USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 30
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three years, when the regiment was mustered out. In the official reports of the engagements mentioned Captain Burdick is honorably named for gallant services on the field, and was recommended for pro- motion.
In February, 1865, Mr. Burdick purchased an interest in the First National Bank of Decorah; was elected its cashier, and at the time of writing still holds that position. Since his return from the army he has also been an extensive dealer in real estate, being quite successful in the business.
On the 6th of September, 1876, to his surprise, during an absence of several weeks east, visiting the Centennial, he received, at the hands of the re- publican party, its unanimous and unsolicited nomi- nation for congress to represent the third district, and was elected by more than thirteen hundred
majority in a district which, two years before, had elected the democratic nominee, and in 1875 had given a larger majority for the democratic candi- date for governor than the democratic congressman had received. Mr. Burdick's majority was a well- merited tribute to his character as a man, his fi- delity and services to his party, and the confidence which the people generally have in his talents and his trustworthiness.
Mr. Burdick is a member of the Congregational church, and a faithful worker in the sunday-school.
In December, 1858, he married Miss Nancy Graves, youngest daughter of the Hon. Gaylord Graves, of Whitewater, Wisconsin. She has had six children, five of whom are living.
Mr. Burdick is a conscientious, reliable man, and does everything well which he undertakes.
COLONEL OSCAR C. HALE,
KEOKUK.
O SCAR CUTLER HALE, a native of Wells River, Vermont, was born on the 26th of July, 1816, and is the son of Charles Hale and Mary Ann née Reed. His paternal ancestry is of an old Puritan English family, which still occupies the an- cestral estate at King's Walden, in Hertfordshire. His branch settled in America in 1635. His mother traced her lineage from a Scotch Presbyterian family who immigrated to this country from the north of Ireland before the revolution, and settled at Lon- donderry, New Hampshire. Among his ancestors were many who were prominent in military and civil offices, and were active in the formation of the ori- ginal government, in the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and in the revolutionary war. In this his great-grandfather was a colonel, and his grandfather a soldier.
Oscar C. received his early education in the con- mon schools of his native place, and at the age of fourteen years entered the Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, New Hampshire. Possessed of fine native endowments and a studious disposition, he made rapid progress, and developed a special fond- ness for mathematical and scientific subjects, also history and geography. At the age of sixteen, con- trary to the wishes of his teachers and friends, he left school, and, although his father was in inde- pendent circumstances, resolved to begin life on
his own account. He first engaged as clerk in the mercantile business, and continued during six years, becoming thoroughly acquainted with every depart- ment of trade. At the expiration of this time, ow- ing to impaired health, he relinquished his position, formed a partnership, and under the firm name of Holt and Hale, engaged in the manufacture of iron and steel goods. Owing to financial difficulties of his partner, the firm was dissolved at the end of one year, and in 1840 he started on an extensive tour, traveling through twenty-four different states, and visiting all the principal cities in the Union. During his absence, without his solicitation or even knowl- edge, he was elected cashier of the Bank of New- bury ; and although but twenty-four years of age, he accepted the position and held it for a period of seventeen years, carrying the principal manage- ment of the institution, and by the success which attended him, made for himself a most worthy repu- tation among the business men of his native state as a skillful manager and financier. In 1857 he vis- ited the west, intending to establish himself in the banking business. But, owing to the financial cri- sis of that year, the directors of his old bank called him back, and he remained with them till February 1858, carrying the institution safely through its peril. At this time he settled at Keokuk, Iowa, and organ- ized the private banking house of Rix, Hale and
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Co., but at the end of four years the firm relin- quished banking, and he became cashier of the Keokuk branch of the State Bank of Iowa, taking an interest in the stock, and serving for some time as state director of this branch in the state board. When, in 1865, this bank was converted into the State National Bank of Keokuk, he was elected to the office of cashier, which he still holds, being one of the most thorough and successful bankers in the State of Iowa. Mr. Hale was formerly a whig, and before coming west was active and influential in political matters. He served in the Vermont legis- lature two terms, and held various other positions of public trust. Since his removal to the west, how- ever, he has taken no active part in politics, having declined nomination to various offices, preferring the quiet and emoluments of his business to political honors. He is now identified with the republican party, and holds decided democratic views in the truest sense of the word. At the solicitation of friends of all parties he served as alderman for two years, being president pro tem. of the city council for one year, and acting mayor for a time, in the absence of that officer, and for several years city treasurer. In 1844 he was appointed aid-de-camp to Governor Mattocks, of Vermont, with the rank of colonel, and served on his staff during his official term. He is at present a director of the Des Moines Valley railroad, also a director of the Valley National Bank of St. Louis and of the State Na- tional Bank of Keokuk, and besides sole manager
of the business of Rix, Hale and Co., 'employing considerable capital in lands, stocks, loans and other investments.
