USA > Iowa > Woodbury County > Sioux City > Past and present of Sioux City and Woodbury County, Iowa > Part 27
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man, but is always courteous and affable. He upon that place he there engaged in genera! represents both the fire and life insurance com- panies and has been very successful in his busi- ness career in this city.
GEORGE KARL WINGELAND.
George K. Wingeland, who became a resident of Sioux City about 1870, was numbered among its early settlers conducting business here along enterprising lines that lead to success, and he became a large property owner. He manifest- ed in his life those sterling traits of character which ever command respect, and it is therefore meet that his history be given in this volume. Ile was born near the village of Tolgren, in Norway, June 17, 1828. His parents spent their entire lives in Norway, where the father followed the occupation of farming throughout his business career.
George K. Wingeland acquired only a lim ited education, attending the common schools of his native country. He was, however, a deep and earnest student of the Bible and became thoroughly informed concerning holy writ. In 1846 a party was organized to come to America and Mr. Wingeland joined the colony. He was then eighteen years of age, of ambitious nature, strong determination and energy. Landing in New York city, he made his way westward and established his home in Galena, Illinois, but only resided there for a short period. Subse- quently he went to Alabama, where he began work on a plantation for a wealthy widow in whose employ he remained as a common laborer for two years. He then returned to the north and settled in Janesville, Wisconsin, where he learned the tailor's trade, which he followed in that city and also in small towns in that portion of Wisconsin for several years. On the expiration of that period he came to the west, settling in Winnebago county, Iowa, where he secured a homestead farm just six miles from Forest City. Taking up his abode
agricultural pursuits for several years. In the meantime business interests called him to Sioux City and forming an attachment for the place he decided to remove from his farm and take np his abode in the county seat, which he did in 1870. Ile secured employment with a tailor and afterward opened a shop of his own, be- coming one of the leading tailors of the city. His business gradually increased until it had reached extensive and profitable proportions, and through his energy, capable management and earnest desire to please his customers Mr. Wingeland secured a large patronage. He con- tinued to engage in tailoring for several years and at the same time, as his financial resources increased, he invested in real estate until he owned property in many parts of Sioux City. In 1893 he retired altogether from tailoring and gave his attention to the supervision of his property interests until his death.
Mr. Wingeland was twice married. His first wife died in Sioux City, leaving three children, Mrs. Josephine Nyhus, a resident of Cammet, Michigan ; Mrs. Emma Johnson, who resides at Park River, North Dakota ; and Henry, now deceased, who was a prominent resident of Sioux City, holding the position of city engi- neer and other municipal positions. For his second wife Mr. Wingeland chose Mrs. Frances L. Crooker, who was born in Onondaga county, New York. Her parents always made their home in that county and both are now deceased. Her father was connected with the salt industry of the Empire state. By her former husband Mrs. Wingeland had one daughter, Mrs. C. F. Bush, who is a widow and has an office as general stenographer in the North West Bank building. In addition to being an expert sten- ographer Mrs. Bush is accomplished in music and speaks Spanish and German.
Mr. Wingeland departed this life June 8, 1901. Ile never cared for political office, but was a stanch advocate of Republican principles. A deep thinker and extensive reader he became
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well informed on all the questions of the day, political and otherwise, and was well known as a prominent and influential resident of Sions City, respected for his personal worth and be- cause of what he accomplished in the business world. His widow still owns considerable property in Sioux City, which is rented and she and her daughter, Mrs. Bush, reside at No. 416 West Third street, where she owns an at- tractive home.
CLARENCE A. KNAPP.
The field of business is limitless, its prizes are many, and yet comparatively few who enter the "world's broad field of battle" come off victors in the struggle for success and promi- mence. This is usually due to one or more of several causes-superficial preparation, lack of close application or an unwise choice in select- ing an avocation for which one is fitted. The reverse of all this has entered into the success and prominence which Mr. Knapp has gained as a representative of mercantile interests. His natural talent has led him out of humble sur roundings into large successes through the op- portunity that is the pride of our American life.
