USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 47
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Dr. Mixer is a republican in politics, but very in- dependent ; is a member of the Masonic and Odd- Fellows orders; a communicant in the Congrega-
tional church, and a man of unquestioned purity of life. His intellectual and social qualities are ex- cellent.
His wife was Miss Mary Phelps, of Chardon, Ohio, their union taking place on the 6th of Sep- tember, 1854. She is a daughter of Judge Alfred Phelps, many years an honored citizen of Chardon, and a sister of Seth L. Phelps, twenty years in the United States navy, and now chairman of the com- missioners of the District of Columbia. She is a christian woman, of most excellent mind and highly cultivated manners.
Dr. Mixer has light blue eyes, and a light com- plexion ; is five feet and eight inches tall; weighs two hundred and fifteen pounds, and has an un- usually good physique.
JOHN S. STACY,
ANAMOSA.
UDGE STACY was born on the 13th of May, J 1833, at De Kalb, St. Lawrence county, New York. His parents were Pelatiah and Jerusha Tan- ner Stacy. The paternal ancestors were from Mas- sachusetts, thence to Otsego, New York, and his grandfather was one of the first settlers in De Kalb. His father served a short time in the war of 1812, at Ogdensburgh. His maternal ancestors were settlers in the vicinity of Cooperstown, New York, and the remains of many of them rest in the cemetery in that town.
In boyhood John Seeley Stacy had a great taste for reading, but was accustomed to the hard work of a farm, with only a few months at school each year until he was sixteen, when he attended an academy at Gouverneur, New York, there preparing for college. He attended one term at Oberlin, Ohio, then entered the sophomore class of Union College, and graduated in 1857. It was during President Nott's administration that Mr. Stacy was at Union College, and his class recited to that great and good man during the course, and was often addressed by him. From a natural taste for engineering Mr. Stacy pursued a partial course in it, under that eminent and scholarly man, Professor Gillespie, using the notes of several of the works which he afterward published.
He taught school a few terms, studying law at the same time and during vacations. Immigrating west-
ward, he spent a short time in teaching at Dover, Bureau county, Illinois, and in the spring of 1858 located at Anamosa, Iowa. He entered the law office of Hon. E. Cutler, and was admitted to the bar in the autumn of the same year. He accepted an invitation to become a partner of Mr. Cutler, and the law firm of Cutler and Stacy commenced business on the ist of January, 1859, which termi- nated in the autumn of 1862 by Mr. Cutler entering the military service.
In 1864 Mr. Stacy engaged in banking, in connec- tion with the practice of law, continuing until the autumn of 1873, when the panic compelled him to surrender. He was actively engaged in the build- ing of the lowa Midland railroad as attorney and director. He was also president of the Iowa and Minnesota Railway Company, which had so far suc- ceeded as to secure the preliminary negotiations in London for a loan that would doubtless have resulted in the success of the enterprise but for the panic just alluded to, which put a stop to a great many important enterprises. Nothing but a determination on Mr. Stacy's part not to let the enterprise fail car- ried it as far as it went. Under the conviction that it was a practicable scheme and one that ought to succeed, he risked largely, and lost. In ordinary times it would have been otherwise, and he would have had credit for sagacity and energy in carry- ing forward a noble work to completion.
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In 1874 Mr. Stacy visited California, and spent two months there. He returned to that state again in 1875, and remained nearly two years, practicing law with success in San Francisco.
Mr. Stacy was elected judge of Jones county in 1861, and served one term. He has been repeatedly invited to accept the candidacy for other offices, but has uniformly declined. He was tendered the office of state senator for Jones county about 1863, but urged the nomination of his former partner, Major Cutler, whom he aided in electing.
Judge Stacy has always been an ardent and active republican, doing much more for the elevation of others in office than for himself. He was a delegate to the national convention which renominated Mr. Lincoln in 1864, and was one of his most hearty supporters. At one time he was offered the circuit judgeship, but declined on account of the press of duties.
In 1858, while in Dover, Illinois, Judge Stacy united with the Congregational church, and on set-
tling in Iowa he transferred his membership to the Anamosa church. He is an active christian worker, and foremost in all philanthropic measures.
