USA > Iowa > Woodbury County > Sioux City > Past and present of Sioux City and Woodbury County, Iowa > Part 28
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George W. Brown, Jr., the eldest, had but limited opportunity to attend the public schools and in 1886 he entered the Jacksonville Busi- ness College, at Jacksonville, Illinois, and pur- latter, while his wife is an active member of
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the National Gregg Shorthand Teachers' Asso- Shenkberg Company, at a nominal salary, but eiation.
In 1892 Professor Brown was married to Miss Jennie R. Yates, a daughter of James P. Yates, of Pekin, Illinois, and they have three children : Louis P., James Y. and J. Adah. The parents hold membership in the First Con- gregational church and Mr. Brown holds mem- bership relations with the Modern Woodmen of America. In citizenship, in church and social relations, in business and private life, he is actuated by honorable principles, worthy mo- tives and a deep sense of conscientious obliga- tion, and his life therefore has been such as to command uniform admiration and esteem.
OLIVER J. MOORE.
Oliver J. Moore, who during the twelve years of his residence in Sioux City has become a foremost factor in commercial affairs and is also prominent in trade cireles in this portion of the country, was born in St. Peter, Min- nesota, October 26, 1869. His parents were Charles E. and Anna ( Magner) Moore, both of whom are now residents of Sioux City, The father is a stonemason by trade and has followed that pursuit throughout an active business career.
When nine years of age Oliver J. Moore ae- companied his parents on their removal to Ne- braska and when thirteen years of age he be- eame a student in Craighton College, at Oma- ha, Nebraska, where he pursued a three years' course. When his school days were over he entered the service of the Bur- lington & Missouri Railroad Company, with which he was connected until 1889, when he went to Chicago, securing employment in the paeking house of Nelson Morris, with whom he continued until 1892.
In that year Mr. Moore came to Sioux City, where he has sinee made his home. Here ke entered the wholesale grocery house of C.
he soon proved his value, and his capability won ready recognition in rapid promotion until at the end of three years he was secretary of the company, which was incorporated under the name of the C. Shenkberg Company. Mr. Moore is also general manager, and under his control the business has rapidly developed, this being now the largest grocery house in Iowa, covering three and a half acres of floor space. Mr. Moore is also the treasurer of the Lind- holm Furniture Company, of Sioux City, and he is one of the executive committee of the Wholesale Grocery Association of Iowa and Nebraska.
Mr. Moore was married on the 2d of Oeto- ber, 1892, to Miss Hannah C. Wall, a daugh- ter of James P. Wall, who is represented on another page of this volume. They have six children, three sons and three daughters, the eldest, Lucile Eulalia, being eleven years of age, while the youngest is less than six months old at this writing in September, 1904. The parents are members of the Catholic church and Mr. Moore belongs to the Elks Lodge, the Sioux City Boat Club and the Commercial Club, and is chairman of the transportation committee. He stands to-day prominent in social and commercial cireles of the city, a typieal American man of the enterprising west, whose progressive spirit has led to large accomplishment and gratifying result.
ORRIN B. SMITH.
Iowa owes its high standing among the sove- reign commonwealths that make up the United States to the high character and dauntless spirit of the settlers who made their homes within her borders in the early days. To their inspiration and work is due the wonderful progress that has been made along all lines. Among the brave and far-sighted pioneers who aided in opening up Woodbury county to civilization is numbered
1. Amore
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Orrin B. Smith, the founder of Smithland and its first postmaster.
Mr. Smith was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, on the 11th of April, 1816, and was of Irish and Welsh descent, while some Dutch blood also flowed through his veins. Before leaving New York, he was married in 1840 to Miss Celia Bragg, who was of Welsh extraetion, and to them were born three children. Lovisa, the eldest, was born October 22, 1840, and died March 24, 1893. She was married in Febru- ary, 1856, to Charles Cobb, theirs being the first wedding among the white people celebrated in Smithland, Geraldine, the next younger, was born October 14, 1842. Castana (Celia) was born in 1844 and died in infancy. For his second wife Mr. Smith married Genevieve Bower, by whom he had nine children : Helen J., born March 20, 1848, is now the wife of William H. Adams, who is represented on an- other page of this volume; Chloe T. was born November 24, 1849; Orrin E., born August 29, 1851, served as sheriff of Rock county, Ne- braska, for ten consecutive years and was able to throw any man of his size; Celia, born in 1853, died at the age of six months; Frank T. was born in 1857; Patience was born March 24, 1859, and died January 2, 1892 ; Hugh and Washington are also deceased; and Alice, born Angust 7, 1866, is now Mrs. Gividen and lives in Onawa, Iowa. The mother of these children died July 1, 1868, and the father was afterward married twice but had no children by those unions.
