USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 39
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Emma Hancock, the only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Harry P. Han- cock, first saw the light of day on February 14, 1885. She is a graduate of the West Union high school, and of the Iowa State College at Ames, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science from the latter. She is now making a specialty of nature and agricultural studies in high-school work and county institutes. She is a talented, highly accomplished, broad-minded and genial young lady who has attained more than medium success in her chosen work.
DANIEL W. POTTER.
While it is a great hardship and a deprivation of many advantages, still nothing develops strength of character more than for a boy to be left at an early age in charge of the fortunes of his mother and the younger children of the family. Here he develops self-reliance and ability for management, and realizes the value of sacrifice. Such boys in after life are usually devel- oped into men who not only gain a sufficiency of worldly goods for their needs, but are also, like Mr. Potter, among the men whom the community regards most highly for their general character.
Daniel W. Potter was born in Bethel township, March 31, 1856, and is said to be the oldest white male child born in Bethel township. His parents were Robert C. and Lucinda (Andress) Potter. Robert was the son of Dan- iel and Wealthy Potter (see early county history), who settled in Bethel township in 1856. Robert C. was a member of Company C, Thirty-eighth Iowa Infantry, enlisting as a drummer and serving as such until his death
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at Camp Carlton, near New Orleans. He left a widow and three sons, El- mer, Daniel W. and William. Elmer and William died soon after their father, leaving Daniel and his mother alone. She remained on the place until her death, at sixty-three. Daniel took charge of the farm at sixteen, still owns it and lived there until September, 1909, when he retired to Alpha. The farm now consists of one hundred and twenty acres. He was married, at the age of twenty-two, on March 28, 1877, to Arlesta Mourer, daughter of Joseph and Amelia (Swauger) Mourer, of Fredericksburg township, Chick- asaw county, where they settled when Arlesta was fourteen, she having been born in Wisconsin. Of this marriage five children have been born: Roy, of Greeley, Colorado; Orla, who is the wife of C. E. Pitts, a railroad man of Sanborn, Iowa, was a Fayette county teacher; Ernest, farming on the old home place, married Della Patterson; Madge, who was married August 24. 1910, to Roy Finch ; Clyde, a farmer of Chickasaw county.
Mr. Potter carried on general farming. He is a Republican, very active in politics and is township chairman. The Odd Fellows at Alpha claim him as a brother, and he has filled several of the lodge offices. He is also a mem- ber of the Yeomen, a fraternal insurance association. All his neighbors recognize him as a man of good ability and as a friend to all. They can only wish that there were a great many more like him.
The incident told of in Argo of a man, boy and yoke of oxen perishing in a prairie fire occurred on the farm which Mr. Potter now owns, the old Potter farm.
CHARLES RANDOLPH BROWN.
Back to sterling English stock the ancestry of Charles Randolph Brown, . late a well known citizen of Fayette county, Iowa, is traced, and the biogra- pher finds that each successive generation of this name has added luster to an escutcheon of which anyone might well be proud. The gentleman whose name forms the caption of this sketch was born in York, Livingston county, New York, July 12, 1848. He was the son of George W. and Mary (Mc- Lean) Brown, the former the son of Ralph Brown, who came from England about 1807 and settled in Livingston county. The family history may be traced back to Darlington, England, where their ancestors, the Bartons and the Olivers, were people of high standing and prominence. George W. Brown was born in Livingston county, New York, in 1818. He was married to Mary A. McLean, of that county, in 1843. In 1855 he entered eighteen hun-
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C R BROWN
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dred acres of government land in Iowa and in 1868 he came to Fayette county to live. Mary (McLean) Brown, mother of Charles R. Brown, was born in 1822 and her death occurred on September 4, 1856. In 1858 George W. Brown married Antoinette Hitt, who was born in Delaware county, New York, in 1830.
George W. Brown was a leader in his community and he was frequently called upon to serve his fellow citizens in positions of public trust, and he very ably filled the offices of township treasurer, road supervisor and sub- director of schools for several terms. He was a successful business man and became the owner of nine hundred acres of improved farming land, and he was also extensively engaged in breeding fine stock-horses, shorthorn cattle, hogs and sheep. Being a fancier of such stock, he raised them more for pleasure than for profit. His death occurred in San Antonio, Texas, in 1885.
