Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 139

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

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In 1869, not long after attaining his major- ity, young Wallace left home and started out in life on his own responsibility, going up into the Dakotas, then a Territory, and in Union county settling on a tract of land, to which he secured the title, and on which he was engaged in farming ten years. Four of those years his crops were completely eaten up by grasshop- pers. That was enough to discourage even the most persevering and courageous of pio- neers, and in 1879 Mr. Wallace decided to locate elsewhere, selected Dallas county, Iowa, as a desirable place, and came hither. Here he rented 160 acres of land, situated a mile and three-quarters east of Waukee, and on it was engaged in farming until 1881. He still, however, retained his farm of 174 acres in Dakota. In 1881 he moved into Waukee and purchased the interest of Mr. Tyler in the firm of Tyler & Huston, dealers in hardware, gro- ceries, lumber, implements, etc., and after fifteen months of successful business in that line he sold out. Immediately afterward he bought out Howe & Fagan, dealers in dry goods, hats, caps, boots and shoes, and in the spring of 1887 he purchased the store buildings of A. T. Blackman and J. V. Hoeye and en- closed the two buildings under one roof, and at the same time added hardware and imple- ments to his already large stock. Here by straightforward and honorable methods he built up an excellent trade in a short time and has maintained the same. In September, 1895, seeing the needs of the town and com- munity, he commenced making arrangements for starting a private bank, called the Bank of Waukee. It is now in running order, receiv- ing deposits and transacting a general banking business.

During the whole of his residence here Mr.

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Wallace has shown himself to be a public- spirited man and has in various laudable ways been identified with the interests of his town and county. From 1884 to 1888 he served as School Director. He is now, and has been since the county was organized, the depository of county school supplies. He took an active part in organizing the Waukee Co-operative Creamery Company, which commenced busi- ness May 20, 1894; and has been its treasurer ever since it was organized. He maintains a membership in the Knights of Pythias, in which he now holds the office of C. C., and religiously his creed is that of the Presbyte- rtian Church, of which he is a consistent mem- ber and a Trustee. In early life he was a member of the Congregational Church, having joined it when he was eighteen, but since 1884 has been a Presbyterian.

Mr. Wallace was married March 13, 1872, to Rachel Carson, a native of Grey county, Ontario, Canada. She moved with her parents to Dakota in 1871, and it was there that she met and married Mr. Wallace. Following are the names of their children, with dates of birth: Mabel A., June 24, 1873; Bertha S., June 25, 1876; Leonard J., April 10, 1878; Guy R., February 18, 1880; Earl J., Decem- ber 5, 1884; Ethel A., February 14, 1886; Edgar H., November 22, 1888; and Florence I., April 11, 1890.

SAAC TAYLOR MARTIN, of Des Moines, Iowa, is of Scotch-Irish an- cestry. His parents, John and Sally (Stubbs) Martin, were born and reared in the northern part of Ireland, near Belfast. The paternal grandparents, Robert and Sarah (McLean) Martin, resided on the Emerald Isle up to the time of the former's death, which occurred when he had reached the age of eighty-one years. His widow afterward came to the United States and died in the home of her son John, in Erie county, Penn- sylvania, when about eighty years of age.

The grandfather was a cavalry officer in the Protestant forces during the Irish rebellion and was distinguished for military skill and courage. His wife accompanied him on horse- back much of the time and together they wit- nessed the notable " barn-burning " and many other of the most thrilling events of those ex- citing times. Both were members of the Church of England and died in that com- munion.

The maternal grandparents of our subject, John and Ellen Stubbs, also spent their entire lives in Ireland. The father died when his daughter Sally was about seven years of age, and the mother six years later. He was a member of the Baptist Church, while her re- ligious belief was that of the Church of Eng- land. In 1823 the marriage of John Martin and Sally Stubbs was celebrated, and soon afterward they started for the United States, taking passage on a sailing vessel, which after a voyage of nine weeks reached the American harbor. They settled in Poultney, Vermont, where Mr. Martin was employed as a weaver of fine cloth in a woolen mill, having been a weaver of fine linen in Ireland. They often recounted the experiences of that protracted and perilous "wedding tour" in expectation of the enjoyment of liberties, privileges and opportunities denied them in their native land. After residing in Poultney seven years they re- moved to western Pennsylvania-then consid- ered the "far West "-and purchased land for a farm bordering on Lake Erie in Harbor Creek township, Erie county, about nine iniles east of Erie city, where Isaac Taylor was born. During their residence in Poult- ney they united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which they remained faithful mem- bers until they passed to their reward, each at the age of eighty years.

