Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 89

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

USA > Iowa > Memorial and biographical record of Iowa > Part 89

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

In March, 1841, having but recently at- tained his majority, Mr. Campbell assumed the responsibilities of connubial life by taking unto himself a wife, in the person of Miss Elizabeth Moore, daughter of John Moore, and a native of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, where the marriage was celebrated. For five years after his marriage our subject was engaged in agri- cultural pursuits in his native State; and in 1846 he removed to Pittsburg, where he was for six years employed as chief clerk in the office of the prothonotary and sheriff, also clerking in a banking institution. 1. He was subsequently elected to the offices of prothono- tary and sheriff of the county, and the term of his official incumbency extended over fifteen years.

In the year 1865 Mr. Campbell removed with his family to Iowa, and upon his arrival here he settled in Cedar township, Jefferson county, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. He gradually extended his pur- chases of real estate until at one time he had a valuable landed estate of 960 acres, all in one body and lying six miles southeast of Fairfield. He has recently disposed of all except eighty acres. He continued his residence on this fine homestead until 1879, when he removed to

559

RECORD OF IOWA.

Fairfield, where he has since maintained his abode.

In his early life our subject was an adherent of the Whig party, and he continued his allegiance to the same until 1853, when he joined the ranks of the Democracy and prac- tically began his political life in active opposi- tion to Knownothingism and the principle of protective tariff. While a resident of Cedar township he served for many years as School Director, and in 1871 he was the candidate of his party for Representative in the State Legis- lature and won a decisive victory at the polls, serving with fidelity and marked ability through the session of 1872 and the special session of the General Assembly of 1873. In 1885 dis- tinguished preferment was conferred upon Mr. Campbell. by President Cleveland, who ap- pointed him United States Marshal for the southern district of Iowa, which incumbency he retained for four and one-half years. For many years our subject has been an active and influential factor in the ranks of the Democratic party, having served for a full decade as chair- man of the Democratic State Central Com- mittee and having contributed liberally of his time and tangible means to the support of his party and its principles.

Mr. and Mrs. Campbell became the parents of eight children, of whoin five are living. A record concerning the children is in brief as follows : Amelia died in infancy; John M. is in the grain business in Chicago; Mary Belle is the wife of N. S. Bright, a hardware mer- chant of Fairfield; Alice married Joseph M. Acheson, a prominent lawyer of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, now deceased, and she later be- came the wife of William E. Thompson; Rob- ert died in infancy; Anna Cora is the wife of Samuel C. Farmer, Jr., of Chicago; Conlin E. is a resident of Chicago; and William Clifford died at Fairfield, in December, 1887, at. the age of twenty-seven years.

Mr. Campbell has been an indefatigable student from his early youth, and possesses scholarly attainments of a high order. His reading has been varied and comprehensive,

and with his retentive mentality, his power of classification and assimilation and his taste for the intellectual, he has familiarized himself with the best literature of both ancient and modern times and possesses a versatility of knowledge rarely found in one who has made his own way in the world and who has been denied the advantages of a collegiate education. During his thirty years' residence in Iowa Mr. Campbell has acquired an extensive acquaint- ance among the leading men of the State, and in his business relations he enjoys the reputa- tion of being upright and honorable in every particular and of being liberal and public-spir- ited wherever he can aid any worthy enter- prise. In social relations he is deservedly popular, and possessing, as he does, a rare fund of information and a spontaneous humor, he is a most graceful reconteur and interesting companion.

UGH H. MEEK .- The subject of this review is concerned with an industry which is not only the most important in the thriving village of Bonaparte, but one which is distinctively conspicuous among the manufacturing and commercial en- terprises of the great State of Iowa. It is also interesting to note the fact that our subject is a native son of Bonaparte, and that his pater- nal grandfather was one of the pioneers of the place and the founder of this magnificent un- dertaking which has had such an important in- fluence upon the progress and prosperity of the little city. Our subject is senior member of the firm of Meek Brothers, proprietors of the celebrated woolen and flouring mills and pants factory at Bonaparte, Van Buren county.

