The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume, Part 21

Author: American biographical publishing company, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago, New York, American biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 954

USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 21

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On the 24th of August, 1865, they were sent down the White river, and thence went up the Mississippi to Davenport, Iowa, where they were discharged on the 7th of September following.

Returning to his home, Mr. Young remained on the farm with his family until the autumn of 1866, when he was elected clerk of the district court of Monroe county. He entered upon his duties on the Ist of January, 1867 ; was twice reelected, and held the office in all six years. In the fall of 1872 he was elected, on the republican ticket, secretary of state of Iowa, by a majority of fifty-seven thousand; reëlected in 1874, and again reëlected in 1876 by a majority of sixty thousand and fifty-six.

In political sentiment, Mr. Young had formerly been a democrat, as was also his father and grand- father. After the opening of the civil war he changed his views, and in the fall of 1862, while

with his company at Camp Lincoln, Keokuk, voted the republican ticket. He then thought that the emancipation of the slaves would be injudicious, but after being in the south, saw that it was neces- sary as a means of putting down the rebellion, and heartily favored it.

In religious communion, his ancestors, as far back as he can trace them, have been Presbyterians, and he himself is identified with that denomination.

In his business affairs, Mr. Young has been emi- nently successful, and lives now in the enjoyment of a pleasant home, surrounded with all that one needs to make life happy, and enjoying the confidence and high esteem of a very large circle of true friends.

Of nine children which have been born to him, five are now (1877) living : Fletcher Webster, born on the 9th of January, 1853, became deputy secre- tary of state on the Ist of January, 1876; he was educated at the Iowa State University, and gradu- ated from the law department. Rachael Elizabeth, was born on the 25th of September, 1856; she is now a cripple, having lost the use of her spinal col- umn. David Whitcomb, born on the 2d of Novem- ber, 1858, was a clerk in his father's office while secretary of state. Ellsworth, born on the 8th of July, 1866, and Edward Baker, born on the 19th of May, 1868; both are now in school.

Such is an outline of the life history of one who has risen from comparative obscurity to a position of honor by his own untiring energy. His has been a varied career, but bravely meeting every opposi- tion he has moved steadily onward, adhering strictly to principles of integrity, and enjoys now the reward that comes of persistent and honorable effort.

HORACE BOIES,

WATERLOO.

W THILE it is true that some men inherit great- ness, and others have "greatness thrust up- on them," a larger number are architects of their own fortunes. The man of this stamp, self-reliant and courageous, building on principle and not on pedigree, starts out with the idea that God helps those only who help themselves. He who has faith in his own powers, who is diligent in his calling and has his heart in his work, is on the road to success. By this direct route the subject of this brief notice reached his present high position in the legal pro-

fession. He has for nearly twenty years studiously avoided all the allurements connected with office, thoroughly contented with the honors and emolu- ments attending a conscientious discharge of the duties of a busy lawycr's life. A native of Aurora, near Buffalo, New York, he was born on the 7th of December, 1827, and is the son of Eber and Hettie (Henshaw) Boies, farmers by occupation.

Horace worked on the farm until he was of age, except when attending the district school and the Aurora Academy, then a first-class institution. He

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studied law at Aurora and Boston, both in Erie county, and was admitted to the bar in Buffalo at the general term of the supreme court, November, 1852. Prior to this date he had spent one winter in Boone county, Illinois, teaching school.

After practicing his profession in Buffalo and vi- cinity fifteen years, he in April, 1867, removed to Waterloo, Iowa, his present home. Here he has steadily continued his legal practice, and risen to the front rank among the lawyers of the ninth judi- cial district.

Before leaving New York State Mr. Boies served one term (the winter of 1857-8) in the lower house of the legislature, but has never since that time

sought office. In politics, he has always acted with the republican party.

On the 18th of April, 1848, he was married to Miss Adelia King, of Aurora. They had three chil- dren, two of whom, with the mother, are dead. In December, 1858, Mr. Boies was married to Miss Versalia M. Barber, daughter of Dr. Barber, of Waterloo, and by her has three children.

Mr. Boies' eminent success as an attorney is owing to two qualifications, not always combined in the same person, viz., thorough acquaintance with the law, and great argumentative and persuasive power before a jury. Both qualifications are the result of hard study and untiring self-discipline.

RUFUS E. GRAVES,

DUBUQUE.