Mr. Martin of this sketch was the fifth of eleven children, of whom four daughters and three sons are living, namely: Jane, wife of Thomas Cross, of Bond Head, Canada; Ellen Stubbs Martin; Sarah, widow of Hugh Camp- bell; Harriet. Scott, wife of Albert. Cutter, of

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Erie county, Pennsylvania; Benjamin Wilson, of Plymouth county, Iowa; Thomas Edmond, of Chicago, Illinois; and Isaac Taylor.

Until about ten years of age the educa- tional advantages of the last named were those afforded by the public schools of those times, which were generally "winter " and " sum- mer " terms of twelve weeks each. Between the ages of ten and sixteen years he attended only the winter terms, the intervals between them being spent with his father on the farm, where he imbibed the principles of integrity and habits of industry and frugality which have characterized him in all his relations in life. After leaving the public school he attended a seminary in Erie city, and an academy in Kingsville, Ohio,-both of high grade for schools of that time, -and enjoyed the reputa- tion of making more rapid progress and accom- plishing a larger amount of work than any other attendants of that or previous times. He thus qualified himself for teaching, and fol- lowed that profession before he was twenty. After his first term he received higher salary by several dollars per month than had ever been paid for similar service in that county.

Following his experience as teacher, Mr. Martin was employed as clerk in a mercantile house in New York city, whence he came to Iowa, in 1856, locating in Sioux City. He was the first male teacher employed in that place, and in November, 1857, began teaching its second school. The following year he partic- ipated in the organization of Plymouth county, and was elected Treasurer and Recorder. In 1860 he represented his county in a State con- vention held in Des Moines. During that year he also resumed teaching in Sioux City, and the following year was elected County Super- intendent of Schools in Woodbury county; but shortly afterward resigned and removed to Crawford county, where he continued teach- ing until the spring of 1863. He then engaged in the life-insurance business in Iowa with the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. In 1864 that company appointed him State agent for Iowa and Nebraska, in which re-

sponsible relation he continued for nearly twenty years, rendering a service pre-eminently profit- able to the company, as shown by the records. Subsequently he accepted the general superin- tendency of the agency department of the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa, to which he has chiefly devoted his attention since.

In 1863 Mr. Martin was united in marriage with Miss Adelia S. Lamb, a daughter of Cur- tis and Nancy (Lycan) Lamb. They have five children living, -three daughters and two sons, -namely: Mary I. L., Adelia D., Bessie, John C. and Isaac T.

From early life the parents have been mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as also have their children. Until recently, Mr. Martin voted with the Republican party, but not approving or indorsing late recessions from its previous high moral principles and prac- tices, especially in Iowa, he is a Prohibitionist.

ENRY JONES, Superintendent of the Guthrie County Infirmary and Farm, is well known in this county and is a . man well fitted for the position he occupies. He is a native of the neighboring State of Illinois, born in Peoria county, May 7, 1843, son of Elias and Jane (Hutman) Jones, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania; both are deceased. Henry was the youngest in his father's family and was left an orphan when he was two years old, the other members being Malinda, Taze- well county, Illinois; Mary Ott, Guthrie county, Iowa; and Eliza, of Ohio.

The subject of our sketch after the death of his parents found a home in the family of . his uncle, James Jones, of Coshocton county, Ohio, where he was reared to farm life and re- ceived a public-school education. In 1857 he accompanied this uncle to Iowa, locating with him in Benton county, where he was engaged in farming at the time the war broke out. In Au- gust, 1862, in response to President Lincoln's

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call for "three hundred thousand more," young Jones enlisted in Company A, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteers, and remained on active duty until the close of the war. He was a partici- pant in many of the prominent engagements of that sanguinary struggle, among which we note the following: Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Ed- ward's Station, Champion Hill, Vicksburg, Jackson, Sabine Cross Roads, Cane river, Ber- ryville, Alexandria (Virginia), Fisher's Hill and Cedar creek. Then he went to Savannah. He was honorably discharged at Davenport, Iowa, August 1, 1865, after which he returned to Benton county.