Charles R. Brown, of this review, was the only son of George W. Brown. The former grew to maturity in Livingston county, New York, and attended the public schools there, where he laid a good foundation and later took a course in the Genesee Academy, also attended college at Brockport. After finishing school, he came west with his father to Fayette county, Iowa, in 1868. They located about four miles northeast of Oelwein and soon had a substantial foothold in the new territory where they found everything marked- ly different from their old home in the East.
Mr. Brown was married in May, 1870, to Rachael Burch, daughter of Elder J. B. Burch, the first settler of Oelwein, of whom more is given else- where in this work. Three children graced this union, namely: George H., Ray H. and Antoinette. The last named was a young lady who was very highly esteemed owing to her many praiseworthy attributes, and popular with a large circle of friends; she was called to her rest on February 18, 1899. The two sons are living in Oelwein, and are young men to whom the future promises much in a business way. The father of these children died on February 27, 1909, and it was generally felt that in his death the community suffered a distinct loss.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Brown moved about a mile north of Oelwein, where they resided until the death of Mr. Brown's father in 1885, when they returned to the old home, four miles from Oelwein, where Mr. Brown continued farming and raising fancy stock as his father had done. Stock raising has been a feature of this family's work through many genera- tions, and it is known that away back in England some of the members of this family were early recognized breeders of shorthorn cattle, and from them has descended to the present family a valued set of five volumes of the original
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edition giving the registered pedigree of that stock of cattle from the begin- ning.
In 1893 Mr. Brown moved into Oelwein, after which time he bought and sold real estate and made loans, having built up quite an extensive busi- ness. After coming here he figured prominently in business circles. He was part owner of the Temple block and had other valuable property on Frederick street and on First avenue. He was also the owner of three hundred acres of fine land in Smithfield township. In political life he was an active Demo- crat, and his influence was long strongly felt in local affairs, and his popular- ity was such that he ivas frequently solicited to fill official positions, and dur- ing 1901 and 1902 he filled the office of mayor of Oelwein, during which time the interests of the city were carefully conserved and his administration met the hearty approval of all concerned. The Brown family are members of the Presbyterian church, and are highly esteemed in all circles.
RITCHIE OGDEN WOODARD.
The record of a busy and useful life is always replete with interest. Such an one has been that of Ritchie Ogden Woodard, who holds worthy prestige among the representative men of West Union, and who, since becoming a resident of the city, has been actively identified with different lines of effort and taken a leading part in inaugurating and carrying forward various im- portant enterprises. Mr. Woodard is a native of Richmond, Virginia, where he was born November 21, 1860. His father, Henry Woodard, who was of Maine birth, was a wholesale grocer in the above city at the breaking out of the Civil war, but his strong and outspoken Union sentiments not being . relished in such a hotbed of secession, his property was finally confiscated and he was obliged to leave the state. Bidding farewell to his family, he started north and after various trying experiences arrived at Portland, Maine, where he remained until his wife succeeded in running the blockade and reaching Washington, D. C., when he rejoined her in that city. Her maiden name was Eugenia Gaszynski. Both husband and wife spent the remainder of their days in the national capital, the former dying in 1883. the latter in the year 1904. Of their children, Mrs. James F. Graham lives in Washington, D. C .: Clement Clay, of Brooklyn, New York, is a journalist connected with the New York Daily News; Ritchie O. of this review; Henry F., an attorney of Washington City : Downs M.
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Ritchie Ogden Woodard spent his childhood and youth in the national `capital and received his early education in the schools of the same. In 1879 he came to West Union, Iowa, where he made his home with an uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Woodard, and from September 15th of that year to the present time he has been an honored resident of the city and actively interested in all that tends to its growth and welfare. Shortly after coming West, he occupied a position in the Hospital for the Insane at Independence, where he remained one and a half years, at the expiration of which time he returned to West Union and, in July, 1881, entered the employ of Ziegler & Weed, abstractors. He began working for these gentlemen as a clerk, but soon took charge of the books of the firm and in due season was instructed with every department of the business, becoming a general utility man. After the retirement of Mr. Weed, about the year 1903, Mr. Woodard continued with Mr. Ziegler until 1907, when the two became partners, the firm thus con- stituted lasting until the death of the senior member in April, 1909, since which time the subject has conducted the business alone.
