USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 79
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ALFRED E. THOMAS.
·Success does not depend so much upon the possession of talents or pow- ers unusual to the majority of mankind, as upon the exercise of those qual- ities which are common to all. Hope is of the valley, while Effort is climbing the mountain side, so that personal advancement comes not to the one who hopes alone but to the one whose hope and faith are those of definite action. We may then hold in high regard the result of individual accomplishment and accord due credit and honor to the man who has won success by worthy means. The subject of this sketch holds the responsible position of general foreman of the machine shops of the Chicago Great Western railroad at Oelwein, and his life has been one of consecutive effort and integrity of purpose, while his advancement and success have come as a diametrical result, and to him has not been denied the fullest measure of confidence and esteem.
Alfred E. Thomas was born in Toronto, Canada, November 6, 1862, and is a son of William and Sarah Ann (Harper) Thomas. These worthy parents were natives of Belfast, Ireland, where the family can be traced back through six generations. One uncle of the subject is now pastor of the
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largest Methodist church in Belfast. William and Sarah Thomas came to America in 1845, the ocean voyage requiring six weeks, and on their arrival in this continent they located on a farm near Toronto, Canada, where the sub- ject was born and reared. He received his education in the public schools and at the age of fourteen years he entered the shops of the Credit Valley railroad as an apprentice to learn the machinist's trade. That road was after- wards absorbed by the Canadian Pacific railroad and he remained with the new road ten years. His apprenticeship was for a period of seven years, but he spent three years longer there as a machinist, and then went to Detroit, Michigan, where for nine months he was employed in the shops of a ship yard. He next entered the Port Huron shops of the Chicago & Grand Trunk rail- road, where he remained two years, and at the end of that time he returned to Toronto and again entered the Canadian Pacific shops, where he remained three years as a machinist. In 1890 Mr. Thomas went to St. Paul, Minne- sota, and during the following three years he was in the employ of the Chi- cago, St. Paul & Kansas City (now the Chicago Great Western) railroad. During the next four years he was a machinist in the shops of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha, at St. Paul, and in 1897 he returned to the Chicago Great Western, being put in charge of night work in their shops at St. Paul. In the spring of 1899 the Chicago Great Western shops at Oelwein were completed and he was sent here to install the machinery and take charge of the machine shop. He occupied this position three years, and his faith- fulness and efficiency were then rewarded by promotion to the responsible position of general foreman of the machine shops, which position he now holds. Mr. Thomas is a most thorough machinist, being familiar with every detail of the work, and in his capacity as a superintendent he has exhibited administrative qualities of the highest order, winning the frequent commenda- tion of his superiors. He has a large number of men under him, all of whom recognize his sterling qualities of manhood as well as his ability as a mechanic.
In 1885 Mr. Thomas was united in marriage with Lizzie Ankatell, a native of Ireland, who came to America in 1870 with her parents, James and Eliza Ann (Steen) Ankatell. To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have been born two children. The eldest, Percy Wilfred, who is a machinist in the railroad shops at Oelwein, married Edna Hocking, of Oelwein, though born in Toronto, Canada, and they have one child, Mildred Elizabeth. The youngest child, Bessie, is the wife of Charles McLean, of Oelwein, a machinist in the railroad shops, and they have two children, Doris Elizabeth and Malcolm. Fraternally Mr. Thomas is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. Personally Mr. Thomas is a man of marked
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intelligence and gentlemanly bearing, and in the circles in which he moves he enjoys the highest regard. He is interested in the community and gives his support to every movement calculated to benefit his fellow citizens.
WALTER P. CHRYSLER.
Practical industry wisely and vigorously applied never fails of success. It carries a man onward and upward, brings out his individual character and acts as a powerful stimulus to the efforts of others. The greatest results in life are often attained by simple means and the exercise of the ordinary qual- ities of common sense and perseverance. The every-day life, with its cares, necessities and duties, affords ample opportunities for acquiring experience of the best kind and its most beaten paths provide a true worker with abund- ant scope for effort and self improvement. Among the energetic and success- ful citizens of Oelwein, none holds a higher position in the regard of those who know him than does Walter P. Chrysler, superintendent of motive power for the Chicago Great Western railroad.
