Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 92

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

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Our subject was reared under the sturdy discipline of the old home farm in this county, and there he remained until he had attained his majority, according to his mother a true, filial solicitude. His educational advantages

were such as were afforded in the district schools, and the basic knowledge there gained has served as a stanch foundation for the broad general information and strong mentality which have come to him through contact with men and affairs. At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Hardy assumed a personal responsibility and engaged in farming on his own account, also devoting his. attention to stock-raising, with both of which lines of industry he has ever since been prominently identified in this county. He commenced operations by secur- ing a portion of the old. homestead. He brought to bear a discriminating judgment and those correct business methods which ever presage success. He personally attended to the shipment of the live-stock raised upon his farm, and his operations in this line have been attended with most satisfactory results. He retains possession of the old homestead at the present time, and his landed estate comprises 1, 183 acres. The place is well improved and is devoted to general farming and to the rais- ing of horses, cattle and hogs of high grade, in which connection he has raised the standard in the county by the securing of fine-bred males.

In 1887 Mr. Hardy removed from his farm to Bloomfield, where he has since resided, though still maintaining the supervision of his farming interests. In the spring of 1889 he became identified with the mercantile interests of Bloomfield by engaging in the clothing busi- ness, in partnership with D. F. Hill. This as- sociation continued until Mr. Hill disposed of his interests to Hon. W. H. Taylor, since which time the firm of Hardy & Taylor have continued the enterprise with a full measure of success, deriving a trade from a wide radius of country, and maintaining an establishment which in its equipments and character and ex- tent of stock carried will compare favorably with similar concerns in cities of much greater population.

In his political adherency Mr. Hardy has ever been strongly arrayed in the support of the Democratic party and its

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has been an active worker in the cause. In the connection his services have gained him recognition in a way which bears evidence of his personal popularity in the county and of his sterling worth as a man and his executive ability. He served for three terms as Town- ship Assessor, his incumbency thus covering a period of nine years, and in 1883 distinguished official preferment was conferred upon him in his election as representative of Davis county in the lower house of the State Legislature, - a position in which he served with signal effi- ciency and fidelity and did much to conserve wise legislation. In his fraternal relations Mr. Hardy is prominently identified with the Knights of Pythias.

The marriage of our subject was consum- mated in October, 1872, when he led to the hymeneal altar Miss Elizabeth Hill, of Bloom- field, her father, William Hill, having been one of the prominent and influential citizens of Bloomfield, where he held rank as one of the pioneer merchants, having been for many years engaged in the dry-goods business here. Mr. and Mrs. Hardy are the parents of one son and two daughters: E. Marie, Effie and Rufus Guy.

EORGE W. PHILLIPS .- Holding marked official preferment, cnjoying a high degree of popularity and main- taining a representative position as identified with the interests of Davis county, it is manifestly consistent that attention be di- rected to the more salient features in the life history of Mr. Phillips, the efficient incumbent as County Auditor and an honored resident of Bloomfield.

A native of Tazewell county, Illinois, Mr. Phillips was ushered into the world on the 12th of July, 1863, being the son of William C. Phillips, who was born in the State of Ken- tucky, February 28, 1834, being the son of William Phillips, who likewise was a native of Kentucky, being of Scotch lineage. The maiden name of our subject's mother was

Elizabeth Gibson, and she was born in Taze- well county, Illinois, September 22, 1841, the daughter of George D. Gibson, a native of the Buckeye State, where he was born in the year 1810, his parents having been among the early pioneers of the Western Reserve. William C. Phillips and Elizabeth Gibson were married, in 1859, in Tazewell county, whither the former had removed a number of years previous, and where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until within a short time prior to his death, which occurred February 22, 1868. He was prospered in his efforts and became a man of prominence and influence in the community. His wife, who survives him, removed in 1870 to Davis county, Iowa, bringing with her her "three children, all of whom are yet living, their names in order of birth being as follows: Charles J., who is general live-stock agent for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, with headquarters at Des Moines; George W., the immediate subject of this review; and Ma- tilda, wife of E. F. Medearis, of Centralia, Kansas. The mother now retains her resi- dence in Bloomfield, having attained the age of fifty-five years.