Mr. Knapp was born in Green Bay, Wis- consin, in 1846. His father, William A. Knapp, was a native of New York and became a hardware merchant in Wisconsin, settling in that state during the pioneer epoch in its history. He arrived there in 1834 and estab- lished his home at Green Bay, where for many years he was an active factor in business cir- eles, condueting a successful mercantile enter- prise. In 1883 he retired to private life and lived in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, up to the time of his demise, in March, 1904. He had been prominent and influential in public af- fairs and had been aecorded leadership by those who, recognizing his ability, selected him for important public positions. He repre-
sented Winnebago county in 1865 and 1866 in the state legislature and put forth effective effort to advance the welfare of his community and the commonwealth at large. He was a member of the Congregational church. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Lucinda A. Gilbert, is also deceased. They were the parents of five children, four of whom are liv- ing: Clarence A .; Gaines A., who is cashier of the Fond du Lac National Bank at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; Frank A., who is inter- ested in real estate and mining operations in Portland, Oregon ; and Minnie, at home.
In his early boyhood days Clarence A. Knapp enjoyed the advantages afforded by the public schools of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and later he spent a short time as a student in Lawrence University at Appleton, Wisconsin. He en- tered upon his business career as a salesman in a hardware store in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he remained until 1868. Ambitious to engage in mercantile pursuits on his own account, he then removed to Northwood, Iowa, where he opened a hardware store, conducting his enterprise with good success until 1881, when he became a wholesale and retail hard- ware merchant of Oskaloosa, Iowa, his con- nection with the commercial interests of that city covering a period of six years. In the meantime, in 1885, the Knapp & Spalding Company was organized at Oskaloosa for the purpose of engaging in the wholesale har:1- ware business and in 1887 they removed their stock to Sioux City. The paid-up capital and surplus of the company amounts to three hu :- dred and fifty thousand dollars. The original company was formed of Clarence A. Knapp, who was president and treasurer, and Edwin C. Spalding, vice-president and secretary. In 1898 Mr. Spalding retired from the firm and the corporate name was changed to the Knapp & Spencer Company, with Clarence A. Knapp as president ; H. L. Spencer, vice-president ; W. S. Knapp, second vice-president ; W. H. Preston, treasurer; and C. E. Hughson, secre-
Caknapp
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WOODBURY COUNTY
tary. The building occupied by the company extends for one hundred feet on Nebraska street and one hundred and fifty feet on Third street. It is six stories in height with base- ment and covers an area of ten thousand five hundred square feet of floor space. The struc- true was built of St. Louis briek and is one of the handsomest business blocks of the city. The firm employs fifty people, including fifteen salesmen who represent the company on the road, introducing and selling its goods into western Iowa, the northern half of Nebraska, Wyoming. South Dakota, and southwestern Minnesota. The company does a wholesale business in hardware, metals, stoves, cutlery and sporting goods and its output is now very extensive. Mr. Knapp has just reason to be proud of the fact that to his efforts can largely be traced the upbuilding of a substantial enter- prise which is of importance to Sioux City, contributing to the commercial prosperity whereon the welfare of every city depends.
In 1870 occurred the marriage of Mr. Knapp and Miss Sarah Elizabeth Sewell, a danghter of John Sewell, a dry-goods mer- chant of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She is a member of the Congregational church and like her husband shares in the friendship and re- gard of many of the leading citizens of Wood- bury county. Unto them were born five chil- dren, but only two are living: Walter Sewell, who is now the treasurer of the Knapp & Spencer Company : and Marguerite, at home. Mr. Knapp is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity and is a Republican in his political views. No citizen is more thoroughly repre- sentative or more devoted to the promotion of the welfare of Sioux City than is Mr. Knapp, who has taken a prominent part in local af- fairs. Progressive and enterprising, his means and influence have been used toward advancing movements and interests for the npbuilding and progress of what is now one of the most flourishing metropolitan centers in this section of the country. In view of the fact that he
commenced his business career empty-handed, his success is the more remarkable, and his reeord should prove an inspiration to many a young man on starting out as he did a few years ago with no capital save brains, integrity, determination and perseverance-which, after all, constitute the best capital and without which wealth, influence and position amount to naught.
LEONARD B. ROBINSON.
Among the younger members of the Sioux City bar Leonard B. Robinson has gained pres- tige that promises well for the future and al- ready he is accorded a clientage that connects him with much of the important litigation tried in the courts of his district. A native son of Iowa, he was born at Storm Lake, in 1873. Ilis father, Judge Gifford S. Robinson, formerly chief justice of the supreme court of Iowa, is represented elsewhere in this volume. When he had completed his early education by a high school course in his native city, he entered the State University, at Towa City, and was grad- nated from the collegiate department in 1894 and from the law department in 1895.
