USA > Iowa > Henry County > Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Iowa, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 11
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After Lookout Mountain it joined in the pursuit of Bragg's flying forces to Ringgold, where it en- gaged the enemy in their strong works, November 27, losing twenty-nine wounded. The following year it joined Sherman in his Atlanta Campaign, then on the famous march to the sea and through the Carolinas.
On returning to Iowa he continued in the mer-
144
JOSHUA G. NEWBOLD.
cantile trade at Hillsboro for three or four years, and then sold out, giving thereafter his whole at- tention to agriculture, stoek -raising and stock-deal- ing, making the stock department an important factor in his business for several years. Mr. New- hold was a member of the 13th, 14th and 15th Gen- eral Assemblies, representing Henry County, and was Chairman of the School Committee in the 14th, and of the committee on appropriations in the 15th General Assembly. In the 15th (1874) he was tem- porary Speaker during the deadlock in organizing the House. In 1875 he was elected Lieutenant Governor on the Republican ticket with Samuel J. Kirkwood.
His Democratie competitor was E. D. Woodward, who received 93,060 votes. Mr. Newbold received 134,166, or a majority of 31,106. Governor Kirk- wood being elected United States Senator during that session, Mr. Newbold became Governor, taking the chair Feb. 1, 1877, and vacating it for Gov. Gear in January, 1878.
Gov. Newbold's message to the Legislature in 1878, shows painstaking care and a clear, busi- ness-like view of the interests of the State. His recommendations were carefully considered and largely adopted. The State's finances were then in a less creditable condition than ever before or since, as there was an increasing floating debt, then amounting to $340,826.56, more than $90,000 in excess of the Constitutional limitation. Said Gov. Newbold in his message: "The commonwealth ought not to set an example of dilatoriness in meeting its obligations. Of all forms of indebt- edness, that of a floating character is the most ob- jectionable. The uneertainty as to its amount will
invariably enter into any computation made by per- sons contraeting with the State for supplies, mater- ial or labor. To remove the present difficulty, and to avert its recurrence, I look upon as the most im- portant work that will demand your attention."
One of the greatest problems before statesmen is that of equal and just taxation. The following recommendation shows that Gov. Newbold was abreast with foremost thinkers, for it proposes a step which yearly finds more favor with the people : " The inequalities of the personal-property valu- ations of the several counties suggest to my mind the propriety of so adjusting the State's levy as to require the counties to pay into the State treasury only the tax on realty, leaving the corresponding tax on personalty in the county treasury. This would rest with each county the adjustment of its own personal property valuations, without fear that they might be so high as to work injustice to itself in comparison with other counties."
Gov. Newbold has always affiliated with the Republican party, and holds to its great cardinal doctrines, having onee embraced them, with the same sincerity and honesty that he cherishes his re- ligious sentiments. He has been a Christian for something like twenty-five years, his connection be- ing with the Free-Will Baptist Church. He found his wife, Rachel Farquhar, in Fayette County, Pa., their union taking place on the 2d of May, 1850. They have had five children and lost two. The names of the living are Mary Allene, Emma Irene and George C.
The Governor is not yet an old man, and may serve his State or county in other capacities in the coming years.
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147
GOVERNORS OF IOWA.
John Il. Gear.
OHN II. GEAR, the tenth gentleman to occupy the Executive Chair of Iowa, is still a resident of Burlington. He is a native of the Empire State, where in the city of Ithica, April 7, 1825, he was born. Rev. E. G. Gear, his father, was born in New London, Conn., in 1792, and became a distinguished clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church. His family had removed with him, while he was still young, to Pittsfield, Mass., and in the year 1816, after his ordina- tion as a clergyman of the Episco -. pal Church, he went to New York and located at Onondaga Hill near the city of Syracuse. Shortly after this settlement, the young minister was united in marriage with Miss Miranda E. Cook. After serving various congregations in Western New York for many years, he de- termined to become a pioneer in Northern Illinois, which at the time, in the year 1836, was being rapidly settled up. Ile found a desirable location at Galena where he remained un- til 1838, when he received the appointment as Chaplain in the United States army while located at Fort Snelling, Minn. He lived a long and act- ive life, doing much good, quitting his labors in
the year 1874, at the advanced age of eighty-two years.
