USA > Iowa > Clayton County > Portrait and biographical record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton counties, Iowa. Containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 22
USA > Iowa > Dubuque County > Portrait and biographical record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton counties, Iowa. Containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 22
USA > Iowa > Jones County > Portrait and biographical record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton counties, Iowa. Containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the counties, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 22
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poor and needy and delights in doing good. All who know him esteem him highly for his sterling worth and the many cxcellencies of his character, and his honorable, upright life is one well worthy of emulation.
EN. CALEB HOSKINS BOOTH, who was the first Mayor of Dubuque, having been elected to that position in 1841, is one of the most noted and also successful men in this por- tion of the state. He is Assistant Secretary and Treasurer of the Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad Company, having been connected with it most of the time since 1856, Secretary and Treasurer of the Cedar Falls and Minnesota Railway Company, and he helped to organize the Dunleith & Dubuque Bridge Company in 1868, being now Secretary of that company. He is also Secretary and Treasurer of the Iowa Land & Loan Company, and was general manager of the Dubuque & Dakota Railroad until it was sold. His influence and means have been used in the promotion of many other industries in this region, and his advice is frequently sought on important financial matters. Booth's addition to this city, originally comprising about fifty- two acres, was purchased by a company from the city at a cost of $200,000, and the General subse- quently bought the encumbrances on the property and became sole owner, and managed to pay off all of this large amount and meet all his obligations. Of this property he has still about thirty-two acres left, and this he is improving by raising the grade above high water. The owner of this land gave the Ice Harbor to the city, and has sold a por- tion of this tract to the Chicago, Burlington & Northern Railroad.
General Booth is perhaps most widely known, as far as his enterprises are concerned, as the inventor of Booth's Improved Dredge Pump, which is used in filling low lands and swamps, and thus redcem- ing large tracts of land hitherto useless. In the Engineering News and American Railway Journal of March 26, 1892, a very minute and complete description of this pump and system was given. By means of powerful air and suction pumps built
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in co-operation with the engines on the boat, light material from the depth of fifty feet can be con- veyed to the banks. This method has proven very practical and valuable on rivers like the Upper Mis- sissippi, where the soft sandy banks are constantly filling the river bed. When in operation. the suction pipes lie on the bottom, and the material is drawn in and conveyed to the surface to be dumped at any reasonable distance. The move- ment and direction of the suction pipe are under control of the engineer by machinery driven by the pump shaft. The dredge ean be utilized for removing islands or sand-bars that hinder naviga- tion, and it is believed it would be useful in gold hunting, where deposits of the metal are washed by the mountain streams into the bed of rivers on a level. It would seem that the dredge, which has been very successful, would be of great saving in Government operations, and the right to use it should be owned by the Government.
The paternal grandfather of the General was John Booth, who was a member of a Quaker fam- ily. The father, Joseph, who was born in the Key- stone State, was a successful agrieulturist, and was originally of English deseent. His death oeeurred at the age of forty-two years, and of his seven children, three sons and four daughters, our sub- ject is the only survivor. The mother was before her marriage Martha Hoskins, and she too was of English aneestry.
The birth of our subjeet occurred in Cliester, Pa., December 26, 1814. The town was then a place of only twenty-five hundred inhabitants, but is now a large manufacturing and ship-build- ing eenter. He obtained a good education in the excellent sehools, and in 1836, believing that he could better his fortune by going west, he came to Dubuque, and was soon aetively interested in its various industries and the upbuilding of the place. He was married in May, 1838, to Miss Henriette Eyre, and they became the parents of two ehil- dren: Anna, who was graduated from the seminary in Media, Pa., and is now the wife of O. M. Par- sons, Vice-President of the Goes Lithographing Company of Chicago; and S. Edward, who was educated at a military school in Tennessee, and was a prominent young business man in the mill-
ing trade. He died in 1877, leaving a wife and two children.
General Booth was for years senior partner in the firm of Bootlı, Carter & Co., who were engaged in operating lead mines, and which connection was dissolved about 1880. Mr. Booth succeeded to the business and is one of the very few who have been prosperous in this line. In his many and varied ventures he has shown good business abil- ity, excellent judgment and enterprise, and his ef- forts have almost without exception been blessed with suecess. In politics he is a strong supporter of the Republican party, and in 1872 was elected to the Legislature and helped to place Allison again in the Senate. Fraternally our subject is a Mason of the thirty-third degree.
