USA > Iowa > Woodbury County > Sioux City > Past and present of Sioux City and Woodbury County, Iowa > Part 9
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teen years Mrs. Stinson has been treasurer and in 1901 was made superintendent of the in- stitution. She is a member of the Episcopal church and the true spirit of Christianity is manifested in her helpful attitude to others, especially to the poor and needy.
PROFESSOR E. A. BROWN.
There is no one factor which so closely touches the general interests of society as does the public schools. It affects every honsehold and has direct bearing upon the progress of the nation and the upbuilding of its political and moral status and it is a noticeable fact that greater efficiency is more and more demanded of those who undertake the important work of instructing the young and preparing them for the responsible duties which are to follow in after life. The confidence which the citizens of Woodbury county repose in Professor E. A. Brown is indicated by the fact that for five terms they have elected him as county superin- tendent of schools and this is also indicative of his faithfulness and capability in office. Un- der his guidance the schools of the county have made rapid, substantial and satisfactory prog- ress and the people of northwestern Iowa have every reason to be proud of the advantages for public education which they afford to the youth of the locality.
Professor Brown is a native of Indiana, his birth having occurred in Monrovia, Morgan county, in August, 1857. He is a descendant of an old Virginian family, his parents having emigrated from the Old Dominion to Kentucky and subsequently to Indiana, where they located in the early part of the nineteenth century. His grandparents, however, were slaveholders of Kentucky, but on removing to a northern state they liberated their bondsmen.
Professor Brown's life work may be said to have begun in his fifth year when he entered the rural schools as he has been connected with in-
stitutions of public instruction ever since that time either as pupil, teacher or superintendent. After a few years spent in the mastery of com- mon branches of learning in a district school he was given the advantage of instruction in a graded school in a town and later of an academic course, and when seventeen years of age com- pleted his academic studies by graduation. In the meantime his parents had died and he was thus thrown upon his own resources. After leaving the academy he spent a few years in teaching in the country schools in order to obtain the means with which to pursue a col- lege course and when he had sufficient capital he entered DePauw University of Indiana in 1881 and was graduated on the completion of the philosophical course with the class of June, 1884. His taste and talents have ever been in direction of educational work and at no time has he given his attention and energies to other departments of labor. After six years spent as principal of public schools at Sergeants Bluff, Iowa, he was elected to the chair of mathematics in the University of the Northwest, now known as Morningside College. He has spent the last fourteen years as teacher in that insti- tution and as county superintendent and in January, 1904, he entered upon his fifth term as superintendent of the schools of Woodbury county, to which he has been elected at five con- secutive elections upon the Republican ticket.
In April, 1885, Professor Brown was mar- ried to Miss Metta Mullinix, a student of the State University of Indiana, at Bloomington. With his family, numbering his wife and four sons, he now resides at Morningside, Sioux City, where they have lived for fourteen years.
E. L. CRAIN.
E. L. Crain, who is living a retired life in Cushing, was for a long period closely asso- ciated with agricultural interests in Johnson and Louisa counties. For more than a half
E. A. BROWN.
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century he has been a resident of this state, has aided in reclaiming its wild lands for the pur- poses of civilization, and through his activity, enterprise and progressive farm labors he ac- cumulated the competence that now enables him to live retired. Mr. Crain was born in Fay- ette county, Pennsylvania, on the 14th of No- vember, 1835. His father, A. L. Crain, was a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was of Irish parentage and ancestry, the family hav- ing been established in the Keystone state at an early day. A. L. Crain served as a soldier on the northern frontier during the war of 1812. He was married in Fayette county, Pennsyl- vania, to Miss Sarah Gaddis, a native of that county, and in the Keystone state he followed merchandising for a number of years, while about 1850 he removed to Iowa, settling in Johnson county. He carried on the dry-goods business at Solon for abont seven or eight years and then disposed of his store. removing to a farm which he continued to cultivate for a simi- lar period. He next took up his abode in Wa- pello, Iowa, where he engaged in merchandis- ing until 1865. His wife died prior to the Civil war.
