Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 62

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

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While Mr. and Mrs. Prall now reside in one of the most modern and convenient homes of Atlantic, lighted by electricity and supplied with water and bath, and surrounded with all the comforts of life they take pleasure in re- ferring to their early years in the rude shanty and their homely fare which was sweetened by honest toil. The passing years, crowded with earnest endeavor and crowned with financial success, did not in the case of Mr. Prall, as with many, develop anything like a hard or sordid nature; on the contrary, he is liberal and generous to a fault, is never happier than

when helping others, and is, in short, one of those genial, social kind of men whom it is a pleasure to meet.

J AMES GREEN, Auditor of Cass county, Iowa, while not a native of America is thoroughly identified with this country and is among the leading citizens of Cass county; where he has made his home for nearly twenty-five years. A review of his life gives the following facts:

James Green was born in Leicestershire, England, October 15, 1826, son of John and Mary Green, both natives of England. He was the thirteenth born in their family of fifteen children, was reared and educated in his native place, attending school until he was fourteen, and at fourteen entered upon an ap- prenticeship to the grocery business. For seven years he was employed in one store. After he reached his majority he clerked in London and Glasgow and other cities until 1857, when he crossed the Atlantic and took up his abode in Canada. From 1857 until 1862 he was .employed as clerk in Hamilton and Montreal. August 2 of the latter year he crossed over into the United States and within fifteen minutes from the time of his arrival at Ogdensburg, New York, he enlisted in Com- pany I, One Hundred and Sixth New York Volunteer Infantry. as a private, and continued in the service until 1865, in the meantime being promoted to the position of Sergeant Major. He participated in numerous engagements, serving under Generals Grant and Sheridan, and ever acting the part of a true and brave soldier. At the close of the war he was hon- orably discharged at Washington, in June, 1865. From 1865 until 1871 he resided in St. Lawrence county, New York, where he occu- pied a position as bookkeeper. In 1871 he came to Cass county, Iowa, and engaged in farming in Massena township, remaining there and giving his attention to agricultural pursuits until November, 1885. At that time he was tendered the position of deputy in the Auditor's

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RECORD OF IOWA.

office and removed to Atlantic, and in this ca- pacity continued to serve until January, 1893, when he was elected County Auditor. In No- vember of the following year he was re-elected, and is now serving his second term. Thus far his official duties have been performed with care and promptness, he is rendering general satisfaction, and he is regarded not only as a trusted official but also as a citizen of sterling worth.

Mr. Green was married in 1865 to Miss S. E. McCane, a native of Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of three daughters, namely: Jennie, wife of S. S. Winchell, Cass county, Iowa; Carrie May, wife of W. M. Myers, Atlantic, Iowa; and Roberta L., a popular young teacher.

When he became a citizen of this country Mr. Green identified himself with the Repub- lican party and has maintained his allegiance with it ever since. He served six years as Sec- retary of the School Board of the township, and four years as Township Clerk, in these places, as in his present position, rendering appreciative service. Mr. Green is a member of Sam Rice Post, No. 6, G. A. R., of which he is Post Commander, and he also affiliates with the Masonic order, having a membership in Pymosa Lodge, No. 272.

AMES CRUICKSHANK WATT, resid- ing on section II, Madison township, Madison county, Iowa, has one of the finest farms in the southern part of the State, his improvements all being first-class in every particular.

He is a native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, born April 20, 1847. His father, James C. Watt, a native of Scotland, grew to manhood in his native country, and married Jane Allen, also a native of that country. His father, James Watt, the grandfather of our subject, was a naval officer in the old country, and died at sea. Three brothers of his were killed in the Crimean war. Shortly after his marriage the father of our subject came with his young

