USA > Iowa > O'Brien County > Past and present of O'Brien and Osceola counties, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 15
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63
4
-
JA IONS
r
835
O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
this city he went to eastern South Dakota and there worked on farms and attended school during the winter months. In the summer of 1892 he went to northwestern Iowa and did farm work. From here he went to Dixon, Illinois, in the fall and in less than two years he completed the four-year normal course provided for students. Although the regular work at the Dixon Normal College called for fifteen hours weekly, he succeeded in doing thirty-five hours' work. This remarkable feat required the hardest kind of study and the closest application on his part. He taught school in Illinois and Iowa for a number of years and held the position of principal of the Orange City (Iowa) high school. He entered the Iowa State Uni- versity, and completed the law course in 1904. He was then employed as traveling salesman from June, 1904, to November 15th of the same year. He then came to Sheldon and for the first four years of his residence in this city he had his office with Judge Boies. In 1909 he opened an office of his own and has been very successful in his practice. On January 1, 1913, he took over a considerable part of Judge Boies' law practice on account of the Judge having taken his seat on the district bench. Mr. Diamond has had cases before the federal courts and in the supreme court of this state and of Minnesota and enjoys a constantly increasing clientele. He served for four years as city attorney of Sheldon.
Mr. Diamond is a pronounced Democrat in politics and is one of the known leaders of his party in the state. In 1896 Mr. Diamond, when but twenty years of age, stumped the country and made speeches in behalf of the candidacy of William Jennings Bryan. He continues to take an active part in Democratic politics, and had the distinction of presenting the minority re- port in the Burlington (Iowa) Democratic convention of 1912 which endorsed the candidacy of Woodrow Wilson in preference to the choice of the convention. He made a notable address in behalf of Mr. Wilson and led a strenuous fight which attracted attention throughout the state. He firmly believed then, as now, that Woodrow Wilson was the logical candidate of the Democratic party for the Presidency and his contention has been borne out by the subsequent choice of his favorite for the highest office in the land. During the campaign of 1912 he devoted three weeks of his time to cam- paigning in behalf of the Democratic national ticket, and was gratified by the great Democratic success which followed. His religious associations are with the Congregational church. He is a member of the Masonic lodge, having taken thirty-two degrees of the Scottish Rite.
Mr. Diamond was married November 12, 1907, to Maude E. Peck, a
(54)
836
O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
daughter of John F. Peck, formerly a resident of Sheldon, Iowa, but now residing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He is the father of two children, Marion Lou and Dorothy Ruth.
The biographer believes that a perusal of this foregoing review and an analysis of the life work of this rising and gifted young man will provide inspiration to ambitious youths who are alike desirous of climbing the ladder of fame and winning renown. It is reviews such as this one that embellish the pages of this history.
PROF. EDWARD E. RICHARDS.
The men most influential in promoting the advancement of society and in giving character to the times in which they live, are two classes, to wit. the men of study and the men of action. Whether we are more indebted for the improvement of the age to the one class or the other is a question of honest difference in opinion : neither class can be spared and both should be encouraged to occupy their several spheres of labor and influence, zealously and without mutual distrust. In the following paragraphs are briefly out- lined the leading facts and characteristics in the career of a gentleman who combines in his make-up the elements of the scholar and the energy of the public-spirited man of affairs.
Prof. Edward E. Richards, the son of E. James and Catherine (Smithi) Richards, was born May 14, 1880, in Warren, Illinois. James Richards was born in 1847 in Illinois, and his wife was born in Pennsylvania in 1859. James Richards lived for many years near Galena, Illinois, where his father, William, worked in the lead mines. James Richards spent his younger days working in the mines, and since 1870 has lived in Warren, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. James Richards had three children : James, a merchant of North Yakima, Washington: Mrs. Bertha Fitzgerald, of Kankakee, Illinois, and Prof. Edward E., whose history is herein recorded.
