Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 116

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

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Im. Pim.

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tion of the family, to whose interests she has ever been most faithfully devoted. She is a lady of many noble qualities, and now in her seventy-sixth year is still hale and strong. She managed to save $2, 500 out of the $100,000 property which was lost by Mr. Van Dam, and this she and her husband invested in land six miles northwest of Pella. This property they still own, although they are living retired, making their home in the city. They belong to the Dutch Reformed Church.

The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch began his education in the public schools, completed the course in the Pella schools, and then entered the Central Univer- sity, at which he was graduated with high honor in the class of 1888, winning the degree of Bachelor of Science. He is to-day a man of broad general information, well informed on all current events. Soon after leaving college he was made the Democratic nominee for the office of Clerk of the Courts of Marion county, and was defeated by only eight votes. He now regards it, however, as the most fortunate thing in his life, for he was thereby kept out of politics and turned his attention to an active business life, in which he has won signal success.

In 1889 Mr. Rietveld was united in mar- riage with Miss Ota Livingston, a native of Jasper county, Iowa, and a daughter of John C. and Harriet (Carder) Livingston. Six chil- dren were numbered in the Livingston family, namely : William, Wallace, Thomas E., Harry, Russell and Ota. Three children blessed the union of our subject and his wife : Harriet A., Erma, deceased, and Helen.

Soon after completing his education our subject turned his attention to the manufacture of brick and tile, and is now owner and mana- ger of the Pella Drain Tile Works, the com- pany being organized in 1884. He also or- ganized the People's Savings Bank Company, February 7, 1894, which is an outgrowth of the drain-tile company. He now owns one half of the stock and is treasurer of the com- pany. His business affairs have been well

conducted, and he is a most enterprising and energetic man who has made the most of his opportunities in life and has overcome the ob- stacles in his path by resolute purpose. He has the confidence and respect of all who know him, and both he and his wife belong to the Dutch Reformed Church.

ILLIAM PIM, late of Jackson town- ship, Lucas county, was one of the well-known and honored citizens of his community. He was one of the pioneers of this place, having located here as early as June, 1858. As an honored resident of the county for more than a quarter of a cen- tury, it is appropriate that the following memoir be accorded place in this work.

William Pim was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1820. His father, William Pim, Sr., was a native of the same State and county, a representative of one of the prominent families of Pennsylvania, and was himself a gentleman farmer. He was, in religion, a Quaker, was a man of many sterling qualities of mind and heart, and enjoyed the respect and esteem of all who knew him. His wife, the mother of our subject, was before her marriage Miss Mary Wilson, and she was born and reared in Chester county. In 1826 the Pim family moved to Ohio and located near Portsmouth. There Mrs. Pim died, at the age of thirty-six years, leaving three children, namely : Mary A., a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, now seventy-eight years of age; William, whose name heads this article; and Samuel W., a prominent and highly-respected man, who died in 1882.

William Pim, our subject, spent his boy- hood days in Chester and Franklin counties, Pennsylvania, and in Ohio, being reared to farm life and receiving his education in the common schools. He was married in Frank- lin county, Pennsylvania, to Miss Rebecca R. Lessig, a native of that place and a daughter of well-to-do farmers. Her father, John Lessig, was born in Lancaster county, in the

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Keystone State, and was married there to Eve Elizabeth Keifer, also a native of Pennsylvania, her father being Frederick Keifer. Frederick Keifer was a fifer in the army during the Revo- lutionary war, and lived to the advanced age of ninety years. He was of German descent. In 1855 William Pim and his wife removed to Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, where they made their home for three years, at the end of that time coming west and taking up their abode in Iowa. Their journey hither was made by team to Pittsburg, thence down the Ohio river and up the Mississippi by boat to Keokuk, and from Keokuk they traveled across the country in a light wagon to Lucas county. Mr. Pim brought with him $4,000 in money, and upon his arrival here purchased 160 acres of land. As he prospered he made additional purchases from time to time until he became the owner of 1, 100 acres of rich land, well adapted for farming and stock-raising, in which he was engaged up to the time of his death. On his home farm he made many substantial improvements, including good residence, barn, fences, orchard and grove, everything arranged with regard to convenience and showing good taste as well. Here, since his death, his widow and son, Franklin L., have continued to reside, carrying on the farming and stock- raising very much after the same manner that he did, stock-raising being a specialty.

