Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 127

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

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The medical studies of our subject were in- terrupted by his enlistment, in August, 1862, as a private in Company H, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, he having gone to Camp Pope, Iowa City, to enlist at a time when the organization of the regiment was nearly completed. Within a few weeks he was detailed to serve as regimental hospital steward and in a few months was regularly appointed to that office, which he filled until the regiment was discharged at the close of the war, after three years' service. In the capacity of stew- ard his services were directly in line with the

'work of his chosen profession. His regiment served in the Army of the Tennessee, and in the Department of the Gulf while in the West; went through the campaign and siege of Vicks- burg and the Red river expedition, also partici- pating in some minor expeditions while in the two armies mentioned. The regiment was finally transported by ocean steamer from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Washington, District of Columbia, whence it soon set forth and joined Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley campaign, participating in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. Our subject was on the field directly with his regiment in nearly every battle in which it participated, at- tending the duties of his office, and being absent from the regiment on only one or two minor oc- casions, when he was on duty elsewhere under orders. He was an eye-witness of the wonder- ful change wrought by the reappearance of "Little Phil" upon the field of the battle of Cedar Creek, when his army was disorganized and retreating. When the valiant leader again appeared on the scene the change was instan- taneous and wonderful; as our subject saw it not one man or officer took another step to the rear, but, after tossing hats and hurrahing, each one would fall into line wherever he could, not even looking for his own company or regiment. In an incredibly brief time rout and disaster turned into complete victory. Dr. Boynton asserts that, so far as he saw this memorable conflict and ride of "Little Phil, " the poem of T. B. Read, entitled " Sherdan's Ride, " was not overdrawn in any respect, and

"The wave of retreat checked its course there, because The sight of the leader compelled it to pause."

Dr. Boynton's regiment was finally mustered out, at Savannah, Georgia, after three years of service, and thence returned to Iowa.

Our subject, after thus ending his loyal and honorable service to the nation, returned to his native place in New York, resuming the study of medicine and finally entering the Albany Medical College, where he continued his tech- nical education and graduated, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, December 24, 1866.

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He opened his first office for the practice of his profession in the spring of 1867, at La Porte City, Black Hawk county, Iowa, where he remained until 1870, when he came to To- ledo, Iowa. Here the Doctor was actively en- gaged in practice almost continuously until 1882, since which time he has practically re- tired from professional work. In 1872 he was appointed United States Pension Examining Surgeon for Tama county, and under the ad- ministration of President Harrison was a mem- ber of the Board of Pension Examiners at Toledo for a term of more than four years. By reason of the Doctor's three years' army-hos- pital service, his civil medical practice and his more than seven years' service as United States Pension Examining Surgeon, his evidence and advice in the prosecution of pension claims have been largely sought, and in this way he has always found distinctive pleasure in aiding deserving claimants gratuitously.

Dr. Boynton was married October 14, 1869, at La Porte City, Iowa, to Miss Ida Elwell, who was born in Ohio, coming with her par- ents to Iowa while she was still a child. She is the daughter of Timothy H. and Sarah El- well, and is an estimable lady who possesses and exercises a charity for the frailties of others with an earnestness and constancy that shows it to be a cardinal and inherent princi- ple of her character. She was educated in the city schools of Waterloo, Iowa. The Doctor and Mrs. Boynton have an adopted daughter, Florence Ada, who has been with them and tenderly cared for from infancy, being now a student in Western College, musical depart- ment.

Dr. Boynton has held membership in the State and various local medical societies dur- ing the years of his active practice, and he has served as County Physician and as a mem- ber of the Insane Commission. In his fra- ternal relations he is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In religious matters the Doctor entertains views somewhat liberal, and, not being able to conscientiously and fully

endorse some of man's definitions and interpre- tations in this regard, is not a member of any religious organization.

