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 59
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 59
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 59
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In 1845 Judge Murdoek married Miss Lonisa Patch, who came to this eounty from New York in 1837. She is a woman of marked force of eharac- ter and strong mental ability. Two daughters are all that now remain to them of their family of six children. The eldest daughter, Ellen, a brilliant woman, died some years ago while preparing her- self for a physician. The next daughter, Marion, and her friend, the Rev. Florenee Buck, are at present pastors of Unity Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Rev. Marion Murdock is a graduate of the Boston School of Oratory and of the Meadville (Pa.) Theological School. She has also spent some time in Manchester, New College, England, she and the Rev. Florence Buek being the first ladies admitted to this eollege. Miss Murdoek is said to be the first woman in America to receive the de- gree of Bachelor of Divinity. She was at one time Professor of Mathematies and Oratory in the State University at Madison, Wis. As a publie speaker she has few equals. During her stay in England she was received with enthusiasm whenever she oceupied pulpit or platform. The younger daugh- ter, Amelia, like her sister, is devoted to learning and literature, being proficient in several lan- guages, and is a graduate of the Chieago Kinder- garten College.
After serving for three years in the Legislature, Judge Murdoek was elected School Fund Commis- sioner, in 1848, for this county, and held the office for four years, during which time he sold most of the school lands, consisting of section 16, and the eounty's portion of the five hundred thousand acres allotted to her for school purposes. As he was allowed large discretion in the sale of these
valuable lands, he took great eare to see that they were purchased by actual settlers, and oftentimes the proceeds of sueh sales, amounting to several thousand dollars, were kept by him in his house in a potato bin in the cellar for safety. While he was Judge of the Distriet lie traveled great distances on horseback, often accompanied by a number of lawyers, and the reminiseenees of these trips form the theme of many a pleasing and laughable story among those who still survive. In the fall of 1863 the Judge visited the army in the southern states as a war correspondent of several Iowa news- papers, and a year later returned to the south to resume his writing for northern journals on the events transpiring. This it was that first brought him into prominence as a writer, as many of his artieles were models of patriotism and genius. During his long professional career the Judge las been a very successful lawyer, having a state wide reputation as sueh, and has been employed on one side or the other of most of the important eases in this part of Iowa. In 1864 lie presented the ease of the Hon. James Andrews, of Columbia, Tenn., to President Lineoln. His client appealed from a sentenee of the military eourt which condemned him to imprisonment for the killing of a Union soldier belonging to a Michigan regiment. The President gave his earnest attention to the argu- ment of Judge Murdoek, with the result that the sentenee was reversed and Mr. Andrews set at lib- erty.
In the summer of 1869 he unearthed the "Ha- gerty Massacre," one of the most cruel murders of modern times. Through his efforts five dead bodies were brought to light, after they had been hidden away for over eight months in different localities, and then he prosecuted the murderer, who was sentenced to the penitentiary. In 1878, in eon- neetion with W. A. Benton, Judge Murdoek planned the capture of the notorious Jim Uncer, a bank robber, and had him brought from Illinois to this eounty, where he was tried and sent to the penitentiary.
When a member of the Thirteenth General As- sembly of Iowa, in 1869, Judge Murdoek distin- guished himself as a lawyer and speaker by his strong discourse in opposition to the repeal of the
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death penalty for murder, in which he said that this move would be an advertisement inviting all the villains of the country to come to Iowa, where, without fear, they could rob and murder with im- punity, and not only that, but the infliction of the death penalty would only be transferred from an organized and legal court to the mob element, and time has proved his judgment to have been eorreet. He has been an ardent friend of the Irish eause, and his speeches before the different Coun- ty Land Leagues have displayed a thorough knowl- edge of Irish history, and have been copied in papers and scattered broadcast throughout the un- happy Emerald Isle, as well as in all parts of this land.
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In 1876 the Governor of Iowa ehose our subject to fill the State Department of Anthropology at the Centennial, and although he received short no- tiee, hie collected and shipped to the Exposition wonderful specimens of prehistorie man, and though the exhibit was small, he received very high praise for this work. Two years later he published in the papers artieles on the subject of prehistoric man, which were models of researeli and science, and which brought forth a host of criticisms from pulpit and press, the most liberal sustaining him, while others sought to eonfute his arguments, yet to-day the learned and scientific world are strietly in aceord with his views. In 1859 he published "Sketches of the Publie Men of Iowa Before She Became a State," among these being the first three Governors. As a miscellane- ous writer on most important seientifie and other subjects le bears a reputation for clearness and logieal composition, and reeently his artieles on evolution, which appeared in the Elkader Argus, showed a thorough knowledge of nature's works and laws, which made them eagerly sought after and read with the deepest interest. In 1893 his able arguments on the silver question attracted wide attention.