E. L. Crain was reared to manhood in John- son and Louisa counties and in his youth as- sisted his father in the store. He pursued his education in the common schools and in the high school at Iowa City, Iowa, and under his father's direction received practical business training. In 1862 he offered his services to the government and joined the boys in blue of Company G, Twenty-second Iowa Infantry, with which he went south to Mississippi. There he participated in the battles of Port Gibson, Champion Hills, Black River, Jackson, the siege of Vicksburg, the second battle of Jackson and the engagement at Winchester, where only three Iowa regiments took part. He was also in the battles of Fisher Hill and Cedar Creek. After the expiration of his first term of enlistment he veteranized and was hon- orably discharged in Baltimore, with the rank
of second sergeant, at the close of the war. On the 9th of July, 1865, he was mustered out and returned to his home with a very credit- able military record. He had been a true and loyal soldier, never faltering in his allegiance to the old flag or hesitating in the performance of any duty which was assigned to him and which was a part of the great sum total of effort that resulted in the preservation of the Union.
Again coming to Iowa when the country no longer needed his services Mr. Crain turned his attention to farming in Johnson county. There he secured a tract of land which he opened up and developed, carrying on farming with success at that place for several years. He afterward bought another farm near Iowa City and made it his home until about 1900, when he left the place and purchased residence prop- erty in Cushing, where he now makes his home. Throughout the greater part of his business career his attention and energies were directed to agricultural pursuits and he placed his farm under a very high state of cultivation, made excellent improvements thereon and as the years passed enjoyed a good income as the result of his labors.
Mr. Crain was married in Des Moines eoun- ty, September 3, 1861, to Miss Mary A. Mann, a native of Pennsylvania, who in childhood days removed to Ohio. In 1850 she became a resi- dent of Iowa, living in Des Moines county and in Wapello. She was largely educated in this state, attending school in Mount Pleasant. Ser- en children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Crain: Fannie, now the wife of Charles I. Miller, of Galva, Iowa ; William L., a promi- ment business man of Cushing: Lewis, a den- tist of Correctionville, Iowa; Nellie, the wife of Arthur Wescott, of Wichita, Kansas; Harry A .; AAda, the wife of James MeGuire, a life insurance agent ; and Winnie, who died at the age of fourteen years.
Politically Mr. Crain has been a life-long Republican but the honors and emoluments of
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office have had no attraction for him, as he has preferred to give his attention to his farming and business interests. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and active in its auxiliary societies. Mr. Crain belongs to the Grand Army Post at Iowa City and has served as vice commander. For fifty-six years he has remained a resident of this state and has therefore been a witness of its wonderful growth and development as it has emerged from pioneer conditions to take its place among the great commonwealths of the country. He has seen cities and towns built, the prairie broke and fenced, the farms cultivated and the work of improvement carried steadily forward, and in the communities where he has resided he has borne his full share in its progress and im- provement.
FREDERICK E. FRANCHERE, M. D.
Dr. Frederick E. Franchere, who, in the practice of medicine, makes a specialty of nerv- ous diseases and of diseases of the eye and ear, was born in San Juan, California, July 14, 1866. He is a grandson of Gabriel Franchere, who was an explorer of note, whose testimony before the United States senate was of material assistance to Senator Thomas H. Benton in set- tling the boundary controversy between the United States and Canada. His work entitled "A Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America" was largely used as a source of information by Washington Irving in preparing his "Astoria." Dr. Franchere's parents were Everieste and Martha M. (Cross) Franchere. The father re- moved from Canada to the United States, and, entering the navy, was associated with Lieuten- ant Gunnison in his survey of the Great Lakes. He afterward left the navy and entered the merchantman's service and in 1849 he went to California, where he engaged in mining. IIe also conducted a drug business and met with success in his business operations in the far west. On account of his health, however, he 31, 1899.
removed to Minnesota in 1869 and his death occurred in that state in 1894. His widow still survives and is now making her home with her son Dr. Franchere.
