USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 53
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He was married in 1843 to Miss Jane Clark, a na- tive of Ohio, and sister of Hon. Ezekiel Clark, of Iowa City.
Such is the brief sketch of a prominent self-made man, who by his own ability and energy has raised himself from obscurity to a high and honored posi- tion. In every department which in his eventful life
he has been called to fill, Governor Kirkwood has been eminently successful, and has left an untar- nished record and unspotted reputation.
As a business man, he has been upright, reliable and honorable, and as a public official, attentive and obliging, but inflexible and unswerving in the dis- charge of duty.
In all places and under all circumstances he is loyal to truth, honor and right. Few men have more devoted friends, and none excel him in fideli- ty to those who have gained his confidence and won his esteem.
Among the many loyal governors of states who seemed during their country's hour of peril to be providentially and emphatically "the right men in the right places," Samuel J. Kirkwood, governor of Iowa, was conspicuous for earnest patriotism, great executive ability, prudence and burning elo- quence.
HON. CHARLES H. LEWIS,
CHEROKEE.
T HE present judge of the fourth judicial dis- trict, Charles Henry Lewis, was born on the 27th of October, 1839, in Concord, Erie county, New York, his parents being Oren and Betsy Lewis. His mother's family name was Nicholis. His grandfather erected the first frame house in Utica, New York. In i840 the father of Charles moved with his family to Boone county, Illinois. When the son was four years old he lost his mother; the family was thus broken up. The son spent four years at different places in Wisconsin and Illinois, when his father married again, and gathered his family in a new home at Popple Grove, near Belvidere, Illinois. There they remained until October, 1851, when the whole family removed to Independence, Buchanan county, Iowa, the father of Charles carrying on a chair and furniture factory and raising fruit trees. Three years later the family moved to Quasqueton, farther down the Wapsipinecon valley, in the same county, where Oren Lewis now resides. He is a thoughtful and considerate man, looking well to the education of his son, and taking great pains to see that he was kept at school. In 1859 Charles entered Cornell College, at Mount Vernon, Iowa, and remained there until the second year of the war.
Mr. Lewis studied law at the State University, Iowa City ; was admitted to the bar early in 1869, and in May settled in Cherokee, Cherokee county, where he soon built up a lucrative practice.
In the autumn of 1870 Mr. Lewis was elected dis- trict-attorney of the fourth judicial district, which embraced twenty-two counties in the extreme north- western part of Iowa, holding that office four years, and discharging its duties in a very satisfactory manner. So popular had he become in the dis- charge of the official duties, that during the last year of his incumbency the people, recognizing his personal worth and his especial fitness for the po- sition, elected him judge of the district court for the term of four years : that honorable position he now holds. The district formerly embraced twenty counties, but it has now only nine.
In the autumn of 1862, while pursuing his studies at Mount Vernon, Judge Lewis enlisted as a private in the 27th regiment of Iowa Infantry ; at the end of one year he was appointed sergeant-major, and on the 2d of August, 1864, was commissioned first lieutenant and adjutant of the regiment, filling the latter position till the 5th of August, 1865, when the heroic 27th was mustered out of the service. He was with the regiment all the time, and in several
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skirmishes and eleven engagements, passing the or- deal without a scar.
Judge Lewis became an Odd-Fellow in 1869. He belongs to the Congregational church. He has
always been a republican. On the 31st of March, 1866, he was united in marriage with Miss Emma E. Kellogg, of Quasqueton, and they have three children.
HON. ANTHONY W. CARPENTER,
BURLINGTON.
A NTHONY WAYNE CARPENTER, deceased, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the Ist of January, 1814, and was eldest son of Anthony and Catherine Carpenter née Curran. His ancestors were of German descent, and were early settlers. He was a self-educated man, his early boy- hood receiving little chance for improvement. At an early age he learned the jeweler's trade, at Phila- delphia, getting a thorough knowledge of all its in- tricacies, and in 1837 came west and settled at Bur- lington. His whole stock in trade consisted of his tools and thirty dollars. He commenced the founda- tion of a fortune in a log building, and was the first watch-maker west of the Mississippi river and north of St. Louis, the pioneer jeweler of the west. By hard labor, courteous' treatment to his customers, and with a good knowledge of the demands of the western market, he succeeded in acquiring a compe- tence and gained the esteem and love of his fellow- citizens, who placed him in many positions of trust and honor, which he filled with distinction and to the satisfaction of his constituents. He was sheriff of the county two terms; the first term he was the last sheriff to hold office under the territorial govern-
ment and first on the admittance of the new state. In politics, he was a democrat and an active par- tisan, and was thoroughly posted in the politics of the day. He was collector of customs for some time, and in 1868 was mayor of the city, and held the position of alderman for many years. In 1860 he was elected delegate at large to the national convention at Baltimore which resulted in the rup- ture of the party.