A natural orator, Judge Murdock's eulogy on the death of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant is conceded by good judges to be one of the finest pieces of English composition ever delivered in the state, and he received the most sincere thanks of Mrs. Grant and her family for his tribute to the great
military hero. Whenever the old settlers of the county gather at their annual reunion he is the orator of the occasion, and each speech is said by them to be his masterpiece. The beautiful poems which have been published in the county papers from time to time composed by our subject are noted for their pathos and elegance of diction.
By all who know him the Judge is highly es- teemed for his noble qualities of mind and heart, and though now well along in years, he is still possessed of the vigor and enthusiasm of a man in middle life.
HINEAS W. CRAWFORD, attorney-at- law of Dubuque, is a native of the Green Mountain State, born in Putney, Wind- ham County, in 1830. He is of a New England family, the members of which for several genera- tions resided principally in the valley of the Con- nectieut River. On his father's side he is of Scoteli- Irish descent. James Crawford, his grandfather's grandfather, emigrated from the North of Ire- land about the year 1730 and settled in Tolland County, Conn. His paternal grandfather, The- ophilus Crawford, was born in Connecticut, but when a young boy removed with his father, James Crawford and family, to Windham County, Vt., settling first in the town of Westminster and afterward removing to Putney. The father, James Crawford, was a soldier of the Revolution, having joined Washington's army when in camp at Cam- bridge, Mass., just after the battle of Bunker Hill.
The father of our subjeet, James Crawford, son of Theophilus, was born in Vermont and removed to Iowa in 1838, becoming one of the pioneers of Dubuque County, where his death occurred in 1846. He married Tirzah White, a native of Ver- mont, and a daughter of Hon. Phineas White, of Putney, Vt., who was one of the Judges of the Supreme Court and a member of Congress.
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The White family is of English origin, and John White, who was the first American aneestor, lo- cated in Boston in 1630. He assisted in laying out, and was one of the original proprietors of the towns of Hartford and Middletown, Conn., and le and other members of the family were impor- tant factors in the early development of New Eng- land. It will thus be seen that our subjeet is a representative of prominent families, whose lives form part of the history of a region that has ever been prominent in American annals.
Our subjeet spent his early boyhood years in Vermont and attended its publie sehools. He was a lad of nine summers when in 1839 he eame with the other members of his family to the ter- ritory of Iowa, settling in Dubuque. Ilis father, James Crawford, was a lawyer and formed a part- nership with Hon. Timothy Davis, under the firm name of Davis & Crawford. This beeame one of the leading law firms of the territory, and the connection was eontinned until the death of Mr. Crawford in 1846, at the age of forty-eight years. He took a leading part in the development and upbuilding of Dubuque County, and was an influ- ential citizen, whose death was deeply mourned in the community. In polities he was a supporter of the Whig party.
P. W. Crawford prepared for college in Du- buque, and then entered Illinois College, in Jack- sonville, Ill., where he pursued the studies of the preparatory course for a year and a-half. He then took the regular four years' college course, being graduated in the Class of '49 with the degree of A. B. Immediately after his return home he be- gan reading law in the office of Davis & Bissell, who were at that time leading attorneys of Du- buque. In 1851 he was admitted to the Bar, and since that time has been successfully engaged in general law practice. His abilities, both natural and acquired, have well fitted him for his chosen profession. He is an earnest seholar, a man of deep researeli, and at the Bar is a logical, eloquent and convincing speaker. In connection with his law practice, he has also dealt extensively in real estate.