bride and located in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania. By trade he was a tailor, and on his arrival in this country worked as a journeyman tailor until his removal to Pittsburg early in the '40s. He removed with his family to Pitts- burg with teams and canal-boats. On his ar- rival there he opened a tailor shop, where his business steadily grew until in time he had the leading clothing establishment in the city of his adoption. At the beginning of the war he furnished five regiments with uniforms. For many years he occupied the position as the leading merchant of Pittsburg, and was one of the first in the city to use plate glass. He died in Pittsburg, at the age of forty-one years. Soon after the commencement of hostilities in the States he enlisted in a cavalry company, and was hurt by a horse, which was the cause of his death. In politics he was a strong Re- publican, and a very strong anti-slavery man. Mrs. Jane Watt died in 1851. They were the parents of four children: William A., who was a member of Sickles' brigade in the late war, was killed in a railroad accident at Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, two weeks after his mar- riage. David M., who was also in Sickles' brigade, was mustered out as a Captain, and . now resides in Pittsburg, and is superintendent of the West Penn division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. George D., who served his country as a private soldier in the war for the Union, was captured, taken to Belle Isle, and later removed to Andersonville prison, where he died. James C., the subject of this sketch, was the last born. After the death of Jane Watt, which, as already stated, occurred in 1851, James C. Watt was united in marriage to Mary Jane Pol- lock, by whom she had one son and three daughters.

The subject of this sketch was but about three years of age when his mother died and but fourteen years old when the death of the father occurred. Soon after the death of the latter he secured employment in the Iron City Bank, of Pittsburg, as clerk, receiving at first a salary of fifteen dollars per month. He re- mained with the bank for about one year after

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its incorporation as a National bank, in 1864. By permission of the officers of the bank, he enlisted in Battery A, First Pennsylvania Light Artillery, his salary in the bank continuing while in the service. Later, in 1864, he was honorably discharged from the service and re- turned to Pittsburg, where he accepted a posi- tion in a wholesale grocery house of Shoemaker & Lang, as salesman. He remained with this house until 1869, when he engaged with E. H. Myers & Company, who conducted a pork- packing business. His duties with this house were as traveling salesman in Western Penn- sylvania. In 1871, he left the employ of Myers & Company and went to Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and engaged with the Fair- chance Iron & Coal Company as store mana- ger and assistant manager of the furnace. He served that company until 1873, when he en- gaged with W. W. Young as railroad con- tractor, returning to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, as manager of his work in building extensions of the Pennsylvania Railroad, in Pennsylvania, and retaining this position until 1876.

On the 26th day of November, 1875, Mr. Watt was united in marriage with Miss Laura · A. Wolfe, a native of Pittsburg and daughter of Dr. B. A. and Ellenor (Blackmore) Wolfe. Her mother was a sister of the late James Blackmore, ex-Mayor of Pittsburg, while her father was a prominent physician of the place. Mrs. Watt was the second child in a family of five children. She was educated in the Pitts- burg Female College and the Cedar Hill Col- lege, of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, and also at Norristown Academy, of Norristown, Pennsyl- vania.

In 1877, Mr. Watt secured the contract of clearing the wreck caused by the great railroad strike of that year, and had in his employ about twelve hundred men. While the strike was in progress, he brought the first train from Blairsville intersection, with troops to suppress the riot. On the completion of his contract in clearing the wreck he engaged in contracting and bridge-building for the Pennsylvania Rail- road, in which he continued until 1890. The

following year he came to Madison county, Iowa, and purchased the farm where he now resides, consisting of 440 acres of finely im- proved land, and at once engaged in the stock business-feeding, buying and shipping stock. On the ist of January, 1895, he had on hand one hundred head of horses, a large number of cattle, including Jerseys and Polled Angus, together with many head of hogs.

In politics, Mr. Watt is a Republican, but in local elections he usually supports the man best capable of filling the office to which he aspires. Fraternally he is a member of the Ma- sonic order, with which he has been connected for twenty-four years. He is also a member of the Royal Arcanum, of Pittsburg: Star of the West Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of Pitts- burg, and of the McPherson Post, No. 117, Grand Army of the Republic, of Pittsburg. While a citizen of Iowa but comparatively a short time, he has yet made many friends and is greatly esteemed for his sterling worth.

3 AMES POTTS CARNAHAN .- Among the representative business men and early settlers of Chariton none are more prominent or worthy of inention in a volume of this character than the subject of this record. Nearly thirty years of his life lie like an open book before the people of Lucas county. Coming here in 1868, his business in- terests have become so closely identified with this people that this work would be incomplete without a sketch of his life.