LBERT P. CHAMBERLIN, a prom- inent attorney of Des Moines, Iowa, and assistant City Solicitor, and a leading citizen of that place, was born in Wheelersburg, Ohio, December 1I, 1853, son of Oliver and Clarissa (Bachus) Chamber- lin, also natives of that State. He is one of a family of thirteen children, eight sons and five daughters, of whom five sons and two daugh- ters are now living, as follows: Andrew C .; Alva; Albert P .; Asa W., a physician in Ham- ilton county, Iowa; Alden, Hope, Washington; Isadora, wife of Sebastian Rubar, Cambridge, Iowa; and Carrie, wife of Clarence Griffith, Story county, Iowa. Oliver Chamberlin, the father of this large family, came from Ohio to Iowa in 1857 and located at Cambridge, where he continued to reside the rest of his life, and where he died in July, 1893, at the age of sev- enty-seven years. While in Ohio he was en- gaged in milling, but after coming to Iowa he settled down to farming, carrying on his oper- ations on a large scale, and continued thus oc- cupied up to the time of his death. He was an honest, unassuming and hard-working man, gave to his children good educational advan- tages, and at his death left to them a compe- tency. His wife .died ten years before he passed away.

Anson Chamberlin, the paternal grand- father of Albert P., was a native of Vermont, of English and Scotch descent; was a Captain in the Revolutionary war, and one of the pio- neer farmers of Scioto county, Ohio. He was known as "Captain " Chamberlain, was re- garded as one of the leading men of his com- munity, and lived to the age of eighty years. In his family were eleven children, ten daugh- ters and one son. Mr. Chamberlin's mater- nal grandfather, Christian Bachus, also was an early settler of Scioto county. He was

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born in Germany, settled in Pennsylvania on emigrating to this country, and from there moved to Ohio, locating in Scioto county, where he and his wife lived for many years and where both died.

From this brief sketch of his parents and grandparents we pass now to a review of the life of our immediate subject-Albert P. Cham- berlin. He was in his fifth year at the time he came with his parents to Iowa, that being in 1857, and in Story county he was reared to farın life and was educated first in the common schools. In 1870 he entered the Iowa State Agricultural College at Ames, where he pur- sued a scientific course and where he gradu- ated in 1875, in the meantime having taught school and worked on the farm in order to secure the means with which to defray his ex- penses through college. Immediately after his graduation he came to Des Moines and entered the College of Law, a branch of Simpson Cen- tenary College, where he bent all his energies to the study of law, and in June of the follow- ing year, 1876, was admitted to the bar. After this he continued his studies in the office of a prominent lawer of the city until May, 1877, when, in partnership with P. B. Toles, now of Denver, he opened a law office, and they continued together and prospered for two years. At the end of this time Mr. Chamber- lin formed a partnership with W. G. Harvison, now county attorney, with whom he was asso- ciated two years. In 1883 he and A. K. Stew- art became partners, their partnership lasting until May, 1894. Since that date Mr. Cham- berlin has been Assistant City Solicitor, and at the same time has since been conducting a fair practice under his own name. He is locally interested in banking and manufactur- ing, and has real-estate interests in Texas, at Galveston, San Antonio and other points. He was one of the three men who, in the Fifty- first Congress, had charge of the Galveston deep harbor appropriation, amounting to $6,200,000. A man in the prime of life, fitted by both education and natural ability to occupy a leading place among the prominent men of

his city, he is a desirable accession to the pro- fessional ranks of Des Moines.

Mr. Chamberlin and his family reside in a pleasant home in East Des Moines, No. 1040 East Sixth street. He was married November 9, 1882, to Miss Augusta Puls, daughter of Christian and Johanna Puls, and one child, Albert L., has been born to them.

Like most of the professional and busi- ness men throughout the West, Mr. Cham- berlin is identified with a number of fraternal organizations, among which are the I. O. O. F., K. of P., A. O. U. W. and Royal Arcanum. His political views harmonize with those of the Republican party.

p HILANDER TABOR, M. D., a re- tired physician and surgeon of Inde- pendence, whose connection with the medical profession of Iowa has been long and honorable, was born in Bradford, Vermont, November 15, 1816. His father, Thomas Tabor, was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1786. The grandfather, Stephen Tabor, was a sea captain, and for many years sailed under letters of marque. The family was originally of English origin, and was founded in America during Colonial days. The mother of the Doctor bore the maiden name of Abigail Drew, and was a native of Corinth, Vermont. Her father, Daniel Drew, was born in New England.