In the same year Mr. Robinson entered upon the practice of his chosen profession in con- nection with William Milchrist, the relation being maintained until JJanuary, 1898. He spent all of that and the succeeding year in Central America, and in January, 1900, entered into partnership with his father, but after a short time this was dissolved, Judge Robinson being appointed a member of the board of con- trol of the state institutions of Fowa. Leonard B. Robinson then practiced alone until Febru- ary, 1902, at which time he formed a partner- ship with James T. McVay, which continued for two years. He is a general practitioner. with a good knowledge of the various depart- ments of law, and his careful preparation of ceses, his strength in argument and his elcar and
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WOODBURY COUNTY
concise presentation of his cause before the court are the salient elements in the success which is now crowning his efforts.
Mr. Robinson was married in April, 1902, to Cora Wheelock, a daughter of George F. and Emma (Coverly) Wheelock. She was born in Boston and they now have one child, Harlan Coverly Robinson. Mr. Robinson is a Repub- lican in his political affiliation and he belongs to a law fraternity-the Phi Delta Phi. In the line of his profession he is connected with the Sioux City Bar Association and the Iowa State Bar Association. He has developed that type of character which makes for higher ethical ideals in business and in society, and in Sioux City is accorded a position of prominence in the publie regard.
LAMPMAN NICHOLS.
Lampman Nichols, a retired farmer who for many years was engaged in the tilling of the soil, but is now resting from further active business eares in a comfortable home in Sioux City, was born in Henrysville, Canada East, April 11, 1838, a son of Willard Nichols and Eleanor (Lampman) Nichols. The father, a native of Vermont, went to Canada in his boy- hood days, and eventually became a farmer and proprietor of a general store. He died in Can- ada, May 25, 1864, and his wife passed away in Woodbury county, Iowa, June 3, 1875.
In his youth Lampman Nichols attended the common schools and afterward worked for his father until seventeen years of age, when he crossed the border into the United States to enjoy the better advantages of this country with its livelier competition and advancement more quickly secured. He went to Minnesota, where he took up eighty acres of land, but finding no sale for his products he sold his farm and learned the trades of a bricklayer, plasterer and stonemason. About 1858 he removed to Creseo, Howard county, Iowa, where he worked
at the mason's trade until 1867, when he came to Sioux City and here continued in the same line of business. Prior to this time his mother had come to Woodbury county with her son Slocum and took up a homestead of eighty acres, and when Lampman Nichols arrived he settled upon his mother's farm and carried on its cultivation until his mother's death. In 1876 he went to Colorado, where he opened a meat market, but not finding that business con- genial he returned to Iowa in 1877, where he again worked at his trade until 1898, when he retired to private life and is now occupying a comfortable home in Leeds that stands upon a part of his mother's original homestead.
At the time of the Civil war Mr. Nichols re- sponded to the country's call for aid, enlisting as a member of Company B, Nineteenth Wis- consin Infantry, but after waiting ninety days to be mustered in he was discharged on ae- count of illness, which he incurred by being stationed in damp, unhealthy quarters.
On the 8th of June, 1862, Mr. Nichols was married to Miss Maranda Elmer, a daughter of David Elmer, of Harvard, MeHenry county, Illinois, where he carried on farming. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Nichols have been born four children : Henry E., born June 23, 1864, in Winneshiek county, Iowa, was married about 1887 to Miss Leah Holloway, of Sioux City, by whom he has three children, and he is now a machinist of St. Paul, Minnesota. Harriet, born September 4, 1865, in Wineshiek county, is now in business in Chicago. Eva R., born in Sioux City, January 3, 1869, died June 28, 1891. George L., born March 21, 1873, at Sioux City, married Miss Maranda Dicus and is a machinist of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Mr. Nichols and his family attend the Meth- odist church and in his political belief he is a Republican, having long supported the princi- ples of that party. His life has been an indus- trious one, and persistent labor, year after year, at length brought to him the capital that now enables him to live retired. He feels that he
MR. AND MRS. LAMPMAN NICHOLS.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WOODBURY COUNTY
made no mistake in changing his place of resi- dence from Canada to the United States, and this country has no more loyal citizen than this adopted son of Woodbury county.
WILLIAM HARRISON ADAMS.
One of the most prominent and influential citizens of Smithland is the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. Ile takes an ae- tive and leading part in local polities and has three times been honored with the office of mayor of the village. Never were the reins of city government in more capable hands, for he is a progressive man, pre-eminently public- spirited, and all that pertains to the publie wel- fare receives his hearty endorsement.
