USA > Iowa > Lee County > Story of Lee County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 15
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Dr. Jenkins of this review, after attending the common schools and the high school at Alexandria, Missouri, became a student in Jones' Commercial College at St. Louis. He was a young man of twenty-three years, when, in 1865, he started overland with a mule team for California. He found no satisfactory situation there and entered upon the study of medicine, becoming a student in what was then the Toland Medical College, now the medical department of the University of California, on the ist of August, 1865. After the college closed he returned to Missouri by way of Panama and New York and studied and practiced with Dr. R. S. McKee in Clark county, Missouri, for nine months. Wishing to attain still higher efficiency in his chosen calling, he then entered upon a course of lec-
V
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tures at the Missouri Medical College and was graduated from that institution on the 28th of February, 1867. Seventeen years later Par- sons College of Fairfield, Iowa, conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts.
In the year of his graduation from the Missouri Medical College Dr. Jenkins opened an office in Keokuk and remained in active prac- tice in this city from the 7th of April, 1867, until his death in 1914, or for a period of forty-seven years. He remained constantly a stu- dent of his profession, reading broadly and thinking deeply and thus keeping in touch with the advanced thought and knowledge of the profession and its modern-day methods. He did as excellent work as an educator as he did as practitioner. In 1879 he was elected to the chair of diseases of children, in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, and in 1882 to the chair of principles and prac- tice of medicine, clinical medicine and physical diagnosis, in the same institution. In 1890 he aided in organizing the Keokuk Medical College, in which he was elected to the same chair, and so continued following the amalgamation of the two schools. He remained in that connection until his demise and was regarded as one of the most able educators in connection with medical schools of the middle west. In 1885 he was elected president of the faculty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and when the Keokuk Medical College was established he was elected president of that institution and thus con- tinued until it was merged with Drake University in 1908. He was also president of the Keokuk Dental College, the Keokuk College of Pharmacy and the Keokuk Nurses' Training School after the orga- nization of those departments.
In hospital as well as in private practice Dr. Jenkins was well known. He aided in establishing St. Joseph's Hospital in 1885 and from the beginning was chief of the medical staff of that institution. He was president of the Keokuk Medical Society and was a charter member of the Lee County Medical Society. He was an active mem- ber of the Iowa State Medical Society from 1869 until his death and in 1891 was honored with election to its presidency. He joined the American Medical Association in 1873 and attended the majority of its sessions from that time to his demise. He was elected to the house of delegates in 1901 and to the vice presidency of the association in 1903. He was instrumental in organizing St. Joseph's Hospital in Keokuk and was the author of many articles which have been a val- uable contribution to medical science.
In addition to his private practice and his efforts in the educa- tional field Dr. Jenkins was medical examiner for most of the old Yol. II-10
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insurance companies and a number of fraternities. He was likewise president of the board of health of Keokuk and was a member of the Keokuk board of education. He stood at all times for progress and advancement. He was a man of strong mentality and his powers were well directed, productive of splendid results for the institutions with which he was connected and for the public interests under his direction.
On the 29th of December, 1870, Dr. Jenkins was united in mar- riage to Miss Charlotte Elizabeth Van Wagenen, of Fulton, New York, a daughter of Captain Van Wagenen, a representative of one of the old Holland families of the Empire state, established along the Hudson in colonial days. The Van Wagenen, like the Jenkins family, was prominently represented in the Revolutionary war. Five chil- dren were born unto Dr. and Mrs. Jenkins. Ann Page, the eldest, died in infancy. Marcia L. is the deceased wife of Hazen I. Sawyer, of Keokuk. Florence E. is the wife of Henry Boyden Blood, of Keokuk. George, who acquired his literary education in Parsons College and took the work of the sophomore year in the Keokuk Medical College, enlisted in 1898 in Company A, Fifty-first Iowa Regiment at Fairfield, Iowa, for service in the Spanish-American war and died in camp at Jacksonville, Florida, of typhoid fever. Katherine E. is the wife of Karl Kiedaisch, of Chicago, and they have an interesting little son, George Jenkins, named in honor of his grandfather, Dr. George F. Jenkins of Keokuk. The demise of the latter on the 4th of September, 1914, was deeply mourned not only by his family but also by his many friends throughout the state and his loss will be keenly felt in the medical circles of Iowa.