In December, 1852, our subjeet married Miss Harriet Connell, the daughter of George W. Con-
nell, who was one of the early settlers of Dubuque. She is a member of the Universalist Church, and has been to her husband a faithful companion and helpmate. By their marriage were born two sons and five daughters, namely: Ellen, wife of Arthur MeArthur, of Indianapolis; Julia, who married W. H. Tomlinson, of Dubuque; Belle, wife of I. C. Chamberlain, of Dubuque; F. J., who is See- retary of the Haney Campbell Manufacturing Com- pany; Gertrude, a teacher in the publie schools of this city; Genevieve, who is at home; and Horace G., who is now in Minneapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Craw- ford have a beautiful residenee in the midst of lovely surroundings at No. 154 Walnut Street, and oeeupy a prominent position in social eircles.
In 1854 Mr. Crawford was elected City Recorder on the Democratic ticket, and was three times re- elected. He was a member of the old Washing- ton Guard of Dubuque for a number of years before the Civil War, and in his veins flows the blood of four Revolutionary soldiers, his four great-grandfathers having been soldiers in the War for Independenee. James Crawford, before mentioned, served under Washington; Mr. John- son, of New Hampshire, served under General Stark; Ensign Nehemiah Stevens, of Plainfield, Conn., was in a Connectieut regiment; and Enoch White, of South Hadley, Mass., was Lieutenant in a Massachusetts regiment.
With sueh examples before him, and knowing the loyal spirit of Mr. Crawford, it does not seem strange that in 1861 he responded to the eall to arms and entered the service as Second Lieutenant of Company A, Third Iowa Infantry, under eom- mand of Capt. R. G. Herron and Col. N. G. Will- iams, of Dubuque. The regiment was first sent to Missouri, where it did service until February, 1862, when it went to Tennessec. In the mean- time our subjeet was made First Lieutenant. At the battle of Shiloh he was wounded, but refused to leave the field. He participated in the advanee on Corinth, in the battles of Blue Mills and Mon- roe, Mo., Shiloh, Hatehie Bridge, the siege of Vieks- burg, and many other actions. In the spring of 1864 he took part in the Red River eampaign, under General Banks, and on the 19th of June, his term of three years having expired, he was
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honorably discharged. In September following, however, he was appointed a Captain in the Fourth United States Veteran Volunteers, commanded by General Hancock, and generally known as the "Hancock Corps." While in this command lie served for a time in the Shenandoah Valley, Va. He commanded the guard at the United States Naval Arsenal in Washington, at the execution of Mrs. Surratt and others for complicity in the murder of President Lineoln. During the winter of 1865-66 he commanded the garrison at Tod Barracks, Co- lumbus, Ohio, and in May, 1866, was mustered out and returned to his old home.
Since the close of the war Mr. Crawford has taken a great interest in the National Guard of Iowa, and for two years was Captain of Company A (Dubuque Rifles) of the Fourth Regiment, I. N. G., and subsequently was elected Lieutenant- Colonel of the regiment, serving as such three years, from which he derives his title of Colonel, by which he is best known through the state.
The following year after returning home from the army Mr. Crawford resumed law practice, and in the same year was appointed Deputy United States Marshal for the Northern District of Iowa, serving thus for three years. In the fall of 1870 he took a contraet for the building of several miles of the Dubuque & Bellevue Railroad, and on its completion resumed the real-estate and law business. In March, 1873, he went to Kansas as Assistant Attorney for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, and had charge of the Texas, Kan- sas and Indian Territory business of that company for two years. In 1875 he returned to Dubuque and engaged in the real-estate and loan business with Arthur McCann, under the firm name of Mc- Cann & Crawford. In 1881 the partnership was dissolved by mutual eonsent, and sinee that time Mr. Crawford has been alone. In 1881 he was elected Alderman from the Fourth Ward, serving six consecutive years, and in 1890 he was again ehosen for that office, and was re-elected in 1892 and 1894. In politics he is a Republican, has served as Chairman of the County Central Com- mittee, and has been a delegate to various state conventions.
In the work of public improvement Mr. Craw-
ford has ever taken a prominent part. In 1886 he offered a resolution in the City Council re- questing the Mayor to call a public meeting for the concentrated action of the business men of the city toward the building of a bridge across the Mississippi River, and drew up the ordinance appropriating $25,000 by the eity to the enter- prise, which was a splendid suceess. He was one of the promoters of the Bridge Company, and the structure was completed at a cost of $130,000. He was one of the projectors of the present ice harbor of Dnbuque, and was active in seeuring from Congress an appropriation for earrying out the improvement. The city owes not a little of its prosperity and progress to his earnest efforts in its behalf, and his name is inseparably connected with its history. He is also quite prominent in civic societies, holding membership with Metro- politan Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; Harmony Lodge No. 2, I. O. O. F .; Apollo Lodge, K. P .; and Hyde Clark Post No. 78, G. A. R., of which he is now (1894) Commander.
