Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 141

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

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John W. Bly spent his boyhood days upon his father's farm and in the summer months aided in the labors of the field, while in the winter season he attended the district schools of the neighborhood. Under the parental roof he remained until going to a home of his own. On the 27th of February, 1861, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary M. Miller, who was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, and died October 25, 1873, at the age of thirty- three years, leaving two children: Omar A., who is now engaged in railroading; and Josie, who has been successfully engaged in teaching in the high school of Adel for the past three

years. Mr. Bly was the second time married November 21, 1875, his second union being with Miss Eliza A. Miller, also a native of Montgomery county, Indiana, and a daughter of James Miller. Her father was born in Ken- tucky and became one of the pioneer settlers of Montgomery county, Indiana, where he fol- lowed farming throughout his remaining days. Both he and his wife passed away in that county. By the second marriage of Mr. Bly have been born three children: Motie, who died at the age of twelve years; and Letha and Eva Christel, aged fourteen and seven, who are left to brighten their home. Mr. Bly is pro- viding his children with good educational ad- vantages which will fit them for the practical and responsible duties of life.

For two years after his marriage our sub- ject lived upon his father's farm and in Febru- ary, 1864, came to Dallas county, Iowa, where he purchased 160 acres of wild land. Locating thereon he continued its cultivation until 1877, when he was elected to the office of County Sheriff, and renting his farm re- moved to the city. For two years he filled that position and then opened a grocery store, which he conducted with excellent success for ten years. He was at the same time carrying on his agricultural pursuits. On selling his store he purchased 167 acres of good land and another valuable tract of eighty acres, but still makes his home in the city. He has been one of the most extensive shippers of dressed poul- try in Dallas county, and has been extensively engaged in farming. He is a man of good business ability, and his close application and energy have brought to him signal success. As the years have passed he has added to his capital until to-day he is numbered among the affluent citizens of his adopted county.

At the time of this writing, Mr. Bly is practically living retired, enjoying a rest which he well merits. About 1889 he erected his present commodious residence in Adel, having one of the finest homes here. His political support was given to the Republican party, its men and its measures; later, however, he be-

V. H. Gibbon.

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came connected with the Greenback party, but is now in the ranks of the Democracy, believ- ing in silver at the ratio of sixteen to one. His social relations connect him with the Masonic fraternity, in which he is an active and promi- nent worker. He and his wife are faithful and consistent members of the Christian Church, and Mrs. Bly is coneected with the various ladies' so- cieties. They actively co-operate in the promo- tion of all interests calculated to prove of pub- lic benefit, and social, educational and moral reforms receive their support. They are now enjoying the fruits of their honest labor, and in their pleasant home in Adel are surrounded with the comforts and many of the luxuries of life.

a OLONEL WILLIAM H. GIBBON, M. D .- The distinguished gentle- man whose name heads this sketch was born at Ellicott's Mills, Mary- land, January 31, 1832, the son of Mason Seeley Gibbon, of Salem, New Jersey, who was a civil engineer by profession and was sur- veying the Philadelphia & Baltimore Railroad at the time our subject first saw the light of day. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary Marr Brooks, was a native of Roads- town, New Jersey, and died in Philadelphia in 1878.

Dr. Gibbon descended from good Colonial ancestry. His great-grandfather, John Gibbon, entered the Colonial army in December, 1776, leaving his home on the 10th of that month, and after a service of a few months was cap- tured by the British and sent to the notorious prison ship Jersey, in New York harbor. Lord Howe, the British commander, granted his wife permission to visit him, but on her ar- rival in New York she found that he had died of starvation and been buried only three days before, in the trenches, with hundreds of oth- ers, who likewise had been starved to death. Lieutenant David Mulford, the Doctor's great- grandfather on his mother's side, was another patriot soldier who was killed at the battle of

Haddonfield, New Jersey, while in action near that point, November 25, 1777; while another ancestor, Edward Keasby, was so active and influential in the cause of the Revolution that a British commander paid him the honor of setting a price on his head.