C OMPARATIVELY few business men are suc- cessful in these days of fluctuation, strife and competition. The risks are great in all enterprises, and rarely does mere genius succeed, aside from untiring industry, in any department. Moreover, it is the man who follows a single line, the man of one idea, in whatever occupation, who is most likely to make his mark in the world. Mr. Graves, who is here briefly noticed, is one of the few who may fairly and rightly claim to have been successful in business, and he has become so by fulfilling the conditions of success as suggested above. Of New England stock, born of good par- entage, where character is the truest nobility and correct habits the best heritage, it is hardly a mat- ter of surprise that in this active great west he should be so well known and highly respected in business.

He was born at Keene, New Hampshire, on the 8th of Angust, 1835, and is son of Caleb S. and Eliza Graves née Kingman, and, on his father's and mother's side, of Welsh descent.

His ancestors participated in the battles of the revolution, and later in the war of 1812. His early life was that of a farm boy, and his strength of constitution, and the habits of economy and in- dustry which have been of invaluable help to him, may be traced to that source. He received his early education at the common school and academy of his native town, and while not at school his time was spent on the farm. His father having but lim-

ited means, he had to depend upon his own efforts for support, and from the sales of popcorn and other little enterprises he maintained himself at school. At the age of sixteen, with a capital of thirteen dollars, the result of his savings, he left home to commence life for himself. He secured a situation in a bank of which his uncle was cash- ier, and by steady application and close attention he, at nineteen, was so well versed in his duties as to be elected cashier of the Brighton Market Bank, being selected out of thirty-six applicants, some of whom were old cashiers. The severe hard work he had undergone commenced to tell upon his health, and he was forced to resign and return to the farm to recruit. Here, and through the effects of a sea voyage, he was restored to health, and spent some time in traveling over the country.

While at St. Louis he was offered a position in the Mechanics' Bank, which was declined. In 1858, through the solicitations of his brother, J. K. Graves, Esq., who was doing a successful banking business in Dubuque, he was prevailed upon to come to that city. In November, 1858, he established the Du- buque branch of the State Bank of Iowa, and was elected its cashier. Here he continued until 1863, when he sold his interest at a premium of one hun- dred per cent and accepted the position of cashier in one of the leading banks of Chicago. Here, again, his health failed, and he was prevailed upon to accept a six months' vacation offered him by his house, and, with Hon. D. N. Cooley, then United

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States tax commissioner, spent some time in South Carolina. Upon the appointment of Mr. Cooley as commissioner of Indian affairs he was offered the position of United States tax commissioner at Charleston, South Carolina, which was declined, and he returned to his duties as cashier. In 1867 the National State Bank and the First National Bank, of Dubuque, were consolidated on condition that Mr. Graves would take the management. He accepted, and in March, 1867, was elected president of the First National Bank, then the leading mon- etary institution of Iowa. Afterward he sold his interest to Hon. D. N. Cooley, and resigned the presidency in his favor, intending to remove east, having been offered the presidency of a bank there ; but, by the advice of friends and by their earnest persuasions, he started the Commercial National Bank, of which he is president. This institution is in very successful operation, and is one of the leading solid institutions of the west.

Mr. Graves' time is too much engrossed by busi- ness to accept political offices, though he has been an active member of the board of education for

some time, and is also president of the Dubuque Art Association and vice-president of the Dubuque, Fort Dodge and Pacific railroad. In politics, he is republican, though in no way a partisan.

He is a prominent member of the Masonic fra- ternity, and high in its degrees.

He was married on the roth of February, 1859, to Miss Mary C. Tilden, of Keene, New Hampshire. Their eldest son, George H. Graves, a bright, enter- prising boy of nearly seventeen, is editor of the " Boys' Journal," an amateur paper with a circula- tion of over five hundred, now one of the oldest amateur papers in the country.

Mr. Graves is a man of fine personal appearance, courteous and friendly, and has marked social pow- ers, which have gained the love and esteem of his friends and acquaintances.

Such is the brief outline of the life history of one who, struggling through trials, has worked his way, unaided, to a place of high esteem, and per- formed a work the influence of which shall live in the hearts of those who have known him and increase with the passing years.

FRANCIS M. BRUNER,

OSKALOOS.1.

