USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 49
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brother of Myron represents Grundy county, Iowa, in the general assembly.
The years 1853 and 1854 Myron gave to study in the seminary at Mount Morris, Ogle county. He attended three courses of lectures in Rush Medical College, and graduated in February, 1859. On the 20th of the following May Dr. Underwood reached Hardin county, Iowa, and opened an office at Steam- boat Rock. After practicing there between one and two years he moved to Eldora, where he has prac- ticed constantly except when in the army.
On the 19th of August, 1862, he was commis- sioned assistant surgeon of the 12th regiment of lowa Infantry, and was in the field three years. The surgeon, Sanford W. Huff, M.D., was detached from the regiment most of the time, and Dr. Under- wood had full charge of it more than two years. The 12th was in a great many battles, among them, at Corinth, Jackson, two engagements, Vicksburg during the whole campaign, and in all the battles of the sixteenth army corps subsequent to the surren- der of Vicksburg, and Surgeon Underwood often had
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very laborious duties, yet he was off duty scarcely a day during the whole three years' service. It was the wonder of his comrades how he could accom- plish so much work.
On being discharged, in September, 1865, he re- turned to Eldora, and after a very brief rest resumed practice, and has continued it to the present time, with a gradually increasing reputation. Ordinarily he has all the business any one man ought to do.
Dr. Underwood is a member of the blue lodge and chapter of Masons in Eldora, and also a promi- nent Odd-Fellow, having passed all the chairs of the subordinate lodge.
He always votes with the republicans.
Dr. Underwood has been a member of the Meth-
odist Episcopal church more than twenty years, and has constantly held an official position in it since a resident of Iowa.
On the 6th of April, 1861, he married Miss Sophia A. Ellis, of Steamboat Rock, and has had six chil- dren, only half of them now living.
Dr. Underwood was a member of the Eldora board of education six or seven years, and has lost none of his interest in educational matters. Like other leading citizens of the place, he gave time, labor and money to get the Reform School located at Eldora and under way, lent a hand in securing the completion of the railroad from Ackley to El- dora, and is found in the front ranks in all beneficial enterprises.
JUDSON E. CARPENTER,
CLINTON.
JUDSON E. CARPENTER, silent partner in the firm of Curtis, Brother and Co., sash, door and blind manufacturers, was born at Oxford, Chenango county, New York, on the 19th of May, 1835. His father, when he was nine years old, removed from Rhode Island and settled on a farm in the neighbor- hood. He came of good old Saxon stock, his an- cestors on both sides being among the early settlers of New England. The religious faith of his family is derived from Roger Williams, the founder of the Baptist denomination in this country. At home and in the common schools he received the usual amount of education bestowed upon farmers' sons. Subse- quently, however, he pursued in the Oxford Acad- emy a thorough course of study, with the design to qualify himself as a teacher. His natural taste in- clined him to literary and scientific pursuits, and his original intention was to prepare himself for early admission to the university, but several causes in- tervened to prevent the ultimation of this design. This disappointment turned the channel of life into another direction, and led him to relinquish his idea of professional life. At an early age, however, as an occupation to obtain a livelihood, he became a teacher, devoting his winters 'to this vocation, and his summers to farm employment.
In 1855, his attention having been turned west- ward, he left home and took up his abode tempo- rarily in Rochelle, Illinois. In this vicinity he opened up a farm, and with fair profits and moderate suc-
cess devoted one season to its cultivation. The following spring, through the influence of a relative, he was induced to purchase a large farm, consisting of two hundred and forty acres, in the vicinity of Rochelle, Illinois, at twelve dollars per acre, payable in installments.
He continued on this farm till 1861, and then returned to Rochelle. Having disposed of all his interest in this estate in 1862, the following three years were occupied in shipping stock to the Chi- cago market. In this enterprise he was successful. In 1865 he embarked in the fuel trade, with like results. Up to this time his business career had been single-handed and alone.
In 1866 the firm of Curtis, Brother and Co. was first started. It originated from a very small begin- ning: Charles Curtis, the younger of the brothers, having in exchange for a grocery secured a small and insignificant sash factory in Clinton, Iowa, thereby laid the foundation for a business estab- lishment unsurpassed in its line in this section of country. In 1867 the elder brother, George Curtis, united with him in this limited enterprise, and a few years later, in 1869, the subject of this sketch like- wise became a member of the establishment. These three gentlemen constitute the present firm.
