Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 143

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

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The father of our subject was born on the Kentucky plantation, in 1814, and reared to manhood amid the influences of slavery, be- came strongly opposed to it. In 1832, when eighteen years of age, he emigrated to Mercer county, Illinois, where he entered land from

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the Government, making some improvements upon it and then selling out. He afterward entered, improved and sold a number of tracts. He also owned and operated a grist- mill and sawmill for a number of years, and subsequently conducted a store in Keithsburg, Illinois, until about 1880, when he retired from active business. In his religious views he was liberal, a supporter of the Universalist faith. His early political affiliations were with the Whig party, he then became a stanch abolitionist, and when the Republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery he joined its ranks, and was one of its influential members in the locality in which he lived. He never aspired to public office, how- ever, although he several times served in local positions.

In 1843 William Willett was united in marriage with Miss Nancy J. Dennison, daugh- ter of John Dennison, who removed from Indi- ana to Peoria county, Illinois, in 1826. Mrs. Willett was born in Richmond, Indiana, in 1825, and it was therefore during the days of her infancy that she was brought to Illinois, being carried on horseback to Mercer county. The country was then all new, and few indeed were the white settlers in that section of the State. Her early playmates were Indian children, and she learned the Indian language as soon as she did her native tongue. Mr. and Mrs. Willett became prominent and highly respected citizens of Mercer county, with the history of which they were connected from its earliest period. The father died in July, 1891, at the advanced age of seventy-seven years, but his wife is still living in Keithsburg, and is one of the oldest settlers and an honorary member of the Old Settlers' Association of the military tract of Illinois. They had a family of ten children, of whom four died in infancy. Our subject is the eldest, and the other mem- bers are Richard M., who is conducting a liv- ery business in Keithsburg; Henry C., a resi- dent of Oklahoma Territory; Emma O., wife James Zumwalt, who is living in Willows, California; Maggie, who makes her home with

her mother; and Julia, wife of C. M. C. Peters, a resident of Niles, California.

Mr. Willett of this review spent his boy- hood days in the city of his nativity, and ac- quired a good English education in the com- mon schools. His home being on the Missis- sippi river, in early life he took frequent trips on the water, and became somewhat familiar with steamboating. In the spring of 1863 he went to Chicago, and during the following sea- son served as a seaman on the Great Lakes. In the fall of 1863 he enlisted in the United States Navy, and was assigned to the Govern- ment steamer Springfield, under Commodore Foote in the Mississippi river squadron, com- manded by Admiral Porter, and although only a boy ranked as boatswain's mate. He served one year and then re-enlisted, being assigned to the armed transportation service with the rank of mate, in which capacity he continued for a year. On being discharged at the close of the war, he followed steamboating on the lower Mississippi and Ohio rivers, being mate on a boat for several seasons.

During this time, in order to further fit himself for a practical business career, Mr. Willett entered Eastman's Commercial Col- lege at Poughkeepsie, New York, at which he was graduated with the class of 1867. In the spring of 1869 and summer of 1870 he was temporarily located at Toledo, Iowa, and on Ist of February, 1871, he took up the study of law in the office of Stivers & Safely, well known attorneys, at Toledo. He was admitted to the bar of Tama county on the 18th of Feb- ruary, 1872, and soon after licensed to prac- tice in the Supreme and Federal courts. He remained with his preceptors until July, 1873, and in August of that year entered into part- nership with E. C. Ebersole, under the firm name of Ebersole & Willett. Their office was located in Toledo, but in August, 1879. they also opened an office in Tama, the senior mem- ber retaining the management of the Toledo office, while Mr. Willett came to Tamna. The partnership was continued until 1884, when it was dissolved by mutual consent. The busi-

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ness was conducted with mutual pleasure and profit through all those years, and a large per- centage of the legal practice of Tama county was placed in their hands. Mr. Willett has for the past eleven years been alone in busi- ness and has maintained his high standing as one of the ablest representatives of the Tama county bar.

On the 24th of December, 1874, was cele- brated the marriage of Mr. Willett and Miss Ann R. Stoner, daughter of Isaac Stoner and a native of Tiffin county, Ohio, whence she was brought to Iowa during her infancy. Three children have been born of this union, -Will- iam S., Margaret M. and James H.