Dr. Franchere attended the public schools of Minnesota and also the State Normal school at Mankato and the State University at Minne- apolis, being graduated from the medical de- partment of the latter institution in 1890 at the age of twenty-four years. He was president of his class and while in college took a prominent part in athletics. After his graduation he spent one year in the city hospital and was then ap- pointed on the staff of the hospital for the in- sane of Minnesota, occupying that position un- til the spring of 1892. This gave him ample opportunity to study nervous diseases, many of which result in insanity, and his hospital experience proved an excellent training school for his later professional labors. He spent the summer of 1892 in Europe, studying in Lon- don and Paris, making a specialty of neurology. In the winter of 1892 he located in Sioux City, where he has sinee engaged in the practice of his profession, and while to some extent he fol- lows general practice, he yet devotes the greater part of his time and attention to the treatment of nervous diseases and of the diseases of the eye and ear. On account of his health he went to St. James, Minnesota, in 1895 and remained there until the spring of 1902, when he returned to Sioux City and associated himself in prac- tice with Dr. George Park. They have since conducted a constantly increasing and profitable practice and the firm stands high in public re- gard as representatives of the medical fra- ternity of northwestern Iowa.
Dr. Franehere was married in 1895 to Miss Helen C. Hoyt, of Sioux City, Iowa, a daughter of Earl T. Hoyt, who has been engaged in the newspaper business for many years in connec- tion with the Sioux City Journal. They have two children: Mabel Catlin, born December 19, 1897 ; and Margaret Parrish, born October
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While in St. James Dr. Franchere was ap- pointed surgeon of the Chicago, St. Paul, Min- neapolis and Omaha Railroad and also of the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad. He held the positions of county coroner and city health officer, resigning the railroad appointments in 1902, when he returned to Sioux City, Iowa. He was also medical inspector of the public schools. After his return to Sioux City he was appointed to the chair of nervous diseases in the Sioux City College of Medicine and in the spring of 1904 he was elected secretary of that institution. About the same time he was ap- pointed to the chair of clinical ophthalmology in the Sioux City College of Medicine. Dr. Franchere is a member of the American Med- ical Association, the Sioux Valley Medical Society, the Woodbury County Medical So- ciety, the Southwest Minnesota Medical So- ciety, the Minnesota Valley Medical Society, the Olmsted County Medical Society and the Watonwan County ( Minnesota) Medical Soci- ety. He is also lecturer to the Training School for Nurses, St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital and in the Samaritan Hospital Train- ing School for Nurses. He belongs to Bethel lodge, No. 103, A. F. & A. M., in Minnesota, and also to the Royal Arcanum, while his political allegiance is given unfalter- ingly to the Republican party. He has no time or inclination, however, to seek office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his practice, which is constantly growing in volume and im- portance. With a nature that could never be content with mediocrity, he has steadily ad- vanced until he has left the many and stands among the successful few, having gained recog- nition in the practice as one of its ablest repre- sentatives, while the public attests its confidence by a liberal patronage.
J. O. JERMAN.
Northwestern Iowa largely owes its prosper- ity, development and upbuilding to its agricul- tural class, and prominent among the leading
and enterprising farmers and stock-raisers of Woodbury county is numbered J. O. Jerman, who owns and operates the Valley farin, a well improved property comprising nearly one thou- sand acres. His life history indicates what can be accomplished through determined purpose and honorable effort in a country where recog- nition is accorded ability, and where success follows persistent labor. Iowa would certainly have reason to be proud of her native sons it all manifested the sterling qualities which mark the career of Mr. Jerman, who was born in Jackson county, this state, February 6, 1855. Oliver Jerman, his father, was a native of Canada, born December 23, 1817, and when a young man he removed to Iowa, settling in Dubuque, where he was married to Miss Mary E. Gothier, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and a daughter of Joseph Gothier, who came to Illinois from Canada. Oliver Jerman then located in Jackson county about 1840, among its early settlers, and engaged in general farm- ing. There he reared his family and in 187> he came to Woodbury county, being actively identified with the early progress and develop- ment of this portion of the state. IIe died January 31, 1884, at the age of sixty-seven years, and his wife died June 14, 1904, when seventy-seven years of age.