As already indicated, Mr. Woodard has long been quite active in the public affairs of West Union and from time to time has filled various posi- tions of honor and trust. For several years he was secretary of the city school board and is now serving as treasurer of that body ; he was also city treasurer for one term and as custodian of the public funds proved capable and trust- worthy and fulfilled every requirement of the office. As vice-president of the Fayette County Savings Bank, in which capacity he served several years, he demonstrated executive ability of a high order, in recognition of which he was afterwards made president of the institution, a position he still holds. Dur- ing the last five years he has also been manager of the Elgin Canning Com- pany's business, an industry established in 1882 principally through the efforts of the late Peter Nicklaus, since which time it has grown to enlarged pro- portions, giving employment to more than three hundred hands during the busy seasons and furnishing a profitable market to the farmers of the sur- rounding country for nearly all kinds of fruit and vegetables usually put up in hermetically sealed cans. The plant, which is located in the town of Elgin, is supplied with every modern improvement and convenience required in the canning industry and the business, already large, is rapidly increasing in order to meet the growing demand for the product. The various brands of vegetables, fruits, etc .. put up in this establishment have a wide reputation in the markets and their extensive sales bespeak an enlargement of the plant's capacity at no distant day. S. B. Ziegler was president of the company until his death, in 1909, the other officers at the present time being ; C. F. Becker, treasurer, P. M. Weaver, secretary, and R. O. Woodard, general manager.
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Mr. Woodard is an influential factor in political affairs, both local and general, and as chairman of the Republican central committee, of Fayette county, has rendered valuable service to his party in a number of campaigns. After serving three years in that capacity and demonstrating marked abilities as a counsellor and leader, he was chosen a member of the state central com- mittee, which position he filled very acceptably for a period of four years. In his fraternal relations he belongs to the order of Freemasons, holding mem- bership with West Union Lodge No. 69, in addition to which he has also risen to the Royal Arch and Knight Templar degrees, besides being a zealous worker in the Modern Woodmen of America in the city of his residence. Religiously, he was reared in the Episcopal faith, but for a number of years has been a Presbyterian, being, with his wife, a respected member of the church of that denomination in West Union and a liberal contributor to its support and to the various lines of good work under its auspices.
On the first day of September, 1886, Mr. Woodard was happily married to Mary Carver Barrell, an accomplished young lady of Lynn, Massachusetts, and a member of an old and esteemed family of that place. Mrs. Woodard received a superior education under the direction of private tutors and an ex- cellent musical training in Boston, where for some years she enjoyed the in- struction of one of the most noted professors of music in the city. She is an intelligent and cultured lady, devoted to her home and family, also popular in social circles and highly esteemed by all who know her. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Woodard has resulted in three offspring, namely : Henry Mor- ton, born May, 1888, died February of the same year ; an infant, born in 1891, and George Barrell, whose birth occurred on the 19th of April, 1896, and who is the only surviving child.
SIDNEY HERBERT BEVINS.
The subject of this sketch, who is president of the First State Bank of Hawkeye and for many years a leading business man and public spirited citi- zen, is a native of Fayette county, Iowa, born in Eden township, December 19, 1857. Nathan Bevins, his father, was born May 22, 1824, at Warren, New York, and his mother, whose family name was Rebecca Caswell, first saw the light of day at Fort Ticonderoga, that state, on November 3, 1831. In an early day these parents emigrated to Wisconsin and from there, in 1854, moved with an ox team to Fayette county, Iowa, locating in Eden
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township, where they resided until the death of the husband and father in August, 1896, from which time to the end of her life Mrs. Bevins made her home at Hawkeye, dying there on the 17th day of April, 1909. Nathan and Rebecca Bevins had one daughter and four sons, the former, Martha Jane, dying in 1872, at the age of twenty-three years. Charles died when twenty- two years old, Horace at the age of eight and Orson N. lives at Hawkeye.
