USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 46
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120
On the 18th of October, 1854, he married Miss Eliza E. Baldwin, daughter of Richard Baldwin, Esq., an extensive farmer of Champaign county, Ohio. They have had six children, five of whom survive: Charles H., Nanny Kate, Mary Ellen, Josephene, and George W., junior.
ANDREW J. FELT,
NASHUA.
AMONG the very few country journalists who AM have left the editor's chair to start a bank is Andrew J. Felt, a native of the Empire State. He was born at Victor, Ontario county, on the 27th of December, 1833, his parents being Warren Felt, merchant and farmer, and Cynthia Stowell. The Felts were from Massachusetts. His grandfather was a participant in the second war with England. Andrew was educated at the Hamilton Academy, Madison county ; at sixteen commenced teaching ; followed that profession three winters; at nineteen commenced reading law with Thomas Frothingham, of Rochester, finishing his legal studies with Judge Nichols, of Sherburne, Chenango county, and being seized violently with the western fever, came to Iowa before being admitted to the bar.
Mr. Felt reached this state in the autumn of 1855,
and the following winter taught a school in a black- smith shop upon the spot where Luana, Clayton county, now stands. In 1856 he became connected editorially with the "North Iowa Times," of Mc- Gregor, published by A. P. Richardson, remaining in that position till March, 1857. A short time after this date he was admitted to the bar of Chickasaw county, Judge Murdock presiding, but before com- mencing practice he started, in the spring of 1857, the "Cedar Valley News," at Bradford, running the paper and a law office one year, when he sold his interest in the newspaper and practiced law a year in company with M. V. Burdick, of Decorah, Win- neshiek county. In 1860 he renewed his editorial connection with the " North Iowa Times," and held that position when the national flag was stricken down at the south. His patriotic heart was instantly
318
THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
fired, and he enlisted as a private in the first com- pany which was raised in Chickasaw county - Com- pany B, 7th lowa Infantry. He was taken prisoner at Belmont, Missouri, on the 7th of November, 1861 ; remained in the hands of the rebels one year less twenty days ; was in the hospital at Annapolis, Mary- land, from October, 1862, to February, 1863; joined the regiment at Corinth, Mississippi ; was promoted to sergeant, and returned to Iowa the next spring.
Mr. Felt went immediately to West Union, Fayette county, and established the " Public Record," con- ducting it until 1866, when .he sold out to Judge Edmonds. In the month of May of the following year he started the Nashua " Post," and conducted it until February, 1874, when he sold out to Grawe Brothers, and purchased the interest of M. C. Wood- ruff in the Waterloo " Courier. " In October, 1875, he abandoned journalism and started a private bank in Nashua. This course seemed to be regretted by many of the editorial brotherhood of Iowa, for he was a keen and pointed writer, and his journalistic career was eminently creditable to the Iowa press.
Mr. Felt was postmaster at Nashua from 1869 to 1874, resigning the office to go to Waterloo.
In politics, he was a democrat until he saw the
old flag insulted in 1861, since which time he has acted heartily with the republicans. He was a delegate to the national conventions which nomi- nated and renominated General Grant, being one of the secretaries of the Chicago convention in 1868. He was president of the congressional convention which nominated N. C. Deering in August, 1876, and without being a candidate before the conven- tion, was suddenly brought out, and although per- sisting that he was not a candidate, came within seven votes of being nominated. He has sometimes taken part in a political canvass, where he has shown himself to be a fluent and effective off-hand speaker.
Mr. Felt is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Congregational church, where he teaches a bible class, and a man of very pure character. He has a very small body, barely enough, Sydney Smith would say, to cover his mind.
The wife of Mr. Felt was Miss Emily Rutherford, of Fairfield, Ohio. They were married at Bradford on the 21st of February, 1858 ; have had five chil- dren, and have two boys and one girl living. Mrs. Felt is a true wife and mother, and a woman pos- sessed of very excellent qualities of mind and heart.
DWIGHT W. CHASE, M.D., ELKADER.
A" MONG the physicians who located in Clayton county when it was sparsely settled is Dr. D. W. Chase, who came to lowa in 1855, and who has made a commendable record both as a practitioner and as a citizen. He is a native of New York, and was born at Cohocton, Steuben county, on the 11th of November, 1819.