As a sagacious and successful banker and busi- ness man, it is but due to say that he has few supe- riors in the west, and that few men possess more fully the entire confidence and respect of their ac- quaintances. His entire career has been marked by integrity, fair dealing and conscientiousness in the performance of all trusts, combined with method and system in his business arrangements and invin- cible persistence and perseverance in accomplishing his purposes. He has devoted much time to self- culture, and from his travels, careful observation and close reading, is well versed in history, politics, philosophy and general literature, and posted on all matters of current interest. Without possessing an avaricious disposition, and although he has in a quiet and unostentatious manner shown a commend- able liberality in all public, religious, benevolent and charitable enterprises, he has accumulated an ample competence, which he quietly enjoys in his comfortable and substantial home situated in a most desirable part of his city. He has never sought office, and in the discharge of all public trusts that have been imposed upon him has given entire satis- faction, and is most highly esteemed by those who know him best.
Colonel Hale was married on the 26th of June, 1844, to Miss Susan D. Rix, of Royalton, Vermont, who still survives.
WILLIAM BLACKETT,
CLERMONT.
"HE subject of this sketch, an Englishman by birth, though a resident of this country since infancy, was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, on the 4th of May, 1801. His parents, John and Elizabeth (Whitely) Blackett, crossed the ocean and settled in Albany, New York, about 1805 ; there John Blackett was naturalized in 1808. He lived only a few years. When about seventeen or eighteen William removed with his stepfather and the family to New Bruns- wick, New Jersey, engaging in the hardware busi- ness. Mr. Blackett, at twenty-one years of age, be- came a partner of his stepfather; a little later he engaged in business for himself, and in 1826 re- moved to New York city, there continuing in the
hardware trade, part of the time with his stepfather and brother, but a longer time alone. He always gave his business his immediate supervision, manag- ing it with prudence, which resulted in success.
In 1856 Mr. Blackett immigrated to Clermont, Iowa, intending to retire from business; but at the end of two years he built a store, and took his son James P. Blackett, into partnership. After the close of the rebellion another son, Henry S. Blackett, came out to Clermont, where he became associated with them in business. Mr. Blackett and his sons opened a store at Lawler, in Chickasaw county, six or seven years ago, and his son Henry continues the business there.
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Mr. Blackett has been a member of the Methodist church since boyhood, and an office-bearer of some kind in the same the greater part of the time. He was a large contributor when the beautiful church in which he worships was erected, and his heart is in every cause which will benefit his fellow-men.
Since 1856 he has voted the republican ticket ; prior to that date, was a whig.
On the 8th of March, 1823, he married Miss Sarah E. Stevenson, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. She is still living, and is a true mother and help- meet. She has had four children, and three of them are living, the two enterprising sons mentioned and Elizabeth Whitely, the wife Dr. Lewis, of Clermont.
Mr. Blackett has always been a great reader and a close observer ; his faculties are unimpaired and he has a rich fund of general knowledge always at his command. He has a vivid recollection of see- ing at Albany the first steamboat which went up the Hudson river on her first trip in 1807 ; and his remi- niscences of his early years are instructive as well as entertaining. 'Mr. Blackett has always been an industrious, frugal man, carefully husbanding his resources, yet liberal in his contributions where ne- cessity made known her wants. For many years his hospitality was known far and wide. He has never been " forgetful to entertain strangers," or of any other duty as a citizen."