A brief biographical sketch of the Curtis brothers personally may not be inappropriate in this connec- tion : George Curtis, the elder. was born in Oxford, Chenango county, New York, on the Ist of April,
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1844; his brother, Charles, on the 3d of April, 1846. Their mother, a sister of the subject of this sketch, is a native of Rhode Island. In common with other boys they enjoyed the benefits of a common-school education, and subsequently pursued a more thor- ough course of study in institutions of higher grade. Having left home at an early age, their success and business achievements have been most remarkable. The extent and variety of their transactions, and the admirable manner in which they have been man- aged, furnish sufficient proof of their comprehen- sive intellect and thorough business capacity.
Although very young men, both have attained to high degree in the Masonic institution. Both are also married to estimable and highly accomplished ladies. Gentlemanly and courteous in their social relations, and active and energetic in their business callings, they justly enjoy the good-will and respect of the entire community in which they reside.
The business of the firm has continued to increase since its first organization. During the past eight years its financial affairs have been so prudently managed that its entire loss will not exceed two dol- lars per thousand.
The firm continued its business successfully through the panic of 1872, and is annually enlarg- ing and extending its usefulness. As an illustration of its prosperity, its business in 1869 amounted to sixty-five thousand dollars only : in 1875 its busi- ness was two hundred and fifty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars. At this time the entire number of employes is one hundred and sixty. The respective members of the firm are public-spirited, and take an active interest in the growth and pros- perity of their town and its vicinity, contributing liberally for all and every public enterprise.
In politics, the members of the firm are decidedly republican, but not partisan.
Mr. Carpenter was married in 1861 to Miss Olevia Detwiler, of Rochelle, Illinois. The family circle comprises himself and wife, together with five chil- dren. They have lost one child.
His personal address is pleasing and agreeable. denoting a kind heart and a benevolent disposition. He is eminently a self-made man, and has carved out for himself an honorable distinction among his fellow-citizens. He also enjoys the esteem of the entire community.
SAMUEL M. POLLOCK.
DUBUQUE.
S AMUEL M. POLLOCK, the subject of this sketch, was born in the State of Ohio, in the year 1829. He received a good academic educa- tion, and having pursued the study of law for several years, was admitted to practice in that state. About the year 1855 he removed to Dubuque, Iowa, and entered upon the practice of his profession; being a young man possessed of a fine legal mind, ren- dered acute by constant study and practice, he soon acquired considerable distinction in his profession, and in the spring of 1859 was elected judge of the city court, which had concurrent jurisdiction in civil cases with the district court. He discharged his duties as judge of this court with ability, fidel- ity and impartiality, until by legislative enactment and operation of law the court was shorn of most of its powers, when Judge Pollock resigned the po- sition.
About this time, the war of the rebellion coming on soon after, Judge Pollock abandoned his profes- sion temporarily, and in the vear 1862 enlisted in the
6th lowa Cavalry, and was appointed by Governor Kirkwood lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, and on the 31st of January, 1863, he was mustered into the service of the United States. The regiment was sent upon the northwestern frontier to fight the Indians, and Colonel Pollock participated in several severe conflicts with the savages, and distinguished himself as a good officer and gallant soldier. Colonel Wilson having resigned his commission to go to San Francisco, California, to enter upon the practice of his profession, Lieutenant-Colonel Pollock was ap- pointed colonel of the regiment, and continued in command until 1865, when the regiment was mus- tered out of the service. Colonel Pollock was con- ceded to be one of the best volunteer officers sent out by the State of lowa ; he was a good disciplin- arian, active and energetic in the discharge of his duties, gallant on the field of action, and universally respected both by officers and men.
After the close of the war Colonel Pollock returned home to Dubuque, and again embarked in the prac-
Sau, Pollock
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tice of his profession, taking into partnership with him James H. Shields, and the firm of Pollock and Shields have by years of industry, and close attention to business, aided by recognized legal attainments, built up a large and lucrative law business, and are to-day regarded among the ablest and most success- ful law firms in the city of Dubuque and northern Iowa.