He was born in Butler, Butler county, Pennsylvania, October 19, 1834, and his child- hood, youth, and the years of his early man- hood were spent in the city of his nativity, where the mortal remains of his parents now rest. His father was Robert Carnahan, known throughout Butler county as "Squire Carna- han," he having been a Justice of the Peace in the city of Butler for the greater part of his mature life. This name was familiar to the writer away back in the ante-bellum days when he was a student in Butler Academy. Robert

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. Carnahan married Miss Sarah Potts, whose family and their descendants occupy a high so- cial position in Philadelphia, they having long been wealthy and influential people in the City of Brotherly Love. Mr. and Mrs. Carnahan continued their residence in Butler until called to the home beyond the grave, both dying at an advanced age, the father when he had reached his eighty-seventh year, the mother in her eighty-ninth year. They left a family of five sons and five daughters, most of whom grew to maturity in the city of their birth. Jane is now Mrs. Turner, and resides in Erie, Pennsylvania; John is located in Alleghany City, Pennsylvania, where he is engaged in the manufacture of harness and saddlery; Dr. A. S. gave the best years of his life to the service of his country during the dark days of the Re- bellion, incurring disease which culminated in death some years later. At this time he was a practicing physician at Andrew, Iowa, his army service having been as Surgeon of an Iowa regiment. Robert is a mining speculator of Los Angeles, California. He was also a sol- dier of the late war, serving for a long time with credit to himself and honor to his coun- try, in a Pennsylvania regiment. Augusta is now the wife of Hugh Graham and resides in Oil City, Pennsylvania. Sarah, who was Mrs. Goodenough, died in mature life in Maquoketa, Iowa. Alvira never married. Her self-im- posed task was that of caring for her parents in their old age. As a reward for her faithful- ness, besides the satisfaction of having per- formed a daughter's duty, she inherited the old parental homestead, where she now lives.

James P. Carnahan left his native city in early manhood, and after wandering about for a time located in McDonough county, Illinois, where he married, his union being with Miss Lucy Van Loon, the only child of Thomas and Jane (Jones) Van Loon, the former a native of New York, the latter of New Jersey. Their early married life was spent in Michigan, where Mrs. Carnahan was born. They had other children, but none lived to mature years. No family in Chariton was better or more favorably known

than the Van Loons, honored pioneer settlers. Thomas Van Loon is spoken of by old resi- dents of this city as a man of upright charac- ter and honesty of purpose, who demanded his just dues but never took an undue advant- age of his fellow men. He passed to his final rest some years ago.

In 1868 Mr. Carnahan with his wife and her parents came to Chariton, where they jointly opened a general store in the building now occupied for the same purpose by our subject. Twenty-seven years of close appli- cation to business have left their impress upon Mr. Carnahan, and it is not strange that he now desires a change. Add to this several years spent in the same line of business in McDonough county, Illinois, and we have a sum total greater than the average duration of human life! He has been very successful as a merchant, wide-awake and enterprising, pos- sessing that progressive spirit which is essen- tial to a prosperous business life. His own honorable dealings have brought to him a com- petence, and through all he has maintained a reputation for straightforward transactions which has gained him unqualified confidence.

Mr. and Mrs Carnahan have but one child, a daughter, Jennie, who was educated in the city schools of Chariton and is still under the parental roof. Mrs. Carnahan inherited the extensive property of her father, Mr. Van Loon, and the family is now in very comforta- ble circumstances, having a fine home, a valu- ble farm, and, in addition, the store and stock of general merchandise.

Many years ago Mr. Carnahan became identified with the Masonic order and still holds membership with Golden Gate Lodge, No. 248, F. & A. M., of Illinois. In his political views he has always been a Jackson Democrat, and though his party has often di- verged from the straight and narrow path of Jacksonian principles he has always supported it by his ballot. He is a gentleman of genial, social manner, easy of approach and of pleas- ing address, and his friends are many. Dur- ing the long years of his residence in Chariton

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he has gained a very extended circle of friends and acquaintances and is one of the popular and esteemed citizens of Lucas county.