J. O. Jerman was reared to manhood in Jas- per county, upon his father's farm, where he remained until twenty-two years of age, assist- ing materially in the development and cultiva- tion of the land. He afterward sought a com- panion and helpmate for life's journey and was married in Jackson county, on the 31st of Jan- uary, 1878, to Miss Mary M. Roark, who was born in Ohio, but was reared in Iowa. In the year prior to his marriage Mr. Jerman pur- chased the land which constituted the nucleus of his present fine farm, beginning with one hundred and sixty acres. This he began to im- prove and develop and later he purchased more land, adding to his place from time to time until now he owns nine hundred and forty
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acres, constituting one of the finest farming properties of northwestern Iowa. He has erected five neat residences and three large barns upon his land, also commodious outbuild- ings and he has all modern improvements, in- cluding a wind pump and waterworks in order to supply his stock with water. There is a fine natural grove and a good bearing orchard, together with a large variety of small fruits. In fact the farm is classed as one of the best improved properties of the township and in connection with the tilling of the soil Mr. Jer- man is engaged in the raising, feeding and fat- tening of the stock for the city market. His business in this direction is very extensive. He fattens and ships to the market about ten car- loads of cattle annually and his sales reach a profitable figure. In addition to his farming interests Mr. Jerman is a stockholder and the vice-president of the Anthon State Bank and was one of its promoters and organizers in the year 1890. He has served from the beginning as its vice-president and is well known in finan- cial circles.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Jerman have been born six children: Catherine, who is now the wife of J. J. Rourke, a substantial farmer of Wolf Creek township; Oliver, who assists in carry- ing on the home farm; Walter, Lucy, Nellie and Myrtle, all at home.
Catholic faith and are now members of the Catholic church at AAnthon. Mr. Jerman has known no other home than Iowa and throughout his entire life has been imbued with the spirit of enterprise and progress, which are so char- acteristic of this part of the country. For twenty-seven years he has lived in Woodbury county and has been identified with its devel- opment and prosperity, helping to make it what it is to-day. His word is considered as good as his bond for he has lived an upright, honorable life, faithfully meeting every obli- gation that he has incurred and performing every duty that comes to him. He is truly a representative citizen and belongs to that class of men of whom the country is justly proud- men who recognize opportunity and who labor earnestly that success may be theirs. They realize that effort is the basis of all prosperity and upon this foundation they build their for- tunes.
FRANK L. FERRIS.
Frank L. Ferris, who in the practice of law has largely given his attention to corporate and imunicipal law, is a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Chesterville on the 28th of December, 1856. In the paternal line the family is of Welsh ancestry and his father, Israel E. Ferris, was closely related to the Fer- ris, Peck and Phillips families of New York. His mother was of Scotch lineage and a direct descendant of Robert Bruce.
Politically Mr. Jerman is a Democrat who has never faltered in his allegiance to the party since casting his first presidential ballot for Samuel J. Tilden in 1876. He has been called Reared in Ohio, Frank L. Ferris acquired his early education in the country schools near his home, which he attended until about sixteen vears of age, when he pursued a course in the high school of New London, his parents having in the meantime taken up their abode in that city. Having determined to make the practice of law his life work subsequent to the comple- tion of his literary education, Mr. Ferris be- came a student in the law office of Hon. R. C. Powers, of New London, Ohio. He followed to public office by his fellow townsmen, who recognized his worth and ability. He was se- lected and served as township trustee, has also been school treasurer and township clerk and was supervisor of the county for three years, and in these various positions he has faithfully discharged his duties and labors for the in- terests of the community. He has been a dele- gate to the county and state conventions of his party and his opinions carry weight in its councils. He and his wife were reared in the a course of study similar to that of the law
F. L. FERRIS.
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department of the State University of Michi- gan at Ann Arbor and was admitted to practice by the supreme court of Ohio on the 3d of May, 1881. IIe remained with his preceptor until 1883 as his associate in practice and then took up his abode in South Dakota. He opened an office in Redfield and in 1886 he became connected with the law department of the Chi- cago & Northwestern Railroad Company for that state at Huron. Two years later he re- moved to Iowa, establishing his home in Sioux City in April, 1888. Here a constantly grow- ing elientage has given evidence of the public confidence in his ability and business integrity. He is well versed in many departments of juris- prudence, but has made a specialty of corporate and municipal law. Among the most impor- tant eases tried by him were those brought against Walter Strange, ex-county supervisor, for alleged criminal and illegal transactions while in office. Mr. Ferris was leading counsel for the defense and the first trial of twenty days' duration resulted in a disagreement of the jury and in a re-trial of ten days the de- fendant was acquitted. He has also a consid- erable practice in this and neighboring states upon the question of exaction of license by cities and towns from transient merchants and others.