The Doctor spent the greater part of his youth in Vermont, where he remained until twenty years of age, and his elementary edu- cation acquired in the public schools was supplemented by a course in the Bedford Academy. Wishing to make the practice of medicine his life work, he began preparation for this calling as a student in the law office of Dr. Poole, of Bedford, when seventeen years of age. He took his first course of lectures in the Geneva (New York) Medical College, and afterward continued his studies in the Rochester Medical College, same State. Im- mediately afterward he sought a home in the

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West, believing that it would prove a better field of labor for a young man who had to win a name for himself than was furnished by the East with its greater competition. He located in Adrian, Michigan, where he hung out his shingle, and there continued for nearly eight years. On the expiration of that period he returned to New York, locating in Canan- daigua, where he continued until 1856. It was in that year that Independence gained one of its most valued citizens.

The Doctor took up his residence here and at once became identified with its professional interests. It was not long before he demon- strated his ability and obtained from the public a liberal patronage which he enjoyed throughont his continuance in the active prac- tice of his profession. In 1868 he opened a drug-store, which he conducted in connection with his other business. His well : directed efforts and his enterprise and perseverance have brought to him a handsome competency, and to-day he is living retired in the enjoy- inent of the fruits of his former toil.

On the 30th of April, 1841, Dr. Tabor was united in marriage with Miss Jennette Ecklee, of Flint Creek, New York. She was born in the Empire State, of Scotch and English parentage, and is a daughter of George and Jennette Ecklee. The Doctor and his wife became the parents of two children, a daugh- ter and son. The former, Alice M., became the wife of Captain Little, and both are now deceased. The latter, Byron W., is a well known pharmacist and a leading business man of Independence.

Dr. Tabor cast his first presidential vote for General Harrison in 1840, and by his last ballot supported the illustrious grandson of the Tippecanoe hero, General Benjamin Harrison. He has led a noble, upright life, pure and true. He has never been addicted to the use of in- toxicants or tobacco, has given a hearty sup- port to all measures that he believed calcu- lated to benefit the community, and in all Buchanan county no one is held in higher regard than Dr. Tabor. He now spends the

greater part of the winter in Florida, while the summer months are passed in his pleasant home in Independence among his inany warm friends.

I PRA KILBOURNE GARDNER, M. D. -The prosperous town of New Hamp- ton, Iowa, has within its borders many able representatives of the various pro- fessions-men of brains, push and enterprise- and among its medical ranks is found the sub- ject of this review, Dr. I. K. Gardner, whose identity with the place dates back to 1877. As regards years of practice, he is now one of the oldest physicians in Chickasaw county.

Dr. Gardner is a native of Canada, born in London, Ontario, February 8, 1846, son of Abel Sweet and Mary M. (Parker) Gardner, natives respectively of Canada and Switzer- land. The Gardners are of English origin, and the first representatives of the family that came to America settled in Rhode Island, in Colonial days. Grandfather Abel Sweet Gard- ner was born near Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of a Revolutionary soldier, and when a man, about 1820, emigrated to Canada, where the rest of his life was passed. He was a surveyor, millwright, mill owner, and while erecting a mill at Kilworth, Canada, was acci- dentally killed. His son, the father of our subject, was born in 1823, was in early life a miller and later settled down to farming. In 1865 he came to Iowa, located in Chickasaw county, and here became the owner of a fine farm, upon which he made his home until the fall of 1892. At that time he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, and before the dawn of an- other year had passed to his last home. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was an ardent Christian worker.

The maternal grandparents of Dr. Gard- ner were John and Mary Parker, natives of Switzerland, from which place they emigrated with their family to America and made settle- ment in Canada. Their grandmother Parker died, leaving a family of five children: John, Henry, William Abraham, Mary M. and Eliza-

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beth. Grandfather Parker afterward moved to Michigan and still later to Kansas, and in the latter State he died. He had married a second wife, but by her had no children. The Doctor's mother was born in 1827 and was about three years old at the time of their coming to Amer- ica. She died in New Hampton, Iowa, in the spring of 1868. Of her children, three in number, we record that Ira K. is the eldest; Henry, a resident of Sioux City, Iowa, is an engineer on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad; and Alice is the wife of Eugene Bowen, an engineer on the same road.