John Gibbon was the son of Leonard Gib- bon, the emigrant that came to America in 1728. The Gibbons are an ancient and hon- ored family, having been settled as freeholders at Rolvenden, Kent county, England, as early as 1300.

On the death of the father, the family re- moved to Salem, New Jersey. Dr. Gibbon received a good education in the Salem Acad- emy and in the schools of Philadelphia, which he attended until he was eighteen years of age, when he entered a dry-goods store as a clerk, in which occupation he spent the next three years; but the employment proving uncon- genial, he began reading medicine under the preceptorship of his uncle, Dr. Quinton Gib- bon, of Salem, New Jersey, continuing in his uncle's office and attending lectures until 1857, when he was graduated with honor at Jeffer- son Medical College, of Philadelphia. The following year he spent in travel, and "travel is the source of all true wisdom."

In 1858 he became a resident of Chariton, Iowa, and commenced the practice of his pro- fession, which he followed here the remainder of his life; and thirty-seven years of continu- ous and successful practice in this city (except the time he was surgeon in the army) gave him a very prominent position among his pro- fessional brethren in Iowa. In fact, he bore the reputation of being one of the very best surgeons in the State. By close application he soon built up a fine practice, which grad- ually increased until he really had more busi- ness than his physical strength could sustain and he felt that his health was giving way. He therefore decided to confine his labors as nearly as possible to his extensive office prac- tice, and in time he measurably recovered his health.

On the 4th of September, 1861, he was

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united in marriage with Miss Laura R. Gibbon, of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and they had one child, Anna, born in Cincinnati, December 5, 1864, who acquired a liberal education at Friends' Boarding School, Providence, Rhode Island; and on September 4, 1884, became the wife of Ralph Ferree McCollough. On the death of her husband, which occurred Feb- ruary 4, 1894, she with her three children- Clement Gibbon, Dorothy and Henry Ferree -returned to the home of her parents.

Just two months after his marriage Dr. Gibbon left his young bride, November 2, 1861, and accepted a commission as Assistant Surgeon of the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, and was promoted as Surgeon early the following year. His service was a very active and hon- orable one; and it was not confined alone to his duties as surgeon but also in whatever ca- pacity he could render aid to his country. During the sanguinary battle of Shiloh, when it seemed that the day would be lost and all was gloom and despondency, the Doctor performed an act of heroism worthy of all praise. Be- ing employed in a sheltered ravine in the gruesome work of amputating limbs and dress- ing wounds with a corps of attendants about him, all on a sudden they were surprised by the enemy appearing in force at the crest of the hill behind which the extemporized hospital was placed for partial shelter. The Union troops had been driven from the field and the rebels were in possession. No time was to be lost. The Doctor marshaled his "forces " and beat a hasty retreat down the ravine and out into an open field below. Of course their speed was somewhat accelerated by the oft recurring "ping " of a bullet from the advanc- ing rebel lines. Near this point, where the ravine expanded into a cultivated field, stood a battery, and the firing had been so hot that the battery had to be abandoned, four pieces with their caissons being left upon the field. Dr. Gibbon, with the aid of another surgeon, who was familiar with the operation of a can- non, formed a new battery of their hospital force and such others as had lingered upon the

field, and, operating the four guns for half an hour, held the advancing lines of infantry in check until the Union forces could form again and re-man their guns; and from this time the tide of victory seemed to turn in their favor. For this gallant service Dr. Gibbon was spe- cially commended in public orders by General Grant, and this was the keystone to his pro- motion as brevet Lieutenant Colonel by the Secretary of War.

The Doctor remained with the Army of the Tennessee until the capture of Vicksburg, participated in the Atlanta campaign and was with the Seventeenth Army Corps during Sher- man's march to the sea. During his entire term in the field he was one of the Board of Operators of the Third Division of the Army of the Tennessee, -a precedence that carried to him no small honor, as he was then but thirty years of age while almost all his med- ical associates were much older in years and had had much longer professional experience. The following general order from the regimen- tal commander will show the estimation in which he was held as a surgeon and physician by the men whom he served:

(General Order No. 20.)

HEADQUARTERS FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY, VETERAN VOLUNTEERS, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, December 22, 1864.