Mr. Chrysler was born in Wamego, Kansas, April 2, 1871, and is a son of Henry and Mary (Breyman) Chrysler. Henry Chrysler was a locomotive engineer on the old Kansas Pacific (now Union Pacific) railroad, whose termini were Kansas City and Denver, though at that time Wamego was the western end. Mr. Chrysler was on construction work and when the road was completed as far as Ellis, Kansas, he moved to that point and remained there until the subject was twenty-one years of age. The latter received his pre- liminary education in the public schools, graduating from the high school at the age of seventeen years.
When ready to take up the active duties of life, Walter Chrysler be- came a laborer in the shops of the Union Pacific railroad. Eight months later he entered the machine shops as an apprentice, serving two years there and completing his apprenticeship at Omaha, Nebraska. In the meantime he was attending night school and taking a course in mechanical drawing and mechan- ical engineering, and he also took a course in mechanical and electrical engin- eering from the International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsyl- vania, in which course he was graduated and granted a diploma. Leaving the Union Pacific he went to Wellington, Kansas, and entered the employ of the Santa Fe system as a machinist, but eight months later he was transferred to the general shops at Topeka, Kansas, where he became foreman of the
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erecting shops. Two years later he entered the employ of the Rio Grande Western at Salt Lake City. He entered the employ of this road as a machin- ist, but five months later he was promoted to the position of foreman of the roundhouse, which position he retained two years. At the end of that time he accepted the position of general foreman for the Colorado Southern, at Trinidad, Colorado, where he remained about two years. He then went to Childress, Texas, as master mechanic for the Fort Worth & Denver City railroad, which position he retained until 1906. In that year he came to Oelwein as master mechanic in the shops of the Chicago Great Western rail- road, and on December 21, 1907, he was promoted to the position of superin- tendent of motive power for the entire system of that road. This responsible position he is now filling to the entire satisfaction of his superiors. His inti- mate knowledge, both practical and theoretical, of mechanics, admirably quali- fies him for almost any position in the mechanical department of a great rail- road system and in his present position he is giving the best of satisfaction. The duties of the office are multitudinous and of the greatest responsibility, but Mr. Chrysler has been able to handle the operation of the road with ease and dispatch. He is extremely popular with both his superiors and the men under him, who recognize his sterling qualities and his practical worth, and in the community no citizen stands higher in popular regard.
On June 4, 1900, Mr. Chrysler was married to Della Forker, who was born at Ellis, Kansas, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Forker, natives of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To the subject and wife have been born three children, Thelma, Bernice and Walter P. In politics Mr. Chrysler is a stanch Republican, but is not an aspirant for public office, though he takes an intelli- gent interest in public affairs. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, in which he has taken the Scottish-Rite degrees up to and including the thirty-second, belonging to the consistory at Salina, Kansas. He is also a member of Isis Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. at Salina. The Woodmen of the World also claim his membership.
WILLIAM H. STEWART.
A well known and highly respected farmer of Harlan township, Fayette county, is William H. Stewart, who was born at Sidney, Ohio, December 3. 1838, and he was educated there and in Fayette county, Iowa, whither he moved when a boy. He is the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Golden) Stew-
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art, both natives of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, the father born April 10, 1801, and the mother in 1805. They were married in Pennsylvania and immediately moved to Ohio, locating at Dayton, but soon afterwards moved to Sidney, where Mr. Stewart conducted a flour mill. He was a millwright by profession. In the fall of 1855 he sold out and drove overland to Iowa, locating in Windsor township, Fayette county, buying a farm of one hundred and twenty acres and on this he lived until old age, when he sold out and made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Gardner, of Hawkeye. He and his wife were the parents of six children, two of whom died in Ohio; the others were, Samuel C. went to California when seventeen years old and made his home there until his death, in 1908; Mrs. Martha A. Gardner lives at Hawkeye with her daughter, Mrs. Laura Shales; James G. was county treasurer of Fayette county for two years; he died on January 21, 1899; William H., of this re- view.