The children born to this worthy couple, William Pim and his wife, were twelve in num- ber and as follows: Mary A .; Mrs. Jennie Fleming, Jackson township, Lucas county, was previous to her marriage a successful teacher; William R., a well-known farmer of Jackson township, was married February 23, 1886, to Miss Harriet J. Snuggs, daughter of James and Anna (Hall) Snuggs, of Warren county, Iowa, and both of English parentage; Maggie, who died at the age of eighteen years; Frank L., above referred to as having charge of the home farm, was married March 6, 1895, to Miss Kate Thompson, daughter of Lorenzo D. and Sarah (Richardson) Thompson, of Clarke county, Iowa; Ella P. and her hus-

band, I. J. Knotts, are both deceased: Mr. Knotts was a successful merchant of Lucas, Iowa; Jessie M., wife of J. R. Knotts, Jackson township, who is one of the leading farmers; John Wilson, who died at the age of ten years; and Eliza Ellen, who died at the age of four years; and the remaining three children died in infancy.

The good father of this family, after a life of useful activity, quietly passed away May 12, 1885, at the age of sixty-five years. As a hus- band and father he was affectionate and de- voted, as a neighbor he was kind and obliging, and in all the walks of life he was honorable and upright, his word ever being regarded as good as his bond, and in his death Jackson township and Lucas county lost a valued citi- zen. He was a man of quiet and retiring dis- position, and although he took a commendable interest in public affairs and kept himself well posted on the issues of the day, he never sought official preference of any kind, prefer- ring to give his whole attention to his own pri- vate affairs. He was a Democrat of the old Jacksonian stamp. For many years he was a consistent and active member of the Gerinan Reformed Church, with which his wife is also identified. In all his life work Mr. Pim was ably assisted by his good wife, and much of the success he attained was due to her sympathy and advice. Possessed of a happy and cheer- ful disposition, she has ever looked to the sil- ver linings of the dark clouds of affliction pass- ing over them. Happy the man who has such a wife, and blessed the children who have a mother like her!

AHLON FRANCIS HOLLINGS- WORTH, a worthy representative of one of the prominent families of this section of Iowa, was born No- vember 8, 1871, in Batavia, Illinois. The family is of Saxon origin and the old Hollings- worth estate, located in the northeastern por- tion of Cheshire, England, came into the pos- session of the family in 1022 A. D. The

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grounds cover 625 acres and the old hall and the church in which the family worshiped for many generations are still standing-both sev- eral centuries old. Upon these are the family arms. The late owner, Captain Robert Holl- ingsworth died in 1865, and the property, val- ued at £20,000, is now in the possession of a Mr. Taylor, of Manchester, England.

Valentine Hollingsworth, Sr., a member of the Society of Friends, was probably born in Cheshire, England, between the years 1630 and 1640. Tradition says that he married Catherine, daughter of Henry Cornish, High Sheriff of London, who was executed October 23, 1635, during the reign of James II, for political reasons. Valentine Hollingsworth came to America in company with William Penn in 1682, bringing his family with him. He settled in Newcastle county, now Delaware, and filled many prominent positions of trust in the colony. He died about 1715, but no record of his death has yet been found. His wife, Ann, died August 17, 1697, and was buried at Newark, during the monthly meeting. She was the second wife and her maiden name was Ann Calvert. From Valentine Hollingsworth are descended nearly all of the representatives of the name in the United States, and the family is now a very numerous one. Valentine Hollingsworth was the father of Thomas Holl- ingsworth, who was born on the old estate in England about 1650, and died in Winchester, Virginia, in 1732. He had a son, also named Thomas, who was born in 1698, in Rockard Manor, of Newcastle county, Delaware. He died in 1766, and was buried in the burial ground owned by William Farquhar, of Pipe Creek, Maryland. His son Thomas was born in Maryland in 1729, and died in 1799. The latter's son, Nathaniel, who was born in Mary- land in 1755, died in 1834, leaving a son, Rob- ert, who was born in Harford county, Mary- land, in 1784, and passed away in 1863, sur- vived by his son Mahlon, who was born in Maryland, in 1817, and died in 1888, in Hampton, Iowa. He was the grandfather of our subject.