The only son born to Mr. and Mrs. E. G. Gear was J. H., afterward the distinguished Governor of Iowa. As above stated the birth occurred in 1825. In 1843, when still a young man, he came West to Burlington, where he has since continued to reside, her most distinguished citizen. Shortly after his arrival in the young city, he embarked in his mer- cantile career, engaging at the time with the firm of Bridgman & Bros., in the capacity of a clerk. Remaining with this firm for a little over a year, he left them for an engagement with W. F. Cool- baugh, who at one time was President of the Union National Bank, of Chicago, and who at that carly period was the leading merchant of Eastern Iowa. He served Mr. Coolbaugh so faithfully, and with such marked ability for the following five years, that, when desirous of a partner in his busi- ness, the wealthy merchant could find no one in whom he could place greater confidence and with whom he could trust his extensive business rela- tions that pleased him better than the young elerk. Accordingly he was associated as a partner under the firm name of W. F. Coolbaugh & Co. Under this arrangement the firm did a prosperous busi- ness for the following five years, when Mr. Gear purchased the entire business, which he carried on with marked success until he became known as the oldest wholesale grocer in the State. He is at present, besides filling other prominent business relations, President of the Rolling Mill Co., of Galesburg.
148
JOHN H. GEAR.
Mr. Gear has been honored by his fellow-citizens with many positions of trust. In 1852 he was elected Alderman; in 1863 was elected Mayor over A. W. Carpenter, being the first Republican up to that time who had been elected in Burlington on a party issue. In 1867 the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota Railroad Company was organ- ized, and he was chosen as its President. Ilis ef- forts highly contributed to the success of the enter- prise, which did much for Burlington. He was also active in promoting the Burlington & South- western Railway, as well as the Burlington & North- western narrow-gauge road.
He has always acted with the Republican party, and in 1871 was nominated and elected a member of the House of Representatives of the 14th General Assembly. In 1873 he was elected to the 15th General Assembly. The Republican eau- cus of the House nominated him for Speaker by acelamation, and after a contest of two weeks he was chosen over his opponent, J. W. Dixon. He filled the position of Speaker very acceptably, and at the close of the session all the members of the House, independent of party affiliations, joined in signing their names to a resolution of thanks, which was engraved and presented to him. In 1875 he was the third time nominated to the Assembly by the Republican party, and while his county gave a large Democratic vote he was again elected. Hle was also again nominated for Speaker by the Re- publican cauens, and was elected by a handsome majority over his competitor, Hon. John Y. Stone. HIe is the only man in the State who ever had the honor of being chosen to this high position a sec- ond time. He enjoys the reputation of being an able parliamentarian, his rulings never having been appealed from. At the close of the session he again received the unanimous thanks of the House of Representatives for his courtesy and impartiality, and for the able and satisfactory manner in which he had presided over that body.
In 1877 he was nominated for Governor by the Republican convention which met at Des Moines, June 28, and at the election held the following October he received 121,546 votes, against 79,353 for John P. Irish, 10,639 for Elias Jessup and 38,- 228 for D. P. Stubbs. His plurality over Irish
was 42,193. Hle was inaugurated Jan. 17, 1878, and served four years, being re-elected in 1879 by the following handsome vote: Gear, 157,571; Trimble, 85,056; Campbell, 45. 139 ; Dungan, 3,258, Gear's majority over all competitors, 23,828. Ilis second inauguration occurred in January of the year 1880.
Gov. Gear's business habits enabled him to dis- charge the duties of his office with marked ability. Ile found the financial condition of the State at a low ebb, but raised lowa's credit to that of the best of our States. In his last biennial message he was able to report: " The warrants out-standing, but not bearing interest, Sept. 30, 1881, amounted to 822,093.74, and there are now in the treasury ample funds to meet the current expenses of the State. The war and defense debt has been paid, except the warrants for $125,000 negotiated by the Executive, Auditor and Treasurer, under the law of the 18th General Assembly, and $2,500 of the original bonds not yet presented for pay . ment. The only other debt owing by the State amounts to 8245,435.19, due to the permanent school fund, a portion of which is made irredeem able by the Constitution. These facts place lowa practically among the States which have no debt, a consideration which must add much to her repu tation. The expenses of the State for the last two years are less than those of any other period sinco 1869, and this notwithstanding the faet that the State is to-day sustaining several institutions not then in existence; namely, the hospital at Inde- pendence, the additional penitentiary, the Normal School and the asylum for the feeble-minded chil- dren, besides the girl's department of the reform school. The State also, at present, makes provision for fish eulture, for a useful weather service, for sanitary supervision by a Board of Health, for eu- conraging immigration to the State, for the inspec- tion of coal mines by a State Inspector, and liber- ally for the military arm of the Government."