Henry Stewart, father of these children, was a Republican and a member of the Presbyterian church; his death occurred on August 30, 1891; Mrs. Stewart died on January 13, 1886.
William H. Stewart lived on the farm with his parents until 1864, when he married and conducted his parents' farm for three years, when he bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Windsor township where he lived until 1877, when he sold and bought one hundred and sixty acres in section 9, Harlan township, where he at present resides.
Having been subject to rheumatism in his younger years, Mr. Stewart did not go to war in the sixties, but remained at home and cared for his parents while his brother, James G., served throughout the conflict in the Twelfth Iowa Infantry, having enlisted as a private, but was promoted to orderly sergeant.
William H. Stewart is a Republican, but has never aspired to public office. He holds membership with the Methodist Episcopal church.
On February 18, 1864, Mr. Stewart married Stella B. Ketchum, who was born in Dupage county, Illinois, February 2, 1845, and was the daughter of Edmond R. and Jane (Curry) Ketchum, natives of Orange county, New York. At the time of their marriage they moved to Hancock county, Illinois, where they lived for several years and reared children, five in number, when Mr. Ketchum sold out and moved to Dupage county, where.two more children were born. They were seven in all, four boys and three girls, namely : Mary Roe, Andrew Jackson, Phineas Rice, Eugene, Amos K., Stella B. and Ellen Jane. In May, 1848, Mrs. Ketchum died and in 1849 Mr. Ketchum mar- ried a second time, having espoused Mrs. Jane Winters. To this union were
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born two children, Flora (Ketchum) Burling and Josephine (Ketchum) Moody. In the year 1855 Mr. Ketchum sold his farm in Illinois and moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in 1857 moved to Fayette county, Iowa, and located on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Windsor township. Selling out in the fall of 1882, Mr. Ketchum moved to Nebraska and entered a claim on which he remained a few years, then moved to Postville, Allamakee county, Iowa, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. Ketchum died April 16, 1895, aged eighty-two years, and Mrs. Ketchum died in February, 1899, aged eighty-six years.
Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are the parents of eight children, namely: Ed- mond H., born November 21, 1867, resides in Maynard and is in the agri- cultural implement business ; Minnie M. died in infancy ; Mabel J. is the wife of Arthur Knight, a farmer of Harlan township; she was born February 5, 1874; Paul P., born January 1, 1877, resides in Harlan township and is a successful farmer ; Samuel C., was born February 18, 1879, and is also a farmer; Walter C., who is a veterinarian at West Union, was born June 28, 1881 ; Dale B., born September 24, 1883, was student in the Ohio State Uni- versity at Columbus ; he graduated as veterinary surgeon in June, 1910; Wes- ley J., born April 21, 1886, lives on the farm with his parents.
WILLARD J. AINSWORTH.
Willard Joseph Ainsworth was born in West Union, Fayette county. Iowa, December 27, 1870. He is the fourth son of Lucian L. and Margaret E. (McCool) Ainsworth, his father being a native of New Woodstock, New York, and coming to Iowa in 1855, and his mother coming originally from the state of Pennsylvania.
"Joe" Ainsworth was one of a family of five children, who grew up to- gether and were educated in the town of West Union. He graduated from the West Union high school in the spring of 1887 and shortly after went to New Hampton as a clerk in the postoffice, where he remained about a year. In September, 1888, he enrolled as a freshman in Upper Iowa University at Fayette and completed the four-year scientific course and graduated witlı credit in the class of 1891. Soon after his graduation he went to Oelwein where he read law with George H. Phillips and practiced some in justice courts. In the winter of 1892 he was made a committee clerk in the state Senate at Des Moines and served during the entire session of the twenty-
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fourth General Assembly. From there he went to the State University at Iowa City and enrolled in the spring term as a law student. He applied him- self diligently to his law studies and in June, 1893, received the degree of Bachelor of Laws and was admitted to practice in the state and federal courts. Coming back home, he at once became the junior member of the law firm of Ainsworth, Hobson & Ainsworth. Mr. Hobson being elected judge of the district court in the fall of 1895, left father and son practicing as one firm in the offices over the postoffice.