The subject of our sketch was reared and educated in Michigan and is a graduate of the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, with the class of 1866. In 1866-7 he was principal of the schools at New Hampton. But he had chosen the medical profession for his life work, and about the time he attained his majority entered upon his medical studies with Dr. H. M. Mixer as his preceptor. In 1870 he gradu- ated in the medical department of the Michi- gan State University at Ann Arbor and that same year opened an office and commenced the practice of his profession at Lawler, Chicka- saw county, Iowa, where he remained until 1877, the time of his coming to New Hamp- ton. In 1890 he took a post-graduate course in the Chicago Polyclinic. Professionally, as otherwise, Dr. Gardner keeps fully abreast with the times, is a member of numerous medical associations, was a member of the ninth International Medical Congress, held at Washington, District of Columbia, in 1887, and is not only a close reader of the best medical and scientific journals but also is a frequent contributor to the same. Among the medical societies with which he is identified, we name the following: American Medical Association, North Iowa Medical Society, Aus- tin Flint Medical Association, National Asso- ciation of Railway Surgeons, and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Surgical Association. He is also local surgeon for the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul Railway Company.

Politically, the Doctor casts his vote and

influence with the Republican party, and on various occasions has been honored with official preferment. While in Lawler he was Mayor of the town. He has served as Coroner of Chickasaw county, twelve years, has been on the Board of Education here and also in the City Council, and has figured as delegate in the State conventions of his party. Public- spirited and generous, the Doctor takes a deep interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of his town and county and may be depended upon to give his support to any worthy cause.

Believing that an education is the best capital a young man can have when he starts out in life, the Doctor's father spared no pains in giving him good advantages in this line; but froin the time his college course was com- pleted he had to depend upon his own re- sources. That he has attained a success far above the average none can deny. He now owns valuable property in New Hampton, among which is his own handsome residence, the finest in the city, erected at a cost of over $10,000, modern in all its appointments and furnished in elegance throughout. We note also his fine library, composed both of profes- sional and miscellaneous works. Personally, the Doctor is of a genial, social nature, and in his home and abroad he ever has a word of cheer for those about him. Besides the fra- ternal organizations above mentioned, he is a member of the K. of P., Lancelot Lodge, No. 183.

Dr. Gardner was married in 1871 to Miss Maggie Gardner, daughter of James Gardner, of St. Clair county, Michigan. They have an only child, Miss Nellie E. His wife and daughter are members of the Congregational Church.

U. GREENLEE .- It is now our privilege to review the life of one who figures conspicuously in the business circles of Bedford, Iowa, and who has rendered to the Union the valiant service of a patriotic and loyal son of the Republic.

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The Greenlees are of Scotch ancestry, made their appearance in this country before the Revolutionary period, and were for many years residents of Pennsylvania. Allen Green- lee, the grandfather of this gentleman, was a participant in the war for American independ- ence. A. M. Greenlee, the father of H. U., was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1807. He was by trade a black- smith and millwright, and for some years car- ried on extensive operations in the lumber regions of his native State, employing a large force of men. In 1868 he came to Iowa, where the rest of his life was spent, his death occurring at Bedford in 1891. By his first wife, who was a daughter of Michael Greenlee, he had four children, H. U. being the youngest. She died in 1845, and subsequently he wedded a Miss Houck, a sister of Edwin Houck, of Bedford, and the only living child by this union is Charlie Greenlee.

H. U. Greenlee, the immediate subject of this article, entered the Union ranks when a boy and gave to the service of his country the years which should have been spent in the school-room and in preparation for the active duties of life. It was August 14, 1862, that he enlisted, and he went out as a private in Coin- pany A, Sixteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry, under Colonel James Irwin Gregg, and joined the Army of the Potomac. He was at Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, Mine Run, Wilderness, in the Richmond raid, and at Cold Harbor, and in other important engage- ments up to the fight at Deep Bottom, where he received a serious wound in the shoulder. Four months later he rejoined his regiment at Light House Point, near Petersburg, and was in action at Five Forks . and Appomattox. June 14, 1865, the war being practically over, he was honorably discharged at Lynchburg, Virginia.

