USA > Iowa > Woodbury County > Sioux City > Past and present of Sioux City and Woodbury County, Iowa > Part 21
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is recognized as a most capable business man and able financier.
On the 15th of January, 1885, Mr. Booher married Miss Louise Erke, who was born in Germany in 1863 and in 1872 came to the United States with her parents, John and Mary Erke, the family locating in London, Cedar county, Iowa. She attended the public schools from the age of six to ten years but her advan- tages in that direction were limited. Mr. and Mrs. Booher have two children: Edith, born in 1887; and Fay D., born October 26, 1901. Our subject is devoted to his home and family and does all in his power for their welfare and happiness. He has a niee modern resi- dence in Danbury, erected at a cost of four thousand dollars and has other property in this county and an interest in lands in Minnesota.
Mr. Booher and his family are members of the Methodist church, although his wife was reared in the German Lutheran faith. Frater- nally he is a member of the Masonic lodge and the Order of the Eastern Star at Danbury and is now serving as treasurer of the former. Since attaining his majority he has affiliated with the Republican party but has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, al- though he has been honored with the office of mayor and has served as a member of the town council for the last four years. In all of the relations of life he has been found true to every trust reposed in him and he has the respect and confidence of those with whom he comes in contact in business, political or social life.
CHARLES REINKING.
Charles Reinking, numbered among the Ger- man-American citizens of Woodbury county and classed with the thrifty agriculturists of Rutland township, is living on section 20. His attention is untiringly given to his farming operations, which cover the cultivation of one
hundred and sixty acres on the home farm and one hundred and eighty acres on section 18, Rutland township.
Mr. Reinking was born in Hanover, Ger- many, December 15, 1845, and spent his boy- hood days on the home farm, while in the pub- lie schools he acquired his education. He was a young man of about twenty-two years when he bade adieu to friends and native coun- try and sailed for the United States as a pas- senger on a westward-bound vessel that left the port of Bremen and dropped anchor in the har- bor of New York. At once continuing his journey into the interior of the country, he first located in Du Page county, Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand for several years. He came to Iowa in 1870, settling in Clinton county, where he again worked on a farm by the month and afterward by the year. After his marriage he located in Boone county, Iowa, where he continued for two years, and then removed to Ida county, where he became the owner of his first farm, purchasing one hun- dred and sixty aeres of raw land. To the de- velopment and improvement of this place he gave his attention until 1884, when he sold the property and came to Woodbury county. Here by purchase he acquired a quarter section of unbroken land, which he placed under the plow and planted to corn, wheat and other cereals. HIe first built a little granary, in which he lived for two or three years, and afterward erected a neat substantial residence. In the rear of the house are good barns, corneribs, sheds and, in fact, all the equipments and accessories of a model farm of the twentieth century. His fences are always kept in good repair and everything about the place is neat and thrifty in appearance. He worked most earnestly and untiringly for a number of years and gained the success which always comes as the reward of persistent effort. When his financial re- sources made it possible he invested in one hill- dred and eighty acres in the same township and is engaged in farming on both places and raises
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good stock. He has a windpump and feed mills and his farm is thoroughly up-to-date in every particular.
In Crawford county, Iowa, on the 19th of July, 1879, Mr. Reinking was united in mar- riage to Miss Lena Meyer, a native of Du Page county, Illinois, and a daughter of Fred Meyer, an early settler of that state from Hanover, Germany. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Reinking have been born eight children: Louis, Charles, Ed, William, Minnie, Fritz, Emil and Clara. They also lost a daughter, Emma, who died at the age of sixteen years.
Politically Mr. Reinking is a stanch Repub- liean. His first presidential ballot was cast for Grover Cleveland and his last for William MeKinley, for in the meantime he had under- gone a change in political sentiment and now endorses the men and measures of the Grand Old Party. He and his wife were reared in the Lutheran church and during their residence in Woodbury county they have made many friends who entertain for them the warm re- gard which is ever given in acknowledgement of genuine personal worth.
JOSEPH W. HALLAM.