The father of our subject, Hiram Hollings- worth, was born in Mount Carroll, Illinois, in 1842, and was reared on a farm. He graduated from the old Mount Carroll Seminary, and has throughout his entire life carried on agricultural pursuits. During the Civil war he enlisted as a soldier in Company A, One Hundred and Forty-sixth Illinois Infantry, and continued at the front until the preservation of the Union was an assured fact. He was mustered out July 11, 1865, at Springfield, Illinois, after about four years of faithful and meritorious service, and on the same day was married in Springfield to Miss Cynthia Armstrong, who was born in that city November 1, 1840. Her parents were H. M. and Luvina (Dryer) Arm- strong, the former a native of Kentucky and a hat-maker by trade. He served as a soldier in the Black Hawk war. To Mr. and Mrs. . Hollingsworth were born three children : Mahlon F., of this sketch; Anna L., who was born December 17, 1881, at Jefferson, Iowa; and Albert L., born April 26, 1884, on the Evergreen Lodge farm in Franklin county, Iowa. After his marriage the father was employed for some time by the Challenge Feed Mill Company, of Batavia, Illinois. In 1876 he removed to his 160-acre farm in Greene county, Iowa, which he had purchased several years previous, and there made his home until 1881. He then came to his present home in Franklin county. The farm comprises 320 acres of valuable land, excellently adapted for stock-raising purposes. Mr. Hollingsworth makes a specialty of the breeding of Durham cattle and thorough-bred Poland-China hogs. The place derives its name from the fine ever- green grove of over 2,000 trees which stands upon it. These are Norway spruce and pine and average from thirty to forty-five feet in height. Mr. Hollingsworth and his wife are members of the Congregational Church, and in politics he is a stalwart Republican. A very successful business man, he has acquired a handsome property and is to-day numbered among the leading stock dealers of the State.

We now take up the personal history of

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Mahlon Francis Hollingsworth, knowing that it will prove of interest to many of our readers. In his parents' home the days of his childhood and youth were passed, and after attending the public schools for a time he entered the Iowa State Agricultural College. at Ames, pursuing the scientific course. He was graduated at that institution in 1892, and then entered the Iowa State University at Iowa City, com- pleting the course in the law department and graduating in 1894, with the degree of LL. D. He at once began practice in Clear Lake, where he yet makes his home. During the months of vacation he lived with his parents, and for eight terms previous to beginning law practice he taught school in Franklin county.

On the 8th of November, 1894, in Coggon, Iowa, Mr. Hollingsworth was joined in wed- lock with Miss Carrie Phillips, daughter of Flower M. and Mary (Hutchison) Phillips. She acquired her education in the common schools and the Iowa State Normal, at Cedar Falls, where she remained for two years, and then taught school in Linn county, Iowa, for two years. She afterward went to Cornell College, in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and spent two years as a student in the musical depart- ment. She subsequently engaged in teaching music several terms, and is a lady of educa- tion, refinement and culture, presiding over her home with charming hospitality. She has two sisters and one brother, namely: Margaret, wife of William Andrews, of Smith Center, Kansas; Mary, wife of Isaac Patten, a farmer of Coggon, Iowa; and Flower S., who resides with his parents on the home farm. The father is yet living on a 160-acre claim which he located in 1854, but has transforined this into a valuable farm and has added to it from time to time until he has now accumulated over 1,000 acres. He is engaged in dairy farming and the breeding of Durham cattle.

Mr. Hollingsworth is recognized as one of the rising young lawyers of Cerro Gordo county. He now has a lucrative practice and is also engaged in the real-estate and loan busi- ness. He owns his own residence in Clear

Lake and in addition has other good property. In politics he is a stanch advocate of the meas- ures of the Republican party, with which he has been identified since casting his first presi- dential vote for Harrison, on his twenty-first birthday. On the 21st of September, 1895, he entered into partnership with William T. Raffety, of Grinnell, Iowa, and has since had entire charge of the real-estate and loan de- partment of the business. His law practice has become quite extensive, and he receives the patronage of many of the leading citizens of the county.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Hollingsworth belong to the Congregational Church, and are active in its work and contribute liberally to its sup- port. He is also president of the Young Men's Christian Association, of Clear Lake, Iowa, and is very popular in these organizations as well as in business and social life.

RANK G. MURPHY, M. D., has in the practice of medicine made a spe- cialty of the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and along these lines has achieved a reputation that gives himn high standing among his professional brethren and has gained him a liberal patronage from the public. It falls to the lot of few men of his years to attain a more desirable success, and he is fast winning a place in the very foremost rank of the medical fraternity of the State.