Gov. Gear is now in the sixty-first year of his age, and is in the full vigor of both his mental and physical faculties. Hle was married in 1852 to Harriet S. Foot, formerly of the town of Middle- bury, Vermont, by whom he has had four children. two of whom are living.
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B. Dr. Sherman
151
GOVERNORS OF IOWA.
Buren I. Sherman.
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SNE of the most distinguished gentlemen who was ever honored with the position of Chief Executive of the State is Buren R. Sherman, the eleventh Governor of Iowa, who is a native of New York. It was in the town of Phelps, in On- tario County, that he was born to his parents, Phineas L. and Eveline (Robinson) Sherman, on the 28th of May, 1836, and was the third son of a distinguished family of chiklren. His parents were likewise natives of the Empire State. Buren R. attended the public schools of his neighborhood, but was subsequently given advantages of the schools at Almira, N. Y., where he acquired a very thorough knowledge of the English branches. His father, who was a me- chanie, advised him at the elose of his studies to apprentice himself to learn some trade. Ile ac- cordingly made such arrangements with S. Ayers, of Almira, to learn the trade of a watchmaker. In 1855, however, he left this position and joined his family on their removal to the then new State of Iowa. They settled upon a piece of unbroken prai- rie land on what is now Geneseo Township, Tama
County, his father having previously purchased land from the Government. Here Buren R. Jabored diligently in developing his father's fields, devoting, however, leisure hours which he was granted, to the study of law. Before leaving his Eastern home he had deeided upon that profession and began its study while yet in Almira. Ile soon secured a po- sition as a book-keeper in a neighboring town, and with the wages earned there, materially assisted his father in the development of their home farm. In the meantime he had applied himself diligently to the study of his books, and so studious had he been that in the summer of 1859, he was enabled to pass a creditable examination and to be admitted to the bar. The following spring the young attor- ney moved to Vinton, hung out his shingle and be- gan the practice of his profession. He was associated with Hon. William Smyth, formerly District Judge, and J. C. Traer, under the firm name of Smyth, Traer & Sherman. The new firm rapidly grew into prominence, building up a prosperous practice, when Mr. Sherman withdrew to tender his services to the Government in defense of her integrity and honor.
It was early in 1861, directly after the enemy had assaulted the American flag on Sumter, that the young attorney enlisted in Co. G, 13th lowa Vol.
152
BUREN R. SHERMAN.
Inf., and immediately went to the front. IIe entered the service as Second Sergeant, and in February, 1862, was made Second Lieutenant of Company E. On the 6th of April following he was very severely wounded at the battle of Pittsburgh Landing, and while in the hospital was promoted to the rank of Captain. He returned to his company while yet obliged to use his crutches, and remained on duty till the summer of 1863, when, by reason of his wound, he was compelled to resign and return home. Soon after returning from the army he was elected County Judge of Benton County, and re- elected without opposition in 1865. In the antumn of 1866 he resigned his judgeship and accepted the office of Clerk of the District Court, to which he was re-elected in 1868, 1870 and 1872, and in December, 1874, resigned in order to accept the office of Auditor of State, to which office he had been elected by a majority of 28.425 over J. M. King, the "anti-monopoly " candidate. In 1876 he was renominated and received 50,272 more votes than W. Growneweg (Democrat) and Leonard Browne (Greenback) together. In 1878 he was again chosen to represent the Republican party in that office, and this time received a major- ity of 7,164 over the combined votes of Col. Eiboeck (Democrat) and G. V. Swearenger (Green- back). In the six years that he held this office, he " was untiring in his faithful application to routine work and devotion to his special share of the State's business. He retired with such an enviable record that it was with no surprise the people learned, June 27, 1881, that he was the nominee of the Re- publiean party for Governor.