These mills had their inception in the year 1853, the original industry having been estab- lished by William Meek and his three sons, Rob- ert, Isaiah and Joseph. They erected the first flouring and saw mill in this county, in 1838. The rise of such an industry has many points of interest, and in the case at hand we can not trace the personal and ancestral history of our

560

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

subject without taking due cognizance of the great enterprise with which the family have been concerned since the early pioneer days. The grandfather, William Meek, first came to Bonaparte in the year 1837, and his prescience of future developments and the maturity of his judgment were unmistakably shown in the cir- cumstance that in the then primitive com- munity he secured the now very valuable water-power of Bonaparte. He and his three sons continued to operate the little grist and saw mill until 1844, when the old buildings were town down, and they erected what are now known as the Bonaparte Mills, the orig- inal designation, however, having been the Meek Mills. For a radius of forty miles in every direction the people came to award their patronage to these mills in the early days, and after a time the work so accumulated that many patrons were compelled to camp out in the vicinity and await their turn to be served, -often encountering a delay of two weeks be- fore their work could be accomplished, though the mills were run to their fullest capacity.

Although the original founder, William Meek, died in 1863, his three sons continued operations very successfully until 1878, at which time it became imperative that greater accommodations be provided; and the old mills were accordingly torn down to give place to the present commodious and substantial brick structure, which is 40 x 50 feet in dimensions and three stories in height, in addition to the basement. The mill is equipped with the latest improved machinery and all modern con- veniences for facilitating the work of produc- tion, and its capacity is for the output of sev- enty-five barrels of flour per diem. The flour . milling industry was attended with so eminent a degree of success that, in 1853, Mr. Meek and his sons enlarged their scope of operations by erecting what were known as the Bonparte Woolen Mills, these being the first of the sort in southern Iowa. The original building in which this industry was installed was a brick and stone structure, and this was utilized until July, 1863, when it was destroyed by fire.

The firm immediately rebuilt, and the result is the present well equipped factory, which is 50 x 85 feet in dimensions, four stories in height, besides attic, and substantially con- structed of stone and brick. The cost of the building was $25,000, while the mechanical equipinent of the factory entailed the expendi- ture of $50,000. This mill furnishes employ- ment to a corps of operatives varying from 190 to 200 individuals, and its products in- clude cassimeres, blankets, flannels and stock- ing yarn.

In 1889 Isaiah Meek became concerned in the supplementing of the industry last noted by establishing a factory for the manufacture of pants, this enterprise demanding the reten- tion of about seventy-five operatives, while the products are manufactured from the cassi- meres turned out by their own looms. The trade controlled in this line ramifies throughout the most diverse sections of the Western States.

William Meek, the founder of this great enterprise, was a native of Pennsylvania, but passed the greater portion of his youth and early manhood in Virginia, where was con- summated his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Johnson, who was a native of the Old Do- minion State. - In 1827 Mr. Meek emigrated westward, having passed some time in Wayne county, Ohio. In 1829 he located in St. Joseph county, Michigan, and was there en- gaged in farming and milling for a period of about eight years. In the month of July, 1837, he came to Iowa and took up his abode in Bonaparte, with whose history and devel- opment he became so conspicuously identified, having thus incidentally been a pioneer of three different States of the Union.

Hugh H. Meek, the immediate subject of this review, was born in the village of Bona- parte, Iowa, on the 4th of June, 1851, being the eldest of three brothers. His father, Isaiah Meek, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, January 31, 1821. The latter accompanied his parents on their removal to Bonaparte, in 1837, the genealogy of the Meek family trac-

561

RECORD OF IOWA.

ing back to stanch old Scotch-Irish stock. The honored father of our subject entered into eternal rest April 8, 1892, his demise occurring in the village which had been his home and field of endeavor for so many years. The mother of Hugh H. Meek was Cynthia Ann (Ingels) Meek, and she was born in the vicinity of Indianapolis, Indiana, in the year 1827, be- ing the daughter of Joseph Ingels, who was of English descent.