George W. Phillips attended the public schools at Drakesville, this county, up to the time when he attained the age of eighteen years, when he entered the Wesleyan Univers- ity, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where he con- tinued his studies for the period of two years, after which he accepted a position as ticket agent of the Wabash Railroad at Centralia, this State, and he retained this incumbency for two years.

January 12, 1884, was consummated the marriage of Mr. Phillips to Miss Floy V. Foote, daughter of T. J. Foote, of Davis county, and after thus assuming the responsi- bilities of connubial life, he effected the pur- chase of a farm, in Drakesville township, Da- vis county, and this he brought into most effective cultivation. The place comprises 101 acres of fine land, has excellent improvements of permanent order, including an attractive and spacious residence, with good barns and

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other buildings essential to the successful con- ducting of operations, while our subject has devoted no little attention to the raising of live stock of high grade. Mr. Phillips continued his farming operations up to the year 1894, when he was elected County Auditor of Davis county, assuming the duties of this responsible position January 1, 1895. His successful can- didacy for this office stands in distinctive evi- dence of his personal popularity in the county and of his marked eligibility for the position, for the public invariably discriminate and ac- cord such honors only when they have confi- dence in the capability and integrity of the man of their choice. Mr. Phillips had shown himself to be a man of tact and executive ability, since he had conducted his farming operations to the point of maximum success and had gained a reputation as being one of the most alert and progressve agriculturists of the county, and one who brought to bear the most effective methods. He still retains pos- session of his fine farmstead and supervises its cultivation, though he has rented the place. He served one term as vice-president of the Davis County Agricultural Society, and has been signally interested in all that conserves the advancement of the farming community and of the county at large. His efforts in the official capacity noted led to his being chosen as president of the society, and he is now serving his second term as the chief executive of the association.

Our subject and his family have retained their abode in Bloomfield since the time of his election to the office of Auditor, and he and his estimable wife enjoy a ınarked popularity in social circles. They have two children: Curtis J. and Ruby M. In politics Mr. Phillips is a stalwart Republican.

ARVEY C. LEACH. - It is with dis- tinctive gratification that the biog- raphist turns attention to the life his- tory of one whose claims for recogni- tion in the premises are directed along several

important lines, as is the case in the present instance. Mr. Leach is himself a representa- tive citizen of Bloomfield and of Davis county, is a native son of the State, has held high positions in the gift of the people of the coun- ty, and traces his ancestral line through long identification with the history of the Union. Any one of these elements would render com- patible a review of his career in this publica- tion.

Mr. Leach was born in Union township, Davis county, Iowa, on the Ist of April, 1860, being the son of Charles and Hannah (Hamil- ton) Leach, who are to be remembered with a tribute of respect and honor as having been among the most estimable of the early pioneers of this section of the favored commonwealth. The father was born in Loudoun county, Vir- ginia, on the last day of September, 1816, and the greater part of his youth was passed in what is now the State of West Virginia. In the year 1839 he emigrated westward, and, coming to Iowa, passed one year in Van Buren county, after which he came to Davis county and located a claim of land in Union town- ship, subsequently securing title to the land from the Government. This place he im- proved, and there remained for many years, devoting his attention to general farming and to stock-raising, and directing his affairs with such intelligence and good judgment that suc- cess could not fail to be the normal con- comitant. His devoted and cherished wife was summoned into eternal rest in 1883, and he then removed to Bloomfield and remained a revered and welcome inmate of the home of his son, our subject, until death finally called him to his reward, on the 16th of May, 1890. He was the son of Elisha Leach, who was a native of the Old Dominion State, and of Scotch and English extraction. In politics Charles Leach was a thorough Democrat of the Jeffersonian type, and he was an active and ardent worker in the cause, being a man of broad intellectuality and strong practical abil- ity. He was a man of prominence and influ- ence in the county, and was honored by his

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fellow citizens with several offices of public trust and responsibility, being esteemed for his absolute integrity of purpose and his many sterling attributes of character. The mother of our subject was the daughter of Aaron Hamilton, who was a native of Pennsylvania, and of English lineage.