In politics Mr. Willett is a stanch Repub- lican, prominent in the councils of his party. He has served as a member of its various State conventions for the past twenty years, and has also been a member of the county and State central committees. In 1884 he was a dele- gate to the national Republican convention which nominated James G. Blaine for the presidency. He has never been an office- seeker, but has been twice the candidate of his party and ran far ahead of his ticket. He is an orator of superior ability, entertaining and in- structive, and has delivered many campaign addresses throughout Tama and adjoining counties. Socially he is connected with the Masonic fraternity, as a member of Hiram of Tyre Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and has attained to the Knight Templar's degrees. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is Past Grand Master of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. of Iowa. The greater part of his time and attention, however, is given to his professional duties, and his success is cer- tainly well merited.

APT. ISAAC WATTS GRIFFITH, one of the oldest settlers of Des Moines, Iowa, was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, April 2, 1820, son of Phillip and Lydia (Lee) Griffith, natives of

New York, he of Welsh descent and she of English.

Phillip Griffith's father, Samuel Griffith, was a native of Wales, and on coming to this country settled in the Mohawk valley in New York, where he carried on farming, owning a large tract of land on the present site of Am- sterdam; reared a large family and died there at a good old age. The Captain's mother was a daughter of Abijah Lee and a cousin of the late Bishop Lee, of Davenport, Iowa. Abijah Lee was a native of New York, his people having come to this country from England. He had a brother who was superintendent of the armory at Springfield, Massachusetts, a Colonel in the regular army, and who died at the age of 102 years. In 1814 Abijah Lee removed from New York to Trumbull county, Ohio, among the first settlers of that section. He cleared up a farm there and spent the rest of his days on it, dying at the age of eighty- seven years. His wife lived to be over eighty. They reared a large family of children. Phillip and Lydia Griffith celebrated their marriage in Montgomery county, New. York, in 1815. Their union resulted in the birth of the fol- lowing children: Caroline, now deceased; Ade- line S., widow of Albert Holcomb; Isaac W., whose name heads this article; Lois L., the deceased wife of Houston Dilley; George W .; Elvira, widow of a Mr. Bosley, of Portage county, Ohio; and Henry, who, after serving three years in the late war, died in Ashtabula county, Ohio. The father of this family, a carpenter and joiner, settled in Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1816, where the rest of his life was passed. He died at the age of fifty- eight years, while his wife lived to be ninety- two. He was an Elder in the Christian Church, of which they were both members, and he was Justice of the Peace and Clerk of the town- ship many years.

After leaving the district schools, where his principal education was acquired, our subject attended the academy in Farmington, Ohio, which was a branch of the Western Reserve College, located in Portage county. At the

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age of eighteen he started out in life for him- self, having since depended entirely upon his own resources. He had no capital with which to begin life, but possessed energy and determi- nation, and step by step has worked his way upward to a position in which he may well feel a just pride. August 30, 1838, he left Farm- ington, Ohio, and made an engagement with a Mr. Grassback, who contracted for his serv- ices for a year. He drove a team to Fort Madison, then known as the Black Hawk Pur- chase, after which he cultivated a farm for his employer until the time of his service had ex- pired, when he rented the same land and en- gaged_in business for himself. After his crops had been gathered he went to West Point, Lee county, where he worked at the carpenter's trade. It was during his residence at West Point that, September 17, 1840, he was united in marriage to Miss Eales Brand, the ceremony being performed by Parson Asa Turner, of Denmark, Iowa. The lady is a daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Gilbert) Brand, both of whom belong to early and respected fami- lies of Virginia. They emigrated from Indiana to Burlington, Iowa, in the year 1838, and later removed to West Point, where the moth- er died at the age of sixty-seven years, and the father at the ripe old age of eighty-two. The latter was a soldier in the war of 1812. and his father, James Brand, in the Revolution. In 1839, during the troubles concerning the boundary line between Iowa and Missouri, Captain (then Colonel) Griffith, as a member of the State militia, was sent to the disputed territory, where it was feared blood would be shed. Matters, however, were settled by the Supreme Court of the United States, and he then returned home. Shortly afterward he was appointed Lieutenant of the State militia by Governor Lucas, and in 1843 was commis- sioned Captain by Governor Chambers.