Mr. Adams was born in Boone county, In- diana, on the 11th of December, 1843, and is a representative of a very old and prominent fam- ily of Woodbury county. His father, Elijah Adams, was born June 15, 1814, in Nicholas county, Kentucky, and there grew to manhood. In early life he went to Indiana, where he was married on the 15th of February, 1837, to Miss Rebecca Buntin, who was born in Nicholas county, Kentucky, May 6, 1814, and made that her home until nineteen years of age. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Adams continued to reside in Indiana until 1844, when they re- moved to Rock Island county, Illinois, and in 1856 came to Woodbury county, Iowa, arriving here in the spring of that year. The year pre- vious the father had come to the county and decided to locate in Oto township, where he subsequently purchased six hundred and forty aeres of land. Throughout his active business life he was extensively engaged in stock-raising and took one hundred and twenty-five head of cattle from Rock Island to this county on his re- moval to this place. On coming to Woodbury county he also brought with him eleven yoke of oxen and seven horses and five wagons, in which were conveyed his household goods and
farm implements. He also had a herd of fine graded eattle and two thorough-bred shorthorn Durham bulls. Later he brought to the county several Percheron stallions and probably did more to improve the grade of stock in this coun- ty than any other one man. Ile was very pro- gressive and publie-spirited and was a liberal supporter of all enterprises for the general good of the community. He built the first frame schoolhouse in Smithland in 1859 and one in Correctionville the following year. Ile also built the first plank bridge across the west fork of the Little Sioux in 1857 and another across the same stream at Climbing Hill in 1858. He was one of the first school directors in his dis- triet and served as supervisor of his township from 1861 until 1869, inclusive, being one of the members of the first board of supervisors. Ile died on the 22d of September, 1889, honored and respected by all who knew him. His wife passed away at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Palmer Hall, in Oto township, December 20, 1900. Their lives were mostly passed on the frontier in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, and they were here during the "hard winter" of 1856-7, at which time Mr. Adams lost fifty-six head of cattle. In their family were four children : Elizabeth J., born October 9, 1839, is now Mrs. Palmer Hall: James W .. born May 21, 1841, is a resident of Smithland, Iowa ; William H. is the next of the family ; and G. Elijah, born May 28, 1852, is repre- sented on another page of this volume. The father was one of a family of eight children, the others being John, Whitney, Joseph B., Samuel, Orville, Mary E. and Hannah. ITis mother was a Riley and was of Trish descent, but little is known of the early ancestry of the family. The father's name was Ephraim Adams. He was of English extraction and was a resident of Kentucky, as were also his wife's people, several of whom were killed by the Indians.
William HI. Adams was twelve years of age on the removal of the family to this county and
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WOODBURY COUNTY
he aided in the arduous task of cultivating and improving the new farm. During his boyhood he hauled saw logs to mill and has probably broken more virgin soil than any other man in Little Sioux township, four or five yoke of oxen being hitched to the breaking plow. In 1856-7 he and his brother Wallace became intimately acquainted with Ink-pa-du-tah and his band of Indians, who committed the Spirit Lake mas- sacre in April of the latter year. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company K, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, and remained in the service un- til hostilities ceased in 1866, mostly fighting the Indians in the northwest.
While home on a furlough Mr. Adams was married March 20, 1865, to Miss Helen Joseph- ine Smith, a daughter of Orrin B. Smith. They had become acquainted when he was a boy of twelve and she a girl of eight years and the friendship then formed ripened into love as they grew older. Desiring a better education Mrs. Adams continued to attend school for a time after their marriage. They have become the parents of three children: Ernest M., the eldest, was born July 4, 1867, and pursued a four years' course in the medical department of the Michigan University at Ann Arbor, being now engaged in the practice of his chosen pro- fession at Augusta, Wisconsin. Vernie Estelle, born September 8, 1869, is now the wife of Er- nest W. Foster and lives at Pleasant Valley, Saskatchawan territory, Canada. They have five children : Harrison Lafayette, born Decem- ber 16, 1892; Earl W., July 28, 1894; Ernest Marion, March 7, 1896 ; Glenn Ernest, July 4, 1899; and Alda Marie, January 6, 1902. Mr. Foster's father, Lycurgus Foster, came to Wood- bury county, Iowa, in 1858 and is still living at Sergeant Bluff. Orrin Elijah, our subject's youngest child, was born November 16, 1881, attended the common schools of this county and later was graduated from the high school at the age of sixteen. He is a very great student and has a bright future. At the age of twenty-one he entered the United States government service
and is now gunner's mate on a torpedo boat destroyer, the Whipple, at Pensacola, Florida, having two more years to serve.
