Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 115

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1360

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The Reporter has a spacious and inviting home of its own, 40 x 80 feet, and is one of the best equipped offices in the West, being supplied with the latest improved machinery and all other modern accessories.

In his youth Mr. Parrott followed in the political footsteps of his father, and with a boy's enthusiasm shouted for Scott and Gra- ham in 1852. Since attaining his majority, however, he has been a stanch advocate of the Republican party, but has ever placed principle above party, and is one of whom even his political opponents have naught to say that is detrimental. He is by no means a politician in the sense of office-seeking. In January, 1878, Mr. Parrott was a candidate for State Binder before the General Assembly, and after a lively canvass, with two competi- tors in the field, he was nominated on the first ballot. His official term began May 1, 1879, and he was re-elected by the Eighteenth and Nineteenth General Assemblies, serving until the Ist of May, 1885.

During his early residence in Waterloo he served as a member of the City Council for

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two or three years, and was President of the School Board of East Waterloo independent district in 1873-4. In March, 1877, he was elected Mayor of Waterloo, and on the 4th of March, 1878, was again installed in that office, after a unanimous nomination and an almost unanimous vote. On the 5th of March, 1879, he was again elected, receiving every vote ex- cept nine in a poll of 1,050. What higher testimonial of his efficient service could be given? These offices were all the free gift of the people, being entirely unsought by him, and were evidence of the unqualified confi- dence and trust reposed in him by his fellow townsmen.

At the Republican county convention of Black Hawk county, held September 19, 1885, he was nominated for the position of State Senator by acclamation, and elected in Novem- ber with a majority of 743. At the organiza- tion of the Senate he was made Chairman of the Committees on Municipal Corporations and on Printing, and was also a member of tlie Committee on Ways and Means, Railroads, Insurance, Highways, Labor, Congressional Districts, Agricultural College, Orphans' Home and Enrolled Bills. In the Senate he took rank among the ablest members. He gave to the questions that came up before the House his careful study, and his actions thereon were the result of mature deliberation. In 1889 he was again nominated and elected as a State Senator, the district being composed of the counties of Black Hawk and Grundy. In the Twenty-third General Assembly he was made Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and was also honored by his party associates by being chosen as the Chairman of the Sena- torial Caucus Committee, which had the de- termination of all party questions.

It is a fact above question that he has la- bored earnestly and conscientiously for the welfare of his adopted State, and there is no citizen in Iowa more popular or more highly esteemed than Matt Parrott. He is recog- nized as one of the most prominent leaders and able champions of his party in Iowa, and at

the Republican State Convention held in Des Moines in July, 1895, he was one of the lead- ing candidates for Governor, standing third on the list of eight names at the first ballot, and on the final ballot standing second. The loyal support of his friends for the leading position made him the logical candidate for Lieutenant Governor, and against his own wishes and de- sires he was nominated, receiving nearly half the votes on the first ballot, and before the second was concluded was nominated by ac- clamation. At the November election he was found to be the choice of the people as well as his party, and is now serving as Iowa's second official.

While taking a prominent part in the af- fairs of the State, Mr. Parrott has by no means been neglectful of his resident community. Of all matters calculated to advance the general welfare he has been found as an advocate championing the cause by his pen and lending to it substantial aid.

The domestic life of Mr. Parrott has been a happy one. On the 25th of October, 1859, he was married, in Davenport, to Miss Frank M. Field, the youngest daughter of Isaac N. Field, and they have three sons, two of whom are now associated with their father in bus- iness.

Socially, Mr. Parrott is a prominent Mason, having been connected with the fraternity since 1860. He was a charter member and the first Junior Warden of Victory Lodge, No. 296, A. F. & A. M., of Waterloo; was afterward Senior Warden, Treasurer and Worshipful Master, serving in the last named position un- til 1879, when the lodge was consolidated with Waterloo Lodge, No. 105. He then served as Master of the consolidated lodges, and was also a member of the chapter, commandery and consistory. He was Eminent Commander of the Knights Templar Commandery for two years, and for one year was Grand Treasurer of the Grand Commandery of Iowa. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, and was one of the organizers of Christ Church parish, donating freely toward the building of the

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church now occupied, and has been an officer of the vestry ever since the parish was organ- ized. He is a firm believer in practical Chris- tianity and charity, and always ready to relieve the necessities of the destitute or to extend a helping hand to those who need encourage- ment.