The campaign was an exciting one. The General Assembly had submitted to the people the prohibi- tory amendment to the Constitution. This, while not a partisan question, became uppermost in the mind of the public. Mr. Sherman received 133,- 330 votes, against 83,244 for Kinne and 28,112 for D. M. Clark, or a plurality of 50,086 and a major- ity of 21,971. In 1883 he was re-nominated by the Republicans, as well as L. G. Kinne by the Democrats. The National party offered J. B. Weaver. During the campaign these candidates held a number of joint discussions at different points in the State. At the election the vote was:
Sherman, 164,182; Kinne, 139,093; Weaver, 23, 089; Sherman's plurality, 25,089; majority, 2,000. In his second inaugural Gov. Sherman said:
" In assuming, for the second time, the office of Chief Magistrate for the State, I fully realize my grateful obligations to the people of Iowa, through whose generous confidence I am here. I am aware of the duties and grave responsibilities of this ex- alted position, and as well what is expected of me therein. As in the past I have given my undivided time and serious attention thereto, so in the future I promise the most earnest devotion and untiring effort in the faithful performance of my official re- quirements. I have seen the State grow from in- fancy to mature manhood, and each year one of substantial betterment of its previous position.
" With more railroads than any State, save two; with a school interest the grandest and strongest, which commands the support and confidence of all the people, and a population, which in its entirety is superior to any other in the sisterhood, it is not strange the pride which attaches to our people. When we remember that the results of our efforts in the direction of good government have been crowned with such magnificent snecess, and to-day we have a State in most perfeet physical and finan- cial condition, no wonder our hearts swell in honest pride as we contemplate the past and so confidently hope for the future. What we may become de- pends on our own efforts, and to that future I look with earnest and abiding confidence."
Gov. Sherman's term of office continued nntil Jan. 14, 1886, when he was succeeded by William Larra- bee, and he is now, temporarily, perhaps, enjoying a well-carned rest. He has been a Republican since the organization of that party, and his services as a campaign speaker have been for many years in great demand. As an officer he has been able to make an enviable record. Himself honorable and thorough, his management of publie business has been of the same character, and such as has com- mended him to the approval of his fellow-citizens.
Hle was married, Ang. 20, 1862, to Miss Lena Kendall, of Vinton, Iowa, a young lady of rare ar- complishments and strength of character. Their union has been happy in every respect. They have two children-Lena Kendall and Oscar Eugene.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR TILD V
155
GOVERNORS OF IOWA.
William
Larrabee.
ILLIAM LARRABEE, the present able Governor of Iowa, and the twelfth gen- tleman selected by the people as the Chief Magis- trate of the great Com- monwealth, is a native of Connecticut. His ancestors were among the French Huguenots who came to America early in the seventeenth century and located in Connecticut. At that time they bore the name of d'Larra- bee. Adam Larrabee, the father of Will- iam, was born March 14, 1787, and was one of the early graduates of the West Point Military Academy. He served his country during the War of 1812, with distinction, holding the position of Second Lieutenant, to which he was commissioned March 1, 1811. He was pro- moted to the Captaincy of his company Feb. 1, 1814, and on the 30th of the following March, at the battle of Lacole Mills, during Gen. Wilkinson's campaign on the Saint Lawrence River, he was severely wounded in the lung. He eventually re- covered from the injury and was united in mar- riage to IIannah G. Lester. This much esteemed lady was born June 3, 1798, and died on the 15th of March, 1837. Capt. Larrabee lived to an ad- vanced age, dying in 1869, at the age of eighty- two years.
As above mentioned, William, our subject, was
born in Connecticut, the town of Ledyard being the place of his birth and Jan. 20, 1832, the date. Ile was the seventh child in a family of nine chil- dren, and passed the early years of his life upon a rugged New England farm, enjoying very meager educational advantages. IIe attended, during the winter seasons, the neighboring district schools until he reached the age of nineteen years, when, during the following two winters, he filled the posi- tion of schoolmaster. He was ambitious to do something in life for himself that would bring fort- une and distinction, but in making his plans for the future he was embarrassed by a misfortune which befell him when fourteen years of age. In being trained to the use of firearms under his father's direction, an accidental discharge resulted in the loss of the sight in the right eye. This conse- quently unfitted him for many employments usually sought by ambitious young men. The family lived near the seashore, only two miles away, and in that neighborhood it was the custom for at least one son in each family to go upon the sea as a sailor. The two eldest brothers of our subject had chosen this occupation while the third remained in charge of the home farm. William was thus left free to chose for himself and, like many of the youths of that day, he wisely turned his face West- ward. The year 1853 found him on this journey toward the setting sun, stopping only when he came to the broad and fertile prairies of the new State of Iowa. He first joined his elder sister, Mrs.