Shortly after his father's death in April, 1902, Mr. Ainsworth became senior member of the firm of Ainsworth, Dykins & Estey, from which Mr. Dykins retired in December, 1903. Mr. Estey retired in January, 1906. Mr. Ainsworth practiced alone until January, 1908, when a partnership was formed with C. B. Hughes, with offices over the Fayette County National Bank, and under the firm name of Ainsworth & Hughes. Mr. Ainsworth had long been local attorney for the Chicago Great Western Railway Company, and in Feb- ruary, 1908, was called to St. Paul, Minnesota, to fill the position of assistant general attorney of that company, and in charge of the personal injury de- partment. He performed the arduous duties of a "railroad lawyer" in a highly creditable manner until April, 1909, when, the railway company being in the hands of a receiver and its future somewhat uncertain, he resigned his position and moved back to West Union to enter the general practice in the partnership formed in 1908. Upon the reorganization of the Chicago Great Western Railway Company in 1909, he became local attorney for the new company and holds the position at the present time. During his legal career, he has held the office of city attorney and for a number of years has been the legal member of the commissioners of insanity for Fayette county.
As a lawyer, measured along the lines of natural ability, industry, fear- lessness, fairness and integrity, Mr. Ainsworth now stands among the leaders of the Iowa bar. He numbers among his clients many of the stronger financial interests of the county and enjoys to a marked degree the good will and con- fidence of the large number of people to whom he is known. As a counselor, he is careful, conscientious, thorough, and strives to discourage litigation when it can be avoided. In the trial court, he adheres closely to the real mer- its of his cause and presents the issues with clearness and force. It should be said, however, that one of the principal reasons for his success as a lawyer, is the absolute honesty and trustworthiness in his private and professional life, and this exceptional quality, added to his natural and developed talents, well equips him for an increasing success and a useful and honored career in his chosen work.
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Mr. Ainsworth has given considerable attention to the welfare of the Fayette County Savings Bank, having served on its board of directors a num- ber of years and now holding the office of vice-president. As a fraternalist he has given much time and is a member of Arbor Vitae Camp No. 292, Mod- ern Woodmen of America, and of West Union Lodge No. 69, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, having been made a Master Mason at the age of twenty-one and filling a number of the responsible stations in the lodge. He is a member of Ansel Humphrey Chapter No. 80, Royal Arch Masons, at Fay- ette, and affiliated with Langridge Commandery No. 47, Knights Templar, at West Union. In July, 1908, he became a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in Osman Temple, St. Paul, Minnesota, and a Master of the Royal Secret of the Thirty-second Degree, Ancient and Ac- cepted Scottish Rite, in Zarephath Consistory, Davenport, Iowa, in March, I910.
Mr. Ainsworth was united in marriage with Mabel Thorne at Youngs- town, Ohio, on November 30, 1899. Mrs. Ainsworth was born and educated in Ohio and is the daughter of John F. and Betsey (Jacobs) Thorne, her father being a soldier of the Civil war. She is a member of West Union Chapter No. 110, Order of the Eastern Star, and of the Daughters of the American Revolution. To them have been born three children, Josephine. aged ten years, Philip, who died December 14, 1906, at the age of six months, and Sallie Belle, born August 30, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Ainsworth own a beautiful home on South Vine street and add much to the social, civic, and liter- ary life of the city in which they reside.
CHARLES W. DYKINS.