In 1846 he volunteered under the first call for troops for the Mexican war, but was unable to get into the army. Later a regiment was organized, comprising six Ohio companies, two companies from Michigan, one from Wiscon-

sin, and a tenth from Iowa, the regiment to be commanded by George W. Morgan, of Ohio, and known as the Fifteenth United States In- fantry. Our subject, as Sergeant of Company K, which formed a part of the Fifteenth In- fantry, in 1847 was ordered with his regiment to Mexico to join the forces of General Scott at Vera Cruz. They reported on the 10th of July of that year, and were engaged in a num- ber of battles and skirmishes, in one of which -Churubusco-Sergeant Griffith was wound- ed, a ball striking him just above the elbow of the right arm. The wound proved to be of such a serious nature that it necessitated the amputation of the member. He remained with the command until October 27, 1847, when he was discharged from the service and returned to Lee county. The papers had re- ported him dead, a mistake occasioned by the death of a namesake, and we can imagine with what joy his wife welcomed his return.

The public has also called upon Captain Griffith for his services in the political field. He was elected and served as a member of the House of Representatives in 1848, that being the second session of the State Legisla- lature. He filled the position to the satisfac- tion of all concerned, and at the expiration of his terni returned home, only to be appointed Deputy Sheriff of Lee county. In 1850 he went to Washington, District of Columbia, and by President Pierce was given a position on the police force of the capital, continuing to serve in that city a year after the accession of James Buchanan to the presidency. The family remained in the capital until the spring of 1858, when he was appointed Register of the United States Land Office in Des Moines, which position he held until July, 1861. Dur- ing the exciting times attending the breaking out of the Rebellion it was found necessary to appoint a committee to attend to the war expenses and other such matters. He was one of that committee, but afterward resigned to accept the nomination for County Sheriff, which his many friends urged upon him. He was triumphantly elected in the fall of 1861,

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and upon the first day of January following entered upon the discharge of his duties, con- tinuing to fill the office until 1864, when he went to Memphis, Tennessee. There he was appointed Deputy United States Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee, holding the office until the spring of 1868, when, with his family, he returned to Des Moines. The suc- ceeding six years of his life were spent in charge of the toll-bridge and in the pursuit of various vocations whereby he might secure a livelihood for his family. These included a number of official positions, and in 1872 he was elected to the office of Coroner of Polk county, which office he held for twenty years consecutively. In the month of June, 1886, he was appointed Bailiff of the Supreme Court of Iowa. He was successively appointed by Governors Merrill, Kirkwood and Newbold, on the Gubernatorial staff, with the rank of Lieu- tenant Colonel of Cavalry.

We now return to the domestic relations of Mr. Griffith. By his union with Miss Brand a family of four children were born, but the eldest died in infancy. Stephen S., who faith- fully served his country during the late war as a member of Company K, Seventeenth Iowa Infantry, died in 1877 from disease contracted while in the service. He wedded Miss Mar- tha A. Skinner, who with their only child, Carrie L., now makes her home in Des Moines. Albert Lee, who was born in Lee county, Iowa, October 10, 1846, and fought as one of the "boys in blue" of Company C, Eighth Iowa Regiment, wedded Miss Mary Russell, by whom he has two children, Frank and Lena, and also makes his home in this city. Augustus J., who was born December 26, 1850, in Lee county, is now a telegraph oper- ator and railroad man. He married Miss Het- tie E. Waterbury, and they have two children, Isaac W. and Charles M.

More than half a century has passed since Mr. and Mrs. Griffith as man and wife started out on life's jouney, it now being almost fifty- five years, and for many years they have made their home in Des Moines. A tree is now

standing on one of the main business streets of the city that was planted by him thirty-eight years ago. They are earnest and faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the poor and needy have received from them many times help in the times of trouble.