Joseph W. Hallam, who in the practice of law during twenty years' connection with the Iowa bar, has given evidence of the possession of those traits which constitute the strong at- torney-the keen discernment, the analytical mind and the unflagging industry-is a native of Wisconsin, his birth having occurred in Lin- den, Iowa county, on the 9th of November, 1855. His parents, Joseph and Mary (Wood) Hallam, were natives of England and the for- mer was a distant relative of Hallam, the his- torian. They came to America in the year 1849, established their home in Wisconsin and for many years the father carried on farming there. His death, however, occurred in Min- neapolis, on the 16th of July, 1898, but his
wife passed away in Iowa county, Wisconsin, in April, 1885. They were the parents of the following children, of whom Joseph W. is the fourth in order of birth: Ann E., Alfred, John T., Joseph W., Louisa, William Ilenry and Oscar. One daughter, Mary Hallam, died in infancy, and John T., died in Minneapolis, in 1899, aged forty-six years.
Joseph W. Hallam spent his boyhood days on the home farm and attended the district schools prior to entering the normal school at Platteville, Wisconsin, where he continued for a year. He then matriculated in the Univer- sity of Wiseonsin, at Madison, in 1878, and was graduated on the completion of a literary course in 1882, while in 1883 he completed a law course, whereby he was prepared for admission to the bar. Choosing Sioux City as the seene of his professional labors, he has since con- tinued in practice here, covering a period of twenty-two years, and the favorable judgment which the public passed upon him at the outset of his career has in no degree been set aside or modified, but on the contrary has been in- creased by his careful handling of important litigated interests. The confidence reposed in him is indicated by the fact that he has been continued in the office of prosecuting attorney of Woodbury county, by popular suffrage, for six years, from 1895 until 1901, inclusive, and the duties of the office were most faithfully dis- charged. He showed no partiality, no fear nor favor, in the prosecution of any suit for the county, and his careful preparation of cases, his eogent reasoning and clear presentation of a eause won him many notable forensic triumphis.
Mr. Hallam was married, August 17, 1883. in Portage City, Wisconsin, to Miss Julia K. Clark, and they have four children: Margue- rite, Clark, Arthur and Kirkland. Mr. and Mrs. Hallam have a large cirele of acquain- tances in Sioux City and enjoy the favorable regard of the great majority of those with whom they have come in contact. Mr. Hallam is a progressive and public-spirited citizen and
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although he has not sought to figure before the efforts as to win a competence and at the same public in any light outside of his profession, time contribute in substantial and tangible measure to public progress and improvement. he has, as an attorney and in the public office he has filled, won the admiration and respect of his fellow men by his ability and fidelity.
EDWIN C. PETERS.
Edwin C. Peters has been a promoter of business enterprises whose value to Sioux City is widely recognized. Morningside, which is Sioux City's most beautiful suburb, is largely a monument to his business capability and pro- gressive spirit.
Mr. Peters was born upon a farm in Chester county, Pennsylvania, October 23, 1836, a son of Robert P. and Elmira (Gregg) Peters. He attended a district school and then a local acad- emy until fifteen years of age, when he entered the Pennsylvania Normal School at Millers- ville, Pennsylvania, where he remained for two years. On the expiration of that period he en- tered upon the study of law and was graduated from the National Law School of Poughkeep- sie, New York, when but twenty-one years of age. He then removed to Niagara Falls and after a year spent in the law office of A. P. Floyd, he engaged in the law and insurance business in partnership with H. N. Griffith, then district attorney. In 1861 he was ap- pointed by President Lincoln deputy United States marshal for the arrest and detention of persons of known notorious disloyalty, but after a few months Secretary of War Seward revoked the order for this special service and he was commissioned deputy collector of customs at Niagara Falls and held the office until the spring of 1870, when he disposed of his busi- ness interests, resigned his government position and came to Sioux City, entering the banking house of Weare & Allison, taking a working interest in the insurance business. Thus he became identified with the business interests of the city in which he has since so directed his
About a year and a half after his arrival Mr. Peters, in connection with George Murphy, purchased the insurance branch of the business from the bank and in connection with the con- duct of the business enterprise, of which they thus became proprietors, they also established the first savings bank of the city, of which Mr. Peters became vice-president. Two years later A. S. Garretson and his friends purchased a controlling interest in this institution and merged it into the Sioux National Bank.