On the 16th of November, 1862, he married Miss Charlotte A. Kellogg, a daughter of Rev. E. W. Kel- logg, who for forty years was a congregational min- ister in Vermont. She is a lineal descendant of William Bradford, second governor of the Plymouth Colony; is a woman of fine mental culture and exalted christian character, a worthy representative of the best Puritan stock. She has three children, who feel daily the moulding hand of a christian mother.
Judge Stacy has always been strictly temperate in his habits; has in all respects taken the best care of himself; is a little below the average height and compactly built, and presents as fine a physique, perhaps, as any man in Jones county. He is true to his honest convictions, carries his conscience into all his business, and belongs to the highest type of American citizens.
WILLIAM M. WELLS,
OSKALOOSA.
W TILLIAM MOBLEY WELLS was a native of Abingdon, Washington county, Virginia, and was born on the 8th of June, 1825, the son of An- drew Wells and Mary née Mobley. His great-grand- father was a sea captain. His grandfather, Richard Wells, was stolen when a child, by his uncle, Dr. George Wells, and taken from Pennsylvania to Georgia. When sixteen years old he went with the revolutionary soldiers to Virginia, and there settled and engaged in farming. He died in Floyd county, Kentucky, aged about sixty-three years. He mar- ried Miss Eliza Huchinson. Dr. George Wells, liv- ing in those days of chivalry, fought five duels, in the last of which both he and his opponent fell.
The maternal grandparents of our subject were William and Mary (Braughton) Mobley. His grand- father was a Virginian farmer, and reared his family in Washington county. He died in Jefferson county, Iowa, in 1846, aged about ninety years.
His father, a gunsmith and whitesmith by occupa- tion, died when William was two years old, leaving him to the care of his mother, with whom he re- mained until he was twelve years of age. Going then to Kentucky, he lived with his uncle, John
Wells, assisting him in his farm work, and attending school. After five years he returned to Virginia, and for a time attended a select school taught by Mr. John Lowery. His purpose was to prepare for college, but he afterward changed his plans, and in 1845 removed with his step-father, Henry Hite, to Fairfield, Jefferson county, Iowa. There he worked upon the farm about four years, and in 1849 began clerking in a dry-goods store at Fairfield. In Decem- ber of that year he accepted a clerkship in the dry- goods store of Wise and Mathews, at Oskaloosa, re- maining until March, 1852, when he formed a part- nership with Dr. S. E. Reinhart, and conducted a drug trade for one year, under the firm name of Wells and Reinhart. The partnership then being dis- solved, he conducted the business alone until March, 1862, when he formed a partnership with Mr. T. T. Wright, which continued about seven years, the firm name being Wells and Wright. He purchased his partner's interest in 1869, and since that time has conducted the business in his own name.
Being a man of fine executive ability, enterprising and public-spirited, Mr. Wells has been called to many positions of honor and trust. He has been
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an earnest friend of education, and for a number of years has been connected with the school board as director and treasurer. For three years he was a trustee of Oskaloosa College. He served one year as a member of the city council, and about ten years as city treasurer.
In political sentiment, he was formerly a whig, and is now a republican.
He has been especially active as a member of the Masonic fraternity. He joined the order in 1852, and has held nearly all of the minor offices. In 1864 he was grand king in the chapter; in 1865 he served as deputy grand commander of the state, and in 1866 received the thirty-second degree. In 1869 he was elected treasurer of the grand consis- tory of the state, and is still serving in that capacity (1876). In the fall of 1872 he was elected treasurer of the grand chapter of the state, and served one year.
About 1862 he began serving as high priest of Hiram Chapter, No. 6, and continued in that office for ten years.
He was especially active in the organization of De Payens Commandery, and was largely instru- mental in securing its location at Oskaloosa, and has served as generalissimo of the same since its or- ganization in 1865. In 1863 he was elected, for one
year, right illustrious grand master of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of the State of Iowa, and has served two years in Oskaloosa Coun- cil, No. 7, as most puissant grand master.
Mr. Wells has been for thirty-five years actively connected with the Methodist church, and for fifteen years has been a member of the board of trustees, and has also served in other minor capacities.