The early life of Sidney Herbert Bevins was characterized by no incident or experience outside the ordinary, having been spent under wholesome in- fluences and in attendance at the public schools and the graded school of Waucoma until at an age to make his own way in the world. After devoting several years to teaching, he learned telegraphy, which he followed for some time and then turned his attention to the grain and lumber business, which he carried on with reasonable success for several years. Later he dealt quite extensively in real estate at Hawkeye, where he located in August, 1883, and it was there that he also embarked upon his career as a banker and financier, be- coming cashier of the Bank of Hawkeye in 1889 and holding the position until 1894. Since the latter year he has been president of the First State Bank at Hawkeye, one of the most popular and successful institutions of the kind in Fayette county, and as a business man and financier he easily ranks among the leading bankers in the northeastern part of the state.
Mr. Bevins' career has been signally successful and in addition to fur- thering his own interests he has contributed largely to the material advance- ment of his town and county and used his influence in behalf of every worthy enterprise for the good of his fellow men. He keeps abreast of the times on all matters of public moment, is a friend and patron of the school, stands for the strict enforcement of the law and in his own life and conduct has always tried to realize the highest ideals of manhood and citizenship. Politically, he wields an influence for the Democratic party, but has never sought nor desired office, being content with the more satisfactory career of a business man and making every other consideration secondary thereto. Financially, his suc- cess has been in keeping with the interest he has ever manifested in his various enterpises, owning valuable farm lands in Eden, Bethel and Windsor town- ships, also good farm property, to say nothing of large personal holdings which swell the fortune in his possession to considerable magnitude and make him one of the substantial and well-to-do men of the community in which he re- sides .:
Mr. Bevins was married at Hawkeye, November 6, 1884, to Clara L. Sible and is the father of three children: Nathan S., born August 19, 1886; Myrtle R., born September 25, 1893, and Beckey B., whose birth occurred on May 5, 1908.
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Mr. Bevins has no church affiliations, but respects religion very highly and believes it to be a corrective for the evils to which society and humanity at large are addicted. Fraternally, he belongs to the ancient and honorable order of Masonry, holding membership with Standard Lodge No. 351, in which from time to time he has been honored with important office positions. Diligent in business, prompt in response to every call of duty, prominent in the affairs of his town and respected in the social circle, he has made the world better by his influence and is today numbered among the enterprising men of his day and generation in the county of Fayette.
ALFRED HANSON.
Among those men of enterprise and ability who have had much to do with the progress and prosperity which has characterized the thriving city of Oelwein, the subject of this sketch is numbered. Possessing business ability of a high order and an integrity that has never been questioned, he has for several years assumed a high position among the leaders of the city's com- mercial and financial men, and as a representative of the section where he lives he is entitled to representation in a work of this nature.
Alfred Hanson is a native son of Fayette county, Iowa, having been born on a farm near Oelwein, May 3, 1862. He is the son of Thomas Hanson, who was one of the pioneers of this county and highly respected because of his sterling qualities of character. For a more extended mention of his family, the reader is referred to the sketch of Thomas L. Hanson, elsewhere in this work. The subject's boyhood days were spent on the homestead farm and he secured his elementary training in the district schools of the neighborhood, supplementing this by attendance at the Upper Iowa University. He was then for a time a teacher in the commercial department of the university, but subsequently gave up that work and returned to the home farm. After his marriage, in 1885, Mr. Hanson began operations on his own account as a farmer on rented land, in which he was engaged for seven years, meeting with marked success the meanwhile. In 1905 he moved to Oelwein and, in part- nership with H. R. O'Neel, organized the Aetna State Bank. He was elected president of the institution and served in that capacity until the spring of 1899. In that year the subject's two brothers, Thomas L. and J. W. Hanson, returned to Oelwein and the three brothers organized the Commercial Sav- ings Bank of Oelwein, the officers of which were as follows: President, Thomas L. Hanson ; cashier, Alfred Hanson ; assistant cashier, J. W. Hanson.