Harvey C. Leach passed his boyhood and adolescent days upon the parental farmstead in Union township, this county, according his quota toward the cultivation of the farm, and securing the privileges afforded by the district schools until he attained the age of eighteen years. He had shown a marked predilection for study and an appreciation of the value of the knowledge to be thus acquired, and in this his father lent him every possible encourage- ment. At the age mentioned he entered the Southern Iowa Normal School, at Bloomfield, and later supplemented this discipline by a course of study in the Troy Academy, at Troy, this county, so profiting by his instruction and discipline that he was enabled to put his knowledge to practical use by engaging in that vocation which has proved a stepping-stone to so many of the successful men of our day. He taught in the schools of Davis county for sev- eral years, and his pedagogic labors were at- tended with success and he gained an excellent reputation as a teacher.

The first specific business operations which engaged the attention of our subject were in- itiated in 1887, when he engaged in general merchandising at Pulaski, and in this line he continued successfully for one year, when he disposed of his interests to accept the position as Deputy County Treasurer, under D. M. McFadden. He served in this capacity for a terin of four years, and in the fall of 1891 was elected Treasurer of Davis county, for a term of two years, and in the fall of 1893 was elected as his own successor and for an equal tenure of office. His intimate knowledge of the details and system of the office made him a singularly able incumbent, and his adminis- tration was such as to gain to him the endorse- ment of all classes, irrespective of political af-

filiations. In addition to this preferment Mr. Leach has held the office of City Treasurer of Bloomfield consecutively since 1888. His term as County Treasurer expired in the fall of the present year (1895), and he is now retained as assistant cashier and bookkeeper in the Taylor & McGowan Bank, at Bloomfield, one of the leading financial institutions in this part of the State, and one in which he is interested as a stockholder. It is needless to say that the bank could scarcely have found a more dis- criminating and capable executive.

Politically our subject clings to the faith which was that of his father, and he has been actively in line in furthering the interests of the Democratic party in Davis county. He is a member of the School Board of Bloomfield, to which office he was elected in 1894, having previously taken a deep interest in educational matters, as he has, indeed, in all that has tended to conserve the welfare and advance- ment of the city and county. Fraternally he is prominently identified with the Knights of Pythias, retaining a membership in Calanthe Lodge, No 26.

March 4, 1886, was consummated the mar- riage of Mr. Leach to Miss Jessie Shreve, daughter of Dr. B. F. Shreve, one of the hon- ored professional men of. Davis county, and the offspring of this union has been two chil- dren: Cliff M. and Charles F.

ILLIAM L. LONG, Clerk of the ' District Court of Jefferson county, is a native of this State. When Fairfield was a village he was born within its borders, December 27, 1860, his parents being William and Catherine (Stever) Long. The father was a native of Pennsyl- vania, born in Loudon, Franklin county, and the grandfather, John Long, also a native of the Keystone State, was of German descent. The mother of our subject was born in Cass- ville, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and was a daughter of Adam Stever. Moving to Iowa in 1842, when only a boy, John Long

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took up his residence in Jefferson county. He held the office of Clerk of the District Court from 1861 until 1869, being elected on the Republican ticket. He was a stanch advocate of the principles of that party, joining its ranks soon after its organization. Later in life he was a civil engineer, and for several years oc- cupied the position of general agent for the King Iron Bridge Company, at Cleveland, Ohio, his territory being the States of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. During this period he made his home in Fairfield, and there continued his residence until his death, which occurred on the 24th of August, 1873.

William L. Long, whose name introduces this sketch, is a Western man by birth, train- ing and interests, and is thoroughly imbued with the progressive and enterprising spirit of the age. He began his education in the com- mon schools, and subsequently attended the academy in Fairfield for a short time. After attaining his majority he turned his attention to farming, and thoroughly enjoyed his work along that line, the planting of crops and watching their growth being to him a real pleasure. He was an intellgent and progres- sive agriculturist, and continued that business until 1892. In 1894 he was elected Clerk of the District Court, and entered upon the duties of the office on the 7th of January, 1895, to serve for a term of two years. He is discharg- ing his duties in a most acceptable manner and is known as a young man of genuine worth and strict integrity-one who well merits the confidence reposed in him.