EDWARD DE YONG.
Edward De Yong is the owner of an excellent grocery store in Keokuk and is known as a progressive and reliable business man. His birth occurred in this city, July 27, 1887, his parents being Arie and Hattie (Morris) De Yong. The father is a native of Hol- land, but came to the United States at the age of fourteen. He came west to Iowa and in 1867 located at Keokuk. The mother was born in Utica, New York, and was married on the 12th of March, 1867, to Arie De Yong. They live on a farm of seventy acres near Keo- kuk and are accorded a high place in the regard of their fellow-
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men. To them were born ten children, most of whom are now mar- ried.
Edward De Yong attended the public schools in Keokuk and then took a course in telegraphy in a local business college. He became connected with the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Rail- road in a professional capacity and so continued for a period of three years. He felt, however, that there were better opportunities in an independent career and so, in 1904, in connection with his brother, Ira, he established a grocery business. In 1911 he bought his brother's share in the enterprise and is now the sole owner. He has an up-to-date and well-stocked store in the south end of the city, the building being thirty by one hundred and forty feet in dimen- sions. He carries a general line of merchandise and groceries and also does a large feed business. He studies carefully the demands of the neighborhood and supplies those needs in a most satisfactory manner. He carries standard goods, his prices are fair and his treat- ment of customers invariably courteous.
Mr. De Yong was united in marriage to Miss Florence A. Usher, of St. Francisville, Missouri, on the 7th of June, 1911. Their son, Edward, Jr., was born February 27, 1913. Mr. De Yong can well pride himself, not only upon the success which he has achieved, but also on the fact that his prosperity is due entirely to his own efforts and natural ability. He has taken advantage of the opportunities which America offers to all and today is a valued citizen of Keokuk.
JOHN G. LEVELING.
John G. Leveling farms a fertile tract of two hundred acres sit- uated on section 5, Pleasant Ridge township, and is known through- out the county as a well-to-do and efficient farmer. He was born April 3, 1855, a son of Edward and Gertrude (Naber) Leveling, both natives of Westphalia, Germany. They were the parents of four sons and seven daughters, of whom the following survive: Steve, Catherine, Lizzie and Barney, all of whom were born in Germany; Gertrude, who married Henry Lampe, of West Point; Margaretha, the wife of Barney Hassmann, a farmer living in Nebraska; John G., of this review; and Annie, wife of Joseph Holz- faster, who owns a fruit farm at Canyon City, Colorado. The first child born in America, a daughter, Mary, became the wife of Christ Finnhaus, a farmer of Nebraska, and passed away in 1913.
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John G. Leveling was reared under the parental roof and assisted his father in the operation of the home farm, thus gaining much practical knowledge of agriculture. He is now the owner of two hundred acres situated on section 5, Pleasant Ridge township, and there carries on mixed farming. His crops and stock which he ships to market bring him a good annual income and, as he is thrifty and invests his surplus capital wisely, his material wealth is constantly increasing. In cultivating and improving his farm he not only secures prosperity for himself but aids in the agricultural develop- ment of the county, which ranks high in this regard among the coun- ties of the state.
Mr. Leveling was married February 10. 1891, to Miss Ettie Kudobe, a daughter of August and Mary Kudobe, who were the parents of seven children, of whom Charles is a farmer and Vina married John Shelledy, a farmer living in Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. Leveling had one son who died in infancy.
Mr. Leveling has been trustee of Pleasant Ridge township for seven years and has discharged the duties incumbent upon him with circumspection and ability. He was for a number of years trustee of St. Paul's church and has been trustee of the Young Men's Chris- tian Society. His many friends value highly his good opinion and esteem him as a man of unswerving integrity and of unusual sincer- ity of character.
CHARLES J. KIRCH.