The two years immediately following the war Mr. Jones spent in Benton county. From there he went to Kansas, made a sojourn of one year in the Sunflower State, returning thence to Iowa and taking up his abode in Guthrie Center, Guthrie county, where he was successfully engaged in the livery business for a period of twelve years. He has occupied his present position, that of Superintendent of the County Farm, since 1891. This farm is one of the finest in the county, comprises 260 acres, and has first-class improvements. The · infirmary is a large frame structure located on a natural building site, and under the present management is well kept, the inmates being well fed and clothed, and everything about the premises showing perfect cleanliness. The farm, too, shows special care, and an air of order and thrift pervades. As a superintend- ent Mr. Jones is decidedly a "success."

At the age of twenty-three Mr. Jones was married, in Benton county, Iowa, to Miss Anna Segrest, daughter of John Segrest and a lady of musical talents. Their union has been blessed in the birth of five children, namely: James H., a resident of Stuart, Iowa; Marion L., at home; Anna M., a proficient musician; and Fred R. and Bertie.

In his political relations Mr. Jones is an ardent Republican, always taking a deep inter- est in advancing the welfare of his party. He is a charter member of the local post of G. A. R.

SAAC FEE, Redfield, Iowa, dates his identity with this State from 1846, the year it was admitted into the Union. At that time its white settlers kept pretty close to the river, and the central part of the State was inhabited chiefly by Indians, and gave little promise of ever becoming the rich agricultural district it is to-day, dotted over with prosperous towns and cities and covered with a network of railroads. Mr. Fee, however, chose the central portion of the State for his place of settlement, making his way di- rect to Fort Des Moines, which was at that time abandoned. As one of the early pioneers of this region he experienced many of the hard- ships and privations incident to frontier life. He possesses a remarkable memory, and his reminiscences connected with the early history of Iowa he relates in a manner that is both entertaining and instructive. We are here pleased to present a brief review of his life:

Born in Gallia county, Ohio, January 26, 1821, the son of a worthy pioneer of the West- ern Reserve, Isaac Fee inherited to a marked degree many of the characteristics which enter into the make-up of a true frontiersman. His father was a native of Kentucky, was one of the first settlers of Ohio, and was well ad- vanced in years at the time of his death. By occupation he was a farmer, and religiously he was all his life an earnest and active Meth- odist. He was twice married. By his first wife he had eleven children and by his second wife three, Isaac being the eldest of the three and the only living representative of the family. He was very small at the time his mother was killed by a stroke of lightning, and soon after that his father died. Thus early in life was the youth deprived of the loving care and pro- tection of both parents. He was entrusted to the care of his father's particular friend, who, however, lived but a short time afterward. The boy was then again rendered homeless.®

At the age of twelve years young Fee went to work in a salt factory at $4 per month. In referring to that period of his life, he says he was the proudest and happiest boy in America

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on his first pay-day. He was industrious, proved himself a valued employee, and at the end of the first year his salary was raised to $16 per month. After five years in the factory he left it to learn the carpenter's trade, at which he served an apprenticeship of four years and a half, and at which trade he worked off and on for several years. Soon after serv- ing his time he married and settled down to farming. From this time on he worked at his trade only when he had nothing to do on the farm.

In the spring of 1846 Mr. Fee came west as far as Canton, Illinois, and in the fall of that year he purchased a wagon and team of horses and other suitable outfit and came to Iowa, arriving in due time at Fort Des Moines, as already stated. His health was not very good the first year, and during the following two years he was dissatisfied and " blue," and, indeed, the outlook then was not flattering. Little did he think at that time that a railroad would ever cross the State or that the broad sweep of country before him would ever reach its present high state of development. For two years he rented part of a Government farm, -land which is now covered by the beau- tiful city of Des Moines. Then he came to Dallas county and bought 240 acres on section 34, Linn township, of which the eighty he now owns and occupies was a part. The money he paid for this tract would have pur- chased two or three times as many acres of prairie land, which is much more valuable; but it was thought in those days that the most desirable location was near the timber and as close to water as possible. His home is on the edge of the forest and only a stone's throw from running water. During the first few years he lived here he made up his mind more than once to sell out and return East, but for various reasons he never did so. Now he has a good farm, valued at $45 per acre, unincuin- bered, and all under cultivation, and he is in comfortable circumstances. In connection with his farming operations he has given some attention also to stock-raising. He has al-

ways been a lover of a fine horse, especially a fast one, and is known for miles around as a first-class judge of horse flesh; and a good race run on its merits yet has its attractions for him.

