USA > Iowa > Woodbury County > Sioux City > Past and present of Sioux City and Woodbury County, Iowa > Part 39
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Unto Mr. and Mrs. Letellier were born three children : Dace Charles, born March 21, 1858; George Henry, born March 12, 1860; and Marie Matilda Helmine, who is the wife of Fred Provost. They reside with her fath- er and they have seven children : Louis Henry, Emily May, William Edward, Rose Adele, Loretta Dolores, Arthur Paul and Lucile Jean- ette. All are members of the Catholic church.
Mr. Letellier has given his support to the Democracy since becoming an American citi- zen. He is now living a retired life, enjoying a well earned rest and he has attained the ad- vanced age of seventy-seven years. He can re- late many interesting incidents of pioneer times in northwestern Iowa, for his memory almost covers the period of the entire development of this part of the state. Great changes have oc- curred since he hunted and trapped in this part of the country and he has borne his full share in the work of development and progress. Sioux City has benefited by his efforts and he may be called one of its founders and promot- ers.
THOMAS F. BEVINGTON.
Thomas F. Bevington, a prominent factor in the political eireles of Sioux City and well known as a representative of the bar now mak- ing a specialty of corporation law, was born near Ames, Story county, Iowa, March 19, 1861, and is a son of James H. and Hester A. (Jones) Bevington. The family is of Scotch, Welsh and Irish lineage, and was founded in Ohio by two brothers who located in Warren
farming. In the grandfather's family were the following: Charles D .; Samuel, deceased, who was a banker of Kansas; Mathew, who died at Centerville, Iowa; James H .; and Frank, who is living in Mount Ayer, Iowa. The first named was president of the First Na- tional Bank at Winterset, Iowa, and a large landowner, and his death occurred in 1893, when he was eighty-two years of age. James H. Bevington, of this family, was the father of our subject. He was born in Ohio, was a farmer and carpenter and at the time of the Civil war he enlisted for service in the Union Army as a member of the Twenty-third Iowa Regiment. The exposures and hardships of war terminated his life when he was but twen- ty-six years of age. He had married Hester A. Jones, who was also a native of Ohio and a representative of one of the old families of that state. After her husband's death she went to live with her father, Thomas F. Jones, who was an early settler of this state, coming from Ohio about 1848 or 1849 and making his home near Ames, Iowa. At a later date Mrs. Bevington was again married, becoming the wife of Phillip Sawyer, who died in 1900 at the age of sixty years. She still survives him.
Thomas F. Bevington pursued his education in the common schools through the winter months until twenty years of age and afterward attended the Iowa State College at Ames, where he pursued a four years' scientific course and was graduated in the class of 1884. He next entered the Iowa State University at Iowa City, where he pursued a two years' course in law. By working as a farm hand he earned the money necessary to meet the expenses of his college education and with great diligence he applied himself to the mastery of the prin- eiples of jurisprudence and was able to pass the examination three months prior to the close of the scholastic year. This enabled him to be admitted to the bar and begin the practice of
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law in the same spring of his graduation- 1886. Ile located for practice in Sioux City on the 10th of May of that year and entered into partnership with J. II. Burton under the firm style of Burton & Bevington, which rela- tion was continued for three years. In the fall of 1888 he was elected county attorney and the following year the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Bevington served for three consecutive terms in the office, proving a most capable defender of the legal interests of the county. He afterward formed a partnership with Craig L. Wright and E. II. Hubbard to take charge of the trial work of the firm under the name of Wright, Hubbard & Bey- ington. Two years later this firm dissolved partnership and Mr. Bevington was alone in practice for two years. In 1898 he formed a partnership with J. L. Kennedy that was main- tained for two years under the firm name of Bevington & Kennedy. He was then again alone in practice for three years, from 1900 until 1903, when on the 15th of January of the latter year he admitted W. T. Foley un- der the firm name of Bevington & Foley. For several years he made a specialty of trial work which led him into corporation law and ques- tions involving large interests outside of his own city as well as in the courts here.