Charles J. Kirch is a typical representative of the virile, enter- prising and progressive business men of Keokuk who are attracting to the city trade and wealth and making it up-to-date in every respect. To these men the city of the present is of more interest than the city of a generation ago, however prosperous that city may have been.
Mr. Kirch was born in St. Louis, Missouri, March 9, 1864, and was taken by his parents, John and Katharine (Dewald) Kirch, who were of German nativity, to Kahoka, Missouri, when a lad of eight years. There he grew to manhood. He worked upon a farm in the summer time and attended common school in the winter until he reached the age of thirteen, when he obtained employment in a hard- ware store. He so continued until twenty-two years of age, when he embarked in the hardware business for himself with borrowed capital. In 1900 he came to Keokuk and with Carl A. Weber
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founded the Weber-Kirch Manufacturing Company, which is en- gaged in making hardware specialties, such as curry-combs, poultry supplies, etc. The affairs of the firm were well managed and it prospered so that in 1904 it was incorporated with a capital of ten thousand dollars. This, with the surplus accumulated in the interim, now amounts to eighteen thousand dollars. Carl A. Weber is presi- dent and treasurer of the corporation and Charles J. Kirch is vice president and secretary. The American Cement Machine Company was moved from Madison, Wisconsin, to Keokuk in 1913 and in February, 1914, was reorganized and incorporated under the laws of Iowa with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars. O. G. Mandt is the president of this company, H. S. Mandt, vice president; Charles J. Kirch, secretary; and Carl A. Weber, treasurer .. This corporation has probably the best cement mixing machinery on the market. It finds a ready sale and orders are coming in so rapidly that it is necessary to work day and night shifts of workmen to sup- ply the demand. The machines are sold not only around Keokuk but throughout the whole country. Charles J. Kirch, through his connection with two of the aggressive manufacturing companies of Keokuk, is doing much to promote the growth of the city. Such men as he are among the most valuable citizens of any community and it is but just that he should be held in high esteem.
In 1893 Mr. Kirch married Mrs. Almeda Strickler, who died in October, 1908, leaving one son, Ralph C. In 1911 our subject was again married, Mrs. Viola Robertson becoming his wife. The family are members of the Westminster Presbyterian church. Mr. Kirch gives his political allegiance to the republican party and while in Kahoka, Missouri, served for four years as tax collector. He belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is known as a man of attractive social qualities.
FRANK H. DIERKER, M. D.
Dr. Frank H. Dierker is a well known physician and surgeon of West Point, where he has practiced his profession continuously and successfully during the past eight years. He is numbered among the worthy native sons of Lee county, his birth having occurred on the home farm on section 21, West Point township, April 2, 1878. His father, Barney Dierker, is a prominent farmer and stockman
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of that township and is mentioned at greater length on another page of this work.
Frank H. Dierker was reared under the parental roof and at- tended the parochial schools in the acquirement of his early educa- tion. At the age of nineteen years he left the home farm and sub- sequently was engaged in various lines of work. Determining upon a professional career, he entered the Keokuk Medical College at Keokuk, Iowa, and in 1906 received the degree of M. D. from that institution. He at once located for practice at West Point and has here remained continuously since, being accorded a liberal and lucra- tive patronage. Dr. Dierker has demonstrated his skill and ability in the successful treatment of many cases and keeps in close touch with the progress of his profession through his membership in the Lee County Medical Society, the lowa State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
In his poltical views the Doctor is a democrat. He is now serv- ing as alderman for the second term and is likewise a member of the West Point school board for the second term, proving a most capable official in both connections. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in St. Mary's Catholic church of West Point. He has always resided in Lee county and is well known and highly esteemed within its borders as an able medical practitioner and enterprising young citizen.
JUDGE HENRY HOFFMAN TRIMBLE.
Judge Henry Hoffman Trimble was a leader among men, upon the battlefield, at the bar and in the political arena. His leadership was founded upon an intimate and accurate knowledge of any subject which he handled, but more upon the strength of his character, which had its basis in a recognition of the right. He might sway men by his eloquence, but it was eloquence that had its root in truth, in patriotism and in manly conduct. He reached the advanced age of eighty-six years, remaining in active practice to the time of his demise, and his last illness came upon him when he was en route to try a law case as the legal counsel of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, in which position he had been retained for many years.