DAVID W. RICHARDSON,
DAVENPORT.
D AVID NELSON RICHARDSON, editor and proprietor of the Davenport "Democrat," was born at Orange, Orange county, Vermont, on the 19th of March, 1832, and is the son of Christo- pher and Achsah (Foster) Richardson, thrifty farm- ers of the Green Mountain State, who by the most assiduous industry educed a scanty subsistence from the sterile and flinty hillside which they called their farm, ignorant as yet of the infinite resources and exhaustless fertility of the boundless prairies of the west. The Richardson family is of English lineage, and trace descent in an unbroken chain to William Richardson, who came over in 1635, and settled in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the intermediate links being Christopher - father of our subject - son of Samuel, son of Christopher, son of Daniel, son of Joseph, son of the original William. On the moth- er's side he is descended from the Leland stock, also English, crossed by the Powers' blood, pro- ducing some men of note of both names. Most of the male progeny were men of the sea, soldiers, merchants or professional men, an honest, hardy, self-reliant race, conspicuous for honesty, virtue and morality. With such antecedents, it is not surpris- ing that our subject failed to develop a fondness for agricultural pursuits, or that he should, on the other hand, prefer the companionship of books, and de- vote his time and energies to the attainment of knowledge, with a view to a profession.
His early experiences were like those of most farmer boys brought up on the rock-strewn hillsides
of New England. Until the age of eighteen he had enjoyed the advantages of a three-months common schooling annually. He read all the books and papers he could find, studying to the outer verge of his opportunities, and shirking all the farm-work that it was decently possible for him to avoid. At this date, however, he resolved to launch out for himself. He taught school, and earned money to pay the expenses of an academic education, which he resolved to obtain in spite of all obstacles. He entered Franklin Academy at Malone, New York, passing through the regular curriculum of studies ; had also given considerable attention to the study of law, with a view to that profession, and was pre- pared to enter Middlebury College, Vermont. But about this time the "western fever " broke out in that region, and carried many very promising young men with it, our subject among others, who, happen- ing to be possessed of fifty dollars and a suit of clothes, bought a railroad ticket, and landed in St. Louis in March, 1854. From thence he moved to Sparta, in Randolph county, Illinois, where he taught school for three months, passing much of his leisure time in the printing office of C. P. Johnson, now ex-governor of Missouri, setting type and work- ing a hand-press. In this way he obtained a fair idea of the routine of a country printing office, and acquired a taste for that line of life. Leaving southern Illinois, he steamed up the river to Rock Island, and thence crossed the country to Peoria, "where," to borrow his own expression, "he found
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himself dead broke," a thousand miles from home, or from any place where he could honestly get money without working for it. But hunger is inex- orable, and soon mastered his prejudice against labor. So he went to work again in a printing office, setting type for his board, which he believes he honestly earned. But as his aversion to work for either board or wages was by no means eradicated, he soon changed his base of operations. Early in October, 1855, he set his face toward Davenport, Iowa, resolved to settle in that promising young city and grow up with it. Here he bought an old news- paper office, on credit, and on the 15th of the same month started the daily and weekly " Democrat," which he has continued to edit and publish ever since, taking into partnership with him, in 1863, his brother, J. J. Richardson, thus making the firm of Richardson Brothers. For twenty-one years his life has ran in an even, quiet channel, in the happy valley which lies between extremes of every kind. From a penniless boy in 1855 he has advanced to a position of wealth and social influence second to few men in the state of his adoption, while his paper has come to be the recognized exponent, within the sphere of its influence, of the political party whose name it bears. He has studiously avoided all public and official life, as tending to divert him from his one sole purpose, an office of his own, independent of political changes or partisan whims, avoiding all save those which every good citizen should consent to fill in turn.
He is a useful and influential member of the city school board and the city council, of the Iowa State University regency, a curator of the State Historical Society, a bank, street railway and cemetery direct-
or, a trustee of the Presbyterian church, and a Past Master Mason.