Dr. Chase's parents, Thomas C. and Melinda Butts Chase, were plain farming people, and Dwight spent his first eighteen years at home, aiding in tilling the soil. He early cultivated a relish for books and study, and although having but three or four months' attendance on school annually, he was fitted, by mental application at home, to teach a district school at eighteen. During the next four years he attended school at Lima eight months in the year, and taught during the winters. At twenty-two years of age he commenced studying medicine with Dr. W. W. Day, of Eagle, Wyoming county. Attending lectures at Berkshire Medical College, Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
and Jefferson College, Philadelphia. he graduated from the latter in March, 1845. Practicing ten years at Sandusky, Cattaraugus county, Dr. Chase immi- grated to Iowa, settling near Yankee Settlement, now Edgewood, Clayton county. There he had an extensive and remunerative practice, but the educa- tional privileges in that farming district not being ·very good, in 1866 he removed to Elkader, the county seat. Here his travels have been no less extended in geographical area, and his business in- creased so much that he has been obliged to take into partnership K. F. Purdy, M.D., a graduate of Rush Medical College, Chicago.
Dr. Chase has made medicine his life study, and is just as much of a student now as he ever was. With the exception of the news of the day, his read- ing is almost exclusively professional, and few physi- cians in the county are better read in medicine. Ile has tried to confine himself to the medical prac- tice, but in two or three instances has been persuaded
319
THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
to accept office for a short time. He was president of the board of supervisors in 1859 and 1860, and a member of the ninth general assembly, represent- ing his county in the lower branch. He was in the regular session of 1862 and the extra session the same year, and was elected without opposition. He was very active on two important committees, char- itable institutions and schools and state university. He was offered the chairmanship of either of these committees, the choice being left to himself, but he was a new, inexperienced member, and declined.
During the second year of the rebellion he was offered the position of surgeon of some Iowa regi- ment, Governor Kirkwood giving him his choice of four regiments, but he was then a member of the legislature, and deferred the matter until December, 1864, when he accepted that responsibility of the
2 Ist Infantry. He served till June, 1865, when the regiment was mustered out.
Dr. Chase belongs to Honorius Commandery, No. 8, of the Masonic order. In politics, he is one of those republicans who never waver.
On the 17th of August, 1849, he married Miss Ellen J. Lyon, of Eagle, New York, and has two daughters. The elder, Kate, is the wife of Van E. Butler, of Del- phos, Kansas; the other, Ellen Lyon, lives at home.
Dr. Chase is a valuable citizen. Though his pro- fessional duties are far from light, he finds sufficient time to look after local interests, and aid in promot- ing them. He is very kind to the poor, and has traveled hundreds of miles to comfort the sick and relieve the distressed, without any expectation of reward except the satisfaction of restoring health, prolonging life, or mitigating pain.
DANIEL F. ELLSWORTH,
ELDORA.
A ONG the early settlers in Hardin county is Daniel F. Ellsworth, better known as Colonel Ellsworth. Though past sixty-five, his hair shows none of the usual signs of age, he makes but a sorry display of wrinkles, and stands as erect as when shooting deer in the valley of the Iowa twenty-three years ago.
Daniel Freeman Ellsworth is a native of New York, but spent most of his youth and early man- hood in Pennsylvania. He was born in Phelps, Ontario county, on the 6th of October, 1811. His parents were William and Sarah Parshall Ellsworth. His father was a soldier in the second war with England. When Daniel was about fourteen years of age, the whole family moved to Tioga county, Pennsylvania. Living a long way from a school house in his early years, the son had very meager opportunities for education. He worked with his father, who was a carpenter and joiner, until he was past twenty, when he went on a farm in Potter county, Pennsylvania, and tilled it five or six years; then moved to the county seat, in order to dis- charge the duties of county commissioner, to which office he had been elected, and which he held three years. During this time he was chosen justice of the peace, and held that office twelve years.