In 1872 Colonel Pollock was united in marriage to Miss Hughlet, of Galena, Illinois, a lady possessed
of mental, physical and worldly attractions. They have two children, and reside in a beautiful man- sion at the head of Julien avenue, from which point they command a magnificent view of the city of Dubuque, the mighty Mississippi rolling its waters to the Gulf, and three giant states offering up their wealth of scenery for their enjoyment. Here in this beautiful spot, surrounded by all the comforts and luxuries of life, they reside, esteemed by their neigh- bors and respected by all their fellow-citizens.
SAMUEL F. SMITH,
DAVENPORT.
S SAMUEL FRANCIS SMITH, lawyer, was born at Waterville, Maine, on the 5th of Septem- ber, 1836, and is the son of the Rev. Samuel Fran- cis Smith, D.D., a distinguished Baptist clergyman, of Boston, Massachusetts, and Mary (White) Smith. On both sides he is descended from Puritanic an- cestors, who settled in Massachusetts early in the seventeenth century, from whom have sprung some of the noblest names that adorn the annals of their country. His father, who still lives in the enjoy- ment of health and honor, is the author of the national hymn of the republic, "My country 'tis of thee," an ode which has found a merited response in every christian patriot heart, not only in this "sweet land of liberty," but throughout the globe, which has been rendered into the dialect of almost every civilized country in the world, and which is sung as fervently in the Alpine valleys and on the slopes of the Himalayas as in the fair land that gave birth to its venerated author. To be the writer of that hymn is glory enough for one man and one lifetime. A brother of our subject, the Rev. D. A. W. Smith, D.D., is president of the Baptist Theo- logical Seminary at Rangoon, India, a gentleman of rare literary attainments, and of the highest mental endowments, whose name is known and honored in all the churches. Nor is his ancestry on the female side less distinguished, his maternal grand- father, the Rev. Hezekiah Smith, D.D., having been an indefatigable chaplain in the revolutionary army during the memorable struggle for liberty, while many others of the same line have occupied con- spicuous places in sundry departments during the intervening century.
Samuel Francis Smith was fitted for Harvard
College and carried through the freshman year by his father, but failing health, superinduced by ex- cessive application, obliged him to discontinue study for several years. From the earliest period of his recollection he desired to be a lawyer, this was the grand aim of his ambition; his tastes ran in the direction of books and studies in that line, and all his intermediate efforts were but so many steps toward the attainment of his cherished aim. When he could no longer study he resolved to earn his own living, and ease his father of the burden of his support, and for two years he served as clerk in various capacities. At the age of nineteen he made up his mind to go west for the benefit of his health, and as likely to afford him better facilities for the pursuit of his favorite studies. He halted for a few months in Chicago, and afterward settled in Davenport, Iowa, which has since been his home. He found employment in the law office of the Hon. James Grant, where he assiduously devoted his leisure moments to study, the library of his employer having been kindly placed at his disposal; in this way he completed the college course commenced under the direction of his father. In 1857 he com- menced in earnestness the practical study of the law, and in the following year was admitted to the bar, thus attaining the end he so earnestly desired and so eagerly sought. Two years later he went into partnership with his preceptor, Judge Grant, which still continues. The firm engaged largely in the collection of repudiated corporation bonds, and has been eminently successful, this branch of the business being the specialty of Mr. Smith. During the first year of his connection with the firm his por- tion of the earnings amounted to two hundred and
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forty dollars, but under the steady and persistent growth of business his emoluments increased also, and during the last year of his active partnership his share of the proceeds amounted to over fifty thousand dollars.
In 1873 his health gave way under a nervous at- tack, and relaxation and change being necessary for his restoration, he made a visit to Europe in that year with his family, and remained two and a half years absent, visiting the principal cities in that part of the globe. Since his return he has engaged in banking operations in connection with the Daven- port National Bank, of which he is an officer and large stockholder.
Mr. Smith is still in the prime of life, a most amiable and accomplished gentleman, courteous,
benevolent and modest. As a financier, he has few superiors, while all his transactions are governed by probity and wisdom.
He has been a member of the Baptist church since his fifteenth year, and is one of the most suc- cessful workers and generous contributors in its ranks.
In politics, he has always been republican.