Socially, the Captain is a member of the I. O. O. F., with which he has been connected for forty-five years, and he also belongs to the G. A. R. post of Des Moines. In 1888 he went as a delegate to the G. A. R. encamp- ment at Columbus, Ohio, and there met Col- onel Morgan, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, his old colonel under whom he served in the Mexican war. Many were the reminiscences and tales told of those bygone days, and it is needless to say the meeting was one of great enjoyment to both. The record of the Captain is one of which his friends, children and descendants may well be proud. His career in the social, business and political world has ever been such as to win the respect and good wishes of all with whom he came in contact. He was a faithful soldier during the Mexican war and a loyal and patriotic citizen throughout the Re- bellion. He well deserves mention in this volume, and it is with pleasure that we record this sketch.

IRST NATIONAL BANK OF TAMA .- This monetary institution was organized in 1871, with a capital stock of $50,000, and among the original stockholders were B. A. Hall, W. H. Harrison, W. B. Avery, G. H. Warren, W. F. Johnson, R. Richman, C. E. Covell, John Ramsdell, A. J. Tyler, C. E. Hayes, J. Brice, Jr., and E. Harmon. The stockholders elected B. A. Hall president and G. A. Warren as cashier. For nine years these gentlemen con- ducted the business of the bank, and in 1880 were succeeded by J. L. Bracken as president and A. P. Starr as cashier, under whose able management the bank soon became one of the solid financial institutions of the State. In 1891 the charter was renewed, the capital

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stock remaining the same, although the insti- tution has a surplus stock of $63,000. A gen- eral banking business is transacted in foreign and domestic exchange, loans, etc.

The building in which the business is car- ried on was erected by the bank in 1871, at a cost of about $10,000. Ample security is af- forded depositors in the high financial standing of the stockholders and officials. Some years since, owing to the death of his father, Mr. Starr was obliged to withdraw from the bank, a fact that was very much regretted by all the officers of that institution; but his place as cash- ier is now ably filled by T. J. Williamson, while D. E. Goodell is acting as assistant cash- ier. The present directors (1895) are J. L. Bracken, W. E. Brice, A. J. Tyler, Edward Ruggles and I. E. Tyler. Under its able man- agement the bank successfully passed through the financial difficulties of 1893-4, and is to- day stronger and better equipped for a pros- perous business than ever before. Not a dol- lar of any man's inoney has ever been lost through this institution, while the volume of business transacted is probably equal to that of any bank in Tama county.

In this connection it would be appropriate to add a brief sketch of the gentleman who stands at the head of this popular institution.

John L. Bracken is a native of Portland, Whiteside county, Illinois, his birth having occurred there on the 17th of October, 1844. He was reared to manhood in his native State, and acquired his education in Morrison, Illinois, and in the University of Michigan. He came to Iowa in 1867, locating at Tama, where he embarked in the grain, live-stock and lumber business. This was his life work for twenty-three years, though he became a stockholder in the First National Bank of Tama in 1875, and was chosen president of the same in 1880. Ten years later, in 1890, he retired from the stock and grain business, and since 1894 he has devoted his time exclu- sively to the banking interests.

Mr. Bracken is a thoroughgoing business man, especially fitted for the important posi- 57

tion which he holds. In manner and disposi- tion he is modest and unassuming, persistently ignoring his own personal achievements and declining to have mentioned many things in his life which men less conservative would de- light to see in public print. In politics he is a Republican. He has a most honorable army record, having served three years at the front, being Sergeant Major of the Seventeenth Illi- nois Infantry, yet he declines to make men- tion of the fact that he was promoted on the field for gallant conduct! He also declines to say that he was Mayor of Tama for three con- secutive years! While his fellow townsmen publicly declare that he has been a most use- ful citizen among them, charitable to a fault and liberally aiding every public improvement, yet he declines to have any mention made of these facts and the historian must confine him- self to the data furnished! There is not a church in the city that has not received liberal donations from his hand, but Mr. Bracken never tells of this.

Our subject was married at La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1878, to Miss Nettie Adams, a native of that city. Two children have been born to them: Rachel Alice, born in 1880; and Thomas J., born in 1882. The parents of Mr. Bracken were Andrew J. and Mary L. (Crook) Bracken, the former a native of Ken- tucky and the latter of Illinois. They had two sons and a daughter, but the latter is now deceased, and the brother is Andrew J. Bracken, of Prophetstown, Illinois.