F RED HENKER is a member of the firm of Hammel, Henker & Co., proprietors of the Key City Flouring Mill of Dubuque, and occupies a leading place in business eircles. Tlie record of his life is as follows: He was born in Saxony, Germany, on the 12th of July, 1864, and is a son of August and Sarah Henker, both of whom were natives of the same country, in which they have always lived. The mother died in 1889, but the father still resides in Germany, at the age of sixty-two years.
The gentleman whose name heads this record was reared and educated in his native land and started out in life for himself at the early age of fourteen, at which time he began serving an ap- prenticeship to the miller's trade. After his term of service had expired he continued to work in Germany as a miller for a number of years. He was a young man of twenty when he determined to seek a home in America. In 1884 he bade adieu to friends and Fatherland, and the ves- sel in which he sailed dropped anehor in the har- bor of New York. His destination was Dubuque, Iowa, and thither he at onee came. Soon after- ward he sought and secured employment in the Rockdale Flouring Mill, where he remained for a
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GEORGE FENGLER.
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year, after which he went to South Dakota, spend- ing two years and a-half in that state.
Mr. Henker then returned to Dubuque, and in 1888 he formed a partnership with August Ham- mel. They purchased the mill which they now own, equipped it with fine roller process machinery and all the latest improvements in their line of trade and have successfully carried on business in their line up to the present time. They manufacture a superior grade of flour, turning out four varieties, known as the "Key City Roller Mills Best," "Queen of Iowa," "Miller Clover Leaf Patent" and "White Loaf." They also manufacture rye, graham and buckwheat flour, pearl eorn meal, coarse meal and ground feed. The mill has a capacity of one hundred and fifty barrels daily of a high grade patent and family flour, and on account of their superior quality its products find a ready sale on the market. From its establishment the firm has enjoyed a good trade and is now doing an exten- sive business.
Mr. Henker is a wide-awake and enterprising man, possessed of good business and executive abil- ity. He is now only about thirty years of age but is recognized and numbered among the representa- tive business men of the city. He came to Ameri- ea in limited eireumstanees and has steadily worked his way upward, and arguing from the past his fu- ture will be one of sueeess.
EORGE FENGLER, owner of the Eagle Point Lime Works of Dubuque, established business along this line in 1872, beginning operations on a very limited seale, but as his trade increased he enlarged his facilities and in 1888 built his present extensive plant. The capacity is now two hundred and fifty barrels of lime every twenty-four hours and employment is furnished to thirty men. The lime is shipped to Wiseonsin, Minnesota, Dakota and all over Iowa, for the prod- uet of the works is of a very excellent quality and therefore an extensive business has been se-
cured. Mr. Fengler is con versant with the manu- facture of lime in all its departments and now has the largest and finest plant in the state. He also handles all kinds of eement, hair, briek, ete., used for building material.
A native of Germany, Mr. Fengler was born near Breslau in 1841. His father, Ernest Fengler, on emigrating to America took up his residence in Dubuque, where he embarked in the ice business and established the first market garden in this eity. On the breaking out of the late war he and four of his sons joined the boys in blue, his name being en- rolled as a member of Colonel Hecker's Regiment, in which he remained throughout the service. He died in August, 1865, in Evansville, Ind., from the effects of exposure during his army life. Mrs. Feng- ler bore the maiden name of Emily Seidel, and was also a native of Germany. Her death oeeurred in Dubuque on the 25th of January, 1882.
George Fengler spent the first nine years of his life in the Fatherland and then accompanied his parents on their emigration to America. His eduea- tion was completed under Prof. Charles G. Kretseh- iner, with whom he studied both German and English. He went to the defense of the Union during the late war, enlisting on the 21st of August, 1862, as a member of Company A, Twenty-first Iowa Infantry, under command of Colonel Mer- rill. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Gulf and saw active service in Hartville, Mo., Magnolia Hill, the Mississippi eampaign, the bat- tle of Raymond, Miss., and Champion Hills. The Twenty-first Regiment was a part of the bri- gade that made the charge at Black River Bridge and participated in the siege of Vicksburg.