On the 17th of August, 1863, he married Miss Mary, daughter of the Rev. Julius A. Reed, of Daven- port, lowa, a graduate of Yale College, who came west in 1831, and who for nearly twenty-five years has been connected with the Congregational Home Mission Cause in Iowa. They have a child, a daugh- ter named Anna Reed Smith, born on the 15th of September, 1870.
HON. WILLIAM G. THOMPSON,
MARION.
O UR recollections of William George Thompson, of Linn county, Iowa, extend back nearly twenty years, when he had opened a law office at Marion, the county seat. It required but a short acquaintance to discover his brilliancy, and the other elements likely to lead to success in his profession to eminence in the judicial district. His career has not disappointed the expectation of his friends.
William G. Thompson is a native of Pennsylva- nia, and was born in Butler county, on the 17th of January, 1830. His parents, William H. and Jane McClandess Thompson, were of Highland-Scotch descent. His father was a farmer, and young William spent the first eighteen years of his life at home aiding in tilling the soil during the summers and attending a district school two miles away dur- ing the winters. He had a strong desire for knowl- edge, and made the best progress possible under the circumstances. When about nineteen he went to Witherspoon College, in Butler county, and spent two years there, pursuing such studies as he thought would be of most service to him, he having the legal profession in view. In 1851 he entered the law office of William Timblin, of Butler, and was admitted to the bar on the 15th of October, 1853, being examined by Hon. Daniel Agnew, now of the supreme bench of Pennsylvania.
With an independent spirit, and full of ambition, Mr. Thompson struck out for himself with more
enthusiasm in his heart than money in his pocket. On the 27th of November, the month following his examination, he started for Iowa, and pitched his tent in Marion, one of the most lovely rural towns in the state. He opened an office without delay, and had a good practice almost from the start, and for twenty years has been one of the leading law- yers at the Linn county bar.
In 1855 and 1856 he edited the Linn county " Register," displaying good abilities as a writer.
In August, 1862, he went into the army as major of the 20th regiment of Iowa Infantry ; was in the service two years, and had command of the regi- ment no inconsiderable part of the time. In the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, on the 7th of December, 1862, Major Thompson was severely wounded, but soon recovered, and in six weeks was again in the service. He was at the siege of Vicks- burgh ; in all the Missouri and Arkansas campaign ; then in Texas, where he had command at Aransas Pass for eight months. Few officers in Iowa regi- ments had more dash, bravery and coolness than Major Thompson. He was held in the warmest esteem by the heroic 20th.
Major Thompson has been the recipient of re- peated honors at the hands of the people, and has been proffered more offices than he would accept. In 1854 he was elected prosecuting attorney, serving two years. He was member of the state senate in
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1855 and 1856, and though the youngest member ever in that body, he was very active, advocating important measures with a good deal of logical force, and receiving the warmest congratulations of fellow-members of the senate and of his constituents. For eight years, up to January, 1875, Major Thomp- son was district attorney for the eighth judicial dis- trict, and so popular that he was urged by both political parties to stand for another renomination, but peremptorily declined.
Major Thompson is a Knight Templar in the Ma- sonic order, also an Odd-Fellow.
He has the ancestral regard for the Presbyterian faith, and attends that church.
He has always been an earnest advocate of the principles of the republican party, and is one of the
ablest stump speakers in central Iowa. In 1864 he was one of the electors at large, and did very effect- ive work during the canvass.
On the 12th of June, 1856, he married Miss Har- riet J. Parsons, of Marion, previously of Syracuse, New York. They have one child.
With no friends and not much money, Major Thompson opened an office in Marion twenty-three years ago. He made friends rapidly, and money at first with moderate speed; both he has continued to accumulate. He has long had a host of friends, and a competency. He is a generous-hearted man, ready to help the needy, and does not believe in anybody's living wholly for himself. The major is known all over the state, is a pet of the legal fra- ternity, and much respected by all classes.
HON. LORING WHEELER,
DE WITT.
TORING WHEELER, son of Jonas and Sarah Boynton Wheeler, was born on the 16th of July, 1799, the place of his nativity being West- moreland, Cheshire county, New Hampshire. His grandfather, John Wheeler, fought for American in- dependence, beginning on the 17th of June, 1775, and spending his fortune in that grand struggle. His father, Jonas Wheeler, was a farmer, and Loring followed that occupation at home until about 1816, after which date he spent two years at an academy in Chesterfield, making good use of the precious opportunity; then returning to Westmoreland he became a clerk in a store.