He was married on the 7th of September, 1852, to Miss Elvira A., daughter of James L. and Eliza (Beeks) Hogin.
Of the seven children who have been born to them, Leona T. was born on the 22d of June, 1853; James H., born on the 16th of May, 1855, died on the 7th of February, 1856; Charles L. was born on the 7th of December, 1856; Mary E. was born on the 14th of May, 1859; William A. was born on the 3tst of August, 1861; Edward M., on the 30th of June, 1864, and Leonard H., on the 6th of May, 1868.
In business, Mr. Wells has been eminently suc- cessful, and in all his dealings has rigidly adhered to the strictest principles of honor and uprightness.
He is a man of fine personal appearance, being six feet and one-half inches in height, with dark hair and eyes and a full flowing beard, and weighs one hundred and fifty pounds.
JOHN M. PHILLIPS,
COUNCIL BLUFFS.
T THE life history of John Milton Phillips, while it has many phases in common with that of many other men, is yet marked by an individual- ism, and has an identity peculiarly its own. He is preëminently a self-made man, and by his own inde- fatigable effort has risen from comparative obscurity to a position of high standing among his fellow- citizens.
A native of Rowley, Essex county, Massachusetts, he was born on the 15th of March, 1820. His father was a farmer by occupation, and in this same occu- pation John passed his early life, receiving a com- mon-school education. Finding farm life ill suited to his tastes, he, while yet a boy, learned the shoe- maker's trade, and later engaged in the manufacture of shoes at Peabody, remaining there until 1858, conducting at the same time a leather and shoe store,
Meeting with fair success in his business enter- prise, Mr. Phillips accumulated a small capital, and with a view of improving his financial condition re- moved to the west, and after a long and somewhat tedious journey and considerable prospecting, finally selected Council Bluffs, Iowa, as his future home, and established himself in business at that place. His business career has been one of success, and by fair dealing and persistent and honorable effort he has accumulated a liberal competence. His is now (1877) the oldest business in Council Bluffs, and he is the oldest merchant in that city.
In all his intercourse with his fellow-citizens Mr. Phillips has maintained a regard for uprightness and for generous and fair dealing that has given to him a character and reputation of the highest standing, and secured to him the unlimited confidence of all with whom he has had to do; and in consideration
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of his fitness for official positions he has been made the recipient of various trusts and honors at the hands of his fellow-citizens. In 1860 he was elected alderman, and was continued in that office during a period of ten years.
In public enterprises, and matters pertaining to the growth and welfare of the city, he has taken an active interest, and to his executive ability and good judgment is largely due much of her prosperity. During the time the court-house was building he was chairman of the building committee. He is actively connected with the paper-mill and a stock-
holder of the same. With a view to encouraging manufacture, he formed one of a company which erected the building used for the manufacture of agricultural implements, a building which was after- ward destroyed by fire.
At the present time Mr. Phillips is vice-president of the Council Bluffs Savings Bank.
On the 4th of December, 1845, he was married to Miss Olive N. Cressey, of Rowley, Massachusetts, and by her has three sons and three daughters. Mrs. Phillips is a lady of intelligence, and to her influence is due much of her husband's success.
BENJAMIN F. MONTGOMERY, COUNCIL BLUFFS.
T THE subject of this sketch, a native of Berlin, Į Huron county, Ohio, was born on the 28th of February, 1835, the son of Abel Montgomery and Sarah née Burgett. His father, who is still living at the age of eighty-six years, was formerly a black- smith by trade, but for the most part followed the occupation of farming. He had a family of nine sons and three daughters, of whom five sons and one daughter are now living. Of these, our subject is the youngest son living. His paternal grandfather immigrated from Virginia in 1801, and settled on the present site of Olivesburgh, in Richland county, Ohio.
Benjamin's purpose was to pursue a regular course of college studies, and preparatory to this, after closing his studies in the district schools, he spent one year in the higher department of the union schools of Ashland, Ohio. However, before he was prepared to enter college his plans were broken up by the financial embarrassments of his father, and he was thrown wholly upon his own resources. He subsequently engaged in teaching until 1857, and contributed liberally to the support of his parents. Although his early life was mainly spent in hard physical labor, he had an ardent longing for mental improvement, and early determined that he would devote his life to the legal profession. With such a purpose in view, he turned his attention toward the study of law, and was admitted to the bar by the supreme court at Columbus, Ohio.