R OBERT SLOAN. - It is a well-attested maxim that the greatness of a State lies not in its machinery of govern- ment, not even in its institutions, but in the sterling qualities of its individual citi- zens, in their capacity for high and unselfish effort and their devotion to the public good. Among those who are justly entitled to be enrolled among the makers of the great com- monwealth of Iowa is Judge Robert Sloan,

whose more than forty years' residence in the State has left a marked and valuable impress upon its history. From the beginning of his professional career he has occupied a place among the leaders of the bar of Van Buren county, and as time has passed he has become· a recognized peer among the brightest and ablest of his professional confreres in the State. He possessed no rich inheritance or influential friends to aid him in establishing himself in business, but he was animated by high hopes and laudable ambition to succeed, and his life has been one of ceaseless toil and endeavor, while his success has been commensurate with his labors.

Back to the Colonial epoch in our national history must we go in tracing the lineage of Judge Sloan, and incidentally we discover that his extraction is of that stanch dual strain des- ignated as the Scotch-Irish, which has ever been a potent factor in conserving the progress and prosperity of our republic and in perpetu- ating good citizenship. His great-grandfather in the agnatic line came with Braddock's army, as a Lieutenant therein, during the French and Indian war, in which he served, and was in the battle known as Braddock's Defeat; but when the colonies sought to free themselves from the unjust and arbitrary domination of the mother country, having resigned his commission and settled in Pennsylvania, he ardently espoused the cause of independence, enlisted in the Con- tinental army and rose to the rank of Captain. Robert Sloan, Sr., the father of our subject, was a native of county Antrim, Ireland, and when he was a lad of seven years his parents emigrated thence to America and took up their abode in the vicinity of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania. On reaching maturity he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Steapleton, and soon afterward removed to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he engaged in agricultural pur- suits, and there remained until the spring of 1853, which stands as the date of the advent of the family in Iowa.

Robert Sloan, the immediate subject of this review, was born in Columbiana county,

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Ohio, on the 21st of October, 1835, and was therefore nearly eighteen years of age at the time his parents removed to Iowa. He had been reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and had become imbued with a wholesome re- gard for the dignity of honest toil; but his nature was of that alert and self-reliant order that gave him an appreciation of the wider field of endeavor which lay open to those who entered fearlessly and with a determination to succeed; and such a nature is never vacil- lating, but takes advantage of circumstance and gives clear definition to its course of action. The educational advantages which Judge Sloan received in his youth were somewhat meagre in extent, having been confined to the common schools and to a year's attendance in the high school at New Lisbon, Ohio. That he profited by the opportunities thus afforded nim is evi- denced in the fact that he became eligible for pedagogic honors and followed the vocation of school-teaching after coming to Iowa, being thus engaged until 1860, with only the inter- mission of about two years, when he was con- cerned with mercantile business at Iowaville. In the year noted he began that specific preparation which he had long desired to initiate, becoming a student under the precep- torage of Judge George G. Wright, at that time a resident of Keosauqua, and one of the distinguished members of the bar of Van Buren county. The receptivity of his mind, his ana- lytical powers and his intuitive wisdom were such that he was so sufficiently advanced in his legal knowledge as to gain admission to the bar of the State in March of .the following year. As before intimated he soon secured distinctive relative prestige at the bar of the county, and his fidelity to the interests of his clients and his ability and strength in the handling of cases before the courts gained him a reputation and a clientele of representative character. Thoroughly en rapport with his profession, he continued his studies, and has ever done so, thus acquiring a wide and valu- able fund of knowledge in regard to jurispru- dence, precedents, etc.