Our subject passed his boyhood days in this his native village, receiving his preliminary educational discipline in the public schools, after which he took a commercial course at Burlington College, and later entered Bry- ant & Stratton's Business College of San Francisco. Returning to Bonaparte he as- sumed a position as traveling salesman for the firm of Meek Brothers, and he continued to represent the firm in this way for a period of twenty years, the trade territory covered by him comprising some ten of the Western States. After the death of his father he quit the road and has been engaged in the business, taking the position left vacant by his honored parent, and associating himself with his broth- ers, Byron F. and Kirk, in the carrying on of the great industry which had been established by their grandfather so many years previous. The firm name of Meek Brothers was retained and the three brothers still operate under that title, which is known and honored throughout a wide section of the West and Southwest. The firm is now represented to the trade through the medium of six traveling represent- atives, who cover the Southern States, as well as those of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Nevada.

In addition to his interests in the important line already noted, Mr. Meek is prominently concerned in a financial way with other enter- prises, in which connection it may be noted that he is a stockholder and director of the Farmers & Traders' Bank, at Bonaparte, and that he is also a stockholder in the Van Buren County Bank, in Farmington. He is a man of broad mentality and notable business sagacity

and executive ability, but he has not been con- fined to selfish or sordid limitations, but has ever been animated by a generous public spirit, and has been foremost in promoting the wel- fare of the community through consistent and normal channels, and is distinctively one of Bonaparte's representative men.

In 1870, Hugh H. Meek was married to Mary C. Spaug, who died in 1871. His second marriage occurred in 1875, when he wedded Miss Narrie Duncan, of Mercer county, Mis- souri, the daughter of Hazzard and Susan Duncan.

In political sentiment and adherency Mr. Meek is a stalwart supporter of the Democratic party and its principles, and he has been a prominent worker in the cause of his party, both locally and as applied to State politics. Fraternally he is prominently identified with the noble order of Freemasonry, having ad- vanced to the Knights Templar degree, retain- ing a membership in Elchanan Commandery, No. 28, at Keosauqua.

J OHN W. ELERICK, M. D .- From no source have the learned professions and the ranks of those concerned with the great business industries of the Union been recruited so largely as from the farmns, which in more senses than one represent the basis of our national prosperity. Here have been reared to manhood boys who have learned the value of consecutive industry and gained an appreciation of the higher and absolute ethics of life. Thus has been furnished the element of greatest strength and greatest per- manency. The subject of this review is one of leading physicians and surgeons of Keosauqua, and his ancestral history is one of long identi- fication with American annals, while his par- ents were entitled to be classed among the honored pioneers of the State of Iowa.

The Doctor is a native of the old Buckeye State, having been born on a farm in the vi- cinity of Centerville, Belmont county, Ohio,

562

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

on the 17th of July, 1851, being the son of George W. and Susan (McKeen) Elerick. George W. Elerick was likewise a native of Ohio, having been the son of George Elerick, a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylva- nia, and one of the early pioneers of Belmont county, Ohio. The paternal great-grandfather of our subject emigrated to America from Ger- many in pre-Revolutionary days, and was an active participant in the struggle for independ- ence, having been severely wounded in battle. The mother of the Doctor was a native of the Emerald Isle, being the daughter of James Mc- Keen, and having accompanied her parents on their emigration to the United States when she was a girl of fourteen.

In the year 1854, George W. Elerick re- moved with his family to Iowa, which was then considered a portion of the far West, and forth- with he settled on a farm in Lick Creek town- ship, Van Buren county, where he was contin- uously engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock-raising for the residue of his life, being successful in his efforts and becoming a man of . considerable prominence in the community. His death occurred on this old homestead farm, in the year 1873. The mother of our subject is still living, in Keosauqua.