During the battle of Jackson, July 12, 1863, Mr. Fengler was wounded but refused to leave the field until after the engagement. He was then taken to the hospital, and later rejoined his regi- ment in Louisiana, after which he was sent to Texas, where the troops captured Ft. Matta Gor- da and spent the winter in fortifying the coast. Mr. Fengler took part in the battle of Mobile and in the siege and eapture of Ft. Blakely and Spanish Fort, after which he was mustered out at Clinton, Iowa, in August, 1865. He was a loyal soldier, always found at his post of duty and faith-
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fully defended the Old Flag which now floats so proudly over the united nation.
Ere leaving for the front Mr. Fengler was mar- ried, on the 21st of August, 1861, to Aliee M., daughter of Ebenezer Curtis, one of the early set- tlers of Dubuque. Twelve children were born to them, five daughters and seven sons, namely: Os- car, a son who died at the age of five years; Mel- vina, now the wife of Henry L. Gross; Olive, wife of Herman Mouer; Alice, who is engaged in book- keeping; Hattie, at home; Octavia, a student in the high school; Richard, deceased; Edwin, an engi- neer on the Milwaukee Railroad; George, who has charge of the cooper shop in 'his father's employ; Leo and Randolph, who are now in school; and Orin, a boy of five years, who completes the fami- ly. The children have been given good educa- tional advantages and are thus fitted for the praeti- cal and responsible duties in life. The family re- sides at No. 1059 Garfield Avenue.
Ou his return from the war, Mr. Fengler worked in a sawmill for a time, and in 1872 embarked in the lime business, as before stated. In connection with his other interests he is Vice-President and Director in the People's Building & Loan Asso- eiation, of which he was one of the organizers. He is one of the leading Republicans of this city, tak- ing an active interest in the success and growth of his party. He was appointed United States Sur- veyor of Customs in 1889 by President Harrison and served for a term of four years. In 1876 he was elected a member of the City Council from the Fifth Ward and served for three years, proving an effi- cient and capable member of that body. He belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and to the Odd Fellows' Society. His publie and private life are alike above reproach and he manifests the same loyalty in days of peace as when he followed the Stars and Stripes on southern battlefields.
DWARD BUTLER, an efficient and suecess- ful agriculturist of Dubuque County, is as fine a representative of that elass of Irish- men who have beeome thoroughly Americanized and are in full sympathy with the institutions of
this country as can be found in eastern Iowa. He is the owner of a valuable farm in Dubuque Town- ship, but having retired from active labor, his sons now have charge of the home place and superin- tend its cultivation. Without means when he be- gan his life work, his present property has been gained through persevering and well directed cf- forts.
The parents of our subjeet, James and Bridget (Gleeson) Butler, were natives of County Kil- kenny, Ireland, where the mother died. In 1850 the father came to America and died at Shullsburg, Wis., aged sixty-three years. Edward, who is the only survivor of five children, was born in County Kilkenny in 1826, and in childhood had very few advantages, his time being devoted to agricultural pursuits. Arriving at man's estate, he resolved to seek a home across the ocean, and accordingly sailed from Liverpool in 1847, arriving in New Orleans after a voyage of nine weeks. From that city he took a river steamer up the Mississippi as far as St. Louis, where he stopped for three weeks.
From St. Louis Mr. Butler proceeded to Du- buque, and in this county he hired out in the har- vest field by the day and month. It was about that time that the country was thrown into the greatest excitement by the discovery of gold in California, and thousands were seeking the El Dorado of the New World. He was one of the number who in 1851 went overland to the Paeifie coast. The trip consumed several months, and was one long to be remembered for its hardships and suffering. After having spent eighteen months in California, Mr. Butler returned via the Isthmus of Panama and New Orleans to Dubuque.
Shortly after his return from the west our sub- ject bought an eighty-acre traet in Center Town- ship, Dubuque County, which he sold one year later. He then rented a farm near his present home, and still later bought the valuable property on which he now lives. As before stated, he has , practically retired from farm work and his land is tilled by his energetic and industrious sons. He is independent in polities, inasmuch as he always votes for the man whom he deems best qualified to represent the people.
Previous to going to California Mr. Butler was
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united in marriage, July 2, 1850, with Miss Eliza- beth Fisher, a native of Dubuque County, and daughter of John and Susan Fisher. There have been born unto them ten children, of whom seven are living, as follows: Edward, Jr., William, Mary, Henry, George, Dennis and Aggic. George and Mary are married, and the former has three chil- dren, and the latter eight.