On the 6th of June, 1888, occurred the mar- riage of Mr. Bevington and Miss Anna G. Me- Connor, of Monticello, Iowa, a daughter of John and Sarah Jane (Graham) MeConnor. They now have two children, Edna A. and Lloyd E. Mr. Bevington is a member of Ty- rian lodge, No. 508, A. F. & A. M., with which he has been identified since 1888 and he also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he is a Republican and is an active factor in local and state circles of his party. He has attended various state conventions and some of the national conventions and his in- fluence in Iowa is strongly felt in behalf of Re- publican principles. He is a man of strong intellectuality, thoroughly conversant with the
principles of jurisprudence, devoted to the in- terests of his clients and yet always upholding the majesty of the law.
FRANK X. BABUE.
Frank X. Babue, who is engaged in con- tracting and building in Sioux City and also operates to some extent in real estate, was born in Montreal, Canada, December 20, 1842. His parents, F. X. and Zoe (Duquett) Babue, were both natives of Canada. The father was a farmer by occupation and removed to Cham- plain, Clinton county, New York, in 1849. There he conducted a flax mill until 1870, when he took up his abode in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1876 he came to Iowa, set- thing at Salix, Woodbury county, where his re- maining days were passed, his death there oe- curring in 1892. His wife passed away there in 1893.
Frank X. Babne largely acquired his edu- cation in Canada and to some extent attended the schools of New York. When seventeen years of age he began to learn the trade of cabinet-making, at which he served a three years' apprenticeship. In 1870 he accom- panied the others of the family to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he worked at the car- penter's trade, and in 1875 he came to Sioux City, Iowa, where he has since been engaged in contracting and building, easily maintaining a foremost place as a representative of this line of industrial activity because of his supe- rior skill and ability. He is one of the two contractors who managed to stand the affairs of the financial panic of 1894. He has been connected with large and important building operations, erecting many of the best structures of the city and constantly employs a large force of workmen. He now has considerable real estate in Sioux City, having made judi- cious investments and at the present time owns
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several houses which return to him a good rental.
In 1875 occurred the marriage of Mr. Babue and Miss Mercedes Delier, a daughter of Peter Delier, a native of Canada. Mrs. Babue died August 3, 1897. There were seven children of that marriage: Albert, who is married and resides in Sioux City; Frank X., who died at the age of twenty-one years; Willie, who died at the age of twenty years; Alfonso, who is connected with the Curtis Sash & Door Com- pany and is also a member of the firm of F. X. Babue & Sons ; Edmund, who is a mem- ber of the firm and acts as bookkeeper; Arthur and George, who are at home and attend the public schools.
Mr. Babue and his family are members of the Roman Catholic church and he is also connected with the Knights of Columbus. He holds membership relations with the Con- tractors & Builders Exchange and, in fact, was one of its organizers in the year 1888. He also belongs to the Sioux City Boat Club and is a director in the Sioux City Industrial Asso- ciation. He has made a close and practical study of the needs of the city and its possibili- ties and has labored to promote its welfare along substantial lines, while in business cir- cles by reason of his honorable and straight- forward conduct and thorough reliability he has gained uniform confidence and a very lib- eral share of the public patronage in his line.
ALBERT SEVENING.
Albert Sevening, deceased, was one of the prominent farmers of Liston township and a man highly respected and esteemed by all who knew him. A native of Germany, he was born in the Rhine Province, May 5, 1855, and when a boy came to America with his parents, Peter and Katie Sevening. The family first located in Chicago, Illinois, and from there removed to Carroll county, Iowa, where the father of our
subject died about 1880. He made farming his life work, that occupation being followed by all the ancestors of our subject as far as known. The mother survived her husband about four years and died in 1884.
Albert Sevening acquired his education in the schools of his native land and early became familiar with the work of the farm while as- sisting his father in the cultivation of the fields. For one year after reaching manhood he en- gaged in the saloon business, but not liking that occupation he resumed agricultural pursuits. At one time he owned a farm one mile north of the present family home and on selling that bought two hundred and forty acres, which is now successfully operated under the manage- ment of Mrs. Sevening, who is a woman of more than ordinary business ability and sound judgment. She devotes considerable attention to stock raising and now has fifty-three head of cattle, seven horses and seventy hogs.