1 AMES WALTER HEUSTIS, M. D., a promi- nent oculist and aurist, now living in Du- buque, is a native of the Bay State, born in Boston on the 4th of April, 1859. He is a member of a pioneer family of New England, which was founded in America by Aristides Heus- tis, the great-grandfather of our subject, who emi- grated from Holland and took up his residence in Vermont prior to the Revolutionary War. He married Prudence Baxter, and their son Simon be- came the grandfather of the Doetor.
James F. Heustis, father of our subjeet, was born in Westmoreland, N. H., in 1825, and now resides in Boston. He married Elizabeth Cushing Barrett, a native of Boston, and a daughter of Thomas and Hannah Newell (Harrod) Barrett, the former born in Newburyport, Mass., and the latter in Lunen- burg, Mass. Her mother is still living, though
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now (1894) ninety-four years of age. She is a daughter of Noah Harrod, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The founders of that family in America were of English birth and crossed the ocean during early Colonial days. Thus it will be seen that the Doctor is a scion of two old New England families of prominence and respectability.
The boyhood days of Dr. Heustis were passed in his native city and he attended its public schools until seventeen years of age, at which time he was graduated from the English High School of Bos- ton. Being thus prepared for a collegiate course he afterward attended Adams Academy at Quincy and the Thayer Academy of South Braintrec, Mass. In 1879, having determined to become a physician, he entered the medical department of Harvard College, from which he was graduated in 1884. In June of the same year he went to Eu- rope and studied in Berlin, Zurich, Heidelberg, Vienna, London and Bristol. He remained abroad for twenty-six months, during which time he de- voted his attention to the study of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. In 1886 he went to Pittsburg, where he opened an office and engaged in practice until April, 1891.
In May of the latter year Doctor Heustis came to Dubuque, where he has since conducted a large and successful practice, making a specialty of the treatment of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He is an expert oculist and aurist, and has gained a prominence in that line, not only in this state but also throughout the country. In everything per- taining to the advancement of the profession he is interested, and holds membership in the Cedar Falls Medical Society of Iowa and the American Medical Association. He served for a time as Eye and Ear Surgeon at the Pittsburg Free Dispensary, and in 1882 served as house officer of the Massa- chusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. He is now an eye expert of the United States Board of Pension Examiners, which position he accept- ed in 1893, holds the same position with the United States Accident Insurance Company, and is physician and surgeon of the Actors' Fund Association.
In civic societies the Doctor takes considerable interest, and is a member of Mosaic Lodge No.
125, F. & A. M .; of Apollo Lodge No. 41, K. P .; Harmony Lodge, I. O. O. F., and of the Sons of the Revolution. In politics he is a pronounced Republican, unswerving in his allegiance to the party. October 3, 1894, he was united in marriage with Miss Bertha Donna Pere Lincoln, of Wash- ington, D. C. His wide reputation in the line of his profession has made his name familiar through- out the country, especially in scientific circles, and we are pleased to present to our readers the record of his life.
ITTLE PETERSON. The results of in- dustry and unflagging perseverance are shown in the life of this gentleman, who owns and occupies one of the valuable farms of Clayton County. His property is situated in Ma- rion Township and consists of two hundred and five acres of fertile land, which under his skillful management yields abundant harvests. He has made all the improvements, which are of a sub- stantial order. His strict honesty and unswerving integrity are as well known as his name, and he enjoys an enviable reputation for his great hospi- tality and charitable spirit.
Some of the best citizens of the United States are natives of Sweden and have emigrated to this country, bringing with them habits of industry, probity and perseverance. Such a one is the sub- ject of this sketch, who was born in that portion of Scandinavia known as Norway, bis natal day being January 15, 1829. His parents, also natives of that country, bore the names of Peter and Mag- gie (Ehling) Peterson, and lived and died in the land of their birth.