J OHN BOMACKE, a prosperous general agri- culturist and horticulturist of Jefferson Township, Dubuque County, Iowa, was born in Hanover, Germany, December 4, 1830. He is the son of Jacob Bomacke, who was a tailor for the French army during the Revolutionary War of 1816. Our subject emigrated to the United States in the year 1845, and landed at Baltimore, Md., a stranger in a strange land. He remained but a short time in that city when he mustered up sufficient courage to venture out in the then wild west; he left on a canal boat headed for St. Louis, deciding to make the better or worse of his ven- turc. St. Louis proving no more satisfactory than Baltimore, he left for Dubuque, Iowa, but rc- mained here only a short time when he went on to Jefferson Township, in the same county, there hiring out to a brother-in-law and receiving a very small compensation for his services.
It was about this time that the California gold fever was the predominating topic of the day, and by carefully saving his hard earned wages, our : subject was enabled to venture with many others into the "Land of Gold." April 4, 1849, he com- menced his search for that precious metal, remain- ing at this occupation until 1852, when he gave up mining and visited New York City, stopping there but six days; then returning to Dubuque he there bought four hundred and eighty acres of land. This he improved, but as there was more land than he could conveniently handle, he disposed of all except the one hundred and sixty-threc acres on which he now resides.
The marriage of Mr. Bomacke was celebrated
May 12, 1853, when he took Miss Josephine Wook for his companion for life. She is the daughter of one of the oldest settlers in this county. Our sub- ject and his wife have had the following children: John, Martha, Mary, Anna, Sarah, Charles H., Max M., Edward, Clara, Frank and Louis A.
Our subject was Trustee of Jefferson Township for ten years, Supervisor for one year and School Director for one year. He is an ardent member of the Catholic Church and is noted for his gen- erosity, as he has donated quite liberally toward the erection of several churches. In his political belief, he is a Democrat in National issues, but is independent in local politics. He has been an in- cumbent of one or more township offices for over ten years. In business and public work carnest, upright, faithful and energetic, our subject has not only won financial success and gained a compe- tence, but has secured the universal csteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens.
H ON. DENNIS NELSON COOLEY, de- ceased, was a man endowed with courage, endurance, a clear head and a large heart. He sprang from one of the oldest and best New England families, dating his paternal ancestry back to the advent of the first Scotch Protestants in this country. His grandfather, Aaron Cooley, was a Major in the Revolutionary War. His ma- ternal ancestors were French-English, and were noted for their courage, manliness and undying adherence to principle. Sprung from such sturdy stock, Mr. Cooley began life equipped for its bat- tles by his priceless inheritance. Left fatherless at two years of age, his early life was one of pri- vation, but obstacles were overcome by energy, and hardships were checrfully met. The New Eng- land fireside, hillside and schoolhouse furnished him his education, and when he began work on the farm he won from nature her secrets, and gained for his future, habits of industry, self-reli- ance and perseverance. Ambitious for a broader field of action, and cherishing the hope of becom-
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ing a lawyer, he worked and gained both time and money, until 1844 found him equal to the exam- ination for West Point, an appointment which he received but declined. He was also ready for Dartmouth College, with money cnough saved to enter business, and a surplus to buy a private law library. By working days and studying nights he fitted himself for his chosen profession, and pre- vious to his admission to the Bar he held various positions of trust, early showing those diversified talents in political life, social and intellectual in- tercourse, which have marked him already in his professional and commercial relations. In 1852 hc came to Iowa, then a trackless prairic, and the bat- 'tle of life, entered upon among the rugged New England hills, was then waged on the broad prai- ries. Hc won success, not by chance, but because his plans of action were carried out with wisc fore- sight and unflagging endeavor. He always took his stand and held it on a political question or a religious belief, never leaving his position to con- jecture. His patriotism was ever too ardent to lend its ear to the voice of mere policy. He was a stanch Republican, but conceded to others the right of opinion. His judgment, strengthened and en- lightened by close attention to questions of the day, his love of study, his close application during years of public trust to questions of finance, legislation, social and religious life, his ability to logically up- hold the views which he believed sound, his clear perception and expression of thought, marked him as a conversationalist of rare power. His knowl- edge of men and the world, gained by wide travel and life filled with opportunities of mingling with the world's best minds, together with a personal magnetism of exceptional strength, made him a friend of rich and poor alike, and he is mourned by countless hearts who have been cheercd or helped by his sympathy or bounty.