He was not a member of any particular relig- ious body, but was an attendant on the Methodist church, of which his wife was a member.
He was married on the 9th of March, 1842, to Miss Sarah Ann McKenny, of Burlington, by whom he had three children, one son and two daughters. The son, E. H. Carpenter, succeeded him in busi- ness, which he is pursuing successfully.
In private life he was generous and charitable, devoted to his family and business, a faithful friend and an outspoken opponent. As a public officer, his conduct was always distinguished for its up- rightness and unblemished integrity. He died at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he had gone for his health, on the 19th of June, 1869.
HON. JOHN PORTER,
ELDORA.
A" MONG the men of northern Iowa who have worn the ermine, probably no one is more modest and unassuming, or left the bench with a purer name, than Judge Porter. He resigned his position, after serving more than seven years, with the reputation of being an impartial judge and a rapid dispatcher of business. Western people step, eat, think and talk rapidly; sometimes they make fortunes in the same way; and they like to see everything, even hanging, done in a hurry. As Judge Porter had remarkable success in clearing
the docket, he pleased jurors and everybody else, and could have remained longer on the bench had he not seen fit to hasten his retirement.
John Porter was the son of a miller, William Porter, and was born in Washington county, Penn- sylvania, on the 14th of April, 1828. His mother was a Langan, and his grandparents, on both sides, came from Ireland. Young Porter gave his sum- mers, until he was eighteen, to milling and farming, and his winters to common-school studies. During the next three years he alternated between teach-
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ing and being taught. Arrived at age, he com- menced studying law in the office of Tod, Hoff- man and Hutchins, Warren, Ohio. At the end of two years he was admitted to the bar, but did not leave the office just mentioned until two years later. With this excellent preparation, in 1854 we find Mr. Porter in Plymouth, Marshall county, In- diana, following his profession. Two years later he became a citizen of Iowa, settling at Mason City, Cerro Gordo county, in November, 1856. There he remained until 1859, when he took up his resi- dence in Eldora, Hardin county, and here he still remains. He is of the firm of Porter and Moir, a firm eminent for success in business, and for its promptness and rectitude in all legal dealings.
In 1858 Mr. Porter was elected judge of the eleventh judicial district, and reelected in 1862. Resigning a few months before his second term of four years had expired, he resumed the profession
so congenial to his taste, and in which he has gained such distinction.
Of late years he has had very little to do with politics, although'in sentiment he is antimonopoly. He is strongly in favor of making the national treasury notes the currency of the country. He was a republican until 1870.
Judge Porter is a member of no church, but in sentiment leans toward the Disciples.
On the 26th of April, 1854, he married Miss Mariam Stevens, of Mesopotamia, Trumbull county, Ohio. They have one child.
Judge Porter has been thoroughly enlisted in the railroad and other enterprises, which have built up Eldora and developed the wealth of the county and state, and is as large-hearted as he is energetic and public-spirited. Though quiet in his charities, he is liberal to the poor, and responds promptly to the calls for benevolence in various directions.
HON. WILLIAM F. SAPP,
COUNCIL BLUFFS.
T may be truly said of the United States that ! no country in the world is productive of so large a number of men whose native ability and unaided effort have achieved for them positions of the highest distinction. The best men of the great west are of this character. Iowa possesses no small share of this invaluable class of public men. With such ranks the subject of this sketch, William Flet- cher Sapp, first saw the light of day on the 20th of November, 1824, at Danville, Knox county, Ohio. His ancestry were of good stock, descending from both French and English blood. His paternal grandfather, Daniel Sapp, was one of the first set- tlers in what is now the county of Knox, Ohio, and one of the proprietors, and the founder, of the present village of Danville. He was a man of dis- tinction, for a pioneer settlement ; was the first county surveyor for Knox county, and justice of the peace upward of thirty years; he held that office at the time of his death, which occurred at an advanced age. He performed military service in the war of 1812, together with his brothers Joseph, George and William. Of such parentage it is not at all wonderful that their son, Mr. John Sapp, father of the present Colonel W. F. Sapp, became a distin- guished man in the section of country in which he
lived. He was universally beloved for unbounded generosity, humane feelings and charitable acts, and his house was the abode of unlimited hospitality. He was married on the 7th of December, 1820, to Miss Elizabeth Myers, a native of Cumberland, Maryland. His career, however, was short, as he died on the Ist of December, 1835, in early man- hood, leaving a wife, two daughters and the sub- ject of this sketch, then in his eleventh year. He was a man remarkable for correct judgment and prophetic forecast. In looking into the future of the western country he predicted, at that early day, that Saint Louis was destined to become a great city, and just previous to his death had disposed of his property with the view of taking up his resi- dence there.