ON. E. H. KNOWLES .- In the legal profession in Iowa, which em- braces some of the master minds of the State, it is difficult to win a name and place of prominence; many aspire to it but few reach it. In commercial life one may start out on a more advanced plane than oth- ers. He may enter into a business already established and carry it still further forward; but not so in the legal profession. One must commence at the very beginning, must win and plead his first case and work his way up- ward by ability, gaining his reputation and success by merit. If the victor's laurel is placed upon his brow it is because he has led in the race. People do not place their legal business in unskilled hands. It is the man of power before judge and jury that commands public patronage. Of this class Mr. Knowles is an illustrious type. He began as all others do in this line of work, and his present promi- nence has come to him as the reward of earnest endeavor, fidelity to trust and recog- nized ability.

Mr. Knowles was born in Wabash county, Illinois, May 31, 1862, and is a son of James and Mary (McClane) Knowles, the former of English lineage and the latter of Scotch de- scent. Our subject was born while his father was in the army. He served throughout the Civil war, and since its close has resided with his wife upon the old homestead in Wabash county, Illinois. In their family were two sons and two daughters, namely: W. H., who traveled for the Excelsior Machine Com- pany, as contractor, salesman and collector, and died in January, 1890; Susan A., wife of George C. Harvey, a civil engineer by pro- fession, now serving as Clerk of the Circuit court of Wabash county, Illinois; E. H., of this sketch; and Cyntha, who resides with her parents.

Mr. Knowles, whose name heads this re- view, began his education in the country schools of "Egypt," as the southern part of Illinois is called, and at the age of seventeen taught in the home school. He then entered the Central Normal College at Danville, Indi- ana, at which he was graduated in 1883. He next taught in a graded school in his native county for two years, then took up newspaper work, which he carried on the following year. Entering the employ of the Excelsior Machine Company, he was upon the road as traveling salesman for two seasons, and he severed his connection in order to gratify his desire for the study of law. His ambition from early boy- hood was to be a successful legal practitioner, and with this end in view he studied text-books on law fastened to the plow-handles while en- gaged in cultivating the home farm. He now entered the law department of the Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington, and on the completion of a two-years course was granted the degree of LL. B., in 1890.

Mr. Knowles then returned to Mount Car- mel, Illinois, where he engaged in practice for a brief period, while making choice of a loca- tion more suitable. In January, 1892, he formed the existing partnership with Col. W. S. Dungan, now Lieutenant Governor of Iowa, and at once entered upon active practice with the prestige of an old established attorney, well known throughout the State. With the energy of a young man fresh from college and a laud- able ambition to succeed, with excellent abili- ties, both natural and acquired, it is not strange that Mr. Knowles has reached such prominence within three years. He has made a specialty of study and practice of criminal law, and has been phenomenally successful. He is well versed in authority, familiar with precedents, and masters all the details and in- tricacies of a case, while never losing sight of the important points on which the decision of every case finally turns, and is an eloquent and forcible speaker.

Mr. Knowles was married in Lawrence coun- ty, Illinois, to Miss Dora Sollinger, a native of

Odvin Manning

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RECORD OF IOWA.

Ohio, who was reared and educated in Law- rence county, where the marriage was solem- nized May 6, 1886. Two children grace their union : Roy Otis, seven years of age; and Marguerite, born in November, 1893. The par- ents are active and consistent members of the Christian Church, and their friends throughout the community are many.

Mr. Knowles is a recognized leader in Re- publican circles, and it was largely through his efforts and energy that his partner, Colonel Dungan, secured the nomination for the office of Lieutenant Governor. As a reward for his dis- interested labors in behalf of his party Mr. Knowles was made its nominee for the office of County Attorney of Lucas county in the fall of 1894. His opponent, a popular man and able lawyer, had the combined support of the Democrats, Prohibitionists and Populists, yet Mr. Knowles was elected with a fair majority. No more capable man could have been chosen for the position, and during the March term of court of 1895 he secured the conviction of six out of seven criminals who were sentenced to terms in the penitentiary. He is still a young man, full of energy, activity and ambition, and undoubtedly a brilliant future lies before him.