Prof. Edward E. Richards was educated in the common and high schools of Warren, Illinois, and later attended Warren Academy. He then entered the University of Nebraska, from which he graduated in 1904. Before entering the university he had been teaching in the country schools. having taught from 1898 to 1902 ; the first two years he spent in the country schools and from 1900 to 1902 he was teaching in O'Brien county, Iowa. After graduating from the university, he became superintendent of the South Bend, Nebraska, schools and a year later was elected superintendent of the
837
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
Sargent, Nebraska, schools, a position which he held for three years; he then taught one year in Long Pine. Nebraska, and followed this with the position of superintendent of the Cumberland. Iowa, schools. In the fall of 1912 he was elected superintendent of the Primghar schools and has been efficiently filling that position up to the present time. He has brought to his school work a well drilled mind and the tact and personality which are the requisites of every successful teacher. He is rapidly bringing the Primg- har schools to the front, and is placing them in a position where they are be- coming of increasing value to the town and vicinity. He now has ten teachers under his charge, and has made the high school one of the accredited high schools of the state. In the year 1913 the high school enrolled ninety pupils and graduated seventeen.
Professor Richards was married October 20, 1902, in Orange City. Iowa. to Daisy M. Allard. the daughter of Benjamin H. and Rectinia L. Allard. This marriage has been blessed with two children. Hazel, born March 2, 1905. and Onine, born November 15, 1908.
Professor Richards is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He takes an active in- terest in the affairs of the Democratic party and for two years was county chairman of the Cass county, Iowa, Democratic organization. Since coming to Nebraska he has twice been elected delegate to the Democratic state con- ventions, having previously served twice as delegate in Nebraska. However, Professor Richards' interests are now directed towards the reorganization and upbuilding of the schools of Primghar. When he came here in the fall of 1912 he found the schools badly disorganized, but during his administra- tion as superintendent he has brought about a wonderful change. He now has the schools in good working order and in a position where they are able to do efficient work.
JOHN V. ADKINS.
A record of the representative citizens of O'Brien county, Iowa, would be incomplete should there be failure to make mention of the name of John V. Adkins, one of the leading citizens of the town of Paullina. Mr. Adkins has been a resident here for over thirty years, during which time great and marked improvements have been made in this locality, in all of which he has taken more than a passing pleasure, being a man of high ideals and more than ordinary civic pride.
838
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, 10WA.
John V. Adkins, associated with the Bank of Paullina, Iowa, was born in Schuyler county, Illinois, in 1851, the son of Ezra and Lydia (Vertner) Adkins, the latter being a native of the state of Ohio. Ezra Adkins was an Easterner. born in Connecticut in 1824, and during the earlier years of his manhood he followed the vocation of farming. Previous to the time of the Civil War he came westward, locating in Illinois, where he had farming in- terests. There, at Camp Illinois, he enlisted as a private in the One Hundred and Twelfth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He saw much active service and during the siege of Knoxville. Tennessee, he was so unfortunate as to lose an arm. This was in 1864 and after receiving his injury he was given an honorable discharge, whereupon he returned to his former home in Illinois, and in 1865 became interested in the hotel business at Prairie City. Iowa. In this enterprise he was quite successful and with it remained for a number of years. He followed the hotel business here for some twenty years. when he disposed of his hotel and became county auditor of Jasper county, and about five years later his death occurred in 1898 in the town of Newton. He was the father of seven children, but three of whom are now living.
John V. Adkins received his schooling in his native county in Illinois and at the age of eighteen secured a position as clerk in a general merchandise store in Prairie City, this state. In this connection he remained for twelve years, when, desiring to be better equipped for the battle of life, he left Prairie City, going to Keokuk in 1876. where he took a complete business course, which was of inestimable advantage to him in later years. In 1883 he first came to Paullina and became associated with his brother David in the general merchandise business, selling out his interest therein three years later. David Adkins had the distinction of being the first settler in the town of Paullina and followed it from its earliest beginnings up to a thriving city with varied interests and fully in touch with the outside world. After sever- ing his connection with his brother. Mr. Adkins became identified with the banking business, which has since claimed his best efforts and to its present satisfactory state of prosperity his industry and judgment has largely con- tributed. In addition to his interest in the bank, he has large landed hold- ings in O'Brien county and also owns his residence and several lots in the town of Paullina.