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The institution met with a liberal patronage and was successful from the start, being soon numbered among the leading financial institutions of the locality. In April, 1901, the bank was converted into a national bank under the name of the First National Bank of Oelwein, the same officers being retained. The success which attended the institution in its early days has remained with it and today it is one of the strongest and most influential banks in Fayette county. The present officers are as follows: President, Thomas L. Hanson; vice-president, A. C. Wilson ; cashier, Alfred Hanson; assistant cashier, C. B. Chambers ; directors, T. L. Hanson, J. B. Feltus, A. C. Wilson, Alfred Han- son, A. L. Hunter, G. W. Teague, R. S. Glenn, A. M. Odell and H. D. Wood. The bank is capitalized at $50,000, and the bank's statement for September, 1909, showed surplus and undivided profits of $20,234 and deposits of $270,- 34I. The total resources amount to $365,661. This is certainly a splendid showing for so young an institution located in a city no larger than Oelwein and reflects greatly to the credit of the cashier, who to a large extent has in his hands the management of the affairs of the institution.
In March, 1908, Alfred Hanson was the principal organizer of the First National Bank of Strawberry Point, of which bank he has been the president ever since its organization. In 1904 he assisted in the organization of the Readlyn Savings Bank, at Readlyn, of which he is a member of the board of directors, and in the fall of 1909 he helped organize the First National Bank of Fayette. Mr. Hanson is also the owner of several valuable tracts of land near Oelwein, amounting in the aggregate to four hundred acres. He has a large interest in several of the best known business blocks in Oelwein, in- cluding the Glass block, the Hanson Brothers block and the Syndicate block, each of which is a credit to the city. Mr. Hanson's beautiful home on North Frederick street is numbered among the best in the city and is a favorite gathering place for his many friends, the spirit of true hospitality being ever there in evidence.
Mr. Hanson is a stanch Republican in politics, and takes an active inter- est in local public affairs, being a frequent visitor to the state conventions of his party and his advice being often sought in political matters. However, he has never sought office for himself. He is public spirited and his support is always given without reserve to every movement calculated to advance the interests of the community in any way.
On September 24, 1885, Mr. Hanson was united in marriage to Edith Scott, a daughter of Isaac and Marcella (Marston) Scott, who were early settlers of Fayette county, having located southwest of Oelwein. To Mr. and Mrs. Hanson two children have been born, as follows: Edith Marcella,
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born November 2, 1895, died July 22, 1908, and Marion, who was born September 25, 1903. Mr. Hanson is a man of integrity and high purpose,- one who has done his share in the upbuilding of his section and who most just- ly deserves the high measure of esteem in which he is held throughout the. community.
MARTIN VAN BUREN HENDERSON, JR.
Prominent among the representative business men of Fayette county is the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. He comes of stanch old Revolutionary stock, and, inheriting to a marked degree the sterling qualities for which his ancestors were long distinguished, he has acted well his part in life and the honorable standing which he has attained in business circles and the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow men speak much in praise of a career which from the beginning has been characterized by success and continued advancements such as few achieve. Martin Van Buren Hender- son, Sr., father of the subject, was born August 24, 1836, in Madison county, New York, and was one of the early settlers of Fayette county, Iowa, where he still resides. His wife previous to her marriage was Clara C. Hall, a native of Camden, New Jersey, where her birth occurred on September 26, 1839, the fathers of both having served with distinction in the war for independence. the subject's great-grandfather Henderson living to the remarkable age of one hundred and four years.
Martin Van Buren Henderson, Jr., was born August 5, 1874, in West- field township and has been a life-long resident of the county of Fayette. At the proper age he entered the public schools of Hawkeye, where he made sub- stantial progress, later pursuing his studies for some time in the schools of West Union, the training thus received being afterwards supplemented by a full course in the commercial department of the Upper Iowa University, where he fitted himself for the responsible position which he has since held. At the early age of sixteen Mr. Henderson entered the old Bank of Hawkeye as first assistant cashier, and in 1894, when the First State Bank of that town was organized, he was made cashier of the institution, being but eighteen years old at the time and the youngest cashier of a state bank in Iowa.
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