DWIN MANNING. - The spirit of self- reliance as exhibited in the energetic action of individuals has at all times since the birth of our republic formed a marked feature of American character, and furnishes the true measure of our power as a nation. In all eras of development and prog- ress there have been demanded leaders-men who had the sagacity to conceive, the pre- science to discern ultimate conditions, and the courage and ability to set in motion the occult machinery necessary to bringing about this de- velopment. The system of demand and sup- ply seems to have maintained its equipoise in this, as in other regards, and rising above the heads of the mass there have always been a se- ries of individuals, distinguished beyond others, who have been the initiators, the originators,

and who have commanded the homage of their fellowmen by reason of their capacity for the management of affairs of great breadth, their honesty of purpose, and their power to accom- plish results, -thus exerting a contemporary as well as a perpetual influence upon the well- being of their country and its people. Thus it is an unmistakable pleasure aud privilege to re- vert in this connection to the career of the hon- ored pioneer whose name initiates this para- graph, for his it has been to have played a most prominent part in developing the re- sources of the great and favored common- wealth of Iowa and in insuring her material prosperity through the normal sources which ever define the march of progress. That he is still living and a resident of the thriving lit- tle city of which he was the founder is to be taken in an almost reverential spirit, and to him must be accorded a tribute of honor as one of the patriarchs of Keosauqua and as one whose identification with the history of the State has been most intimate and most conspicuous. Our subject is one of the largest landed pro- prietors in the State, and to his interven- tion does she owe much of her industrial wealth and her position as one of the foremost in the galaxy of sister States.

Edwin Manning, who has for nearly sixty years maintained his residence on the site of the present city of Keosauqua, Van Buren coun- ty, and who stands forward as a type of the self- made man, is a native of the old historical town of South Coventry, Connecticut, where he was born on the 8th of February, 1810, being the son of Calvin and Desire (Gurley) Man- ning, representatives of old and prominent New England families. They became the par- ents of two sons and two daughters, and con- cerning these we offer record as follows: Fan- nie became the wife of James Preston, and her death occurred in her native county; Edwin, the immediate subject of this review, was the second in order of birth; William died on the old Connecticut homestead, at the age of thirty years; and Anna R. is the wife of Dr. S. W. Barrows, of Hartford, Connecticut. The par-

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ents, who were devoted adherents of the Con- gregational Church, passed their declining years at the old home in South Coventry, Con- necticut, and there they were laid to rest to await the bright resurrection morn. They were people of pure and noble character, and held the esteem of the entire community where they had lived and labored. Edwin Manning was a Whig in political sentiment, and was honored with an election to the office as Commissioner of the Des Moines river improvement, and served in said capacity until the matters per- taining thereto were fully adjusted.

Edwin Manning passed his boyhood and youth in a way precisely similar to that of the average boy who was reared under the environ- ments of the primitive New England towns, receiving his education in the pioneer schools, whose accessories were of an order that we of later generations can scarcely realize as the glorious nineteenth century draws fast to its close. When a lad of sixteen years he became a clerk in the store of his uncle, Royal Man- ning, and was thus employed for six months, after which he went to Bethany, Pennsylvania, and assumed a similar position in the employ of another uncle, James Manning, in which connection he received a stipend of ten dollars a month in compensation for his services. He continued his association with the mercantile business, and at the termination of five years was admitted to a partnership with his uncle, receiving a one-third interest in the enterprise, with whose details he had thoroughly familiar- ized himself. In the connection he had been enabled to gain other knowledge, in an inci- dental way, and this afterward proved of great value to him in his distinguished business ca- reer. Within the time of his residence in Bethany, his uncle was elected Associate Jus- tice and Recorder of Wayne county, and our subject acted as his assistant and became con- versant with the details pertaining to these offices, and when his extensive real-estate op- erations began in later years, he put this knowledge to practical use in the making of plats and in the handling of his landed inter-

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 62

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