J OHN S. FEAR, City Auditor of Bur- lington, Iowa, has spent nearly the whole of his life in this city and is thoroughly identified with its interests. He and his family occupy a pleasant home at No. 815 North Sixth street.

Mr. Fear is a native of the "Buckeye State," born in Miami township, Hamilton county, August 16, 1834, son of Alfred S. and Mary Catharine (Wiles) Fear, both natives of Ohio. In their family were seven children, five sons and two daughters, and of this num- ber only two are now living,-John S. and Henry W.,-both of Burlington. The latter is now employed in the office of the Superin- tendent of Public Buildings. Alfred S. Fear, the father of these gentlemen, came out to Iowa with his family as early as 1842. Soon afterward he went to St. Louis, and the follow- ing year, 1843, took up his abode in Burling- ton, where he passed the rest of his life and died, his death occurring in 1857, at the age of fifty-two years. He was possessed of more than ordinary business ability and was recog- nized and looked up to as one of the leading citizens of the new State. Until 1852 he fol- lowed general merchandising, and from that time during the rest of his life dealt in grain and agricultural implements. In politics he was a strong Democrat. In 1848, without his solicitation and even without his knowledge, he was nominated for a member of the Iowa State Senate, to which he was duly elected and in which honorable body he served with distinction. His wife survived him ten years, her death being in 1862. Of our subject's grandsires, we record that his paternal grand- father, Tubal Fear, was a native of Penn-

sylvania and of Scotch descent; his maternal grandfather, Henry Wiles, was also a native of the Keystone State, but was of German de- scent. Mr. Wiles was a veteran of the war of 1812, was an early settler of Hamilton county, Ohio, and was by occupation a distiller. At the time of his death, which occurred in Iowa, he was over seventy years of age.

John S. Fear, our immediate subject, was eight and a half years old when he came with his parents to Iowa, and he received his early schooling in Burlington. In 1851, when a boy in his 'teens, he entered the employ of J. S. Kimball & Company, in whose store he clerked until March, 1853. At that time, in company with his grandfather Wiles, he started over- land for California, and in due time, after a long and tedious journey, landed on the Pacific coast. In 1856 he returned from California. Since then his residence in Burlington has been continuous and he has in various ways been connected with the interests of the place. From 1856 until 1869 he was a dealer in grain and agricultural implements. Subsequently he was for three years engaged in the oil busi- ness, and from that turned his attention again to agricultural implements, in which he dealt until 1881. From 1882 until 1893 inclusive he served as Deputy Sheriff, under three suc- cessive Sheriffs, Democratic and Republican, - under George Kriechbaum six years, Nixon Fullerton nearly two years, and Samuel Hunt four years. He retired from this position in January, 1894, and in March of the same year was elected City Auditor, in which office he is now serving with entire satisfaction to all con- cerned.

Mr. Fear was married December 23, 1857, to Miss Martha B. Wright, daughter of Samuel B. and Mary L. (Kimball) Wright, and as years passed by five sons were born to them, namely : John Henry, who married a Miss Logerson, is in the livery business in St. Louis, and they have three children; Samuel B., deceased; George R., who married a Miss Temple, has three children, and lives in Kingman, Kansas; and Edward B. and Frank W. The mother

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of this family died in May, 1871. She was a member of the Congregational Church and was in every respect a most estimable woman. January 1, 1881, Mr. Fear married for his second wife Miss Evelyn C. Kendall, daughter of Robert C. and Eliza M. Kendall.

Mr. Fear is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Democratic party.

ARTON O. AYLESWORTH, A. M., LL. D., president of Drake University, of Des Moines, Iowa, is a Western man, for his birth occurred in Athens, Menard county, Illinois, September 5, 1860. On the paternal side the family is of English origin, descended from a prominent soldier in Cromwell's army. Hiram Aylesworth, the grandfather of the Professor, was born in New York, and became one of the pioneer settlers of Trumbull county, Ohio, where he followed farming until his life's labors were ended at the age of eighty years. He was a leading and influential man, highly respected by all who knew him, and in manner was quiet and un- pretentious. His family numbered four sons. The maternal grandfather, Fleming Hall, was born in Virginia, and was of French Huguenot and German lineage. He too followed the occupation of farming and died when almost ninety-nine years of age. He had a family of three sons and two daughters.