In 1877 Mr. Adkins was united in marriage with Allie White, who was born in 1853 at Valparaiso, Indiana, and their union has been blessed with two sons. the elder of whom. Harry C .. is a civil engineer, located at present in Tennessee, while Leigh W., the younger, follows the same profession, be- ing connected with the Northern Pacific Railroad, having his headquarters
839
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
at St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Adkins is a stanch supporter of old-line Re- publican principles, taking more than a passive interest in the party's affairs. The family is identified with the Presbyterian church, to the support of which society Mr. Adkins gives liberally of both time and means. He is also a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Adkins has ever had the best interests of the community at heart and is one of the citizens of the town who is willing to give something of his own time and effort to bring about better things for the community. At present, he is serving Paullina as its city treasurer and every movement for the betterment of social, moral or material conditions finds in him a more than interested advocate. The qualities which have made him one of the successful and prominent men of Paullina have also brought him the esteem of his fellow townsmen, for his career has been one of well-directed energy, strong determination and honorable methods.
J. W. HICKOK.
In every town and city in the United States there are men whose busi- ness it is to minister to the material wants of man, and no more genial people are to be found than the men who manage the hotels and taverns of our country. For more than thirty-two years J. W. Hickok has been the pro- prietor of the hotel at Sibley, Iowa, known as the Osceola House, and during that long period of time thousands of people have partaken of his hospitality. It can not be gainsaid that many people get their first view of a town from the hotel where they stop, and for this reason a good hotel is one of the most valuable assets of a town or city. It is safe to say that there is no more popular proprietor in Iowa than Mr. Hickok, who has dispensed his generous hospitality for so many years in this city.
J. W. Hickok. the son of John M. and Mary ( Stark) Hickok, was born December 15, 1850, in Grant county, Wisconsin, on a farm. His parents were born, reared and married in Pennsylvania, and in the early forties left their native state for Wisconsin, making the trip by lake and team. They passed through Chicago when there was only one building in that now famous city. and arrived in Grant county, Wisconsin, among the earliest pioneers of that state. One year after they settled in Wisconsin they drove back to Pennsylvania with Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff for a year's visit. the trip taking them twelve weeks. They reared a family of nine children in Wisconsin
840
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
and lived there the remainder of their days, John M. Hickok dying in 1869 and his wife passing away in 1897 in Iowa. The nine children of Mr. and Mrs. John M. Hickok are as follows: Almon, deceased: James, deceased ; one who died in infancy in Pennsylvania; Cornelia, who died in Wisconsin ; J. W., with whom this narrative deals; George V., who lives in Grant county, Wisconsin ; Charles, who is a resident of California ; Mrs. Minerva Bradley, also of California, and Mrs. Effie Suter, who lives in Sibley, Iowa.
J. W. Hickok was educated in the schools of Grant county, Wisconsin. and assisted his father to till the home farm until his marriage, at the early age of nineteen. He followed the vocation of agriculture in his native state until 1880, when he disposed of his interests in his native state with the in- tention of going West and investing in land in Iowa. He arrived in Osceola county, Iowa, on April 8, 1881, with his wife and five children. After look- ing over the county he decided to embark in the hotel business and accord- ingly purchased the Osceola House in Sibley, where he has continued as pro- prietor down to the present time. He took charge of the hotel on July 25. 1881, and since that time has been an active factor in the civic life of his town and community. He holds the record in Iowa for the continuous owner- ship of one hotel, an honor which speaks well for his successful management.
Mr. Hickok was married in Grant county, Wisconsin, in 1869, to Frances R. Stevens, and to this marriage have been born five children: Mrs. Agnes Briggs, of Leeds, South Dakota; Mrs. Anna Frick, who lives in Yankton. South Dakota: Mrs. Nellie Romey, of Melvin, Iowa: Gertie Hickok, who (lied in Wisconsin, and Edna, who is still living with her parents. George A. Romey, the husband of Nellie Hickok, is represented elsewhere in this work with a biographical sketch. He is cashier of the First National Bank at Melvin, in this county.
