1812, and the latter at Cincinnati, Ohio, August 27, 1824. Their marriage took place in Johnson county, Iowa, November 25, 1841. Isaac Bowen's parents were Jesse and Priscilla Bowen, both natives of Maryland, who are described in an old histori- cal sketch as "honest, God-fearing people, .
who made their lifetime home in Ross county, Ohio, where they passed away at a good old age, respected and beloved by all who knew them." Susan P. Williams's parents were John Williams and Elizabeth Ferry, and the father died in Hamilton county, Ohio, when Susan was ten years of age. Following his death she was placed in the custody of her uncle, William B. Snyder, with whom she came to Iowa in 1839. When twenty-four years of age Isaac Bowen, having resided up to that time with his parents on the old homestead in Ross county, Ohio, deter- mined to make a start for himself in the great west which was
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then the objective point of many hundreds of active, ambitious young Americans, and, in 1836, performed the first stage of his journey by removing to Indiana, where he remained for three years. In April, 1839, he departed from the Hoosier state, and, with his face to the setting sun, pursued his quest. He arrived in Johnson county, Iowa, May 5, 1839, and in a brief time had purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty aeres in Scott township. With the exception of eighteen acres, the land was entirely unimproved. Its owner lived to see it one of the most highly enltivated farms of the county, and very valuable.
The names of the children of Isaac Bowen and Susan P.
RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM J. BOWEN
Williams are : William J. ; Mary Eliza, wife of Emory Wescott; Elizabeth E., wife of LaFayette Strahl; Maria J., wife of Smith Bradley; Isaac N., married to Miss Clara Thomas; George E., married, first wife Fannie Meriden, who died; sec- ond wife Grace Whitaker; Susan Z., wife of Charles Westen- haver; Anna P., deceased, wife of Thomas Faucett, of Kan- sas ; two others died in infancy.
Isaac Bowen was active in the advancement of education, and gave long and valuable service as school director in John- son county. He also served as justice of the peace, and was noted for his impartial justice. In both public and private life he "has been distinguished for his keen sagacity, excellent
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judgment, and sterling integrity of character." He and his beloved wife were lifelong members of the Methodist Episco- pal church, and were active workers therein. They have been gathered to their fathers, and the memory of their lives and deeds is a precious heritage to their children.
William J. Bowen was born on the home farm in Scott town- ship April 13, 1843, being the first born of a large family. His early life was spent upon the farm, where he assisted his father in the general work of agriculture. He was educated in the district schools of the country and later took a course in the schools of Iowa City. When a lad of eighteen he heard his country's call for volunteers, and on June 13, 1861, enlisted in Company F of the First Iowa Cavalry, being mustered in July 29 of the same year. His regiment engaged in mimerous skirmishes with bushwhackers and guerillas in Tennessee and adjoining states during the fall and winter of 1861-62, the dangerous character of which is known to all students of the Civil War, and so it is not surprising that he was dangerously wounded in engagement with these outlaws. On May 6, 1862, he was discharged on account of his injuries, but his intrepid spirit could not be quenched, and, when fully recovered from his wounds, he re-enlisted January 5, 1864, in Company F, Twenty-second Iowa Infantry. This regiment saw the grim horror of war in the battles of Winchester, Virginia, and Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley un- der the intrepid Sheridan, in all of which Mr. Bowen took part. On July 25, 1865, he was finally discharged at Savannah, Georgia, and was mustered out and paid off on August 3rd of the same year.
Returning to the old home farm in Scott township, he con- tinued to work thereon for a few years. Feeling a desire to engage in business for himself, he removed to Omaha, Ne- braska, where, in 1869, he began the sale of household goods and woodenware. He continued in this line until 1875, when he returned to Johnson county and engaged in farming near Iowa City. While a resident of Omaha, he was married, Oc- tober 7, 1869, to Miss Ruth B. Strickland, a native of Ohio. who had moved to Nebraska with her parents in the early six- ties. In 1882 Mr. Bowen left the farm and removed to Iowa City, where for several years he was engaged in carpenter
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work. Later he was made city clerk, and afterwards received the appointment of assistant postmaster of Iowa City, a posi- tion which he held until April 1, 1912.
Seven children have blessed the union of William J. Bowen and Ruth B. Strickland, namely: Jesse B., Ada C., Fannie H., Royal, Angus, William L. and Richard G. In the natural line of increase they are the proud grandparents of sixteen descendants, and look with comparative assurance to the per- petuity of the name and blood of Bowen in the annals of Iowa.
In politics Mr. Bowen is a republican, and has been repeat- edly honored by his party, both in its councils and by public office. He is an honored member of the G. A. R., and is a com- municant of the Congregational church of Iowa City. Ap- proaching the years of three score and ten, he is a man of vigor and activity, and looks forward confidently to a liberal lease of life. His long residence in Johnson county, coupled with his services to his country and his state, have endeared him to the hearts of great numbers of personal friends, who on the western pathway of life bid him good cheer and God- speed. The family residence is at South Governor street, be- low Bowery street, Iowa City.
AUSTIN ABRAHAM HINES
One of the recognized factors in business circles at Lone Tree, Iowa, is Anstin Abraham Hines, a son of Abraham Lin- coln Hines and Elisa S. Carl, born in Fremont township Sep- tember 25, 1883. The father of Mr. Hines was a native of Pennsylvania ; his mother was born in Iowa. The former came with his parents from Pennsylvania to Iowa when two years of age, and grew to manhood on the farm where his father settled. His early life was devoted to farming, but later he engaged in the harness business, a calling which he followed until about twelve years ago, when he again took up farming, this time in Lonisa county, where he now resides. Seven children were born to Abraham Lincoln Hines and Elisa S. Carl; one of these died in infancy, and the names of those liv- ing are: Austin Abraham, our subject; Mary L., now Mrs. N. E. Townsley, residing at Iroquois, South Dakota ; Etta M., now Mrs. W. R. Rhoads, residing at Muscatine, Iowa ; Martha
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E., living in Muscatine, Iowa ; Ernest A. and I. Manilla, single and living at home.
When he was just past nineteen years of age, in November, 1902, Mr. Hines took up the real estate and insurance busi- ness in connection with S. C. Carl at Lone Tree. He remained in this position until February, 1903, when he removed to Mus- catine, Iowa, continuing in the same business. He was six years in that city. In March, 1909, he returned to Lone Tree and again engaged with his former partner, S. C. Carl, with whom he is associated at present.
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