Although an attendant upon the services of the Presbyterian church, he is not in communion with any religious organization. He has believed, how- ever, from his youth up in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and he is so rooted and grounded in this faith that it is unlikely he will ever vary it.
In politics, he is a democrat; not of the ultra stripe, never having a taste for extremes in anything. During the late rebellion he was what was denom- inated a war democrat, and his paper was loyal to the Union and the government, opposing the ex- treme views of his party, both in its columns and upon the stump.
Mr. Richardson is not only a self-made man, but he is one of nature's noblemen, genial generous and kind-hearted, finding his greatest happiness in the paths of a contented, quiet, peaceful, social life, always ready to lend a helping hand to the strug- gling and unfortunate. As a writer, he is scholarly, forcible and matter of fact, and though at times sar- castic and pungent, he is always fair and honorable, never descending to personalities, or indulging in claptrap or sensationalism. Strictly moral and tem- perate in all his habits, just and true in all his deal- ings, public-spirited and benevolent, a credit to his race and an honor to his city.
On the 15th of April, 1858, he married Miss Jen- nette Darling, daughter of a thrifty New England farmer, who has made a model wife and mother. She presides with grace and wisdom over one of the happiest homes in the west. They have four promis- ing children, Jeunette, Morris, Anna and Jenness.
THOMAS F. BUTTERFIELD,
DE WITT.
A MONG the business men of De Witt, few who have ever settled here brought with them more of the elements of success than Thomas F. Butterfield, who has been a trader here thirty-three years. He has indomitable energy and perseverance; carefully oversees every branch of his business ; is shrewd and keen, yet conscientious ; deals fairly with his customers, hence makes friends rapidly, se- cures and retains their custom easily, and his suc- cess is a fine example of the reward which industry
and honest dealing often secure. Mr. Butterfield is the son of Jonathan Butterfield, a New Hamp- shire farmer, and Jane Forsyth, his birth dating at Goffstown, Hillsboro county, on the 19th of August, 1821. His grandparents on both sides of the family aided in gaining our independence, and his father was a captain in the war of 1812. Thomas com- menced his business education as a clerk in Hop- kinton when about fourteen ; subsequently spent three or four terms in school at Weare, New Hamp-
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shire ; operated for himself awhile as a merchant, and in the spring of 1844 removed from Hopkinton to De Witt. Here he resumed the mercantile busi- ness on a small scale, De Witt village at that time having less than fifty inhabitants. His first store was on Jackson street, facing the public square, where he remained several years, his family and goods being under the same roof. For twenty years or more he has been on Jefferson street, and is one of the leading merchants in the place, having a large store well stocked with general merchandise. For twenty-five years Mr. Butterfield has also dealt in agricultural implements and machines, being one of the first men in Clinton county to introduce such articles, and having been quite successful. A very large number of farmers in the county have dealt with him and found him "true as steel."
Mr. Butterfield was county clerk five years ; treas- urer and recorder four years, when the two offices were combined ; a member of the board of super-
visors a year or two; has been mayor of the city, and held other offices, both city and county, and has left an untarnished record. He usually votes with the democratic party. He is a Freemason and has taken the thirty-second degree.
His wife was Caroline A. Gove, of Deering, New Hampshire, their marriage taking place in 1843. They have five children, three of whom are married and living in De Witt. Dennis G., formerly adju- tant of the 26th Iowa Infantry, is a grain and lum- ber dealer ; Mary Jane is the wife of Parley S. McCracken, and Ann A., of Jay O. Ferrel. Frank- lin P., a graduate of the Ann Arbor, Michigan, Uni- versity, is an attorney at De Witt, and Charles is clerk for his father. The last two are single.
Mr. Butterfield is a man of hardly medium stature, dark complexion, " snugly built," well-preserved and " tough as a knot." He has a cheerful disposition, laughs easily, often and long, believes in sunshine and aids in making it.
HON. MARCUS TUTTLE,
CLEAR LAKE.