John W. Elerick was the second in order of birth of the nine children of his parents, - there having been six sons and three daugh- ters, -and the greater portion of his youth was passed on the old homestead in Lick Creek township, this county. His preliminary edu- cation was received in the district schools, and later he attended for a time the academy at Biriningham. That he duly profited by his in- struction is shown in the fact that he put his acquirements to practical and effective test by engaging in school-teaching, to which vocation he devoted his attention for several years, hav- ing been retained in schools in Van Buren and Jefferson counties, and later having been similarly engaged in the Black Hills district of South Dakota. He returned to his home in Iowa in 1880, and following out a long-cher- ished ambition began reading medicine in the

office and under the preceptorage of his brother, George W., a prominent physician of Selma, this State. This private discipline was supplemented, in the winter of 1881-2, by a course of lectures in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Keokuk, Iowa, and after thus reinforcing himself for the work of his profes- sion he accompanied his brother, previously mentioned, to Harper county, Kansas, where he continued in practice for the period of six years, after which he returned to Van Buren county, and shortly after entered upon his second course of lectures in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he graduated in the spring of 1890, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

After practicing for a short time at Utica the Doctor came to Keosauqua, where his pro- fessional ability and his pleasing personality soon gained him marked prestige, and where he now controls a large and representative practice, holding rank as one of the able and popular physicians of the county. He keeps fully abreast of the advances made in the theory and practice of medicine and surgery, and is an active member of the Des Moines Valley Medical Association.

Politically the Doctor exercises . his fran- chise in the support of the Democratic party and its principles, and fraternally he is identi- fied with Keosauqua Lodge, No. 10, Free and Accepted Masons, and with the Knights of Pythias, and Ancient Order of United Work- men. September 1, 1893, a pronounced rec- ognition of the professional ability of Dr. Eler- ick was shown in his having been appointed a member of the Board of Pension Examiners of Van Buren county, an incumbency which he has since retained.

Our subject has been twice married. His union to Miss Margaret K. Shannon was con- summated in Harper county, Kansas, and her death occurred January 14, 1892, at Utica, Van Buren county, Iowa. She left one daugh- ter, Bessie. The maiden name of our sub- ject's present wife was Marie Monnet. The Doctor and Mrs. Elerick are both devoted

563

RECORD OF IOWA.

members of the Congregational Church in Keosauqua, and they enjoy a distinctive pop- nlarity in social circles.

LEXANDER BROWN .- There is no one nation that has contributed to the complex composite make-up of our American social fabric an element of more sterling worth and of greater value in supporting and fostering our national institu- tions than has Scotland. From this source our republic has had nothing to lose and much to gain. Scotland has given to us men of sturdy integrity, indomitable perseverance, higher in- telligence and much business sagacity-the re- sult being the incorporation of a strong and strength-giving fibre, ramifying through warp and woof. A man who may well look with pride upon his Scotch-American origin is the subject of this sketch, who has himself attained distinguished position as a resident of Van Bu- ren county and the little city of Keosauqua, a man of marked professional ability, one who has rendered to his country the service of a loyal and patriotic son, and who merits and retains the confidence and respect of his fellowmen.

A native of the old Keystone State, Alex- ander Brown was born near Carbondale, Lu- zerne county, on the 3d of May, 1837, being the son of Hugh Brown, who claimed . bonnie Scotland as the place of his nativity, and thence, in 1820, he emigrated with his family to the United States, stopping for a short interval at Albany, New York, and thence removing to Pennsylvania, which State proved but a tem- porary place of abode, for in 1842 he came with his family to Van Buren county, Iowa, where he established a home for his family in the village of Keosauqua, and turned his at- tention to farming and to another line of indus- try which had important bearing upon the progress of the section. He erected here a merchant flouring-mill, which he operated, in partnership with his son-in-law, James John- son, until within a short time prior to his death, which occurred in April, 1847. He was a man

of strong individuality, utmost integrity, and marked capacity for the effective conducting of business, being honored and esteemed for his sterling worth of character.

The maiden name of the mother of the sub- ject of this sketch was Mary Gibson, and she was born in Scotland, where occurred her mar- riage to Hugh Brown a number of years prior to their emigration to America. She lived to attain a venerable age, her death occurring at Keosauqua, in July, 1877, in the eightieth year of her age. She and her husband were zealous adherents of the Presbyterian Church. Of their nine children eight lived to attain maturity, our subject being the next to the youngest of the number. One daughter remained in Scotland, but the other children accompanied their par- ents to the United States, and most of them retain their residence in Iowa. William died in 1867.