This attorney and counsellor at law is an honorable representative of two of the old and well known families of Fayette county and dates his birth from the 8th day of November, 1873, being one of five children whose parents, Charles C. and Mary Dykins, were among the early pioneers of Auburn and Eden townships. Charles C. Dykins was one of the first merchants of West Union, also a leading man of affairs during the formative period of this part of the state, but having accumulated a competency, he discontinued business some years ago and is now living a life of retirement in that town. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Strong, was reared in Auburn township, where her parents settled as early as 1850 or '51. having been among the first comers
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to that part of the county and prominent in all matters relating to the de- velopment and growth of the locality in which they made their home.
Of the five children born to Charles C. and Mary Dykins, two died in infancy, those living being as follows: Albert W., a prosperous farmer and stock raiser residing southwest of Ramona; Nora E., who lives with her par- ents, and Charles W., the subject of this review.
The early life of Charles W. Dykins on the family homestead in Eden township was similar in most respects to that of the majority of lads reared under the wholesome influence of the farm, his experience including labor in the fields as soon as old enough for his efforts to be utilized to advantage, alternated by attendance in the public schools of Alpha and Waucoma during the fall and winter months. After finishing the prescribed branches of study, he took a special business course at Poughkeepsie, New York, following which he yielded to a long-felt desire by entering the law department of the Uni- versity of Iowa, where he prepared himself for the legal profession. Mr. Dykins was graduated from the latter institution in the year 1898, shortly after which he became a partner of Hon. S. S. Ainsworth, of West Union, the firm thus constituted lasting until the death of the senior member, when a new partnership was established by the subject and W. J. Ainsworth. The latter gentleman retiring, the firm became known as Dykins & Estey, under which name it continued until December, 1904, when it was dissolved by mutual consent and since that time Mr. Dykins has been alone in the practice.
While well grounded in the principles of jurisprudence and successful in all phases of the practice, Mr. Dykins devotes special attention to abstract work, land titles, etc., in which he has built up an extensive and lucrative busi- ness, being recognized as an authority on all matters relating to real estate as well as a safe and reliable counsellor in other branches of the law. His success has been pronounced and although among the younger members of the Fayette county bar he has a large clientele and is now one of the financially solid men of the town honored by his citizenship. He has a commodious and finely equipped office in the large business block which he owns.
Since engaging in the practice of his profession he has applied himself with more than ordinary diligence and assiduity, while his thorough knowl- edge of all he undertakes and loyalty to the interests of his clients have not only redounded greatly to his financial advantage, but have gained for him much more than local repute among the enterprising and successful lawyers of the northeastern part of the state.
Mr. Dykins takes an active interest in secret fraternal work and is an influential member of several societies founded upon this principle, being
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identified with Windsor Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Unity Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, at Elgin, and Langridge Commandery, Knights Templar, at West Union, and the Order of the Eastern Star at the place last named. From time to time he has been honored with important offices in the above organizations and in his relations with his fellow men he has ever tried to exemplify the noble principles and precepts by which the order is governed.
A reader, a thinker and an intelligent observer, Mr. Dykins is well in- formed on the leading questions of the day and keeps fully abreast of the times on all matters in which the public is interested. He is a Republican in politics and though firmly grounded in the principles of his party and a judi- cious adviser in its councils, he cannot be termed a politician nor has he ever entered the arena as an office-seeker or aspirant for leadership. In addition to the property interests in West Union already referred to, he owns one of the beautiful and attractive homes of the town and has been a stockholder in the First National Bank of Hawkeye ever since its organization, besides own- ing an interest in one of the largest and most valuable business blocks in the latter place.
Mr. Dykins' home is presided over by an intelligent and accomplished lady, to whom he was united in the bonds of wedlock, November 8, 1900, and who, prior to that time, bore the name of Fannie L. Ainsworth. Mrs. Dykins is a daughter of Dr. E. A. Ainsworth, of West Union, and, as indi- cated above, possesses many sterling qualities of mind and heart and, with her husband, manifests a lively interest in the social life of the town, although of domestic tastes and a lover of her own fireside. The home of this estim- able couple has been gladdened by the presence of one child, an interesting little daughter who answers to the name of Dora, and who bears the weight of her six years with the grace and dignity becoming one who realizes her importance as an influential factor in the domestic circle.
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