Before coming to Iowa Mr. Smith lived for a time in Lake county, Illinois, and in the spring of 1852 went to Council Bluffs. In the fall of 1852 he first visited the present site of Smithland with his brother Edwin M. Smith and a Mr. Hurley, on a hunting expedition. Two miles north he came upon the home of Cur- tis Lamm, now a resident of Grundy Center, Grundy county, Iowa, and he also came across the homes of W. S. White and J. Sumner, who were Mormons but had left the followers of
Joseph Smith at Council Bluffs as they did not believe in polygamy. Mr. Lamm was the first permanent white settler in the county except a few Frenehmen who had Indian wives. He was born in Indiana, November 10, 1818, and from that state removed to Wiseonsin, where he was married February 15, 1843, to Nancy M. Ly- can, who was born in Clark county, Illinois, June 17, 1825. In 1850 they arrived in Kanes- ville or Conneil Bluffs, where the Mormons had stopped on their way from Nauvoo in 1847. In January, 1851, Mr. Lamm, in company with a companion, Ilolden, came up the Little Sioux river and took up a elaim two miles north of Smithland, which he made his permanent home. In August, 1904, Mr. Lamm, his wife and daughter, Mrs. I. T. Martin, of Des Moines, attended the Old Settlers' pienie at Smithland, and visited his old home. He is now eighty-six and she is seventy-nine years old. In April, 1851, Mr. Lamm started for Woodbury county with his family, arriving there in May. Mr. Lammmı located his claim two miles north of Smithland, May 5, 1851, and erected thereon a log cabin. The next to locate in this region was Eli Lee, our subject's brother-in-law, who arrived here in February, 1853. In 1856 fever and ague became quite prevalent in this locality and Mr. Lamm removed to Sioux City. He is now eighty-six and his wife seventy-nine years of age. In those carly days wild game of all kinds was plentiful and as many as two hundred elk were seen in one drove. In course of his lifetime Mr. Smith killed over one thousand deer here and elsewhere. There were many wild turkeys and also semi-wild hogs. On this first hunting trip he bought a claim from a Mormon and in the spring of 1853 he removed his family to it. The town of Smithland stands upon this claim.
In 1854 Mr. Smith first surveyed and platted the town of Smithland but did not have the plat filed, and the following year it was resurveyed and the plat recorded. Dr. Rice was elected the first mayor and Mr. Smith was appointed
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the first postmaster on the establishment of the office at this place in 1855. The first sermon preached in the town was in Mr. Smith's cabin in the fall of that year by Rev. D. J. Havens, a Methodist Episcopal minister, who used the kitchen table as a desk. Later Rev. Havens married the widow of Hiram Smith, who was killed by falling on the saw in the first sawmill erected in Little Sioux township. Upon the present site of Smithland our subject erected in 1856 the first fine large barn built of lumber in the township or for many miles around, and it was dedicated by a dance which began in the evening and lasted until noon of the follow- ing day and at which all of the early settlers were present, both old and young. This barn was torn down in Angust, 1904.
On the 1st of August, 1853, Woodbury county was organized with twenty-four town- ships and that year seventeen votes were polled. Orrin B. Smith was elected the first prosecuting attorney ; Eli Lee, coroner; Curtis Lamm, justice of the peace; and Edwin M. Smith, constable. The county seat was then called Sergeant Bluff or Floyds Bluff. Our subject was a western man in the true sense of that term, was ready for a fight or a fortune, to attend church and do good. His was a typical pioneer home, where the latch-string was al- ways out and a friend or stranger alawys found a hearty welcome. He was open-hearted and generous, always ready to aid those in need, though not a member of any church. He was strictly honorable in all his dealings, contracted no debts, incurred no mortgages and gave all men their due. He was somewhat of a rover and traveled quite extensively. He lived in the town of Newport, Nebraska, for a time and also at Stuart, that state, and twice went to Pike's Peak, but did not take his family, the last trip being made in May, 1860. In 1892 and 1898 he visited Florida and died at Plant City, near Tampa, on the 11th of November, of the latter year, honored and respected by all who knew him.