The father of our subject was born in Ohio and the mother in Illinois. He came to the latter State about 1855, locating in Athens, where he carried on farming until 1861, at which time he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Illinois Infantry. He was killed at the battle of Chickamauga in 1863, when acting as captain. His wife died in 1874. Both were members of the Christian Church, and were highly esteemed people who had the warm regard of many friends.

In the place of his nativity, Professor Aylesworth spent the days of his boyhood and youth and began his education, after which he entered Eureka College, at Eureka, Illinois,

and graduated at that institution in 1879. He then received the degree of A. M. at Bethany College, West Virginia, and the following year his alma mater conferred upon him the same degree. In 1880, upon his twentieth birthday, he took charge of the Christian Church in Peoria, Illinois, but resigned the succeeding summer to take a course in the Concord School of Philosophy under Dean Alcott, W. T. Harris then being one of the principal teachers there. In the winter of 1881 he accepted the pastor- ate of the church at Atlanta.

On the 12th of December, 1882, Professor Aylesworth was united in marriage with Miss Georgia L. Shores, daughter of James and Louisa (Ewing) Shores, early settlers there. They have two children: Merlin Hall and Elaine Ewing. Mrs. Aylesworth is a fine musician and like her husband is a consistent and faithful member of the Christian Church, taking an active interest in its work. The Professor is a Knight Templar Mason, was formerly a member of Apollo Commandery, and for some years was an Odd Fellow.

From the spring of 1884 until the fall of 1885 he was pastor of the church in Abingdon, Illinois, and then received and accepted a call from the church at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he continued for four years, during which time the membership of the church was trebled and the congregation became the banner mission- ary church of the brotherhood in the State. While there, Professor Aylesworth organized the Philosophy Club and edited the Book Shelf, a monthly book review. At Bethany he was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. In 1889 he unexpectedly received a call to the professorship of letters and science in Drake University, which he accepted, and upon the death of Chancellor Carpenter, in 1893, he was elected to the presidency of the university, which position he continues to fill. The at- tendance at the institution in 1895 was 665. Having made a specialty of the study of litera- ture Professor Aylesworth has charge of the classes in advanced literature in the university. He is a man of broad general information and

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ripe scholarship, is a fluent and forcible speaker and an interesting and correct writer. He has published a volume of stories, entitled Thirteen, has a volume of poems ready for the press, and has in preparation a text-book on modern American literature. He has an ele- gant collection of autographs of authors, and has the second best private library in the State, containing over 2,000 volumes of stand- ard works, both ancient and modern. Profes- sor Aylesworth is frequently heard upon the lecture platform, his principal subjects being "The man and woman of to-morrow," " Fratri- cide," "Act in the living present," the " New novel," "Cross-Roads," and "American Liter- ture." The press uniformly accords to him extraordinary talent as a lecturer, excelling in his oratorical presentations of the most useful and interesting gleanings from the fields of bis- tory, literature and science.

On the maternal side the family numbers noted students. His grandparents, Fleming and Susan (Tice) Hall, had three sons: Clay- born, an eminent minister of the Christian Church; Joel, a well known druggist, who was reporter for the Smithsonian Institute on western meteorology; and Elihu, who gained a world-wide reputation as a botanist. So ardently did he pursue his researches in that direction that he was called "the Thoreau of the West," and soon took rank among the first botanists of the United States. At his death his vast herbarium was left as a legacy to Iowa. He also achieved distinction in the sciences of entomology and conchology. His death resulted from exposure while pursuing those investigations to which he was so devoted.

At the time of his election to the presidency of Drake University, Professor Aylesworth had the distinction of being the youngest college president in the United States. One who knows him well said of him: "While he is pro- gressive in his trend of thought and familiar with every advance movement in religion, science .or philosophy, he yet holds always with unyielding grasp to the great primary

truths of the gospel, like the artist who never leaves the primary colors of nature, however lofty his conception, or the musician who never forsakes the eight notes though desiring and seeking an almost endless variation within their compass."