T HE subject of this sketch, a native of Breck- enridge county, Kentucky, was born on the the 28th of December, 1833. He is of German an- cestry. His progenitors came to America about two hundred years ago, and settled at Hagerstown, Pennsylvania. His father, Henry Bruner, a native of Kentucky, is now (1877) a resident of Galesburg, Illinois. He is a man of industrious, persevering habits, and to his lessons and examples of integrity and uprightness the son is mainly indebted for his success. At the age of thirty-five he made a pro- fession of religion and became a member of the Christian church, and ever since has been devoted to furthering its interests; though a hard-working man, he was never too weary and the weather rarely ever too bad to attend church with his family, at a distance of six miles. When Francis began to at- tend school, he took him on horseback, a distance of two and a half miles, to a small log hut in the woods, and later, for several winters, himself at- tended school, sitting beside his boy, who assisted him in solving his examples in arithmetic. By this

means he acquired a considerable knowledge of figures, and learned to read and write with some ease and fluency. He is a man of very tender heart, and extremely sensitive to every dishonor- able act. He is now in his sixty-fourth year, fresh and vigorous, and has the management of his con- siderable estate.

His mother, Matilda née Claycomb, a native of Kentucky, was descended from Irish and Scotch parents. She shared with her husband all the struggles of their pioneer life in Illinois, where they settled in 1834. She possessed all the excellences that go to make up a thrifty housewife, and had a considerable degree of education. Both she and her husband used every means in their power to educate their children ; four of them are graduates, and the remaining four received a liberal education.

Francis passed his boyhood and youth upon his father's farm, attending occasional terms of school in log school-houses, walking three miles and a por- tion of the time riding six. His mind was early turned toward the ministry, and at the age of four-

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teen he was immersed and united with the church. He entered heartily into the struggles of his family in the new country ; but at length felt that he must give himself up to the accumulation of property (for they had been very successful), or stop at once and carry out his long-cherished plan of preparing for the ministry. Accordingly, at the age of nineteen, he entered Knox College, at Galesburg, Illinois, and graduated from the same in 1857. After one year of teaching, he spent three years in Europe at the University of Halle, in Prussia, and at l'Ecole de Paris, in France. At Halle, he studied both modern and ancient languages, and attended the lectures of Bernhardy and Pott, and also studied theology and attended the lectures of Tholuck, Roediger, Jacobi, and in philosophy and metaphys- ics, those of Hym and Erdmann. In Paris, he studied the sciences and attended the lectures of Flowrien, Willice, Edwards, Valancienne, Quater- fudges and others. He also, during his European tour, spent some time in Berlin, studying the mu- seums, and also spent some time in London. His object in going abroad was to perfect himself in his studies. After closing his college course he deter- mined to fit himself for a professorship of modern and ancient languages, and for preaching.

Returning to America in 1860, he engaged in preaching in the Christian fellowship, and in 1865 was ordained at Monmouth, Illinois, where he served as pastor for over five years.

In the darkest hour of our nation's history, in 1863, he was commissioned by Abraham Lincoln as captain of company A, 7th United States Colored Infantry. The regiment was composed of Mary- land slaves, and did valiant service in the army of the Union. After one year's service in Florida and up the coast against Charleston, he was, by reason of impaired health, discharged, and returned home. While in the service he used every means for the good of his men. It was his custom to assemble them, and read the bible to them and pray with them, and also to teach them to read and spell.

Although Mr. Bruner has never fully recovered his health, and his labors much of the time have been performed under intense suffering, he has never relinquished his work.

He was a member of the Illinois legislature in the sessions of 1866-67, and there, as elsewhere, ren- dered efficient service.

In 1870 he was elected president of the Oskaloosa College, and entered upon his duties, canvassing

for the college for the first two years, and in 1873 began his active duty as teacher. He is not only president, but serves as professor of bible history and exegesis. His extensive researches in the do- main of science, natural and biblical history, enable him to impart an extensive fund of useful knowl- edge to those who look to him for instruction.

Mr. Bruner was married in 1858 to Miss Esther Lane, a native of Ohio. They have a family of seven children.

Politically, he is a republican.

Such is a brief record of the worthy president of Oskaloosa College. Possessed of all the requisites to satisfy the letter and the spirit of the duties devolv- ing upon him, we are sure that he will bear the labor and come out at the end like well-burnished gold.