RUDOLPH SELZER.
Rudolph Selzer, the pioneer brewer of Sioux ('ity and the founder of what is still one of the leading industrial enterprises of the city, long figured in business circles here, and was widely known for his reliability as well as his energy and laudable ambition. He was born in Geissen, Germany, Sunday, September 28, 1828, was reared in that country and in early life became a student in a university there, in which he studied theology, his grandfather in- tending him for the ministry, but after his grandfather's death he abandoned the idea of entering the church in order to take up a busi- ness career.
Mr. Selzer was married in Germany to Miss Theresa Wasser and in 1853 they came to the United States, residing for a brief period in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after which they removed to Rock Island, Illinois, in the spring of 1854. In early life Mr. Selzer had learned the shoemaker's trade and he followed that pur- suit in Pennsylvania, in Illinois and after his removal to Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1857. In 1858 he became a resident of Omaha, Nebras- ka, where he was associated with Fred Krug in the establishment of what was known as the Fred Krug Brewery, Mr. Selzer furnishing the capital while Mr. Krug supplied the ex- perience, being a practical brewer. They be- gan operations on a small scale, under the firm style of Krug & Selzer, and the extent of their early operations is indicated by the fact that they delivered their product from a wheelbar- row. This was the first brewery in Omaha. The business, however, rapidly increased and became a profitable investment. In 1860 Mr. Selzer sold his interest to Mr. Krug and came to Sioux City, where the same year he estab- lished the first bewery of this place, on Fourth street, between Iowa and Court streets, but later moved to the corner of Ninth and Douglas streets, his previous experience in Omaha quali- fying him for the successful condnet of a simi- lar enterprise. His trade rapidly increased
RUDOLPH SELZER.
CHARLES SELZER.
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and for about twenty-two years he carried on erward secured employment in Hearncourt's a profitable business, but the prohibition law of Iowa went into effect in 1883, foreing him to close out his business with considerable loss. He had, however, acquired a very desirable competence in former years and from this time he lived practically retired from active busi- ness life.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Selzer were born four sons and one daughter: Charles, Louis, Otto, Fritz and Emma, all of whom are mentioned elsewhere in this vohime. The sons Charles, Lonis and Otto beeame their father's snecessors in business, while Fritz is a dealer in fine horses of Sioux City. He married Anna Bourett and they reside at 905 Douglas aveme.
Mr. Selzer was a member of Landmark Lodge, No. 103, A. F. & A. M., and had the regard of his brethren of the fraternity, because of his spirit of brotherly kindness and helpful- ness, which is the basic element of the order. He died July 11, 1898, at the age of sixty- nine years, and his widow, surviving him sev- eral years, made her home with her children until her death, which occurred June 4, 1903, when she was seventy-eight years of age.
CILARLES SELZER.
Charles Selzer, who is extensively and snc- cessfully engaged in a wholesale liquor busi- ness and is, numbered among the representatives of those controlling prodnetive industries in Sioux City, was born in Rock Island, Illinois, Tuesday, August 28, 1855, a son of Rudolph and Theresa Selzer, who are mentioned on an- other page of this volume. He was about six years of age when his parents removed to Sionx City and here he was reared, attending the pub- lie schools and later becoming a student in St. Benediet's College, at Atchison, Kansas. When his edneation was completed he returned to Sioux City and entered upon his business eareer as an employe in his father's brewery. He aft-
brewery at Cincinnati, Ohio, and subsequently in Lemp's brewey, at St. Louis, Missouri, thus gaining a thorough knowledge of the business in every department. Ile then returned to Sioux City and assumed full control of the operation of his father's brewing plant as fore- man and continued in that position until the prohibition law went into effect in Iowa. In 1887 he established a wholesale business in Covington, Nebraska, just across the river from Sioux City, in connection with his brothers Otto and Louis, conducting their enterprise there until after the mulet law was passed, when they returned to Sioux City and opened the present wholesale and retail business under the firm name of Selzer Brothers. In the meantime Lonis Selzer had died and Otto and Charles Selzer were then partners, this relatio 1 being maintained until the death of Otto Selzer, on the 16th of March, 1904. Charles Selzer has since been alone in business. He handles all kinds of liquors, doing both a wholesale and retail business, and the wholesale territory cov- ers Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. Employment is furnished twelve men and Mr. Selzer is agent for Christian Moerlein of Cincinnati, William J. Lemp of St. Louis, and the Sioux City Brewing Company. The business is located at Nos. 312 and 314 Pierce street, where there is a frontage of fifty feet, while the lot extends back to a depth of one hundred and fifty feet. On this ground a three-story briek building has been erceted and the entire structure is utilized in earrying on the business. There is a bowling alley on the second floor and rectifying and wholesale liq- nors on the third floor.