After beginning life for himself, he settled at London, Ohio; but leaving that place in 1860, he established himself in the practice of his profession
at La Crosse, Wisconsin. He continued there with good success until 1868, when he removed to his present home in Council Bluffs, lowa. He soon afterward connected himself with the " Daily Times," and continued its political editor for four years, and at the same time attended to the duties of his pro- fession.
Mr. Montgomery has never confined himself ex- clusively to the practice of law, but since 1856 has been to a greater or less extent engaged in political matters. In political sentiment, he has always been a democrat, but he has never allowed party preju- dices to bias him. He supported Abraham Lin- coln for the presidency, and during the civil war warmly supported the Union cause. In 1866, while a resident of Wisconsin, he was a candidate from La Crosse county for the state legislature. His opponet was the Hon. Mr. Cameron, now United States senator, who was elected by a small majority. During the administration of Andrew Johnson he held the office of receiver of public moneys at La Crosse. In 1872 he was the democratic candidate for congress from the fifth district of Iowa, against F. W. Palmer, now postmaster at Chicago, but the district being largely . republican, defeat was, of course, inevitable. In the fall of 1875 he was de- feated for the office of state senator by a majority of ninety votes in favor of Hon. George F. Wright, the present incumbent. He was a district delegate in 1872 to the Baltimore convention which nominated Horace Greeley for the presidency, and again in 1876 was one of the four delegates at large from lowa to the St. Louis convention which nominated
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Messrs. Tilden and Hendricks, and was appointed a member of the committee from lowa to, inform the candidates of the action of the convention.
In local enterprises, Mr. Montgomery has been an active participant. In the winter of 1874-75 he was president of a joint delegation from different points in the Missouri valley, whose purpose was to visit the State of Texas with a view to opening traded relations, and thus reaching the sea-coast through that section. The enterprise has proved a success, and resulted in much trade being directed through that channel.
Throughout his varied career Mr. Montgomery has maintained a high character, and as a lawyer has attained to an honorable standing among his fellow-practitioners. His desire, however, during recent years has been to retire from his profession
and from public life, and devote his time and atten- tion to stock raising.
In his religious training, he was brought under Presbyterian influences during his early life. Upon attaining to manhood, however, he espoused more liberal views, and now his religious sentiments are more nearly allied to those of Unitarianism than to any other creed.
Mr. Montgomery was married in the fall of 1857 to Miss Edetha Riddle, at Mitford, Union county, Ohio. Mrs. Montgomery was a devoted wife and mother, and contributed no small amount to the success of her husband, and her death, which oc- curred on the Ist of January, 1865, was mourned by a very large circle of friends. Of the two sons who were born to them the elder is now eighteen and the younger sixteen years of age.
DAVID JOYCE,
LYONS.
D AVID JOYCE, lumber merchant and capitalist, was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on the 26th of February, 1825. He is the son of John D. and Jerusha Jones Joyce, and came of the old Puritanical stock of New England. . His father was an enterprising and successful business man, engaged in conducting a blast furnace, foundry and machine shop. His mother was a lady of great moral worth, of amiable disposition and benevolent char- acter. His paternal grandfather was a soldier in the revolutionary war, throughout its entire dura- tion, and in his day was highly esteemed for his in- tegrity of character and exalted patriotism.
The subject of this sketch had only the usual advantages of education presented by our common schools, and at the age of fifteen assumed the entire charge and control of the books in the office of his father's extensive business. His tastes being decidedly mathematical as well as mechanical, he acquired a knowledge of the machine and foundry business during his minority in his father's establish- ment. The science of mathematics being his favor- ite study, he pursued unaided and unassisted its several branches, and having constructed with his own hands the necessary instruments, became one of the best practical surveyors in that region, and enjoyed the reputation of a first-class expert in civil engineering.
On attaining his majority he con-
tinued his connection with his father without any definite understanding or arrangement, taking an active part in all his business transactions until he was thirty years of age. In 1848 he had embarked in the mercantile business, and though still retain- ing his connection with the parental establishment, devoted himself almost exclusively to his mercantile enterprise. In 1857 he purchased his father's entire business, united all the various departments under one head, and continued in charge of the same till 1860.