Politically, Mr. Hickok is a Democrat, but the nature of his business has kept him from taking an active part in political affairs. However, he has always been a wide reader of current events and keeps well informed upon the political questions of the day. He is an Odd Fellow of thirty years' standing and has always taken an active interest in the affairs of that fraternal organization. He also holds membership in the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Hickok has carried on his hotel enterprise with that discre- tion and energy which are sure to find their natural sequence in definite success. He has always been a hard worker. a good manager and a man of economical habits, and, being pleasantly situated in a thriving state and in a thriving county. it is no wonder that he has gained substantial material
841
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
success in his chosen vocation. There is no more widely known, popular hotel man in the state than he, a tribute indeed to his genial nature and upright- ness of character.
JOHN C. HANON.
A sterling and useful citizen is John C. Hanon, who is now living a re- tired life in Sibley, Iowa. His history should be an inspiration and incentive to those who are now living in this county and especially to the coming gen- eration. The young man who is hestitating at the parting of the ways could do no better than to take his career as an object from which to pattern his individual course in life. Coming here during the pioneer times. he has lived through the whole history of the county and has taken his full share in mak- ing it the prosperous county it is today.
John C. Hanon, son of Michael and Margaret (Egan) Hanon, was born in Burlington, Vermont, April 23. 1850. His parents were both natives of Ireland and settled first in Vermont after coming to this country. They later moved to Ohio, and in 1854 settled at Baraboo, Sauk county, Wisconsin, and here Michael Hanon farmed until his death, which occurred in 1866, his wife having passed away in 1858. Michael Hanon and wife were the parents' of five children, four of whom are living: Mrs. Birdie Desmond, who lives in Baraboo, Wisconsin; Michael, who is a resident of Reedsburg, Wisconsin ; Mrs. Margaret Tierney, of Portland, Oregon, and John C., with whom this narrative deals.
In 1871 John C. Hanon came to Osceola county, Iowa, and homesteaded on the west half of section 8 in Ocheyedan township, being one of the first settlers of this township. He put up a small shanty and proved his claim so as to satisfy the government's requirements. The first year he broke up twenty acres and was fortunate in having a good crop. The next year the grasshoppers came and these pests became so bad that he left his farm and went to Sibley, where he worked at odd jobs for a time. In 1876 he entered the old Sibley House as clerk and in four years became the proprietor of the hotel, which he managed for a period of four years and then sold it and en- gaged in the implement business for the next five years. In 1889 he became interested in the real estate and insurance business and also gave some atten- tion to agriculture. In 1905 he retired from active work on account of his health and is now living a retired life in his handsome home in Sibley. He has owned and handled over five thousand acres of land in Osceola county
842
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
during the past thirty years and in all of these transactions he has so con- ducted himself as to win the esteem of his fellow citizens.
Mr. Hanon was married April 6, 1879. to Mahala Nixon, a native of Grant county, Wisconsin, and the daughter of George Nixon, a Union vet- eran and a pioneer settler of Osecola county, and to this union there have been born seven children : Charles, a lumber dealer of Pierre, South Dakota ; Fred, an employee of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company ; Blanche. who is still at home with her parents: Julian, who died at the age of twenty. of typhoid fever; George, a groceryman in Sibley, and Clifford, who is still attending the public schools of Sibley.
The Democratic party has always claimed the support of Mr. Hanon, and in its affairs he has always taken an active interest. He was city council- man of the town of Sibley when it was first incorporated and has always taken an active interest in the welfare of his home city. He and his family are loyal and earnest members of the Catholic church, and give to it their earnest and zealous support at all times. In disposition Mr. Hanon is frank, earnest and straightforward. and his popularity is due to the fact that he has never done anything which would bring down upon him the censure or dis- approval of his fellow citizens.
ROSCOE JANVRIN LOCKE.