On the 10th of December, 1878, Mr. Selzer was united in marriage to Miss Anna Josephine Lessenich, whose parents are mentioned else- where in this volume. Three children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Selzer: J. Ru- dolph, born July 16, 1879, is his father's as- sistant and bookkeeper in the wholesale house.
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He married Servia Leander, of Sioux City, and they reside at the corner of Market and Twelfth streets. Mary C., born August 7, 1882, is the wife of C. A. Koonz, formerly of Burlington, Iowa, and now manager of the cigar depart- ment of the wholesale house of Howell, Pratt & Warfield, of Sioux City. They have one son, Charles, born in September, 1903, and they reside at No. 410 Twelfth street. George C., born June 18, 1889, is a student in the high school, a member of the class of 1905. Mrs. Charles Selzer was born in Geneseo, Illinois, and her father is J. J. Lessenich, proprietor of the Chicago House of Sioux City.
In his political affiliation Charles Selzer is a stalwart Democrat and has served as alder- man of Sioux City for three years, being elected to succeed his brother Louis upon the latter's death. He is quite prominent in fraternal and social circles of the city, belonging to the Sons of Herman, the Elks Lodge and the Germania Club. He is also a member of the Krieger Verein and the German Maennerchor and in all of these organizations he has won the warm regard and friendship of many with whom he has come in contact. He is a man of business ability and marked enterprise and having a thorough understanding of his business is so conducting it as to make it a profitable invest- ment.
LOUIS SELZER.
Louis Selzer, the youngest of the three broth- ers who constituted the well-known firm of Selzer Brothers, brewers and wholesale liquor dealers of Sioux City, was born Sunday, March 1, 1863, his parents being Rudolph and Ther- esa Selzer, natives of Germany. Emigating to America, the father became the pioneer brewer of Omaha, Nebraska, and of Sioux City and was living here at the time of the birth of his son Louis. The latter, reared under the parental roof, attended the public schools and
also pursued a course in the commercial col- lege here, being thereby well fitted for the duties that devolved upon him when he entered the employ of his father in the capacity of book- keeper. Later he became associated with his brothers, Charles and Otto, in the wholesale liquor business and the association remained a most harmonious one up to the time of his death. They developed their enterprise along modern business lines, enlarging their facilities to meet the growing demands of the trade and built up an extensive and profitable business, while in trade circles the house sustained an enviable reputation for straightforward dealing.
In 1894 Louis Selzer was married to Miss Emma Lessenich at Sioux City, and they had one child, Louise, who was born in 1896.
Two months prior to his death Louis Selzer was elected to the position of alderman from the fourth ward. He was a stanch Democrat in his political views, and was recognized as one of the local leaders in his party. His in- terest in the city was deep and sincere, and he and his brothers ever favored the progressive measures which had for their object the substan- tial upbuilding of the city of their residence. Louis Selzer, in the midst of an active and suc- eessful business career, died in 1896.
OTTO SELZER.
Otto Selzer, whose tragic death on Wednes- day evening, March 16, 1904, caused wide- spread regret among his many friends in Sioux City, was well known in business circles of northwestern Iowa and other sections of the west, and in social life had gained warm re- gard and esteem in the city in which he had long made his home. He was born in Sioux City in July, 1860, and attended the public schools, but when only a boy he went abroad and studied the brewing business in Germany, where are located the best plants of the kind in the world. He put forth every effort to gain
OTTO SELZER.
LOUIS SELZER.
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a practical and accurate knowledge of the busi- ness and returned to Sioux City an expert maltster. His father, many years before, had established a brewery here, and Otto Selzer became a partner in the enterprise, the firm of Selzer Brothers being organized at this time, the partners being Charles, Louis and Otto Selzer. He was very active in the control of the business up to the time of his death and introduced various improvements with which he had become familiar during his stay in Ger- many. He was progressive in all that he did and his labors proved a valued factor in the successful conduet of the business. During the period when the prohibition law was in effect in the state business was carried on in Coving- ton, Nebraska, and after the passage of the mulet law was again established in Sioux City.