About this time Mr. Peters sustained an in- jury in the head which unfitted him for office work for nearly four years. Recovering in 1877 he went to the Black Hills, having been appointed the first treasurer of Pennington county, South Dakota, while later he was com- missioned probate judge of that county. The second year after coming to Sioux City he pur- chased a large tract of land about a mile and a half southeast of the city limits and with oth- ers who had come with him from Niagara Falls he started a settlement to which he gave the name of Morningside. Upon his return from the Black Hills in 1878 he again took up his abode at Morningside and has since devoted much of his time to furthering the interests of that beautiful suburb. In 1888 the Sioux City Rapid Transit Company was organized and a motor line built connecting Morningside with the city. Of this company Mr. Peters became president. In 1890-1 the company constructed a mile and a half of connecting elevated rail- road at a cost of four hundred thousand dollars, thus enabling them to run their cars direct from Morningside to the center of Sioux City. Many business enterprises have profited by the counsel or material assistance of Mr. Peters, who is now one of the directors of the North- western National Bank of Sioux City. Upon the organization of the University of the North- west at Morningside, now known as Morning-
666 Satin.
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side College, he was made vice-president and chairman of the executive committee.
On the 17th of November, 1864, Mr. Peters was married to Miss Sarah P. Scott, a daughter of Benjamin R. and Lney (Hill) Scott, natives of Horneastle, England. Mrs. Peters was born in New York city and is a cousin of Sir Gil- bert Scott, who designed the Prince Albert memorial monument. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Peters, but only three are now living: Merritt Chesbro, Pierre Hugo and Hope Seott. Lula White died in 1892.
Mr. Peters' native force of character has found expression in the steady and unremit- ting performance of the duties which business life has brought to him. He has a large ca- pacity for work in addition to ability to plan, and is ever systematie and acenrate. Outside of his business he is devoted to his family and to the pursuits of a cultured life.
HION. I. B. SANTEE.
There are in every community men of great foree of character and exceptional ability who by reason of their capacity for leadership be- come recognized as foremost citizens and be- come promiently identified with public affairs. Such a man is Hon. I. B. Santee, who has served as cashier of the Danbury State Bank for over fifteen years and has represented his dis- triet in the state legislature.
Mr. Santee was born on a farm in Mononga- lia county, West Virginia, on the 7th of March, 1852, his parents being A. J. and Lney (Shri- ver) Santee, also natives of that county, the former of French and the latter of German descent. The father continued to make his home there until he came to Danbury, lowa. On the 31st of January, 1889, he organized the Danbury State Bank, of which he is now vice- president. In early life he made farming his principal occupation and in his business un- dertakings has met with most gratifying sne-
cess. He had three sous, but one is now de- ceased, those living being 1. B., of this review; and S. Il., who lives on the homestead farm two miles west of Danbury.
I. B. Santee began his education in the pub- lie schools of West Virginia and later attended the University of West Virginia at Morgan- town and the Iron City Business College at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was gradu- ated in 1872. Leaving his native state in that year he removed to Cornell, Illinois, where he was engaged in mercantile business for ten years, and at the end of that time came to Iowa, first locating in Harlan, Shelby county, where he was employed as clerk in a store for six months. He then came to Danbury in 1882, as manager of the store of Sheppard, Field & Cook, of Conneil Bluffs, and held that position until eleeted eashier of the Danbury State Bank on its organization in 1889, having sinee served in that eapaeity.
On the 16th of June, 1876, Mr. Santee was united in marriage to Miss Ada M. Gibson, a daughter of James and Mary Gibson. Her father died in Illinois several years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Santee have an elegant home, sur- rounded by beautiful grounds and pleasantly located in a recent addition near the Catholic school, overlooking the town. They stand high socially and their home has become the center of a cultured society cirele.