At the close of the war young Greenlee came direct to Bedford, Iowa, and without capital or education, and, with only a willing hand and a determination to make something ofhimself in life, began his useful career. At

first he worked as a common laborer, but in him was that ambition and enterprise which was not satisfied with a servant's position, and which led him ere long to engage in business for himself. This he did by purchasing a stone quarry within the city limits. With his own hands he opened up the quarry and began to build foundation walls for buildings. Also he began the manufacture of lime. From time to time he hired help, and increased his force as he secured larger contracts, and in this way gradually worked up an immense business, which now includes both stone and brick work, and which has for years extended beyond the limits of Bedford. He has had contracts for buildings in Lenox, Creston, Greenfield, Clearfield and Mount Ayr, and, in- deed, in almost every town within a radius of many miles that can be reached by rail from his extensive brick-yards in this city. Fre- quently he has on hand from fifteen to twenty buildings at the same time. While the care of looking after the details of such extensive operations would be far too great for most men, he moves along smoothly and with seem- ingly no friction whatever. His whole career has been characterized by honorable and up- right dealings, and the one rule of his life, namely, "To do right," has been the secret of his success. He makes it a point to fulfill every contract to the very letter, whether he makes or loses in the transaction, and to discharge his obligations punctually. Such a life is sure to win the favorable opinion of men, and his is no exception.

Mr. Greenlee was married May 10, 1871, to Mary A., daughter of Thomas Tucker, a pioneer of Taylor county, Iowa, who came to this State fromn Indiana. The children born to them are as follows: Minnie, Hattie, Car- rie and Clara (twins), Harvey U. and Hulda. The eldest daughter, Minnie, is the wife of L. E. Wykoff, of Bedford.

Mr. Greenlee's intensely busy life has given him little time for outside matters, and the · only fraternal organization with which he is identified is that of the G. A. R.

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EORGE H. THORNLEY, a general merchant and well-known citizen of the town of Woodward, Dallas county, Iowa, is a native of this county, the date of his birth being April 17, 1853. Some personal mention of him is appropriate in this work, and we are pleased to present the fol- lowing sketch of his life; but before sketching his life we would refer briefly to his ancestry, his forefathers being conspicuous as early set- tlers of this vicinity.

Mr. Thornley's parents were Henry and Margaret (Waldo) Thornley. About 1850, soon after their marriage, they removed from De Witt county, Illinois, to Iowa, and made settlement in Dallas county, where the mother is still living, her home being near Woodward; the father died in February, 1853, at the age of twenty-five years. The paternal grand- parents of our subject were Reuben and Anna (Penn) Thornley, who removed from Ohio to Illinois about 1810, and who died in De Witt county, that State. His maternal grandparents were Jedediah and Nancy (Newland) Waldo, the former a native of New York and the latter of Virginia. They came to Iowa about 1851, and here passed the remainder of their lives and died. He was born in 1803 and died in 1864, and she was born in 1808 and died in 1881. The great-grandparents on the Waldo side were Schubel and Esther (Crippen) Waldo, the fornier a native of France and a descend- ant of the early Huguenots, his ancestry being traced back to that historic character, Peter WValdo. Mrs. Esther Waldo was of English descent. On the other side of the house the great-grandparents were John and Margaret (Weir) Newland, he a native of Ireland and she of Scotland; both died in Ohio.

On the settlement of his parents and grand- parents in Dallas county, all took claim to Government land here, and it was amid frontier scenes that George H., our subject, was born and reared, his education being re- ceived in a log school-house that was built by his grandfather, Waldo, and given by him to the township. For twenty years this log

house was used for school purposes. Some time after the death of Mr. Thornley, Mrs. Thornley married again; and George remained with his mother and stepfather until the time of his own marriage, which was in 1882. Then he settled on a farm, having bought 253 acres of his stepfather, and for four years thereafter was engaged in farming. From this he turned his attention to his present business. For two years he had a store in Xenia, Ohio, and since then has been in Woodward, where he has prosperously conducted a general merchandise establishment.

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 127

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