Dr. Murphy is a native of Grant county, Wisconsin, born April 14, 1867, and is a son of John B. and Alice (Graham) Murphy. His grandparents, Arthur and Bridget (Coats) Mur- phy, were both natives of Ireland, and when a young man of seventeen years the former crossed the Atlantic to America, where he aft- erward met and married Miss Coats, who was brought to the United States by her parents during her infancy. John B. Murphy was born January 10, 1839, in Fulton, New York, and, being the son of a stone-mason, in his early life he learned that trade with his father. Prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he re-

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sponded to the country's call for aid in 1861, and joined the boys in blue of Company H, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry, as a private. With the Army of the Potomac he served his three-years term, and was mustered out in 1864, having in the meantime been promoted to the rank of Orderly and First Sergeant. He now draws a small pension and lives with his family in Grant county, Wisconsin, on a 200-acre farm. On Christmas day of 1865 he was united in marriage with Alice Graham, who was born April 13, 1846, in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. Their children number five: Lillian, now the wife of Frank Smith, dealer in grain and coal, of Mason City, Iowa; Frank G., of this review; Jennie, who is now a teacher in the public schools in Mason City, Iowa; and Alta and Grace, at home.

Dr. Murphy, of this review, supplemented his preliminary education by study in the high school of Bloomington, Wisconsin, and after- ward entered the State Normal at Platteville, Wisconsin, where he pursued his studies three years. He then went to Washington, District of Columbia, to study medicine, and while there was appointed by the civil service department as clerk in the record and pension department, with which he was connected for three and a half years. During this time he attended the night sessions of the medical school, and re- signed his clerical position in order to continue his preparation for his chosen vocation, spend- ing a year more in study. He was graduated on the 12th of April, 1893, with the degree of M. D., and then took the post-graduate course. While in the record and pension department in re-writing the army records he wrote that of his own father. He was in Ford's theater- the old theater in which Lincoln was assassi- nated-at the time it collapsed, June 9, 1893, twenty-three persons being then killed. The building was in use at that time by the Gov- ernment.

On leaving school in Washington, Dr. Mur- phy went to Newton, Iowa, where he engaged in practice from May, 1894, until the follow- ing October. He then came to Mason City,

where he has since continued in the active prosecution of his chosen work. He took a special course on the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, at the Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital of New York city in Feb- ruary and March, 1895, and is well fitted to cope with diseases that afflict those inembers. He belongs to the Austin Flint Medical Asso- ciation of Northern Iowa.

In his political affiliations the Doctor is a Republican, and keeps well informed on the issues of the day, as well as on all topics of general interest. In his religious views he is a Methodist, and socially is a prominent Mason, having taken the Knight-Templar degrees.

a HARLES E. DEMLING, City Clerk of Burlington, Iowa, was born in Burlington, April 3, 1861, and has passed his whole life in this city.

Mr. Demling is a son of John A. and Sophia (Scheurer) Demling, the former a native of Bavaria, Germany, and the latter of Ohio. In their family were four children, three of whom are now living-Charles E., Louisa M., and John F. Their father was for many years a railroad man and grocer. He came to America at the age of fourteen years, alone, or with some neighbors, in 1849, and went from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, spending some years on a farm at the latter place. Subsequently he returned to New Orleans and for several years was overseer on a plantation. Then he traveled considerably, made his way up into Iowa, and about 1855 settled at Burlington, where he has since continued to reside. He helped to build the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and made the fill between Burlington and Gladstone; and while he was engaged in this railroad work he also embarked in the grocery business, his stand being at the corner of Main and Division streets. For twenty years he was in business here. Since then he has been occupied as street foreman for

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the city. He has several times served as Al- derman, representing the Sixth ward. I Both he and his wife are members of the German Evangelical Church.

Mr. Charles E. Demling had good educa- tional advantages, took both a high-school and commercial course, and when not in school rendered his father valuable assistance as er- rand boy at the store. At the close of his school-days he clerked and kept books for his father for some years. Later he accepted a clerkship in a master mechanic's office at West Burlington, where he remained one year, after which he traveled for the Burlington Broom Factory and kept books for them five years. In 1890 he became clerk for the City Street Commissioner, continued as such till April, 1894, and at that time was elected City Clerk. In 1895 he was re-elected to this po- sition and received every vote cast for the office, which fact alone is sufficient proof of his popularity and efficiency.