Fraternally Mr. Santee is a member of Dan- bury Lodge, No. 387, A. F. & A. M .; Monona Chapter, R. A. M., of Mapleton; Columbia Commandery, K. T., of Sioux City; Danbury Chapter, O. E. S .; and El Kahir Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He cast his first presidential vote for Samuel J. Til- den and continued to support the Democratic party until Grover Cleveland's first term, since which time he has affiliated with the Republi- eans, voting for Benjamin Harrision in 1888. He stands high in the councils of his party and has been called upon to serve in numerous local offices. He was also a member of the twenty-
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seventh and twenty-eighth general assemblies of Iowa, being a member of that body in 1900, during the great senatorial contest between Geer and Cummins. He gave his support to Geer, who was defeated, but the following year when Cummins was elected governor of the state he became one of his ardent supporters and was selected as governor's aide with the rank of colonel. In public office he has ever been found faithful, capable and trustworthy and national progress and local advancement are causes both dear to his heart.
JACOB NICOLAISEN.
Jacob Nicolaisen, who is engaged in general farming and stock-raising on a tract of land of one hundred and sixty acres on section 18, Union township, was born in Schleswig-Hol- stein, Germany, on the 24th day of June, 1851. His boyhood days were spent in the fatherland and he received good school advantages in the German tongue, but is largely self-educated in English. He was thirty years of age when he came to the United States, attracted by the su- perior business opportunities of the new world where ambition and effort are not hampered by caste or class. He took passage on a ship sail- ing from Hamburg for New York and made his way direct to California, where he worked on a ranch. There he remained for five years, on the expiration of which period he came to Iowa, joining some German friends in Craw- ford county. He then looked about him in search of a favorable location and bought land in Ida county, on which he settled and began farming. There he built a house and barn and he continued the cultivation of the fields there for ten years. At the end of that time he sold the property, and in 1894 he bought one hun- dred and sixty acres of land on section 18, Union township, Woodbury county. Again he took up the task of improving his place and he has since added to and remodeled the house.
He has also built two good barns and other necessary outbuildings, has put in a wind-pump and has carried forward the work of improve- ment until excellent results have been accom- plished and his is a farm which many a man might well covet. He raises good stock in addi- tion to the production of the various cereals adapted to soil and climate, and his sales of the products of the farm bring to him a generous but well merited reward for his labors.
Mr. Nicolaisen was married in Ida county in 1885 to Miss Alvena Volkmann, a native of Germany, who was reared in Crawford county, Iowa. They are the parents of seven children : Christena, Nicolai, Elsie, Mary, Amil, Harvey and Raymond. Mr. Nicolaisen has given his children good educational privileges and he is a warm friend of the public school system and believes in employing competent teachers. He is now serving on the school board as one of the directors and thus has opportunity to put his ideas concerning public instruction into practical effect. He exercises his right of fran- chise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party and is ever loyal to his adopted land and her free public institutions. IIis career has been characterized by persistent, honorable purpose, and crowned by a fair meas- ure of snecess.
GEORGE A. DEWELL.
One of the fine farms of Woodbury county is the property of George A. Dewell. His place comprises four hundred and eighty acres on sec- tions 13 and 14, Rock township, and as an agri- culturist and stock-dealer he is well known, having for long years conducted a successful business. He has lived in Woodbury county since 1886 and those who know aught of his career respect him for his enterprise, honorable dealing and sterling worth. He is a native son of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Cedar county on the 17th of Angust, 1859. The fam-
JACOB NICOLAISEN AND FAMILY.
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ily of which he is a representative is of French ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Solomon Dewell, was an early settler of Ohio and after- ward removed to Indiana. ITis son, Nathaniel Dewell, was born in the Buckeye state in 1830 but was reared in Indiana, and as a companion and helpmate on life's journey he chose Miss Winnie N. Mellowe, a native of Indiana. They began their domestie life in that state, where they remained for about seven years, and then removed to Iowa, making the journey by wagon. They settled in Cedar county and about 1858 removed to Dayton township where the father developed a farm of eighty acres. As his financial resources increased he made other purchases until his landed posses- sions aggregated more than six hundred aeres of the choicest farm land of Cedar county. Up- on his home farm there he reared his family and there resided until 1879, when he pur- chased a farm adjoining Clarence, Iowa, mak- ing it his home until his death, passing away in March, 1890. ITis wife had died many years before, her death occurring in 1864.