O NE of the town builders of Iowa is Marcus Tuttle, who selected Clear Lake for his home when there were not more than half-a-dozen families here, and no other settlement nearer to the north- ward or westward than Algona, forty miles distant ; except eastward, there was no road and no com- munication. Clear Lake spread out seemingly in primeval freshness and wildness, as if poured from the hollow of God's hand only the day before. On every other side rolled the prairies, "boundless and beautiful," challenging the coffers of enterprise and wooing the hand of industry. Here, thought Mr. Tuttle, must some day be a watering place, and he resolved to help make it attractive. Here he com- menced operations, and his judgment did not lead him astray.
Mr. Tuttle is the son of Ira Tuttle, a New York farmer and cheese manufacturer, and was born in Fairfield, Herkimer county, on the 10th of May, 1830. The maiden name of his mother was Lucy Brockett. The Tuttles were early settlers in New Haven, Connecticut, and their descendants have since spread over most of the western as well as the eastern states. President Tuttle, of Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, and General Tuttle, of Des
| Moines, Iowa, are distant relatives of the subject of this sketch.
Ira Tuttle moved to Clinton, Oneida county, New York, when his son was about twelve years old. Like many farmer boys in those days, the lad's opportuni- ties for education were very limited from ten to six- teen years of age, consisting of three months' school- ing in the winter. At the latter age, his time being given him by his father, by working out in the sum- mer and teaching in the winter, carefully saving his hard-earned wages, he paid his own expenses for two terms at the Whitestown Seminary, purposing at that time to go through college. But at the age of eighteen, his father, having become financially em- barrassed by the hard times, and being in danger of losing his home, insisted that Marcus should give up his ideas of further literary pursuits and help save the farm for the family. This he consented to do, though with great reluctance, and has since regarded this as the greatest disappointment of his life. By dint of the hardest work, foregoing most of the amusements and innocent pleasures so congenial to the youthful taste, the son succeeded in clearing the property of debt, and removing the anxiety of his parents.
O
Marcus Jutal
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Being a great reader from childhood, and becom- ing familiar with the glowing pictures of the rising west, he at length made up his mind that here was the field for his future operations. Early in 1855, having sold his farm, and finding himself possessor of a little fortune of three thousand dollars, and a wife whom he had chosen four years before, he crossed the "Father of Waters" into Iowa, and leav- ing his wife in Johnson county, he found his El Dorado at Clear Lake, in May of that year, where his wife joined him two months later. He com- menced opening a farm of two hundred acres on the eastern shore of the lake. Two years later he assisted in laying out the town of Clear Lake, part of which was situated on his own land, and since 1857 one branch of his business has been the buy- ing and selling of real estate, in which he has been an extensive and successful operator. During all this time he has cultivated more or less land, partly by the aid of hired help and partly through renters ; he has been constantly on the alert and actively en- gaged in supplying the wants of Clear Lake, and has very largely contributed to the growth of the village. At an early day he saw that a saw-mill was indispensable, so he bought a steam one, moved it hither, and run it several years. The first merchant who settled here failed in a short time and moved away, leaving the place without merchandise. In this emergency, though having his hands already pretty full, Mr. Tuttle purchased a stock of goods, and continued in mercantile trade until the spring of 1876. He has been interested in almost every enterprise that promised to build up the place; and his energy and indomitable will seemed to make him successful in everything that he undertook.
Mr. Tuttle was county judge many years ago, holding the office for two years. He held the posi- tion of assessor of internal revenue from the crea- tion of the office, in the early part of the civil war, until the autumn of 1867, when he resigned in con- sequence of being elected state senator. He was in the senate four years, and was chairman of the committee on commerce, and a member of the com- mittee on railroads, and the committee on constitu- tional amendments, etc. While in that body his great interest centered in the railroad committee, he working very hard to secure the grant of land for what is now the Iowa and Dakota branch of the Chi- cago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad, an enterprise . which brought this thoroughfare to Clear Lake in 1871. He also favored and helped to secure the
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