On the 10th of August, 1885, Mr. Sevening was united in marriage to Miss Annie Uehle, who was born in Germany, August 21, 1859, a daughter of Joseph and Annie (Welty) Uehle, who emigrated with their family to America in 1884 and settled in Woodbury coun- ty, Iowa. Here the father died September 5, 1892, but the mother is still living and makes her home one mile from Danbury. They had five children, namely: Joseph, Rosie, Annie, John and Jacob. Mrs. Sevening was princi- pally reared and educated in this state, and by her marriage became the mother of seven children whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Annie, October 11, 1886; John William, August 25, 1888; Elizabeth K., Aug- ust 31, 1890; Mary D., February 15, 1893; William, October 11, 1895; Teresa Rosa, Oc- tober 27, 1897; and Rosa R., September 7, 1900. All of the older children are attending school in Danbury. The family are communi- cants of the St. Mary's German Catholic church and are people of prominence in the community where they reside. Mr. Sevening was also a
ALBERT SEVENING AND FAMILY.
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member of the Catholic church and was a Dem- Orr, a native of Massachusetts, born in the ocrat in politics. For two years he held the office of school director. He died December 17, 1901, honored and respected by all who knew him.
WILLIAM R. DUNCANSON.
General farming and stock-raising claims the time and attention of William R. Dunean- son, whose farm of two hundred and forty acres on section 22, Rutland township, is an excel- lent and well improved property. He was born in Jones county, Iowa, February 20, 1860, and is of Scoteh parentage and ancestry. His father, Andrew Duncanson, was born in the land of the hills and heather at Stirling, his natal day being December 31, 1823. He grew to manhood there and afterward married Marian Robinson. Subsequent to this impor- tant event in his life he came to the United States, crossing the Atlantic in 1852. He spent a short time in Connecticut and then came to Iowa, purchasing land and making a location in Jones county. In 1855 he returned to Scot- land and the following year brought his wife to the home which he had prepared for her. His first location was in Clay township, Jones county, where he opened up a quarter section of land, developing a good farm. Three chil- dren were born unto him and his wife in that homestead. Mrs. Duncanson passed away in January, 1889, and her husband, surviving her more than eleven years, died in February, 1900.
William R. Duneanson was reared in Jones county on the old home farm and early became familiar with the duties of field and meadow. When his services were not needed in the de- velopment of the land or the care of crops he attended the public schools. He continued with his father until his marriage, which was cele- brated in his nineteenth year on the 23d of October, 1879. He wedded Miss Mary J.
city of Boston, and a daughter of David H. Orr, a native of Ireland, who on coming to the United States established his home in Massa- chusetts. In 1865, however, he left that state and came to Iowa, settling in Jones county upon a farm, upon which he reared his family.
Mr. and Mrs. Duncanson began their domes- tic life upon a farm in Jones county, where they lived for about five years and then came to Woodbury county. Here Mr. Duncanson began to improve the property which has since been his home. Ile has added to and remod- eled his residence, has built two good barns, and there is now a fine grove of shade trees and an orchard which are of his own planting. He has divided the farm into fields of con- venient size by well kept fences and has added all modern equipments and accessories so that he now has one of the model farms of the twentieth century. It comprises two hundred and forty acres of rich land and its productive- ness is such that he annually harvests good crops, which find a ready sale on the market.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Duncanson have been born eight children, who are still living: Thomas, who is living on the home farm; Josie, a student at Cedar Falls, Iowa; David; Jeannette; Auna; Roy; Marion; and MeKin- ley. They also lost one son, William.
Politically Mr. Duncanson is a stanch Re- publiean who has served as township trustee and is now president of the school board in his district. He has been a delegate to county conventions and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He belongs to Pierson lodge, I. O. O. F., of which he is now filling the office of noble grand, and he is like- wise connected with the encampment at Cor- rectionville, while with the Modern Woodmen camp at Pierson, No. 3364, he is affiliated. In matters of citizenship he is progressive and publie-spirited, giving an active support to all measures which he believes will contribute to the general good.
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MRS. HELEN HAMILTON.