J P. SMITH .-- In the subject of this sketch is found another one of the prosperous Iowa farmers who dates his birth back in the Buckeye State. His location is on section 3, Penn township, Mad- ison county, where he has resided since 1859. His long identity with this place entitles him to some personal mention in connection with the history of the representative citizens of the county, and we are pleased to present here the following sketch of his life.

J. P. Smith was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, February 25, 1825. His father, Amos Smith, a native of Virginia, was born in 1793, and when a small boy moved with his parents to Ohio. His father, George Smith, born in Virginia in 1761, was a son of Samuel Smith, who was of English birth. As far back as can be traced the Smiths were identified with the Society of Friends. The mother of our sub- ject was by maiden name Miss Anna Pearson. She was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1796, daughter of Benjamin and Jane (Burr) Pearson, natives of the Key- stone State, and, like the Smiths, members of the Quaker Church. It was in Ohio, in 1817, that Amos Smith and Anna Pearson were mar- ried, and after their marriage they located on a farm in Guernsey county, where they reared their family, passed their lives and died, her death occurring in 1845 and his in 1862. They were the parents of the following named chil- dren: William, Pearson, Mary, Jane, George, J. P., Phoebe, Isaac, Lewis, Hannah, Lydia and Rachel. All reached adult age except William.

J. P., as will be seen from the above list, was the sixth born in this large family. He was reared at his native place and remained a

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member of the home circle until he attained his majority, his youthful days being spent not unlike those of other farmer boys of Ohio. He was first married, in 1849, to Miss Margaret Brown, a native of Maryland, who bore him two children, Anna and Mary. The former is now the wife of Henry Gamble, Los Angeles, California; and the latter is the wife of Elmer Michener, Elsinore, California. The mother of these two daughters died in 1853, and in the fall after her death Mr. Smith moved out to Iowa and located in Dallas county. In that county, in 1858, he was married to Lydia Bar- nett, a native of Marion county, Indiana, born August 24, 1826, daughter of Jesse and Eliza- beth (Bailey) Barnett, her father a native of North Carolina, and her mother of Virginia. Mrs. Smith was the second born in their fam- ily of five children, was reared in Indiana, and came to Dallas county, Iowa, in 1855, with her parents. The children of this union num- ber six, as follows: Huldah J., wife of Isaiah Williams, Wildomar, California; Emma L., wife of William Cook, Madison county, Iowa; Jeptha B., Earlham, Iowa; and Macy J., Ella May and Z. A. W., all at home.

Since 1859, as stated at the beginning, Mr. Smith has maintained his residence on his present farm. This place comprises 160 acres of fine land, well improved and all under cul- tivation. At the time of his settlement here it was all raw prairie, and it is due to his indus- try and good management that to-day this farm is ranked with the best in the community.

Politically, Mr. Smith was in early life a Whig, but upon the organization of the Repub- lican party he gave it his support and has cast his vote with it ever since. He has served as Trustee of his Township.

ILLIAM S. CRAFT, a popular and representative citizen of Woodward, Dallas county, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 15th of March, 1844, and is a son of Joseph N. and Edith N. (Sharpless) Craft, both natives of

Fayette county. The father, who was born in 1818, was a doctor and old-time practitioner. He died at the age of twenty-seven years, when our subject was only a year old. After ten years of widowhood the mother was again married, and still makes her home in Wood- ward, Iowa. The great-grandfather of our subject, David Craft, was a native of Ger- many.