In the month of May, 1854, he started for Iowa, and reached Eldora, Hardin county, on the 25th
of that month. Here he still resides in a very pleasant home. He has witnessed great changes in Hardin county. In the spring of 1854 there was only one small store in Eldora, the only frame building in the place. The dwelling houses were built of hewn logs, and not half a dozen in num- ber. The merchants were Edgington Brothers, who are still in Eldora. Joseph Edgington being now the postmaster, and Colonel Samuel R. Edgington the proprietor of the Commercial Hotel. When Mr. Ellsworth came to Eldora there were not fifty voters in the county. The year previous Alexander Smith was chosen first judge of the county, and had twenty-eight votes.
Mr. Ellsworth bought land near town for his sons to cultivate, but has himself always lived within what is now the corporation limits, and has seen the original "four corners" expand into a lovely city of nearly three thousand inhabitants, with large brick blocks, elegant churches, fine school houses, and other indices of the highest christian civilization. Soon after settling in Eldora Mr. Ellsworth built a hotel of which he was the pro- prietor for twenty years, and was known in early days there as "the model landlord." During the first two years of his residence in Iowa he devoted his leisure to the study of law, to which he had paid some attention while he was justice of the
32
320
THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
peace in Pennsylvania, and in 1856 he was ad- mitted to the bar, but never opened an office. At the present time he is a mail contractor, and owns a daily line of stages from Eldora to Grundy Center.
Mr. Ellsworth was appointed sheriff of Hardin county to fill a vacancy in 1855, the fees in those days amounting to something like two hundred dol- lars. He was the democratic candidate for register of the state land office in 1868, and ran ahead of the party ticket. He was appointed United States com- missioner by the United States district court nine or ten years ago, and still holds that office. In 1875 he was a delegate to the national democratic convention held at St. Louis, of which he was the Iowa vice- president. He has always been a democrat.
In religious sentiment Mr. Ellsworth is a Meth- odist, but is not a member of the church.
On the 23d of November, 1831, he married Miss Rhoda L. Babcock, of Bath, New York. She was the mother of six children, all of whom survive her. She died in 1861. Two of the sons, Le Roy and Daniel V., are merchants in Eldora; the eldest daughter, Mahala, married Hon. S. G. Winchester, a resident of Eldora for more than twenty years; and another daughter, Dianthia, is the wife of James St. John, a wealthy farmer, living near El- dora. The other children live out of the county. On the ist of September, 1862, Mr. Ellsworth mar- ried Miss Elsie Harriott, of Eldora, and by her has had three children, only one of whom is living.
HON. THOMAS W. NEWMAN, BURLINGTON.
T' HOMAS W. NEWMAN was born in Somerset county, Maryland, on the 23d day of January, 1829, of Isaac Newman and Harriet née Batson. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and used every means in their power for the moral training of their four sons and two daughters.
The father died in 1840 at the age of forty-one years, leaving an estate valued at thirty thousand dollars. Five years later the mother removed to Baltimore, Maryland, with her family, and there died in 1846, leaving her children to the care of Thomas, the eldest son, through whose careful efforts they received a good education and attained to respectable positions in society. Thomas, after closing his primary studies, entered Washington Academy, in Princess Anne, Somerset county, Mary- land, and, with the exception of Greek, pursued the studies of the regular academic course.
Aside from his studies he enjoyed many advan- tages, and in the management of his father's estate and the care that naturally devolved upon him from his position, received an experience which has been invaluable to him in all his subsequent life.
His associations in a large city like Baltimore brought him into contact with many fine speakers in the courts and of the best actors on the stage, and naturally developed in him an excessive fond- ness for oratory, to gratify which desire he decided to enter the legal profession. Beginning his studies
soon after leaving school, he was admitted to the bar in 1850, and with a view to finding a wider field for action at once removed to the west, and with a capital of about four thousand dollars established himself in his profession at Burlington, Iowa. Find- ing himself among strangers in a strange city, he cast himself upon his own energies, and although during the first years of his practice progress was slow, he struggled on hopefully, gaining public confidence with every new advance, and receiving at length the reward that inevitably comes from honest, faithful and persistent effort. Positive in his character, he has always fearlessly maintained his opinions, and of course has not failed. to make some enemies in life's contests.