On the 21st of April, 1821, with three other en- terprising young men, Mr. Wheeler started for the west in a two-horse buggy, going by the way of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There they purchased a flat-boat, took their team down the Ohio river as far as Shawneetown, Illinois, at which place they disposed of the boat, and struck across the country to Alton, Illinois, where they had friends.
Mr. Wheeler soon went to Green county, Illinois, whence, after clerking two years, he repaired to Exeter, Morgan county, and worked for Colonel Enoch C. Marsh, an extensive trader and flour man- ufacturer. While thus employed he was often sent to New Orleans with various kinds of stock and provisions, he acting at different times in almost every official capacity on the boat, including the
positions of mate and captain. A writer in the Clinton county "Advertiser " states that Mr. Wheel- er's was the first flat-boat that ran out of the Illi- nois, and that he saw the first steamboat that ever ascended that river.
Interested in the reports of lead at Galena, Illi- nois, in 1827 he went there, and mined until 1834, when he crossed the Mississippi river to Dubuque. On the 26th of December of that year he was com- missioned chief justice of the county court for Du- buque county, which was then in Michigan territory, and embraced the northern half of what is now the State of Iowa. After holding one term of the court he resigned. He sold goods two years in Dubuque in company with Hiram Loomis, and in the sum- mer of 1836 came to Round Grove, near where De Witt now stands, made a claim on the 4th of July, and there, with his brother-in-law, Alva G. Harrison, erected a cabin, and then returned to Dubuque. The next winter he was a member of the legislature of Wisconsin territory, to which Iowa then belonged, the session being held at Belmont, on the east side of the river, near Dubuque, and was also a member of the next legislature, which met at Burlington, on the west side of the river. In the spring of 1841 he settled on his farm at Round Grove, and in the autumn of that year was appointed clerk of the court for the new county of Clinton, holding that office during the territorial history of Iowa. In 1846
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he was elected to the state senate for the term of | gangrene in his right foot, and is rarely seen on the four years, the legislature meeting at Iowa City.
In 1849 Mr. Wheeler, with several of his neigh- bors, went to California by the overland route, and returned by the Nicaragua route in 1853. The next year he was elected clerk of Clinton county, holding the office steadily until the close of 1862. Since that date he has been on the county board of super- visors four years, and was chairman three-fourths of the time. He is a stockholder in the Clinton National Bank, and until recently was one of its directors. He has lost the sight of his right eye by inflammation, and has suffered a year with dry
streets of De Witt, which has been his home since March, 1877. Mr. Wheeler has acted with the re- publicans since the dissolution of the whig party.
His wife was Susan R. Harrison, a sister of Jesse M. Harrison, of Dubuque, and Alva G. Harrison, of De Witt. They were joined in wedlock on the 8th of February, 1837, and have had nine children, only four of them now living. George Loring is constable of De Witt; Thomas Wilson is deputy clerk of the court of Clinton county; Lloyd B. re- sides in Mendota, Illinois, and Martha Frances is the wife of Frank W. Cottrell. of Chicago.
SHELDON G. WINCHESTER.
ELDORA.
O NE of the early settlers and early honored men of Eldora, Iowa, is Sheldon Greenleaf Win- chester, who was born in Chautauqua county, New York, on the 17th of July, 1830. His father, Arnold Winchester, was a farmer; his mother before her marriage was Maria Ward, of New York State. The Winchester family are distantly related to General Winchester, and near relatives of General Jonas and Ebenezer Winchester, noted book publishers in New York city thirty years ago.
Arnold Winchester moved with his family, first to Pennsylvania, and then to Ohio, while Sheldon was quite young. He spent eight years with his father in Washington county, Ohio, and at sixteen years of age, with eight dollars in his pocket, started alone for the far west, beyond the Mississippi. He went down the Ohio on a flatboat ; up the Mississippi as a deck passenger on a steamboat to Keokuk, Iowa, and thence walked to Des Moines, now the capital of the state, reaching there with two dollars in his pocket. That was in November, 1846. The gar- rison buildings and soldiers' barracks, vacated by the military the previous spring, were all the places of shelter for the few inhabitants of Des Moines. That section of the state was thrown open that year for preemption, the year Iowa assumed its sovereignty.
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