On the old homestead farm William S. Craft remained until he had reached the age of twenty-one years, when he purchased an interest in a general store in Washington county, Pennsylvania, but eighteen months later sold out. On the 22d of August, 1867, he was united in marriage with Myrtilla F. Elliott, who was born in Fayette county, Penn- sylvania, April 16, 1847, and is one of a family of eight children, - six yet living, one son and five daughters, born to William and Eliza J. (Conwell) Elliott. Her father was born April 5, 1814, and on the 12th of April, 1837, wed- ded Miss Conwell, whose birth occurred Feb- ruary 25, 1818. He passed away July 21, 1878, but his wife is still living in Pennsyl- vania. Mr. and Mrs. Craft became the parents of six children: Fannie E., who was born July 17, 1868, and died May 9, 1887; William P., who was born May 31, 1870, and was married April 12, 1893; George E., who was born March 23, 1872, and died August 28 of the same year; Alfred N., who was born October 8, 1873, and married June 26, 1895; Bessie C., who was born January 11, 1876; and Mary E., who was born January 24, 1878. The children have all been given good educational advantages, some of them attending Drake University at Des Moines.

For a year after his marriage, Mr. Craft still continued his connection with the store in Pennsylvania, when he sold, and located on a farm in Fayette county of the same State. The year 1869 found him a resident of Iowa, having purchased a farın in Des Moines town- ship, Dallas county, which was partially im- proved. In the fall of the same year his family also arrived, and for five years they

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inade their home on that farm. At the end of that time, however, they returned to the Key- stone State, where for two years our subject engaged in agricultural pursuits. He then lo- cated on his farm in Iowa, which he, disposed of at the end of a year, and bought another tract in the same neighborhood, where he lived for the same length of time. He then en- gaged in general merchandising in the old town of Zenia for about eighteen months, after which he removed his stock of goods to Wood- ward, trading the first calico sold in the town for eggs. He also bought forty acres of land, which is now comprised within the corporation limits of the village. His first home here was a double log cabin with shed roof and only one window in each room. There the family lived for a year, when the stable, which was a much better building, was used for a home and the cabin turned into a barn. In 1893 he erected his present comfortable home.

Mr. Craft's first vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. He was the first mayor of Woodward, for many years was a member of the City Council, and has ever been active in educational work. At the last Republican con- vention he was unanimously nominated for the office of County Treasurer, which is equivalent to an election, as the county is "hopelessly " Republican. He and his family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his wife is now acting as president of the Woman's Chris- tian Temperance Union, at Woodward. He is a charter member of Woodward Lodge, No. 460, I. O. O. F.

ERMAN RIETVELD, treasurer of the People's Savings Bank, of Pella, is one of the leading and influential business men in this section of Iowa, and though young in years ranks with the older representatives of commercial interests.

He was born in the city which is still his home, September 27, 1864, and is a son of H. D. and Cora (Roelofs) Van Dam, both na- tives of Amsterdam, Holland. The paternal

grandparents were Herman and Hannah (Van Zorgan) Van Dam, who also were born in the same country. The former was a son of An- tonio Van Dam, a wealthy broker of Amster- dam, who, however, lost much of his prop- erty, -to the amount of one and a quarter million guilders.

The parents of our subject, crossing the Atlantic to America, became residents of Pella, Iowa, in 1849, and the father embarked in general merchandising but failed in business. Our subject was then adopted by a lady who had been in the family for twenty years, and thus the change in his name. The parents then removed to St. Louis, Missouri, where the father secured a position in an express of- fice, where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1887. His remains were brought back to Pella for interment. His widow and her family continued their residence in St. Louis, and there she passed away on the 19th of October, 1895. In the family were five children, of whom our subject is the eldest. The others are John, of St. Louis, Missouri; Amelia, of Alton, Illinois; Henry and Cora, also of St. Louis.

Our subject was only about a year old when he went to live in the family of W. Riet- veld, a farmer who came to Pella in 1847 with a colony of Holland emigrants under the leadership of H. P. Scholte. At the age of seventeen he married Miss Dirkie Welle, a na- tive of Holland, who came as a colonist to America. They had one child, now deceased, and the mother died a year after their mar- riage, her remains being interred in the city of the dead near Pella. When thirty years of age Mr. W. Rietveld was again married, his second union being with Miss Anna C. Grund- man, a native of Utrecht, Holland. They have three children, -Jan, Deidrich and Con- rad J.,-all now deceased. The mother of this family worked for Herman Van Dam from her fourteenth year until her marriage, coming with them from Holland in 1849. She witnessed the death of the grandfather and fa- ther, and now watches over the fifth genera-

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 115

Author: Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1360

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1360