At the opening of the late civil war his whole heart became deeply in sympathy with the Union cause, and in August, 1861, through the influence of Senator Grimes, of lowa, he was commissioned by President Lincoln a captain in the 11th United States Infantry. Accepting the position, he at once entered upon the duties of recruiting officer and military commander at Burlington. In 1862 he was sent to Indianapolis, Indiana, on mustering and dis- bursing duty under General H. B. Carrington, and in the fall of that year was appointed commander of that post, a position which he held until the spring of 1863. It was while here that he came in contact with Judge Perkins, of the supreme court of Indiana, by refusing to surrender men (arrested
Hetenman
323
THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
for desertion) under writs of habeas corpus issued by him. Acting under advice of the President and Secretary of War he declined to surrender himself to the sheriff under a writ of attachment for con- tempt, stating that he would resist with all the mili- tary power at his command any violence or force offered by civil authority. Judge Perkins said that the writ must be executed if the streets should run with blood, but when he found that Captain New- man was in readiness with several regiments of in- fantry and two batteries of artillery, and that Gov- ernor Morton would not furnish him a military force, he was obliged to withdraw the writ, which ended the matter.
About this time, by reason of exposure and un- tiring activity, he experienced a very severe attack of rheumatism, and, obtaining leave of absence, he was for a time at home receiving medical treatment. While here Captain Newman was ordered to Wash- ington, District of Columbia, when able to travel, and on his arrival received further treatment from the best army surgeons, but after some weeks of suffering, and finding from medical examination that he would be unable to endure the exposure and labor of the field, he resigned at the end of nearly three years of service, being unwilling to draw pay when unable to render efficient service.
His military career, though short, was of much service to the country. After his return to his home he spent some six months in recuperating, and then resumed his profession. Aside from his profes- sional work he has been honored with many posi- tions of honor and trust. From 1855 to 1857 he held the office of judge of Des Moines county, and in the fall of 1874 was appointed by Governor Car- penter to fill a vacancy in the office of district judge of the first judicial district of Iowa. At the Octo- ber election he was elected for the unexpired term ending January 1, 1875, and for a full term of four years from that date. In this position he has gained new honors, given entire satisfaction, and, by his ability, shown himself most eminently fitted for his work. His recent sentence of E. J. Bruce, con- victed of murder in the first degree, was by reason of its perspicuity and tenderness, coupled with rare judicial qualities, the occasion of much comment, and pronounced the most beautiful and effective ever delivered in the district.
In 1855-6 he was a director of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, and at the present time (1876) is a director of the Merchant's
National Bank of Burlington. Since the organiza- tion of Burlington University in 1852, he has been one of its trustees, and either treasurer or secretary, and is now one of its chief benefactors.
Politically, Judge Newman, formerly a democrat, has, since the organization of the republican party, been closely identified with the interests of that body. At the time of the " Kansas-Nebraska Act " in 1854, he held to the views of Mr. Douglas respect- ing the doctrine of popular sovereignty as a solution for the then existing slavery agitation in the territo- ries, and so continued to believe until convinced that the whole purpose of the bill was a pretext for the extension of slavery, and thereby to enable the democratic party to hold the balance of power under the name of popular sovereignty. Living in the state adjoining Nebraska, he was in a fair posi- tion to watch the operation of the new law, and seeing the sectional controversy, the political strife and the domestic violence which it engendered, and seeing that the purpose of the democratic party was to force slavery against the will of the people, al- though born and bred in a slave state, and himself at one time the owner of slaves (which, however, he manumitted), his native love of liberty and justice revolted against the outrage and led him to abandon the party. Joining the republican party, which was then coming into existence, he supported, for Gov- ernor of Iowa, James W. Grimes, through whose powerful influence the state, previously democratic, gave a large republican majority. In 1860 Judge Newman gave his best efforts, on the stump and otherwise, to secure the election of Mr. Lincoln. Recognizing in him an honored instrument in the hands of God for the accomplishment of a great purpose, he remained his firm supporter, and in 1864 threw his whole soul into the work of his re- election. He was a vigorous supporter of General Grant during both campaigns, and although he sees many faults in the republican party, believes that the highest interest of the government depends upon its success. He believes that it has power to purge itself of its dishonest men and inflict upon them the just punishment for their crimes. He holds that a prosperous government must rest upon a hard money basis; that specie redemption should be governed by the necessities of the people and not by arbitrary legislation ; that necessity caused the " Legal Ten- der Act," and when that necessity ceases it should be repealed as soon as practicable. He favors a tariff for revenue and not for protection, and be-
324
THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
lieves that what is needed beyond this for the sup- port of the government should be raised by direct taxation. He looks with disfavor upon further land grants to railroads or other private or quasi-private enterprises, and holds that private capital should meet the public demands. He believes that public officers should be held to a strict account for all their duties and conduct, and when found guilty of crime, exposed and punished, the punishment being regulated by the responsibility of the office. Feel- ing that the officers are the mouth, hands and brains of the government, to be wise and strong, mouths should speak well, hands should work well, and brains should think and control well.