Alexander Brown, the immediate subject of this sketch, grew to maturity in Keosauqua, and here received his fundamental education in the village schools. At the outbreak of the late war of the Rebellion he threw the force of his young manhood into the cause of his coun- try, and in September, 1861, enlisted as a member of Company E, Fifteenth Iowa Volun- teer Infantry, Colonel Hugh T. Reid com- manding, and with his regiment was sent to Tennessee, where he participated in the battle of Shiloh, in which engagement he received a gun-shot wound in the hip, and was sent home on leave of absence. He rejoined his regi- ment at Corinth, and was an active partici- pant in the engagement at that place, being again unfortunate in receiving a gun-shot wound in the shoulder, the result being that he was incapacitated for further service on the field, and he was accordingly discharged, on the sur- geon's certificate, in February, 1863, ranking at the time as Sergeant Major.

After his discharge Mr. Brown returned to his home in Keosauqua, and was shortly after- ward appointed to a clerkship in the headquar- ters of the Provost Marshal of the First Con- gressional District, at Burlington, Iowa,_re-

564

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

taining this incumbency from the time of his appointment, in the spring of 1863, until Oc- tober, 1865. In the fall of 1867 distinctive honor was conferred upon our subject in his election to the office of County Judge of Van Buren county, under the provisions of the old law, and he held the office until the same was abolished by legislative enactment, having served in that capacity two years. He was elected Auditor of Van Buren county, and served in this important capacity for a term of six years. After his retirement he turned his attention to the practice of his profession, for he had read law under the effective precep- torage of Hon. George G. Wright and had been admitted to the bar of the State at a regular session of the District Court, in the fall of 1859. Thus fortified for the work of his chosen profession, Judge Brown entered into partnership with W. A. Work, under the firm name of Work & Brown, and they soon made for themselves a prominent position at the bar of the county, the association continu- ing for a period of six years, when Judge Rob- ert Sloan was admitted to the firm, whose title then became Sloan, Work & Brown. Mr. Work retired from the firm about January I, 1887, when the firm became Sloan & Brown. Three years later another change in the part- nership was instituted, upon the admission of Hugh B. Sloan, the title being simultaneously changed to Sloan, Brown & Sloan, and thus continuing until the retirement of our subject, in the spring of 1893. The clientage retained by the firm, through its several changes, was of representative order, and the high reputation which our subject held at the bar of the county and in the estimation of the people stands in the strongest evidence of his high professional attainments and his intrinsic personal integrity and honor. In 1894 Judge Brown was elected County Attorney, for a term of two years, and in his hands the ends of justice have been sig- nally conserved and the interests of the county protected.

The Judge not only exercises his franchise in the support of the Republican party and its

principles, but he has long been an active and efficient worker in the cause and has done much to advance its interests in this section of the State. Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order, retaining a membership in Keosauqua Lodge, No. 10, F. &. A. M .; Moore Chapter, No. 23, R. A. M., and Elchanan Commandery, No. 28, Knights Templar.

Concerning the more purely domestic phases of Judge Brown's career, we record that in June, 1870, was consummated his mar- riage to Miss Mary Rankin, daughter of Judge Thomas Rankin, a distinguished resident of Keosauqua. Mrs. Brown was born in Van Buren county, and is a lady of culture and gentle refinement. Our subject and his wife "have one son, Ord R., who is associated with his father in business.

At the present time Judge Brown devotes the major portion of his attention to his real- estate and loan enterprise, which was estab- lished in 1894, and which has grown to extensive proportions. Judge Brown has been long identified with the interests of Keosauqua, and has ever lent aid and encouragement to all projects and enterprises tending to promote the public welfare and to further substantial development and progress along normal lines. The estimation in which he is held in the com- munity stands to his honor as a man and a citizen.

ON. W. R. WHERRY .- In the last half of the present century the influ- ence of the lawyer has been pre-em- inently potent in all the affairs of pri- vate concern and national importance. He has been depended upon in war and peace to con- serve the best interests of the whole people, and without him and the approval of his prac- tical judgment the effort of the statesman and the industry of the business man would have proven futile. The reason is not far to seek. The successful lawyer is never the creature of circumstance. The profession is open to tal-

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 89

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