On the evening of March 16, 1904, about seven o'clock, Mr. Selzer was conversing in the office with his brother Charles. He had just come in from a drive and had not yet removed his overcoat. Noticing that the elec- trie light had not been turned on he stepped back into the engine room to investigate and found that the belt was off the shaft. Evi- dently he attempted to replace it and his over- coat was caught by the flywheel. It was whirl- ing at a rate of twelve hundred revolutions per minnte, driven by a twenty-horse power engine. Mr. Selzer was drawn in by the wheel and dragged around many times, death resulting from the accident. The funeral was held at the family home, 905 Douglas avenue, the serv- ice being conducted by Rev. J. D. O. Powers, of the Unitarian church, and the interment was made in Floyd cemetery.
Otto Selzer was a member of the Order of Eagles and of the various German societies of the city. The funeral was conducted by the Order of Eagles, over two hundred being in line in a procession headed by Reed's band. It was one of the largest funeral processions ever seen in Sioux City for Mr. Selzer was popular and had a very extensive circle of
friends, who felt the deepest regret at his un- timely death.
CHARLES F. HOYT.
Charles Franklin Hoyt, to whose enterprise and business sagacity Sioux City owes much of its commercial growth and activity, was a capi- talist whose success was attributable to his own efforts. Ile took up his abode here in 1871 and from that time figured prominently in public affairs bearing close connection with the city's progress. He was born November 13, 1842, in MeDonough county, Illinois, upon a farm be- tween Colchester and Tennessee. His parents were Jonathan and Betsey (Rowley) Hoyt. His grandfather also bore the name of Jonathan and both he and his son Jonathan Hoyt, Jr., were natives of New Hampshire, the latter being born in 1808. The former was noted for his great strength and often gave exhibitions of his prowess at the gatherings of the state militia by lifting and carrying great weights. He married Miss Jemima Ford, who like her hus- band was probably of English lineage. Their son Jonathan, reared to manhood in New Hampshire, was married after attaining his majority to Miss Elizabeth Rowley, whose birth occurred in Syraense, New York, in 1819. They became residents of Illinois and Charles F. Hoyt was reared upon the home farm there, assisting in the labors of field and meadow through the summer months, while in the win- ter seasons he attended the public schools. At- tracted by the reports concerning the rich min- eral districts of Idaho he went to that state with two companions and as they took turns in driving the team each walked two-thirds of the entire distance. Mr. Hoyt devoted three years to prospeeting and mining in Idaho and Mon- tana and became noted for his ability in find- ing his way over the rocky snow-capped moun- tains of that region. He only met with fair success in his search for gold, but he spent three
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years in traveling and during that period he learned the art of photography. Arriving in Sioux City in 1871 he was afterward closely identified with its business affairs, to the benefit of the city as well as of self. He entered into a partnership with J. H. Hamilton and for four years conducted a photographie gallery. On the expiration of that period he turned his at- tention to the manufacture of vinegar and pickling materials and condneted the enterprise with excellent success until 1890, being the founder of the Sioux City Vinegar & Pickling Works. Seeing a favorable opening for the es- tablishment of a brick and tile factory he founded a business of that character and be- came president of the Sioux City Brick & Tile Works and also the president of the Sioux City Stoneware Works. Quick to recognize a busi- ness opportunity and utilizing the means at hand he became a very prominent factor in in- dustrial circles. He was the president of the Sioux City Paving Brick Company and thus was connected with the placing of many home products upon the market. He also dealt ex- tensively in real estate and had large landed holdings in Kansas. During his later years he controlled many important real-estate negotia- tions and he laid out four of the best additions to Sioux City-Highland, Springdale, Edge- wood Terrace and North Riverside. In 1897, however, he put aside business cares and lived in the enjoyment of a well earned rest up to the time of his death.
Mr. Hoyt was united in marriage to Mrs. Martha (Harris) Goldie, who was born in Ba- tavia, New York, December 31, 1836, a dangh- ter of William and Sarah (Mills) Harris, both of whom were natives of England, and they came to America in early life, locating first in New York city, where Mr. Harris engaged in the retail shoe business for a few years. He afterward removed to Batavia, New York, where he conducted business until his death. His wife died in California. There were six children born unto Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt:
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