156
WILLIAM LARRABEE.
E. II. Williams, who was at that time living at Garnavillo, Clayton County. It was this eireum- stanee which led the young boy from Connecticut to select his future home in the northeastern por- tion of Iowa. He resumed his occupation as a pedagogue, teaching, however, but one winter, which was passed at Hardin. The following three years he was employed in the capacity of foreman on the Grand Meadow farm of his brother-in-law, Judge Williams.
In 1857 he bought a one-third interest in the Clermont Mills, and located at Clermont, Fayette County. He soon was able to buy the other two- thirds, and within a year found himself sole owner. He operated this mill until 1874 when he sold to S. M. Leach. On the breaking out of the war he offered to enlist, but was rejected on account of the loss of his right eye. Being informed he might possibly be adontted as a commissioned officer, he raised a company and received a commission as First Lieutenant, but was again rejected for the same disability.
After selling the mill Mr. Larrabee devoted him- self to farming, and started a private bank at Cler- mont. Ile also, experimentally, started a large nursery, but this resulted only in confirming the belief that. Northern Iowa has too rigorous a eli- mate for fruit-raising.
Mr. Larrabee did not begin his political career until 1867. Hle was reared as a Whig and became a Republican on the organization of that party. While interested in politics he generally refused local offices, serving only as Treasurer of the School Board prior to 1867. In the autumn of that year, on the Republican ticket, he was elected to represent his county in the State Senate. To this high position he was re-elected from time to time, so that he served as Senator continuously for eighteen years before being promoted to the high- est office in the State. He was so popular at home that he was generally re-nominated by acclamation, and for some years the Democrats did not even
make nominations. During the whole eighteen years Senator Larrabee was a member of the prin- cipal committee, that on Ways and Means, of which he was generally Chairman, and was also a member of other committees. In the pursuit of the duties thus devolving upon him, he was indefatigable. It is said that he never missed a committee meet- ing. Not alone in this, but in private and public business of all kinds, his uniform habit is that of close application to work. Many of the important measures passed by the Legislature owe their ex- istence or present form to him.
He was a candidate for the gubernatorial nomina- tion in 1881, but entered the contest too late, as Gov. Sherman's following had been successfully organized. In 1885 it was generally conceded be- fore the meeting of the convention that he would be nominated, which he was, and his election fol- lowed as a matter of course. He was inaugurated Jan. 14, 1886, and so far has made an excellent Governor. Ilis position in regard to the liquor question, that on which politieal fortunes are made and lost in lowa, is that the majority should rule. Ile was personally in favor of high license, but having been elected Governor, and sworn to up- hold the Constitution and exeente the laws, he pro- poses to do so.
A Senator who sat beside him in the Senate de- clares him to be "a man of the broadest compre- hension and information, an extraordinarily clear reasoner, fair and conscientious in his conclusions, and of Spartan firmness in his matured judgment," and says that "he brings the practical facts and philosophy of human nature, the science and his- tory of law, to aid in his decisions, and adheres with the earnestness of Jefferson and Sumner to the fundamental principles of the people's rights."
Gov. Larrabee was married Sept. 12, 1861, at Cler- mont, to Anna M. Appelman, daughter of Capt. G. A. Appelman. Gov. Larrabee has seven chil- dren-Charles, Augusta, Julia, Anna, William, Frederic and Helen.
Henry
ounty,
Cowa.
INTRODUCTORY.
HE time has arrived when it becomes the duty of the people of this county to per- petuate the names of their pioneers, to furnish a record of their early settlement, and relate the story of their progress. The civilization of our day, the enlightenment of the age and the duty that men of the pres- ent time owe to their ancestors, to themselves and to their posterity, demand that a record of their lives and deeds should be made. In bio- graphical history is found a power to instruct man by precedent, to enliven the mental faculties, and to waft down the river of time a safe vessel in which the names and actions of the people who contributed to raise this country from its primitive state may be preserved. Surely and rapidly the great and aged men, who in their prime entered the wilderness and claimed the virgin soil as their heritage, are passing to their graves. The number re- maining who can relate the incidents of the first days of settlement is becoming small indeed, so that an actual necessity exists for the collection and preser- vation of events without delay, before all the early settlers are cut down by the scythe of Time.
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