Below we append a brief sketch of the Oskaloosa College, of which Mr. Bruner is now president :

Early in the history of Iowa influential members of the church of Christ, imbued with the spirit of the age, and appreciating the importance of an institution of learning of a higher order, projected upon a broad, modern, liberal and christian basis, began to discuss the propriety of establish- ing such a college. At length, in the state meeting which convened at Mount Pleasant, June, 1855, it was resolved that the time had come to begin the work. The location was offered to the locality that should offer the greatest induce- ments in the way of building fund, grounds, etc. Oska- loosa outstripped its rivals, offering ten acres of ground and thirty thousand and fifty dollars. At an adjourned state

meeting, held here from the 10th to the 13th of October, 1856, it was located at this place; and A. Chatterton, R. Parker, C. G. Owen, J. Adkins, W. T. Smith, J. H. Bacon, A. S. Nichols, M. Edmundson, C. Hall, J. M. Berry, W. A. Saunders, J. Swallow, S. H. Bonham and S. H. McClure were appointed charter trustees. At a board meeting, on the 8th of November, A. Chatterton, W. T. Smith and A. Johnson were appointed a committee on articles of incor- poration. On the 22d of November the report of the com- mittee was made and adopted; and, on motion of A. Chat- terton, the institution was named Oskaloosa College. On the 29th of June, 1857, the contract for building was let to J. J. Adams for twenty-tour thousand five hundred dollars. A. Chatterton and J. F. Rowe were employed as soliciting agents. Within a few weeks they raised, in notes, endow- ment stock to the amount of about twenty thousand dol lars. Thus everything progressed encouragingly ; but the hard times of 1857 and 1858 set in, subscribers were unable to pay, contractors failed, work on the building and in rais- ing endowment ceased, and general disappointment and discouragement followed. Had it not been for the persist- ent and self-sacrificing efforts of the treasurer, R. Parker, and a few other devoted friends of the college, it would, at this time, have gone under the sheriff's hammer.

After vexations delays, lawsuits and barterings, about two-thirds of the thirty thousand and fifty dollars was realized, while a less proportion of the twenty thousand dollars endowment was ever collected.

At the state meeting which convened at Davenport on the 9th of June, 1860, it was resolved to raise a relief fund of ten thousand dollars. This effort was only partially suc- cessful. But the friends of the college were indefatigable. They believed the work was of God and would succeed; and they continued to hope, pray and labor in the good- begun work until, piece by piece, the building has been nearly completed.

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On the 2d of September, 1861, under appointment of the board, Messrs. W. J. and G. T. Carpenter opened a prepar- atory school in two small rooms which had been tempo- rarity finished for that purpose. A full description of the unfinished building, with a debt of ten thousand dollars hanging over it, of the woe-begone appearance of the build- ing and surroundings, the institution being without a dol- lar's worth of apparatus -not even a blackboard, not a specimen, and only seats for sixteen pupils-the building standing in a cornfield, fully eighty rods from any sidewalk, and everything else of like fashion, would be at once sad and amusing. In addition to all this, Sumter's cannon had signaled the brave young men who were looked to for stu- dents to the battlefield.

The two young teachers who had engaged to open the college (?), and who had arrived the evening before, on going to the building, found the first thing to be done was to open a way to the building and through the rubbish yet in the rooms and halls. Their first day was spent with coats off, in the professional (?) way. On the second day, the "immortal five," with which Oskaloosa College opened, were enrolled: Geo. Wilson, James Brown, Jennie Course, Jennie McCall and Maggie Stephens. During the entire year there were only about fifty enrolled; and at the close the teachers, who had agreed to take the tuition for their pay, found, after paying for fitting school-rooms, etc., that they lacked just eighty-five dollars of having enough to pay their board bill. For this amount they gave their notes at ten per cent. These were dark days in our college history, days that tried men's souls; but those who had the matter in charge resolved, under the blessing of God, not to know such a thing as " fail."

The attendance upon the several sessions has been as follows: First (no catalogue), 50; second, 167; third, 208; fourth, 220; fifth, 307; sixth, 248; seventh, 218; eighth, 169; ninth, 262; tenth, 170; eleventh, 159; twelfth, 254.