Mr. Fee is a Democrat. He was first a Whig, later a Republican, and since 1885 has given his support and influence to the Demo- cratic party; and while he has ever taken a lively interest in. the doings of his party he has never sought an office. He served two terms as School Director.

In 1841 Mr. Fee married Miss Louisa A. Slaughter, a native of Ohio, and by her had thirteen children, ten of whom are living: John; Richmond M., a physician; William, Alfred H., Thomas, Lovina, Caroline, Ellen F., Abigail and Sarah A. Those deceased are Mary E., Dulcina J. and Nora L. His first wife having passed away, he was married November 11, 1880, to Miss Nancy Jane Gar- wood, a native of Michigan, born June 18, 1842. This union has resulted in the birth of two children: Eunice, born August 23, 1881, a bright, interesting girl now on the verge of young womanhood; and Samantha, born De- cember 27, 1885, died February 10, 1888.

Mr. Fee is now practically retired from the active duties of the farm, having given its management over to his son Thomas, who is one of the enterprising and prominent young men of this vicinity. Mr. Thomas Fee is a charter member of the Redfield Lodge, No. 346, K. P .; and is also identified with Wis- cotta Lodge, No. 158, A. F. & A. M. Mr. Fee, our subject, is a member of Wiscotta Lodge, No. 158, A. F. & A. M., and has been identified with that order for thirty-five years.

J AMES M. CARROLL, a retired farmer of Sumner and one of the public-spirit- ed citizens of Bremer county, was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, Decem- ber 28, 1813, and is a son of George and Mary (Morrison) Carroll, both of whom were natives of Ireland. Their family numbered

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eight children, namely: John, James M., Morrison, Betsy, Mary, Margaret, Isabella and Hannah.

The public schools of the Keystone State afforded to our subject his educational privi- leges, and in early life as well as in his man- hood years he devoted his energies to farm work. On the Ist of January, 1836, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Agnew, by whom he had one son, Henry, now a resident of Pennsylvania. He served as a Union soldier in the Civil war and lost an arm during the service. The mother died when her child was only ten months old, and Mr. Carroll after- ward wedded Miss Caroline Jones, by whom he had the following children, namely: Maria, Matilda, Albert, Elizabeth, Ephraim, Anna, Oscar, deceased, Willard, Morrison, Lemuel and Walter. Again Mr. Carroll was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died in Jackson county, Iowa. He had brought his family to this State in 1864, locating on a farm in Jackson county, where he lived for several years. He then sold that property and purchased a farm in Crawford county, near Dennison. Mr. Carroll was again mar- ried in 1875, when Miss Julia A. Carroll, a native of Pennsylvania, became his wife. She is the ninth in order of birth in a family of eleven children, whose parents were James and Juliana (Kepler) Carroll. The other mem- bers of the family are Elizabeth, deceased; Ferdinand; William; Phoebe, deceased; Peter, Sarah, George, Jane, James and Donna Isa- bella.

Mrs. Carroll was educated in Pennsylvania, and while a school-teacher in that State, in Wisconsin and in Iowa, she accumulated con- siderable property. She taught for thirty-two terms, and her surplus earnings were judiciously invested in real estate. Upon her marriage to Mr. Carroll they located on the farm where they lived until 1880, and then removed to her home in Sumner. They have one son, Louis Warden, who was born in Dennison, Crawford county, March 24, 1876, and graduated at the high school in June, 1891, having pursued a