George A. Dewell was reared to manhood in Cedar county upon the home farm, working in field and meadow through the days of his boy- hood and youth or attending the common schools. Later he pursued a higher course of study and became a teacher of Jones county. being thus identified with educational interests for several terms. After his marriage, however, he turned his attention to farming on the old homestead in Cedar county, continuing the cul- tivation of a part of that place for seven years. In 1886 he removed to Woodbury county and bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres on which some improvement had been made. There was a little house and a small stable. He lived on the farm for two seasons and his ener- gies were devoted to the cultivation of the soil and the raising of erops. Hle planted a grove, and also set out fruit trees. When his success made it possible for him to place more substan- tial improvements upon his farm he built a neat
residence, a good barn and other substantial outbuildings and now has an excellent and well improved property. From time to time he pur- chased more land and now has four hundred and eighty aeres. Here he is engaged in the production of grain and the raising and feed- ing of stock and for a number of years he has been engaged in breeding and dealing in Duroe Jersey hogs. Ile now has a herd of pure- blooded registered shorthorn cattle and is widely known as a most successful stock dealer and one whose judgment of stock is extremely reliable. He also owns the hotel property at Cushing.
Mr. Dewell, in Jones county, Iowa, on the 27th of February, 1879, was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Moore, who was born in Cedar county, but spent the days of her girlhood in Jones county, where she acquired her education. She is a daughter of Nathaniel Moore. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Dewell have been born seven ehil- dren, of whom six are now living: Mande A., the wife of Leroy J. Fowler, of Sioux City; Edith M., a well educated young lady and now one of the successful teachers of the county; Cora Belle, at home: George Nathaniel; Wil- bur E .; and Marguerite. They also lost one daughter, Blanche May, who died at the age of fourteen months. Cora Belle, after attending the common schools at Cushing, spent one year at Morningside University, where she took the normal course, but the main feature of her study was music, in which she has become quite proficient. Maude A., after finishing her com- mon school education, became a successful teacher in various rural schools of the county. She began teaching when but seventeen years of age, and when in her eighteenth year she entered the Northwestern I'niversity where she took up the pharmaceutical course, graduating therefrom in June, 1899. Her college career was rather exceptional as she mastered the two years' course and was graduated in forty weeks. This was partially due to her knowledge of Latin, combined with an energetic disposition
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and hard study. After her graduation she re- turned home and taught another school for one term. Then she secured a position with the well known drug house of Hess & Moore, of Hornick. She was head bill elerk there for two and a half years, leaving there to become the wife of Leroy Fowler, August 20, 1902.
The parents hold membership in the Method- ist Episcopal church of Cushing and Mr. De- well has been a life-long Republican, never fal- tering in his allegiance to the party where na- tional issues have been involved. He served for four terms as township clerk, has been chairman of the school board for fourteen years and has been chairman of the Republican town- ship committee. All publie positions which he has filled have found in him a worthy ineum- bent and in every relation of life he is known to be reliable and trustworthy, living so as to en- joy the respect and confidence of his fellow men. His business career is worthy of high commendation and illustrates the fact that sue- cess is not a matter of genius but is the outcome of elear judgment, experience and unfaltering energy. He has known what it is to work hard and nnremittingly, and with a full realization of the value of labor in the active affairs of life he has advanced from a humble financial posi- tion to one of affluence.
WILLIAM OZGOOD DAVIS, M. D.
For twenty-seven years the professional ser- vices of Dr. William Ozgood Davis were ex- erted for the benefit of his fellow townsmen in Sioux City and Woodbury county, and through- out that period his influence and support were also tangible factors in the social, material and moral progress of the community. His life work, characterized by all that is honorable, manly and sincere in man's relation with his fellowman, gained for him the friendship and high regard of many and his death occasioned publie sorrow in Sioux City.
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