Surgeon William H. Gibbon, of this regi- ment, having this day been honorably dis- charged from the United States service, the commanding officer of this regiment cannot forbear giving expression to the just apprecia- tion, by himself as well as the officers and men of his command, of the unabated zeal, efficiency and practical skill with which the sur- geon has discharged his important duties while connected with, and in charge of, the medical department of this regiment. In the earlier part of the military life of this command, dur- ing the memorable battles of Shiloh and Cor- inth he acquired the individual confidence of the officers and men by his efficiency in the line of his profession, as well as by his courageous conduct while bravely and skill- fully attending to the wounded soldiers in the

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immediate rear of the line of battle then fiercely engaged with the enemy. That confi- dence, well merited then, he retained and de- served ever afterward through the entire period of his three years' service. The soldiers felt that whatever vigilant care, knowledge, science and practical skill could accomplish for the sick and wounded was secured to them while under his treatment.

During the eventful campaign of this year, resulting in the capture of Atlanta and Savan- nah, being one of the selected Board of Oper- ators, he displayed one of these highest quali- fications in practical surgery that have stamped him as "one of the best field surgeons of the army." While the surgical operations performed by him have rescued and preserved the life and limb of many a brave officer and soldier of this and other commands, the same are justly recorded as a triumph of the art and science of his profession. This command, in hereby tendering thanks to the surgeon for his past services, earnestly hopes he may soon re- turn to the field of his wonted invaluable use- fulness to the army.

The Adjutant will forward an official copy of this order to the Surgeon.

By order of

MAJOR GEORGE POMUTZ,

Commanding Regiment. WILLIAM C. STIDGER, Adjutant.

The foregoing testimonial is the greatest military honor that could be conferred upon a soldier. It comes direct from those whom the Doctor served, in language unmistakable, and was presented at the time the services were rendered, thus dispelling all possibility of its having been given through favoritism.

Dr. Gibbon's brother, Captain Leonard Gibbon, of the Nineteenth Michigan Regiment, was killed at the battle of Bentonville, North Carolina.

The Doctor never sought or held official position, preferring to give his attention wholly to his professional work. In politics he was a Republican. He was a member of the State Medical Society and the United States Medical Association; also the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and the Grand Army of the Republic; and as an evi- dence of his interest therein he presented val-

uable flags and banners to the Post and Relief Corps of Chariton. He was also a member of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee.

In 1887 a history of the Fifteenth Iowa Regiment was published, giving somewhat in detail an account of the various movements of this command. The regiment was a part of the famous Crocker brigade, and numbered among its officers and men some who have at- tained prominence in the councils of the State and nation. The article on "Our Surgeons" was written by Dr. Gibbon, and evinces that his literary education had not been neglected in his search for professional knowledge of the subject, an excellent memory, combining the humorous with the sentimental in a happy, readable vein, and giving a complete history of the medical department which one would think impossible after the lapse of so many years. The closing sentences of this article are specially beautiful, and we produce them here as a fitting close to this sketch:

" Looking back through the vista of twenty years and recalling our army life, its grand and stirring incidents are still vivid and fresh in our memory, undimmed by the lapse of time and the cares of the rolling years. As the cavalry horse takes his place in the line at the call of the bugle, so a soldier, when he hears the old familiar martial airs, in imagination takes his place in the ranks, hears the rattle of the mus- ketry and the boom of the cannon, sees the ground strewn with the dead and dying, and feels his pulse leap with that inspiring thrill which none but a soldier in action can ever feel. But we have made our last march and fought our last battle: we have buried our be- loved comrades by every stream from bloody Shiloh to the sea, and shall soon cross the river whence there is no return, and, camping on the other side, we will sing the old songs and joyously greet each other in the last Grand Review."

Dr. Gibbon died at his home in Chariton on Wednesday, October 2, 1895, and at his funeral, which was one of the most marked in the history of Chariton, an old fellow-soldier

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came nearly a hundred miles to see the remains of his old friend laid away, and remarked to a friend while tears were rolling down his cheeks: "Oh, it is hard to think that Doc is gone; but if there is a life in the other world what a good time he is now having with Generals Belknap and Hedrick, with whom he served throughout the entire war, and who loved him so much !" Dr. Gibbon will long be remembered and lov- ingly admired by an immense number of friends.