On the 15th of December, 1887, Mr. Fer- ris was united in marriage to Miss Sara Sar- gent, of Fayette, Ohio. They now have one daughter, Winnifred J., who was born on the 5th of April, 1890. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ferris receive high and favorable regard from their many friends in Sioux City and he is identi- fied with several of the fraternal organizations here, belonging to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of Pythias fraternity. He is grand trib- une of the last named in Iowa. Community af- fairs receive his earnest attention and his hearty co-operation is given to many movements which have for their object the benefit of the eity and the advancement of its welfare. He is a charter member of the Floyd Monument Association
and is serving on its finance committee. In polities he is a prominent Republican, recog- nized as a leader of his party in northwestern Iowa. The questions which are to the business man and loyal citizen of deep interest elicit his earnest consideration, and in as far as they effect the governmental poliey he has given to them his patriotie support or opposed with great strength as he has seen fit. Ile was as- sistant secretary of the Republican state con- vention in 1896 and again in 1900, and for effective and intelligent work in that capacity was highly complimented. In matters pertain- ing to state legislation he has taken a keen in- terest and was largely responsible for the passage by the twenty-fifth general assembly of the law preventing parties from buying elaims outside the state against railway em- ployes and sending them here for suit and garnishment. Because of his activity and gen- eral fitness Mr. Ferris has been prominently mentioned as a candidate for the legislature from his county and for other political honors. His scholarly attainments, his statesmanship, his reliability and his charming powers of con- versation would enable him to fill and grace any position.
S. D. LEGG.
S. D. Legg, living on section 2, Kedron town- ship, is a prosperous farmer and stock-raiser of Woodbury county. He owns and operates a farm of six hundred and twenty acres of well improved and valuable land pleasantly located within a mile and a half of Correctionville. He was born in Kankakee county, Illinois, on Christmas day of 1857, and is a representa- tive of a family of English ancestry that was established in Ohio at an early day. His father, James M. Legg, was born in Ohio in 1820, was there reared to manhood and married Minerva Harding, also a native of that state. In the '40s the father removed to Illinois, be- coming one of the early settlers of Kankakee
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county, where he opened a farm and reared his family. Subsequently he removed to the town of Waldron, where he is now living a retired life, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. In his family were seven children, five of whom survive: Eliza, the wife of M. A. Parker, of Kankakee, Illinois; Dora, the wife of L. D. Legg, of Kankakee county, Illinois; S. D., of this review; Joseph, who is living in Correctionville and owns a well improved and valuable farm; and Grant, who is living in Kankakee county.
S. D. Legg was reared upon the home farm in Kankakee county and received good educa- tional privileges, attending the common schools and afterward the high school of Kankakee. He was married in the county of his nativity on the 1st of December, 1880, to Miss Mary Eldridge, who was born in that county and was a daughter of Joseph Eldridge, one of the early settlers of Illinois, who removed to that state from Ver- mont. Mr. and Mrs. Legg became the parents of five children: Orville, Joseph M., Irma, Iola and Ida.
Mr. Legg owned and operated a farm of two hundred and seventy acres in Kankakee county, Illinois, where he carried on agricultural pur- suits until 1901. He then sold that property and came to the west, making his way to Kedron township, Woodbury county, Iowa, where he now resides. Here he has a well improved farm of six hundred and twenty acres, and in addi- tion to the cultivation of the cereals best adapted to soil and climate he has for a num- ber of years engaged in the raising, feeding and fattening of stock for the market. He sells annually from eight to ten carloads of fat hogs and cattle and is known as one of the leading business men of Kedron township. His polit- ical allegiance has always been given to the Republican party where national issues are in- volved, and he has served as supervisor of roads in Illinois. He is a believer in good schools and he has served for thirteen consecutive years as school director, as distriet elerk and as presi-
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