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Judge Trimble was a native of Dearborn county, Indiana, his birth occurring upon a farm there when that section was a frontier region. Soon afterward his parents removed with their family to Rush county, Indiana, and afterward to Shelby county, which was also an undeveloped district, and upon the home farm in Shelby county Judge Trimble remained until he reached the age of four- teen years. At times he pursued the elementary branches of learn- ing in the little log schoolhouse near his father's home. In his early years he determined to attain distinction in life if possible, and he realized that a step in this direction was the acquirement of a better education. Accordingly he sold a cherished horse which had been given him by his grandfather and the proceeds were expended in meeting his tuition in a six months' term of school at Shelbyville, Indiana. Other expedients enabled him to spend six months as a student in a school at Woodsfield, Ohio, and then at the age of six- teen he began teaching in Bartholomew county, Indiana, whereby he earned a sum sufficient to enable him to spend a term or two as a student in a little pioneer college at Franklin, Indiana. The ele- mentary strength of his character, shown in acquiring his education when great odds were against him, gave promise of what the future would be. Obstacles and difficulties were never so great but that he felt they might be overcome and this he resolutely set to work to ยท do when the path of progress was blocked. While at Franklin Col- lege he studied music and during the next year or two, while a student at the State University, he met his expenses by teaching music. He lived most economically, taking care of his own room and boarding in a cheap club formed of equally poverty-stricken students. His outlay for meals was from forty-five to sixty cents per week and his other expenses covered the price of books, room rent and tuition. No luxuries and indeed few comforts were permitted. He earned money by teaching music through the college year to the students and by teaching the same art during the summer vaca- tions to the people of central Indiana. Men who afterward became prominent were among his pupils at the singing schools.
His class went in a body from the State University to Asbury University, now De Pauw, where he was graduated in 1847. He ever maintained a high standard in his classes and won high scholas- tic honors, and he was admitted to the Beta Theta Pi Society. At length he came to his graduation and received his diploma. At that time the Mexican war was in progress and immediately after leaving the university he joined the Fifth Indiana Volunteers, serv-
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ing with that regiment in the year that elapsed before the close of the Mexican war.
Upon his return to the north Judge Trimble engaged in teaching school in Shelbyville, Indiana, and devoted the hours usually termed leisure to the study of law under the direction of Thomas A. Hend- ricks, afterward vice presidential candidate, and Eden H. Davis. Judge Trimble arrived in Iowa in 1850, reaching Bloomfield in the month of February and securing admission to the bar of the state in April. Within six months after his arrival he was elected county attorney and was reelected to that office in 1852. From the begin- ning of his residence in Iowa his progress at the bar was rapid and he was chosen county attorney of Davis county and later was elected state senator in 1856, becoming a member of the last legislature that met at Iowa City and the first that convened at Des Moines. At a still later date following his service in the Civil war he was elected judge of the district court for the district which extended one hundred miles along the turbulent Missouri border. He was fearless in his conduct of the work of the court, although at times the courtroom was full of armed men bent upon the conviction of one prisoner or the release of another. On one occasion a company of militia undertook to rescue its captain and lieutenant, who were under indictment for murder, and on another occasion a crowd of armed men tried to prevent the release of a man on habeas corpus. In the first instance the officers were tried on the indictment and in the second case the man was released on habeas corpus proceedings. This indicates the kind of judge sitting upon the bench. Neither fear nor favor could swerve Judge Trimble from the course which he believed to be right, and he always appealed to the intelligence, loyalty and love of law in the people of Iowa. He spoke strongly, forcibly and convincingly and brought others to his point of view, recognizing the fact that there is within every individual a sense of justice which will come uppermost if the right appeal is made to it.