literary and bookkeeping course. He has a natural taste for electricity and possesses much inventive genius. Although he has not yet attained man's estate he has invented several useful articles, including a scrubbing-machine and pie-lifter for taking pie pans out of the oven while hot. In these two appliances he is joint inventor with Frank B. Wentworth. He has also invented a telephone transmitter and a new polarized telephone bell, with alter- nating current. There is nothing like it in use but it undoubtedly has many valuable points and has been tested and successfully tried in this part of the country. He has also invented a telephone switch, and a more simple substi- tute for a magneto-generator, which he has tested under all the difficulties common to gen- erators. It will ring farther than any generator now in the market wound to the same resist- ance. The young man is now working upon a new receiver for telephone work which in the- ory is far ahead of any now made. He has also made drawings of a crankless steam en- gine which theoretically will give twenty per cent more power and which has no dead center. None of his inventions have as yet been pat- ented, but all have been tested by competent judges and pronounced successful. His invent- ive ability and genius are of a high order; and as his tastes are entirely in this direction, it will not be astonishing to his many friends to learn in the future that he has become famous as an inventor.

The family is one of prominence in the community and occupy an enviable position in social circles where true worth and intelligence are received as the passports into good society.

ARROLL WRIGHT is one of the most prominent representatives at the bar of of Iowa, a member of the firm of Cummins & Wright, attorneys at law of Des Moines. He has the honor of being a native of this State, for his birth oc- curred in Keosauqua, Van Buren county, Oc- tober 21, 1854.

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His parents, George G. and Mary H. (Dibble) Wright, were natives of Indiana and New York respectively. Little is known con- cerning the ancestral history of the family. The maternal grandfather, Thomas Dibble, was a native of the Empire State and made farming his life work. Some time between 1830 and 1840 he came to Iowa and located in Van Buren county, where he was soon recog- nized as a valued citizen, and was made a member of the first Constitutional Convention held in this State. He attained to considera- ble prominence in his resident community and had the respect of all who knew him. He was a tall, spare man, of genial and jovial disposi- tion and vigorous mind, who in his political belief was a war Democrat, while in his re- ligious views he advocated the doctrine held by the Universalist Church. He reared a family of six children and died in 1864, when about eighty years of age.

For some years, Mr. Wright, the father of our subject, successfully engaged in the prac- tice of law, and for fifteen years sat upon the Supreme Bench of Iowa, one of the most dis- tinguished and able Judges of the State. From 1871 until 1877, he served as United States Senator, and upon his retirement from political life resumed the practice of his chosen profession. Thereafter he retired from the practice and became president of the Polk County Savings Bank and of the Security Loan and Trust Company, and was alike prominent in professional and financial circles. . He died January 1I, 1896. His residence in Iowa dates from 1840, at which time he located in Keosauqua, where he made his home until 1865, after which time he was one of the valued citizens of Des Moines. In his polit- ical views he was a stalwart Republican, and religiously is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. The family of Mr. and Mrs. George G. Wright numbered seven children, five sons and two daughters, of whom five are now living, as follows: Craig L., Mary D., wife of F. H. Peavey; Carroll; Lucia H., wife of E. H. Stone; and George G., Jr.

Carroll Wright was a lad of only eleven summers when with his parents he came to Des Moines. He was reared to manhood un- der the parental roof, and completed his liter- ary education in the State University, of Iowa City, at which he was graduated in the class of 1875. He then determined to make the prac- tice of law his life work, and to fit himself for his chosen calling entered upon a course of study in the Simpson Centenary Law School in Des Moines. Upon his admission to the bar in 1878, he at once began practice, entering into partnership with his father and eldest brother, T. S. Wright, under the firm name of Wright & Wright. A change afterward oc- curred in the partnership, and the firm of Wright, Cummins & Wright was established; subsequently his father retired from the prac- tice; and, when T. S. Wright became attor- ney for the Rock Island Railroad Company and withdrew from private practice, the pres- ent firm style of Cummins & Wright was as- sumed. They do a general practice, but make a specialty of corporation law, and are ex- tremely successful in this branch of the busi- ness. Thomas S. Wright, the brother of our subject, was a man of considerable prominence and was acting as general counsel for the Chi- cago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Com- pany at the time of his death in 1894. He had been connected with the legal department of that road for many years, and was numbered among the leading lawyers of Iowa, previous to his removal to Chicago. His bronze medallion is among those of the loved soldiers now being placed upon the soldiers' monument which is being erected in Des Moines by the State, as is also that of his father, who is one of the best known and honored men of Iowa.

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 139

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