Mr. Adams is quite prominent and influential in public affairs and served as supervisor of Little Sioux township from 1890 to 1895 in- clusive and was one of the first school directors of his district. He was three times chosen jus- tice of the peace. Three times he was elected mayor of Smithland and was defeated at the spring election of 1904 by only four votes. He is popular with all classes and by his many friends is familiarly known as Harry Adams. He has ever been an active political worker and his opinions carry weight in the councils of his party. Mr. Adams is a man of athletic build, having a large, well knit frame. Although pos- sessing the physical strength and a willing wrestler, he is a man of peaceful tendencies and was never in but one fight, at which time he was compelled to defend himself against one of the most noted frontier bullies. This occurred at the old fairground at Sioux City, where both men were exhibiting stock, and their quarrel grew out of that fact. Fisher, the noted bully, was a giant desperado who boasted of having licked one hundred men and everybody feared him. He was always looking for a fight, was "cock of the walk" and imposed on all, but he tried his domineering taeties once too often. Mr. Adams saw no reason to be afraid of him and proceeded to defend himself from the start, giving the bully an unmerciful thrashing in very quick time. It was a hard fight, both being de- termined to win, and it is said that the only dif- ference between the men at the end of the fight was that Mr. Adams walked off the ground and Fisher was carried off.
Mr. Adams has been a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and has the regard of his brethren of these organizations. That his busi- ness affairs have been well managed is shown by the fact that he is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in Little
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WOODBURY COUNTY
Sioux and Oto townships, comprising some of sted normal courses of study. He began teach- the best farming land to be found in Iowa. He ing in Peoria, Hinois, in 1888 -- in Brown's has now leased his farm, however, and is liv- ing in Smithland, where in 1901 he erected a beautiful and commodious two-story residence. Business College-in which for five years he was instructor in bookkeeping and penmanship. He was then promoted to the position of prin- cipal of Brown's Ottawa College, where he con- tinned until 1899, when he came to Sioux City GEORGE W. BROWN, JR. and began the promotion of Brown's Business College here. Brown's College opened with an Ile who studies the signs of the times, not- ing the business conditions and the increasing complexity of trade relations, can not but be impressed by the fact that the young man or woman who enters the business world and wishes to succeed must be well equipped for his work with broad and thorough understand- ing of business principles. The call is con- tinually being made for capable employes, and this has led to the establishment of business schools and colleges, wherein the people who expect to become factors in business life may receive practical training therefor. In many sections of the country such schools have sprung up and there is none of this character in Iowa more reliable or doing more efficient work than Brown's Business College of Sioux City. enrollment of one hundred and eighty and there are now five hundred students in annual at- tendance. The school is the private property of G. W. Brown, Jr., and occupies the entire second floor of the New England building. The management of this college rests with the proprietor, who has had great success as a teacher of the commercial branches during the past sixteen years. He received a diploma and honorable mention from the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. A number of his students had sets of books, penmanship, typewriting, ete., on exhibition at Chicago, and he also had a number of students in the Model Business College or Active Exhibit of the American Business Colleges in Chicago, in 1893. The instruction and discipline of Pro- Professor Brown, who stands at the head of the institution and in his educational work ex- hibits the enterprising, progressive spirit so characteristic of the middle west, was born in Fulton county, Illinois, in 1867, his parents being Charles I. and Mary E. (Ogle) Brown. The former, a native of Lodi Center, New York, was a representative of an old New Jer- sey family. Throughout the greater part of his life he followed farming, and his death oc- curred in April, 1901, at the age of sixty-two years. His widow, who belonged to an old New England family, is still living, and by her marriage she had nine children, seven of whom survive. fessor Brown's school are under his immediate supervision and he is assisted by experienced and successful teachers. His wife has been an important factor in the upbuilding of the college and now has charge of the shorthand and typewriting department. The equipment of the school, the schoolroom facilities, the in- struetors in charge, the plan of the courses of study, and the methods are all chosen success- fully and carefully selected with one single high purpose in view-to train and develop the young people into competent office workers within the shortest time possible. Professor Brown is a member of the National Federation of Teachers' Association ; also an active mem- ber of the Central Teachers' Association and a member of the excentive committee of the
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