During the year 1853 Kittle Peterson, then a young man of twenty-four years crossed the At- lantic in a sailing-vessel, and landing in the United States, remained for a short time in New York. He then proceeded westward, and arriving in Wiscon- sin was there employed on a farm for six months. The year 1854 marked his arrival in Clayton
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County, Iowa, where for three years he was en- gaged in operating a rented property in Marion Township. Meanwhile, by exercising frugality and good management, he was enabled at the ex- piration of the three years to purehase one hun- dred and sixty acres of land. The property was unimproved, and before cultivating the soil he built a house for his family. He then began the improvement of the property, and gradually suc- ceeded in bringing the soil under good eultivation. From time to time, as able, he added to his origi- nal purchase and now owns two hundred and five aeres of well improved land.
Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are the parents of six children, whose names are Annie, Kennallie, Ollie, Henry, Petrina and Mary. The children are re- ceiving the best educational advantages the dis- trict affords, and will be prepared for honorable and useful positions in the world. In his religious connections Mr. Peterson is identified with the Lutheran Church, the religion of huis forefathers. He has never been actively identified with party affairs, but nevertheless is a firm supporter of Re- publiean principles, which he always supports at the polls. He is a pleasant, companionable gen- tleman, kind to those in need and accommodating as a friend and neighbor, and it is safe to say that there are few who stand as high as he in the esti- tion of the people.
OHN C. MAEHL, a prominent citizen and successful agrieulturist located on section 6, of Read Township, Clayton County, Iowa, is a German by birtlı, having been born in Pommern, Germany, February 3, 1858. His pa- rents, John and Maria (Kamberg) Maelil, were also natives of Germany. They emigrated to America in 1870, landing first in New York, but came di-
reet to Clayton County and settled in Read Township, where they still make their home. The children which clustered around the parental hearth were six in number John C. is our sub- ject; Christian, born in 1860, now lives in Sonth Dakota, engaged in the saloon business; Fredriea, born in 1865, still makes her home with her pa- rents; Carolina, the wife of Reinold Eggert, of Sioux Falls, S. Dak., was born in 1868; Charles, born in 1872, is now living on the farm with his father; and William, born in 1875, resides in South Dakota.
Our subjeet eame to America with his parents in 1870. He was educated in the common schools of the Old Country and was reared on a farm. Mr. Maehl bought forty acres of land in Volga Township, this county, which he cultivated for three years, and in the fall of 1885 he purchased one hundred and eighty aeres of his present farm, forty acres of which are in the adjoining township of Boardman.
Mr. Maehil was united in marriage February 10, 1883, with Catherina Wilks, the eldest daughter of Henry Wilks, a prominent farmer of seetion 4, Read Township. Mrs. Maehl was born in Farm- ersburg Township, January 14, 1865. Her pa- rents eame from Germany and landed in Balti- more, going from there to St. Louis, Mo., where they remained for some time, but finally came to Iowa and settled in Clayton County. Mr. Wilks owns a fine farm of three hundred and fifty aeres of land all under cultivation. Our subject and wife are the parents of five children: Louisa, born March 14, 1883; Emma, born June 26, 1885; Alma, born December 4, 1887; Elfreida, born May 6, 1890; and John, born August 27, 1892; all are living at home and are bright, interesting chil- dren.
Politieally Mr. Maelil is a Demoerat, and has al- ways voted that ticket since becoming a citizen of the United States. He and his estimable wife are valued members of the Lutheran Church at Clay- ton Centre and are always ready to assist in any benevolent work and lend a helping hand to the needy. He is one of the Trustees of Read Town- ship, and has served in that office for three years. He is always faithful to every trust, and whether
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in business, official or social life, he is ever an honorable, upright man, worthy of the high es- teem in which he is held.
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R EV. FREDERICK W. SEIFERT. No name is more widely known and respected in Clayton County than that of the pres- ent Pastor of the German Lutheran Church at Clayton Centre. IIc was born in Brunswick, Ger- many, March 16, 1831, and is the son of Traugott G. and Rebecka (Rekau) Seifert, both natives of Druesen, Germany. They were married in their native land and became the parents of four chil- dren: Charley, Conrad, Henry and Frederick W., our subject, he being the only one of the family to leave his native land and come to America to make his home. His parents and three brothers all remained in the Fatherland. In 1858 our subject emigrated to the United States and came direct to Elkport, this county, remaining there one year. He then came to Clayton Centre and took charge of the church at that place. For thirty-four years he has occupied the pulpit of that place, all these years faithfully serving God and the people to the best of his ability.
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