In the fall of the same year, having disposed of all his mercantile and manufacturing interests east, and believing that the west afforded better facilities for a business man, he decided to migrate thither ; and after casting his vote for Abraham Lincoln, he departed the same day for Lyons, Iowa. The first two years after his arrival he devoted largely - to dealing and operating in live stock, principally in buying and fatting cattle for market. In 1861 he embarked in the lumber business, having in- vested in the property known as the "Stumbaugh Mill," holding it for the time being as mortgagee, and afterward purchaser. Here he took his first | lessons in that business, which afterward he has so extensively and successfully carried on, This estab- lishment is now one of the most extensive of its kind in lowa, manufacturing over ten million feet
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of lumber annually, and giving employment to up- ward of eighty-five men the year round. A con- siderable portion of the timber used is cut on lands belonging to the firm, which affords employment to many men during the winter. The entire estab- lishment, including saw-mill as well as door, sash and planing departments, cover an area of four blocks of ground. Besides his regular business, he is a director and large stockholder in the largest bank in the county, located at Lyons, and has been one of its most efficient officers since the second year of its organization, contributing largely by his energy and judgment to its success. He took the first five-twenty bonds issued by the government that came to Lyons, and by his personal character, material aid and influence, greatly advanced the interests of the national cause. A public-spirited citizen, he has ever taken an active interest in every improvement calculated to benefit his community. His contributions for church edifices and the sup- port of religious institutions exceed in the aggregate five thousand dollars during the past few years. He was president of the board of trustees of the Lyons Female College while it was under the super- vision of the Presbyterian church, besides taking an active interest in the public common schools in his vicinity. He was the most liberal subscriber for the Lyons Masonic Temple, and was president of the joint stock company and chairman of the build-
ing committee during its erection, although not a member of that fraternity. He organized and con- structed the horse railroad between Lyons and Clinton, and has been its principal stockholder and president of the company since its organization. He was for the first three years of its existence president of the Citizens' Association, the object of which is to build up manufactures and to assist strangers coming to the neighborhood in selecting judicious localities, and in every laudable way to advance the general interests of the town. With his employes he is very popular, and takes much interest in their general welfare. Many young men in his employ have been raised by him from menial occupations to those of trust and responsibility.
Although constitutionally adverse to office, he has held several public positions, having been elected mayor of the city of Lyons without one dissenting vote.
He has always been closely identified with the republican party in this state, vindicating its prin- ciples, and a firm advocate of its institutions.
In his dealings, being always prompt, he has ac- quired a reputation for financial ability and business capacity unsurpassed by any one in his locality.
He married Elizabeth F. Thomas, of Genesee county, New York, in 1858. Himself, wife and one child only, a son, are the sole surviving members of his family.
HORACE S. WEISER,
DECORAH.
A MONG the early settlers and most valued citizens of Decorah was Horace Spangler Weiser, deceased, who was a native of Pennsyl- vania, being born at York, on the 22d of October, 1827. His parents were Charles Weiser, merchant and banker, and Anna Spangler Weiser, daughter of General Spangler, a prominent citizen of Penn- sylvania fifty years ago.
The subject of this sketch had excellent oppor- tunities for mental culture when young; fitted for college at New Haven, Connecticut, he entered Yale in September, 1845, but was obliged to leave before completing his graduating course on account of poor health.
Horace studied law in his native town in 1850 and 1851; was admitted to the bar at York, and
began practice there in 1852. He was a reader of the newspapers, became interested in the prospects of the young country beyond the Mississippi, made a trip to Iowa, was pleased with the opening which Decorah, Winneshiek county, presented, and here located in 1855. He immediately established a private bank, united with it the business of real estate, and continued both branches until his de- mise. The Winneshiek County Bank, which he started, and which became so popular and so emi- nently successful under his management, is still in operation, and is said to be the oldest bank con- tinuing under the same name in the state. In his business, to which he gave his undivided attention, Mr. Weiser was very accommodating ; he would often long before regular hours open his bank, and re-
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