It is not an easy task to adequately describe the character of a man who has led an eminently active and busy life in connection with the great legal profession and who has stamped his individuality on the plane of definite accomplishment in one of the most exacting fields of human endeavor. Yet there is always full measure of satisfaction in adverting, even in a casual way, to the career of an able and conscientious worker in any phase of life. Among the truly self-made and representative men of O'Brien county none rank higher than the honorable gentleman whose name heads this sketch, who is a conspicuous figure in the civic life of the community. A man of tireless energy and indomitable courage, he has won and held the unqualified esteen of his fellow citizens. With the law as his profession from young manhood, he has won a brilliant reputation and the future gives promise of still much greater things for him.
Roscoe Janvrin Locke, attorney, of O'Brien county, was born June 16, 1877, in Dover, New Hampshire. His parents were E. F. and Julia E.
ROSCOE J. LOCKE AND FAMILY
St.
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOW.A.
(Janvrin) Locke, both of whom were natives of Strafford county, New Hampshire, where they were born in 1843. E. F. Locke was the son of James Locke, a native of New Hampshire, and Julia, the wife of E. F. Locke, was the daughter of Rufus Janvrin, who was also born in New Hampshire. The Locke family is descended from Scotch English on the father's side and French and Scotch ancestry on the mother's side. When Roscoe J. Locke was about one year of age his parents moved to the northern part of Missouri, where they permanently located in 1878. They had previously resided in Missouri several years before this, but had returned to their native state again. Mr. and Mrs. E. F. Locke were the parents of six children, three of whom are still living: Roscoe J .; Frank R., of Rockport, Missouri, and James R., of Lenox, Iowa.
Roscoe Janvrin Locke was educated in the district and high schools of Rockport, Missouri. and later graduated from the State University of Nebraska in the legal department, securing his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1901. Mr. Locke first came into the northwestern part of Iowa in 1896 and located south of Paullina, in this county, where he taught school during the winter and worked on farms during the summer. Upon his graduation from college he immediately began the practice of law at Sutherland, Iowa, where he remained until the spring of 1906, then removed to Primghar. the county seat of O'Brien county, and shortly afterwards was elected county attorney. He was appointed February 13, 1906, to this office to fill a vacancy, and upon the expiration of his appointed term he was elected, and has been re-elected four times since. He enjoys the utmost confidence and esteem of the people of the county, as is justified by their keeping him in the important office which he now holds.
Mr. Locke was married May 22, 1906, to Laura Ewoldt, the daughter of Hans and Mary Ewoldt, of Paullina. in this county. To this marriage have been born two children, Marian Julia, aged six, and Ruth, who died December 10, 1913. Fraternally. Mr. Locke is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Yeomen. Politically, he is a Republican and takes an active interest in the affairs of his party. He and his wife are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Locke is a man of wide and accurate knowledge of law and is a close reader and keen observer of men and events. He is successful in his law practice and is also largely interested in the welfare of his community, giving his unreserved support to every enterprise which is to the advancement of his fellow citizens.
S+4
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOW.A.
FRANK E. KENNEDY.
The county seat of Osceola county boasts of many progressive and en- terprising citizens who are engaged in a great variety of different occupa- tions. Among these business men who have taken their share in making Sibley the prosperous town which it is today there is no one who is more deserving of mention in this volume than Frank E. Kennedy, a real estate man and a prominent stock buyer and shipper. With few opportunities except what his own efforts were capable of mastering, and many discour- agements to overcome in his younger years, he has made an exceptional suc- cess in life and now has the gratification of knowing that he has a competency to insure against future wants, and that it has been won by honest effort.
Frank E. Kennedy, the son of Michael and Mary ( Murray ) Kennedy, was born in Illinois in March, 1864. The parental home at that time was on a farm in LaSalle county, where his parents had previously settled. Michael and Mary Kennedy came to Connecticut before they were married and were subsequently married in that state. In the early fifties they came to Illinois and bought a farm in LaSalle county where they lived until 1878. They then moved to Tama county, Iowa, and bought a farm, remaining there until the death of Michael in the fall of 1909 at the age of eighty-four. The mother now lives in Chicago with one of her daughters. Michael Kennedy and wife were the parents of five children, who are still living: Michael, of Traer, lowa : Julia, Mary and Mrs. Ella Pollard, who are living in Chicago, and Frank E., whose history is here briefly sketched.
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.