July 30, 1891, Mr. Demling was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Bonert, daughter of Andreas and Rosa Bonert, and two sons have been born to them-Chester Earl and Raymond Milton. His residence is at No. 114 Grand street, on Prospect Hill, Burlington.

Mr. Demling is identified with Excelsior Lodge, No. 268, I. O. O. F .; and his political affiliations are with the Democratic party. Mr. Demling's brother, John F., is ticket agent at the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy depot, where he has worked thirteen years without any loss of time whatever. Charles E. has also ap- plied himself closely to business, and has gained a reputation for honesty, industry and sobriety.

J OHN N. MASON .- In him whose life history now comes under review is found a gentleman whose connection with the business interests of Burlington, Iowa, covers a period of twenty-eight years, and who for forty-three years has been a resident of this State. At present he occupies the im-

portant position of City Treasurer of Burling- ton.

Mr. Mason is a native of the Empire State. He was born at Nassau, Rensselaer county, New York, June 12, 1831, and is a son of Jonathan F. and Laura (Ambler) Mason, both New Yorkers by birth. Their family consisted of six sons and five daughters, and of this number all have passed away except two : Pamelia, wife of John Seagraves, of Beetown, Wisconsin, and John N. In 1836, when John N. was five years of age, his father moved from New York to Illinois and settled at Knox- ville, and he passed the rest of his life in Illi- nois and Iowa. He died in Burlington while on a visit to his son, in 1878, at the age of eighty-five years and four months. He was by trade a blacksmith. In the war of 1812 he served as blacksmith and rendered other valued service to his country. He joined the ranks at the battle of Sackett's Harbor, receiving seven slight wounds during the skirmish. A part of his life, however, was given to mercan- tile business. His religious creed was that of the Baptist Church, of which both he and his first wife were members. Her death occurred in New York about the year 1834. He mar- ried at West Troy, New York, for his second wife, Miss Mary Bowen. By her he had no children.

The Masons are of Scotch origin. Our sub- ject's grandfather, Benjamin Mason, was a son of Scotch parents and was born in Rhode Island. He was the father of sixteen children. By occupation he was a farmer and stock- raiser, and his religion was that of the Friends or Quakers. During the Revolution he was a non-combatant, and for the reason that he sold cattle to both the British and Americans his property was confiscated. At the time of his death he was eighty-four years of age. Mr. Mason's maternal grandfather was Peter Am- bler. He was of English descent and a New Englander by birth.

Mr. John N. Mason was reared from his fifth year in Illinois, chiefly at Knoxville. He learned the blacksmith trade of his father and

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worked at it about six years. Then he clerked in a dry-goods store until he was twenty-one, and thus were his youthful days spent, and with but limited advantages for obtaining an education. He, however, inade the best of his opportunities, studied nights and mornings and whenever he had a leisure moment, and in this way secured knowledge sufficient to en- able him to teach school. For about three years he presided as teacher in the school- room. The fall of 1852 marks the date of his removal to Iowa, his first location here being on a farm near Libertyville, in Jefferson county. He spent five years in that county, a part of the time in mercantile business. Next we find him at Iconium, Appanoose county, and soon after his location there was overtaken by the panic of 1857, and, like scores of people all over the country, failed in business. In 1862 he moved to Centerville, where he taught school and at the same time studied law; also while there he was Deputy County Treasurer. He was admitted to the bar in 1865, and at once began the practice of his profession, in connection with which he also did a real estate business, making that place his home until 1867, when he removed to Burlington. The first three years of his residence in Burlington he was employed as bookkeeper for Hunt, Ken- dall & Company, wholesale grocers, then for five years he was chief clerk in the land depart- ment of the Burlington & Missouri River Rail- road Company; next he was bookkeeper in a wholesale grocery house, and later was simi- larly occupied in the Merchants' National Bank up to 1879. He was then for three years superintendent of the glucose works at Glad- stone, Illinois, but still resided in Burlington. In March, 1882, he was elected City Auditor and has been re-elected three times, making eight years' service in that office. Then for a short time he was clerk in the office of the Internal Revenue Collector, but on account of ill health sought a change of climate and traveled through the South and West. During his ab- sence he sustained serious injury by runaway horses, the result being that he was incapaci-

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 116

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