DWARD MARTINDALE, who has been identified with the legal pro- fession of Des Moines, Iowa, for the past twelve years, dates his birth at the village of Sandy Hill, Washington county, New York, February 4, 1817.

Mr. Martindale is a son of Henry Clinton Martindale and Minerva, nee Hitchcock, his father born near Lenox, Massachusetts, and his mother in Washington county, New York, he being the younger one of their two sons --- John H. the other. His father figured promi- nently as a lawyer of Washington county and was honored by the Washington district elect- ing him to Congress, in which distinguished body he served no less than a dozen years, his service being during the administrations of Adains, Jackson and Van Buren. After a life of usefulness and honor he died, at Sandy Hill, in 1860, at the advanced age of eighty years. His first wife had died many years be- fore. Both were Episcopalians. By his sec- ond wife, whose maiden name was Olivia Francis Ewell, and who was a native of Washington, District of Columbia, he had one child, Francis, now a practicing physician at Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York. John H. Martindale was a graduate of West Point, served through the late war in the Union army, and for meritorious service therein was promoted to the rank of Major General. He was in the Army of the Potomac.

The paternal grandfather of our subject was named Edward Martindale. He was a Massachusetts farmer and was the father of a

large and highly respected family. His mor- tal remains rest at Middlebury, Vermont. The maternal grandfather of our subject was John Hitchcock. He, too, was a farmer, and for many years the town of Kingsbury, New York, was his home. After a long and useful life he died and was buried there.

Coming now to the life of Edward Martin- dale, with whose name we introduce this ar- ticle, we record that he was reared at Sandy Hill and received his early schooling there. Afterward he attended Union College at Sche- nectady, New York, and graduated there in 1836. He was one of the founders of the Psi Upsilon Society there, and still retains a mem- bership in it. Immediately after completing his college course he began the study of law in his father's office. His father also was inter- ested in farming to some extent and for a number of years the family resided in their country home, Edward thus having spent his boyhood days on a farm. After studying law under his father's instructions for some time, young Martindale entered the office of David L. Seymour, of Troy, New York, under whose direction he pursued his studies until 1839, when he was admitted to the bar. In 1840 he went to New York city and established himself in the practice of his chosen profession. With the exception of time spent in the war of the Rebellion and a brief period immediately fol- lowing, Mr. Martindale was engaged in the practice of law in New York city from 1840 until 1883, and during that time did a large and remunerative business. In May, 1883, he came to Iowa, and has since remained here, although he still claims New York State as his home.

During the dark days of the Civil war he enlisted in defense of the Union and did his part to protect the old flag. He was appointed Captain and C. S., being assigned to duty on the staff of General John F. Davidson, com- manding the Third Brigade, Second Division, Sixth Army Corps, in which capacity he served the first half of the Mcclellan peninsular campaign, after which he was appointed

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Lieutenant Colonel of the Twenty-sixth regi- inent of the New Jersey Volunteers, in the Second Brigade of the same division, in this position serving through the rest of that cam- paign. He was in the battles of Williamns- burg, Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mills, Malvern Hill, second Bull Run, Antietam, second Crossing at Fredericksburg, and then joined the forces so as to be in the battle of Chan- cellorsville, encountering the enemy at Salem Church; and besides these engagements he was in a number of skirmishes. During the latter part of his army life he was promoted to the rank of Colonel of United States Colored In- fantry, in which capacity he was put in com- mand of a provisional brigade of the Twenty- fifth Army Corps in the Army of the James. He was on detached service while in command of this colored brigade. He was ordered to report to General Hartsuff at Petersburg a few days after the capture of Richmond, and was appointed by him to take command of the city or post of Petersburg, being Military Governor of that city; and he remained in that capacity until the general mustering out of the army. He has in his possession a portion of the Rebel flag which was hauled down from Libby prison and which he secured while in Richmond the day after the evacuation. At the close of the war Mr. Martindale built a paper-mill at Petersburg, and ran the same about a year, after which he resumed the practice of law in New York city. As above stated, he continued in New York until 1883, since which time he has been iden- tified with Des Moines, Iowa.