The following are the names of the instructors that have taught in the college, in the order of their employment by the board: W. J. Carpenter, G. T. Carpenter, Mrs. A. H. Carpenter, F. McGrew, Mrs. M. B. Smith, M. P. Givens, A. F. Ross, B. W. Johnson (president), O. Goodrich, F. M. Kirkham, F. M. Bruner (president), A. IIull, N. Dunshee, J. L. Pinkerton. Besides these, several tutors and teachers

of specialties have taught more or less in the college. Among the agents who should be gratefully remembered may be named A. Chatterton, J. F. Rowe, J. B. Noe, N. E. Cory, F. Walden, N. A. McConnell, G. T. Carpenter, Dr. Hatton, W. J. Carpenter, J. Wiley, and last, but not least, President Bruner. The names of hundreds, who, in vari- ous ways, have aided the institution, are, we trust, written in the Lamb's book of life.

The commercial department, which has proven such a decided success, was opened by its present principal in September, IS67.

At a joint meeting of the board and other friends of the college, on the 19th of June, 1868, " on motion of G. T. Car- penter, it was resolved to establish a bible department in connection with the college." A. 1. Hobbs, N. A. Mc- Connell, F. Walden and W. J. Carpenter were appointed a committee to report a method of securing necessary funds. They reported that at least twenty-five thousand dollars should be raised, and that the sisters throughout the state should be requested to aid in the work. About one half of this amount was raised by June, 1871, when President Bruner accepted the presidency of the college, by whom it was determined to enlarge the plan of this department and to raise at least fifty thousand dollars for its endowment. To this work he has since given his personal efforts with an energy that merits and, in part, has secured success. President Bruner has, under the action of the board, also undertaken to establish a splendid botanical garden on the college grounds. Thus it is seen that Oskaloosa College has had its little beginning, its dark days, its ups and its downs; but it is now thought that a triumphant success is within its reach, if only its friends prove true. Indeed, a college that has achieved so much under such adverse cir- cumstances can hardly fail of a glorious future now that it has the best college building in the state, about fifty thou- sand dollars of endowment, good apparatus, cabinets, libra- ries and other necessary equipments, and a full, experienced and determined faculty. Those who founded the institu- tion were men of large and liberal views; and if those to whom it now has a right to look for sympathy and mate- rial aid do their duty, generations yet unborn will bless the memories of all those who have contributed to this noble enterprise.

WILLIAM W. ALLEN, M.D.,

MASON CITY.

A MONG the men of mark in Cerro Gordo county is Dr. Allen, a native of New York, who was born at Angelica on the 29th of July, 1834. His father, Asa S. Allen, was judge of Allegany county in 1838. He afterward became a minister and home missionary of the Congregational church, and has been preaching for nearly forty years, being now eighty years old and in good health. He is a descendant of the Allens of Medfield, Massachu- setts, and retained the homestead, occupying the only log house left after the burning of the village by the Indians nearly two hundred years ago. William's mother's maiden name was Kingsbury ; she was a native of Medfield.

William attended the normal school at West New- ton, Massachusetts, for two or three years, and

though thrown entirely upon his own resources succeeded in mastering all the elementary and sev- eral scientific branches. When a mere lad he went to California by the overland route, his object being to obtain money with which to complete his studies. After two years of successful work he returned, and began the study of medicine at Mineral Point, Wis- consin, and in 1856 graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and has since prac- ticed medicine in Wisconsin, Colorado and Iowa, everywhere with good success. He has gained an enviable reputation as a surgeon, and is widely known as a physician of eminent skill and ability. In cases of consultation he has been sent for forty and sixty miles.

In 1860 and 1861 he was in Colorado, and at the

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outbreak of the war started for home to go into the army. While on the plains, en route for Wisconsin, he was met by a band of rebel deserters from the United States army posts on the frontier going southward to join the confederates. The doctor had with him a stock of one hundred and fifty horses, mules and cattle, of nearly all of which the deserters robbed him, together with a valuable lot of furs. He afterward recovered seven head of cattle, and with six of these continued his journey eastward, making the journey of nearly twelve hun- dred miles in about forty-eight days. The follow- ing amusing incident is worthy of mention: At Clear Lake, in Cerro Gordo county, meeting a man who began to vindicate the south, he told him that he was about to fight the rebels, and might as well begin at once, at the same time drawing his re- volver. The rebel sympathizer took to his heels, and the result was a short, hot chase, resulting in harm to neither party.

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The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume, Part 21

Author: American biographical publishing company, pub Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Chicago, New York, American biographical publishing company Number of Pages: 954

Author: American biographical publishing company, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago, New York, American biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 954