This well known pianist is a cosmopolitan, having been born in England, brought up in Dublin, sent to study piano under the strict regime of the Conservatoire, Paris, where there are only thirty-six girl students allowed each year, with an age limit of seventeen years upon all instrumental classes; consequently, her playing has a brillianey, sureness and intense quality which go with the French sehool, alas, too little known here. As an old-timer said, "That's the way Rubenstein played." Al- though Mrs. Hamilton did not belong to that nation, she received recognition because of her exceptional ability and her brillianey as a per- former. She spent two years there, leaving at the age of sixteen years. She was sent from Wisconsin to the World's Columbian Exposi- tion in Chicago, and gave piano recitals in the Wisconsin and Women's Buildings, and a spe- cial medal was conferred upon her. Mrs. Ham- ilton has every reason to be proud of the faet that Max Bendix, the violinist, paid a visit to her home at the time he played in Sioux City, and also of the recognition which Paderewski paid her, when he gave a concert in Sionx City, by sending her a note to call and see him npon the stage after the performance. Mrs. Hamil- ton began to play when six years of age, and her life has been largely devoted to her art, of which she is to-day the most notable repre- sentative in the northwest.
JOSEPH A. DEAN.
Joseph A. Dean, a veteran of the Civil war, was born at Tremont, Illinois, January 19, 1839. The ancestry of the family in America can be traced back to two brothers, John and Walter Dean, who came to America about 1637 from Chard, near Taunton, England. They were descended from an ancient English fam- ily of that name and the old stone house in which the ancestors lived for years is still
standing in Chard, England, and was visited by one of their American deseendants in 1902. The brothers came to this country with numer- ous other English emigrants, who purchased a considerable tract of land along both banks of the Taunton river in Plymouth county, Massa- chusetts, from the remnant of a tribe of In- ‹lians that had but a short time before been almost exterminated by a plagne. The pur- chasers entered upon their land and became the first settlers of Tannton, Massachusetts. The brothers, John and Walter Dean, took the free- man's oath, December 4, 1638, and were two of the first freemen of Tanuton. The subject of this sketch descended from John Dean in the following line. John Dean, born in England about 1600, married and settled in Taunton, Massachusetts, about 1637. Unto him and his wife Alice was born a son, in 1639-the first white child born in Taunton-and to him they gave the name of John. He was the father of John Dean (3d), who was born September 18, 1674. His son, Ebenezer Dean, married Wait- still Carver, and their son, Lazell Dean, mar- ried Ruth Leonard. Philander Dean, son of Lazell Dean, was born January 29, 1797, mar- ried Lavina Hayward, and they became the parents of our subject. The father was a black- smith and removed from Bridgewater, now Brockton, Massaelinsetts, to Tremont, Illinois, in 1835.
Captain Joseph A. Dean, whose name intro- duces this record, completed a high-school edu- cation in his native town of Tremont, Illinois, and then pursued a business course in Bell's Commercial College, in Chicago, Illinois, where he was gradnated in the spring of 1857. His early youth passed uneventfully. He taught school for some time in Illinois-in Tazewell, Woodford and Livingston counties --- after completing his own education and later engaged in clerking in a postoffice and in fol- lowing other pursnits until August, 1862, when he enlisted for service in the Union Army. It was on the 15th of that month that he joined
MRS. HELEN HAMILTON.
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Company D, of the One Hundred and Twenty- fourth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry as a private. He was made corporal upon the the organization of the company and was pro- moted to sergeant before the regiment entered the field. He discharged the duties of orderly sergeant from the time the regiment left the camp of instruction up to and including the seige of Vieksburg, ending in its capitulation. After its fall he was sent home on sick furlough and while there he read his own obituary in two newspapers, one published in Chicago and one in Alton, Illinois, for it was reported that he was dead. He was, however, destined for further service, and after his recovery he re- joined his regiment and was almost immedi- ately detailed for duty as acting sergeant- major of the Fifth Regiment of United States Colored Artillery (Heavy), and as soon as there was a vacaney in the office he was com- missioned second lieutenant and aeting regi- mental quartermaster, while a month later he was commissioned first lieutenant and regiment- al quartermaster, and upon being mustered out he was commissioned "captain by brevet for meritorious services." He was in the army for more than three years and nine months and went through the usual hard experiences of the man who is engaged in active field duty.