July 14, 1847, Mr. Martindale was united in marriage to Miss Mary M. Blake, of Brook- lyn, New York, daughter of Anson and Eliza- beth W. (Wood) Blake. Her mother was an English lady, and her father descended from the early Puritans of Maine, he being for a time engaged in mercantile pursuits in New York city. Their only child, John Howard, is a practicing physician at Minneapolis, Minne- sota. He married Miss Ella W. Wassamer, and they have one son, Edward, Jr.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Martindale are mem-

bers of the Episcopal Church, and at this" writing he is Chancellor of the Diocese of Iowa.

He is also a member of Crocker Post, G. A. R., and of the Loyal Legion of the Com- mandery of Iowa. Politically he has always given his support to the Republican party. Mr. Martindale is identified with the land grant made by the United States Government to the State of Iowa, known as the Des Moines River Land Grant. He is also interested, as part owner, in the remarkable and picturesque elevation known as Hook Mountain, locating near the Hudson river and Rockland lake, twenty-five miles from New York city.

Mr. Martindale and his good wife reside at No. 902, Fifth street, on the corner of Fifth and Crocker, Des Moines.

J AMES A. BREWER, one of the sub- stantial and highly-respected citizens of Des Moines, who was also numbered among the " boys in blue " who followed the old flag on Southern battle-fields, is a na- tive of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in Greene county, near Jacksonville, on the Ist of July, 1837. His parents, Conrad and Rachel (Anderson) Brewer, were both. natives of Pennsylvania, and the paternal grandparents were born in Holland, whence they came to America, founding the family on American soil. They had five sons and three daughters. The maternal grandfather of our subject was James Anderson, but little is known of his history.

Mr. Brewer of this review spent his boy- hood days under the paternal roof and acquired his education in the district schools of the neighborhood. He is numbered among the early settlers of Iowa, dating his residence from 1857, when he located at Newton, the county seat of Jasper county. He has ever borne his part in advancing the best interests of the com- inunity with which he has been connected, and whether in Iowa or elsewhere he has always been accounted a most progressive and enter- prising citizen. In 1860 he removed to Eagle-

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* ville, Missouri, but his residence there was in- terrupted the following year.

Grim-visaged war appeared in the land and the destruction of the Union seemed imminent, but the loyal sons of the Republic rallied to her support, and among them Mr. Brewer, who became a member of Company D, Twenty- third Missouri Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel Tindall. At the battle of Shiloh, in which he was a participant, he was captured, and held as a prisoner of war for six months at Montgomery, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, and at Libby. After being exchanged he rejoined his regiment, which was then at St. Louis, lead- ing up to the siege and occupation of Atlanta. During this year he was promoted from the rank of Second Lieutenant to that of Captain of Company C, in which capacity he served until the expiration of his term of enlistment, when, September 22, 1864, he was honorably discharged.

Returning to Eagleville, Missouri, Mr. Brewer worked at his trade, and some time subsequently embarked in merchandising in Bethany, the county seat of Harrison county, Missouri. To this enterprise he devoted his energies until 1871, at which time he effected the sale of his store there and removed to Des Moines,. where he engaged in business as a contractor and builder, in the enjoyment of a liberal patronage for several years. In 1889 he was called to public office and almost con- tinuously since that time has devoted his serv- ices to the public in one capacity or another. In that year he was appointed Deputy Rev- enue Collector for the Fourth District of Iowa, which position he held four years. In 1892 he was elected Supervisor of the First District of Polk county for the term of three years, and at the end of that period he was re-elected and is now serving his second term. In 1894 he was appointed Overseer of the Poor of the city of Des Moines, which office he has filled for two years, to the most complete satisfac- tion of all concerned. As Supervisor he most faithfully discharges the duties of his office, and as far as lies within his province labors for the

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 141

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