In his religious communion Judge Newman is connected with the regular Baptist church, to whose faith he has been strongly attached since early man- hood. During two years past he has held the office of president of the Baptist State Convention of Iowa. He takes a deep and active interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare of his fellows, and is al- ways ready to further with his sympathies, his hands
and his money. all worthy and benevolent enter- prises.
He was married on the 3d of November, 1852, to Miss Sarah A. Warren, of central New York, a dis- tant relative of General Warren, of revolutionary fame. Of the six children which they have had, five are now living. Nellie, a daughter of fifteen years, died in the spring of 1873. She was a child of more than ordinary promise, and only six days previous to her death had been converted under the preaching of the Rev. E. P. Hammond. From the deep interest taken in her by reason of her con- version, her funeral was the occasion of a larger attendance and more wide-spread feeling than had ever before been witnessed in the city. In life she was beloved, and left every evidence of a bright and happy future.
Such, in brief, is an outline of the life-history of one of Iowa's successful men. His great aim has been to make the highest use of his powers, and so to employ all his resources as to honor God and better his fellow-men.
HENRY M. MIXER, M.D.,
VER HAMPTON.
D R. MIXER is of patriotic blood, both of his grandfathers having been soldiers in the rev- olutionary war. He is a son of Julius U. Mixer, an Ohio farmer, and Belinda Simmons, and was born in the town of Madison, Lake county, on the 25th of April, 1828. His paternal grandfather was one of the early settlers on the "Western Reserve," and his father occupied part of the original home- stead until his death. During the war of 1812-15 his father, concealed in some bushes, saw a small num- ber of British soldiers come ashore on Lake Erie, kill one of his oxen and carry it off. They left two sovereigns done up in a rag and stuck up on a pole, with some writing inside stating that if that was not enough for the ox they would pay the rest when they came again !
Henry was educated at Grand River Academy, a manual labor school, in Ashtabula county. At nineteen went to Lake Mills, Jefferson county, Wis- consin, and taught a select school two years; com- menced reading medicine at that place with Dr. Joslyn ; finished with Dr. lorenzo A. Hamilton, of Chardon, Geauga county, Ohio; attended lectures
in the medical department of the Western Reserve College, Cleveland, and graduated at Pittsfield, Mas- sachusetts, in the autumn of 1854.
Dr. Mixer practiced at Chardon until the autumn of 1859; was in the drug business one year at Painesville. In the spring of 1861 went to Colum- bia county, Wisconsin, entered the service in August of that year as assistant surgeon in the navy and served three years, two-thirds of this time on the famous United States gunboat Lexington. He was surgeon of the Indianola when it was captured be- low Vicksburg, and was in the hands of the rebels for three months, acting as surgeon in one of their hospitals at Vicksburg.
In October, 1865, Dr. Mixer located at New Hampton, the seat of justice of Chickasaw county, Iowa, where he is still found, the leading practi- tioner of the village and the county. His experi- ence during the war was of great service to him, and he has an excellent and well-merited reputation both as a surgeon and general practitioner. His consulting business far exceeds that of any other physician in this part of the state. His rides ex-
325
THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
tend into adjoining counties. The doctor is quite public-spirited, and interests himself in matters out- side of his profession, though he has not much time to attend to them. He is descended from a long line of farmers, and is himself a lover of agricultural pursuits. He has been president of the Chickasaw County Agricultural Society several years, and has done very much to develop the resources of the county of his adoption. He has had, from the start, great faith in New Hampton, and has aided es- sentially its prosperity. He was twice elected mayor of the city by a unanimous vote, and was very effi- cient as an executive officer.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.