EORGE DIES SITZER, M. D., Charles City, Iowa, is a native of Greene county, New York, born De- cember 24, 1853. The Sitzer family is one of the oldest families in eastern New York. They trace their genealogy back to Germany several generations removed, were represented in the American war for independ- ence, owned large tracts of land in the Empire State, and for many years ranked with the wealthy and influential people of New York.

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Charles D. Sitzer, the Doctor's father, was a farmer. He married Miss Laura Etta Dies, whose family, like his own, were among the early settlers of eastern New York, were well- to-do and were of German descent. . Both parents are deceased and the subject of our sketch is the only living representative of the family. He had one brother that died in in- fancy.

George D. was reared to manhood in his native State, received an academic education in Catskill, New York, and then entered the University of New York, where he pursued his medical course and graduated February 15, 1876. Immediately after his graduation, Dr. Sitzer entered upon the practice of his profes- sion in Rome, New York, where he remained five years, and at the end of that time came west to Nebraska, and located at Weeping Water. At the latter place he spent another five years, and the next five years he main- tained his residence at Sac City, Iowa. In the meantime, while his home was in Sac City, he returned East and spent nearly three years in post-graduate work at New York and Phila- delphia, confining his investigations chiefly to surgery, diseases of women and electro-thera- peutics. Dr. Sitzer is the only physician in northern Iowa who is thoroughly equipped for the treatment of all classes of diseases by means of electric appliances. He gives elec- tricity its recognized place in medicine and surgery, using the most modern appliances and methods in its application. His more than six years of close study and training under the best instructors, together with his twenty years of active and successful practice, renders him a safe counselor and gives him an advantage over many practitioners now in the field. On his return from his post-graduate course, he removed to Charles City, Iowa, where he has a finely appointed suite of rooms, well supplied with all necessary appliances for the successful treatment of diseases in all their varied forms. His work here has been entirely sat- isfactory and his practice, which is among the best citizens of the town, is constantly growing.

Dr. Sitzer was first married in New York, in 1876, to a Miss Lindsley. Their only child, a son, is now a student in the dental depart- ment of the University of Michigan. His present companion, whose maiden name was Miss Emma E. Wolf, he married in 1894. She is a native of Indiana, and is a member of the Christian Church. The Doctor is a Knight of Pythias, and his political views are those advocated by the Democratic party.

UGENE B. DYKE .- The biographer is now permitted to touch upon the life history of one who has for a quar- ter of a century been identified with the interests of Charles City, Iowa, in the ca- pacity of editor of the Intelligencer, the oldest and one of the most influential newspapers published in northern Iowa-Eugene B. Dyke.

Mr. Dyke was born in Oswego county, New York, January 11, 1842, one of the four chil- dren of William H. and Mary (Ludington) Dyke, both members of long established fami- lies in America. Four of his grandsires, pa- ternal and maternal, were participants in the Revolutionary war. The Dykes are of Eng- lish origin. Benjamin Dyke, the great-grand- father of our subject, was killed in the battle of Saratoga, his son Samuel, father of William H., being then only an infant. Samuel Dykewas born in Vermont. From the Green Mountain State he moved over into New York, settled in Ontario county, and there attained local prom- inence, serving a number of years as county Sheriff, his home being in Canandaigua. It was in Canandaigua, January 10, 1814, that William H. Dyke was born. He was reared a farmer, and continued his residence in Oswego county, New York, until 1854, when he re- moved to Rock county, Wisconsin, settling near Clinton, where he became the owner of a large farm. In 1869 he removed to Charles City, Iowa, and retired from active life, hav- ing acquired a competency, and here the clos- ing years of his life were passed, his death occurring in 1891. He was a man of ster-

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ling integrity, his word ever as good as his bond, and his whole life so ordered that it won for him the confidence and esteem of his fellows. His widow survives and makes her home with her children. They are four in number, and as follows: Eugene B., whose name heads this article; Josephine, wife of J. R. Adron, Grand Junction, Colorado; Neil L., for more than twenty years connected with the Intelligencer at Charles City, and now the owner of a fruit ranch at Grand Junction, Colorado; and Harriet, wife of H. R. Ottman, also of Grand Junction.

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 143

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