After his return from the war Captain Dean followed farming near Tremont, Illinois, for two years, and was later in the nursery and small fruit business at Leavenworth, Kansas, for two years. He next turned his attention to banking and real-estate operations at Storm Lake, Iowa, where he remained for nineteen years, and since that time he has been engaged in the real-estate business at Sioux City, where he now handles mueh valuable property and nego- tiates many important realty transfers, while in business circles he has gained a very desir- able reputation for progressive methods and honorable dealing.
Captain Dean was married Angust 21, 1865, at San Jose, Illinois, to Miss Augusta C. Rob-
inson, and as he was still in the army she went to the front with him and remained with him until he was mustered out, May 20, 1866. They have two children, Eva and Origen S. The son married Jessie L. Moore, November 11, 1896, and they have two children: Joseph M., five years of age; and Martha, a year old. Mrs. Dean's ancestors, both paternal and ma- ternal, emigrated from England to America, some in 1620 and some a few years later, and settled near Taunton, Massachusetts, and rep- resentatives of both families went to Tremont, Illinois, at the same time. Mrs. Dean is a lineal deseendant of Miles Standish and John Alden.
When Captain Dean entered the army he ad- voeated Democratie principles, but ere the elose of the war he became a staneh Republican and has sinee supported the party. He has never songht or desired politieal office and has never held but two, and to one of them he was elected in Illinois, in 1867, entirely without his knowledge or solicitation. He has been a member of the Grand Army of the Republic for many years and now belongs to General Haneoek Post, of Sioux City. For twenty- eight years he has been a Master Mason and served as master of the lodge at Storm Lake, Iowa, for two years. He now affiliates with Landmark Lodge, of this eity, and has lived a life in harmony with its teachings. He has never sought to figure before the public in any other light than a business man, content to do his part in his own community, and wherever he has lived he has been found a loyal, pro- gressive citizen, reliable and trustworthy.
WILLIAM F. KNITTEL.
William F. Knittel, whose intense and well directed activity in business eireles proved the basis of his snecess, has been a resident of Sionx City since 1876. He was born in Haw- ley, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, Thursday,
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July 8, 1857, a sou of John and Hannah (Siedler) Knittel, both of whom are now de- ceased. The father, a native of Germany, came to America in 1848 and was married in Haw- ley, Pennsylvania. He was a cabinetmaker by trade and followed that pursuit for many years, but spent his last days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest and honorable retirement from further labor. He died October 13, 1903.
William F. Knittel spent his childhood and youth in the east and pursued his education in the public schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and in Eastman's Business College, at Pongh- keepsie, New York. Thus qualified for the practical duties of a business career, he came to the west iu 1876, settling at Sioux City, where he entered the employ of C. Breun, a grocer, with whom he remained until 1884. His long continued service is indicative of the fact that he gave entire satisfaction to his employer. The careful husbanding of his resources during that period enabled him, in the year men- tioned, to engage in business on his own ac- count and he opened a grocery under the firm name of Elliott & Knittel, having purchased the store of M. W. Murphy, at the corner of Fourth and Pearl streets. They conducted business there for two years and Mr. Knittel then sold his interest and in 1886 went into a grocery store alone. He prospered in the new undertaking and for some time conducted two stores, enjoying a large and constantly in- creasing trade. He paid strict attention to business, carefully watching all indications pointing to success and so utilizing his opportu- nities as to win prosperity. Moreover, his strict conformity to the ethics of mercantile life won him public confidence and insured him a continuance of public patronage. In 1895 he disposed of his stores.
On Wednesday, the 11th of May, 1881, Mr. Knittel was married to Miss Emma Selzer, a daughter of Rudolph and Theresa Selzer, who are represented elsewhere in this volume. Unto them have been born eight children: Those
deceased are: Louis, who was born January 18, 1886, and died July 31, 1888; Josephine, who was born September 16, 1888, and died on the 4th of December following; and Con- rad, who was born November 14, 1896, and died on the 30th of the same month. The liv- ing children are: Marie Theresa, who was born March 20, 1882, and is the wife of Fred W. Convery, a shoe merchant of Sioux City, Iowa, by whom she has one child, Frederick Rudolph, born November 7, 1903; Emma Celia, born January 27, 1884; Francis, who was born February 17, 1890, and is attending high school; John Rudolph, who was born July 29, 1892, and is also a high school stu- dent ; and Joanna, born November 18, 1899.
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