While Judge Trimble was successful in securing election to of- fices in the strict path of his profession there were other times in which a democratic candidate had to give way before the strong republican majority. He always had a notable personal following, however, and when opposing Samuel R. Curtis as a candidate for congress succeeded in reducing his opponent's majority to twelve hundred votes. He received the democratic nomination for supreme justice of Iowa immediately following the war and in 1872 he was again a candidate for congress and reduced the republican majority by five thousand votes, but failed of election. In 1876 he was a
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delegate at large to the democratic convention at St. Louis which nominated Tilden for the presidency and his old preceptor, Hend- ricks, for the vice presidency. In 1879 he received the unanimous indorsement of the democratic party for governor of Iowa and the following year was a delegate to the convention which nominated Hancock for the presidency. Four years later he was a delegate at large from Iowa to the national convention and had much to do with the nomination of Grover Cleveland. For many years he was a recognized leader in democratic circles, and his efforts along political lines drew to his party a large following.
The military chapter in the life record of Judge Trimble was a brilliant one. When the country became involved in civil war all political, professional and business interests were put aside, for he felt that duty to his country was paramount to all else. In fact, with Judge Trimble duty was ever foremost, and therefore in 1861 he was active in organizing the Third Iowa Cavalry, of which he was made lieutenant colonel. He at once devoted himself to the task of making trained soldiers out of raw recruits and continued a system of military instruction to the end with the result that his regiment became one of the best drilled among the northern troops. One notable military movement which he led was an advance down a lane bordered with brush and a fence overgrown with weeds. The enemy was on either side and the charge has been compared to that of the charge of the six hundred at Balaklava. This was on the 7th of March, 1862, and Lieutenant Colonel Trimble was severely wounded in the face, his injuries being so great that the surgeons told him he must leave the army. The wound continued to trouble him throughout his life.
Following his military experience Judge Trimble returned to Bloomfield, lowa, and after serving upon the bench he began the building of a railroad which was an extension of the old Northern Missouri line, now a part of the Wabash system. The section which he planned was to run to Cedar Rapids, through Ottumwa and Bloomfield. He became the first president of the new company and built the road to Ottumwa. In 1878 he became attorney for the Burlington route and was thereafter identified with railroad law until his death, becoming recognized as one of the most capable in that branch of jurisprudence in the west. He was made general attorney for a part of Missouri and Iowa for the Burlington Route in 1882 and removed to Keokuk in that year in order that he might be nearer the center of his legal activities. Throughout his life he remained a close student of the profession and especially of railroad
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and corporation law. A feature of his professional career was his uniform kindness to young lawyers, to whom he was ever ready to extend a helping hand or assist them with legal lore or advice. It is said on one occasion that a lawyer now a celebrated member of the California bar was sick and penniless in Iowa. Judge Trimble found him utterly discouraged and preparing for death. He spoke encouraging words to him, gave him several hundred dollars and told him to go out west and get well.
Judge Trimble was as well known and as successful in connection with agricultural pursuits and banking as he was in the practice of law. From time to time he made judicious investments in real estate and became the owner of fine farms aggregating nearly twelve hundred acres, situated near Bloomfield, Edina, Missouri and Keo- kuk. Entering banking circles, he became president of the State Bank of Albia, the State Bank of Bloomfield and the State Bank of Keosauqua, Iowa.
In 1849, at Shelbyville, Indiana, Judge Trimble was married to Miss Emma M. Carruthers, who survives him together with one son, Palmer Trimble, who was his father's associate in law practice, and three daughters: Mrs. O. D. Wray, of Bloomfield ; Mrs. O. S. Stanbro, of Keokuk; and Miss Helen Trimble. Judge Trimble was a Knight Templar Mason and never faltered in his fidelity to the teachings of the order. He attended the Episcopal church, and his life was a practical daily demonstration of Christianity. He was a statesman in that he aided in molding the destinies of lowa and put forth his efforts along the lines of civic progress and betterment. His judgment came to be recognized as so sound that many unhes- itatingly followed his leadership, knowing that his course was based upon keen insight, upon truth and justice. To reach the age of eighty-six years and carry with him all along life's journey the re- spect, good will and trust of his fellowmen is a record which indicates how noble were the principles which guided him and how com- mendable were his purposes.
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