Our subject zealously pursued his profes- sion and his efforts were crowned with that success which is the concomitant of ability and energy wisely and vigorously applied. Only a few years had elapsed ere distinguished recog- nition of his worth was accorded, since at the general election of 1868 he was chosen as Judge for the First Circuit of the Second Judi- cial District. Four years later he was elected Circuit Judge for the Second Judicial District, and at the expiration of his term was chosen as his own successor, thus serving on the circuit bench for twelve consecutive years. After leaving the bench he became a member of the law firm of Sloan, Work & Brown, into whose keeping have been entrusted some of the most important cases litigated before the courts of the county, and Judge Sloan thus continued in private practice until the Novem- ber election of 1894, when higher judicial dig- nities were conferred upon him by his election as District Judge of the Second Judicial Dis- trict, comprising the counties of Van Buren, Davis, Appanoose, Henry, Jefferson, Wapello, Monroe and Lucas; and his tenure of office will expire on the last day of December, 1898. He has been known as one of the hardest-working judges in the State, and the general sentiment of the bar toward him is that of unqualified re- spect as an upright, conscientious and pains- taking judge. In his charges to juries he is guided solely by the facts in evidence and the law applicable to them. His decisions are stated in perspicuous and simple language and in such a manner as to prevent misconstruc- tion. They are always terse and concise and embody the exact words necessary to express clearly and unmistakably his meaning. His transaction of public business has received the highest praise and endorsement, and he has won the distinction of being not only a most learned and accomplished jurist, but a most worthy citizen. Judge Sloan is an ornament to the bench and bar of Van Buren county and the State. He is a man of broad charity and tolerance, lofty ideals, and attractive person- ality, and his hold upon the confidence and es-

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teem of the bar and the public is of the most abiding order. His aim as a lawyer and a judge has been to advance jurisprudence to that degree of perfection which shall make it a blessing and a protection to mankind, and into his every action have entered the elements of spotless integrity and scrupulous honor which he is known to possess.

In his political relations Judge Sloan has been a stalwart Republican and a stanch ad- herent to the principles governing that party from the time of its organization, and he has done much to advance the interests of Republi- canism in Keosauqua and Van Buren county.

On the 15th of July, 1863, was consum- mated the marriage of our subject to Miss Mary Brown, who was born in county West- meath, Ireland, January II, 1838, the daugh- ter of William and Eliza (Alexander) Brown, both of whom were natives of Scotland, where the mother died when Mrs. Sloan was a child of three years. ' In 1847 Mr. Brown came to the United States, and within a short time after his arrival located on a farm in Van Buren county, Iowa, where he passed the resi- due of his days, his demise occurring on the 12th of November, 1854. Judge and Mrs. Sloan are devoted members of the Congrega- tional Church, to whose support, as well as to that of its collateral benevolences, they con- tribute both of their influence and tangible means.

Of the children of Judge and Mrs. Sloan we offer a brief record as follows: Stella B. was born November 26, 1864, and is now mak- ing her home with her parents and engaged in the mercantile business; Hugh B., born Sep- tember 1, 1866, is one of the leading young attorneys of Van Buren county, having been admitted to the bar at the May term of the Supreme Court of Iowa in 1892, and having entered upon the practice of his profession in Keosauqua on the first day of the succeeding month, being associated with his father until January 1, 1895, when he became a member of the firm of Mitchell & Sloan, his coadjutor being Hon. J. C. Mitchell, of Ottumwa; prior

to his admission to the bar he was a special agent of the Government and was employed in investigating the recorded indebtedness of North Carolina, as incidental to the compila- tion of the eleventh Federal census: July I, 1889, he wedded Miss Hattie Disbrow, daugh- ter of H. H. and Lucy Disbrow, of Keosau- qua, and the offspring of this union has been two children, -Donna Miriam, born July 23, 1892; and Orpha Lucia, born August 9, 1894; the third in order of birth of our subject's chil- dren was Elizabeth, the date of her nativity having been September 13, 1868: her marriage to Glenn S. Duffield, of Denver, Colorado, was solemnized on the 6th of January, 1894, and they have one son, George C., who was born January 12, 1895. Mr. Duffield is the son of George C. Duffield, a prominent resi- dent of Pittsburg, Iowa; Mary E. Sloan, born October 21, 1870, was united in marriage, on the 3d of June, 1895, to. E. E. Whitney, son of Mark and Maria Whitney, of Keosauqua; Della, born July 17, 1873, died November 29, 1878; Io G. was born July 14, 1876; and Robert E., February 4, 1878.

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 92

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