A lawyer by birth and profession, Mr. Cooley attained distinction in the business world as a capitalist and banker, and in public life as Commis- sioner to South Carolina, Commissioner of Indian Affairs and as State Senator for Iowa, being most prominent politically for many years. In educa- tional matters one of the foremost men in Iowa, giving unstintedly of his wealth, he was also a
generous giver to the church, and was its repre- sentative in many positions of power and honor. A Christian gentleman, peerless in his purity, un- sullied in his reputation, his daily life adorned his profession and was without reproach. As a man of broad, liberal culture, a model representative of that class of solid and progressive inen to which he pre-eminently belonged, Judge Cooley left bc- hind him a name to be revered, a carcer to serve as a model for the many young men whose feet lie has turned into paths of usefulness. In religious work, in the social world, in business centers and along educational lines, he is greatly missed, for he was prominent and helpful in all. His life has that highest tribute due it, success, because it was lived for others, because its whole tendency was for good.
To his family Judge Cooley was idol and ideal. For his children he devoted himself to the study of everything that would foster and prosper their best interests. Hc called his life well spent and his duty well done only as he sought to render his wife and children happy, and to make their lives of brighter promise and more abundant fulfill- ment. Were we to build his monument, the base would be strong and deep, like his life purpose; no frost could heave it, no tempest move; its shaft would be like his life, beautiful, white, perfect.
Having spoken of the character of Mr. Cooley, we wish to add some statistics. He was born in Lisbon, Grafton County, N. H., November 7, 1825. His grandfather, Aaron Cooley, who was a Major in the Revolution, died at the age of ninety-one. His Grandfather Taylor was employed in the sainc war as a wagon boy when fourteen years of age. He lived in Lisbon, N. H., to the advanced age of ninety-seven, and was one of the few men who voted for both Washington and Lincoln. When fifteen years of age Judge Cooley left home, and after studying in the Newbury Seminary of Ver- mont, prepared for college. In 1850 he entered the office of Hon. H. F. Stoughton, and after studying law three years, was admitted to the Bar, in 1854. In Dubuque he practiced as a member of the firm of Samuels & Cooley; Coolcy, Samuels & Allison; Cooley, Blatchley & Adams and Cooley & Eighmey. In 1864 he was appointed by President
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Lincoln Commissioner to South Carolina, and at the same time acted as special Commissioner to settle titles and the right to possession of the city of Charleston. In July, 1865, he was appointed by President Johnson Commissioner of Indian Af- fairs, and in September, 1866, resigned, and later practiced law in Washington for eight years. For twenty-one years he was President of the First National Bank of Dubuque, and in 1873 was elected on the Republican ticket in a Democratic district as State Senator. The same year he was appointed Commissioner to the Vienna Exposi- tion. IIe was President of the Board of Cornell College for many years, and was also President of the Northwestern Agricultural and Mechanical As- sociation. In September, 1850, he married Miss Clara Aldrich, a lady of high attainments. They had four children. Clara became the wife of F. W. Becker, of Chicago, and graduated at Cornell Col- lege, Iowa; Minnie E., who was a student at Wel- lesley and graduated at Vassar College, became the wife of John F. Douglas, of New York City; Mary, a Vassar graduate, became the wife of Charles W. Bassett, of Pittsburg; and Harlan W., who graduated from Yale College, is now an attor- ncy of Chicago. Judge Cooley passed away on the 13th of November, 1892, in New York City, and the following address was delivered by Rev. Dr. Ames, on the 15th of November, at New York:
" Twice I have sustained to Judge Cooley and his family the relation of pastor. These "periods were separated by a long interval of years, very critical and momentous years, during which char- acter was maturing; the results of plans and pur- poses were manifesting themselves, and life was reaching its fruitage. The relation both in the pe- riods and in the intervening interval was more than official and formal. It involved a close ac- quaintance with him and his family life. It has, therefore, been thought appropriate that I should undertake the responsibility of presenting to you on this occasion an epitome of his character and acts.
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