The son, left fatherless at a tender age, has proved worthy of such a sire; inheriting his best traits of character and his thrift, and while yet in the prime of life, arriving at even greater dis- tinction and equal esteem. Like the most of men who have achieved fortune and honor, he had the great advantage of the advice and direction of a true and noble mother, who was a woman noted for superior judgment, great force of character and rare christian virtues ; from early womanhood a de-
yours Inly M. F. Sapp
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voted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, she took great pains throughout her life, both by precept and example, to educate her children in the christian faith. It was mainly through her influence that her son was led to adopt the profession of law. To this end, depending solely upon his own re- sources, he early availed himself of such educa- tional advantages as came within his reach, ac- quiring a common-school and academic education.
With a studious turn of mind and industrious habits he advanced so rapidly in his studies as to be enabled, in the spring of 1847, to commence the study of law, by entering the office of the late dis- tinguished secretary of the interior, the Hon. Colum- bus Delano, and his partner, the Hon. W. R. Sapp, uncle of the subject of this sketch, at Mount Ver- non, Knox county, Ohio. Having obtained his pre- vious education unaided, help to enable him to pull through his course of law studies came from the old friends of his father, who placed in his hands collections and employed him in cases be- fore justice courts, in the management of which he proved that he possessed the elements of success. He also earned sufficient money during his course of study to defray all his necessary expenses, and to purchase a small law library with which to com- mence the practice of his profession.
In June, 1850, Colonel Sapp was admitted to the bar, and immediately commenced the practice of law in the town where he had studied and where at the time was the most formidable bar in the state. His success was immediate and eminent, ob- taining a larger practice than any young lawyer in that section of country.
.With true patriotic blood in his veins, and wonder- ful activity of mind and body, he naturally early drifted into the political arena. His antecedents were all with the whig party of that day; and though a mere youth, he stumped the county in which he lived for the election of Zachary Taylor in 1848, and again for Winfield Scott in 1852. On the formation of the republican party in 1856 he became one of its most active adherents ; he stumped his congressional district for John C. Fremont, and has been a warm and active republican since that time to the present. In 1852 he was placed on the ticket of his party for the office of prosecuting attorney for the county, in opposition to General George W. Morgan, and notwithstanding the great strength of his opponent, and a county usually car- rying from seven to eight hundred democratic
majority, he came within forty-one votes of being elected. Two years later he was again nominated for the same office, and elected over the democratic candidate by more than eight hundred majority. In 1856 he ran as the republican candidate for the same office, and was again elected by several hun- dred more votes than were cast for J. C. Fremont in the same county.
On the 29th of December, 1856, he was married to Miss Mary Catherine Brown, second daughter of Captain Richard M. Brown, an old and highly re- spected citizen of Mount Vernon, Ohio, who served with distinction in the war of 1812.
It may be of interest to also state in this connec- tion that the mother of Captain Brown was an own cousin to the mother of Daniel Webster.
Colonel Sapp continued in the practice of his pro- fession at Mount Vernon till the spring of 1860, at which time he removed to Omaha, Nebraska, where he opened a law office. In the spring of 1861 he was appointed, by Governor Alvan Saunders, adju- tant-general of the territory, which office he held until December, 1862.
In the fall of 1861 he was elected to the legisla- tive council of the territory, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. John W. Thayer. He was elected to that office a republican, in the then democratic county of Douglass.
In 1862 the 2d regiment Nebraska Cavalry was organized for the defense of the frontier against the hostile Indians, and Colonel Sapp was tendered and accepted the office of its lieutenant-colonel, in which capacity he was commander of the district of Ne- braska during a portion of the summer of 1863, and was in command of the post of Fort Kearney dur- ing a portion of the term of his military service.
Having terminated his military career on the mus- tering out of his regiment, he removed to Council Bluffs, and entered into a law partnership with Judge Samuel Clinton, in the spring of 1864, which con- nection was continued until the spring of 1869. In the fall of 1866 he was elected a member of the legislature of Iowa for the county of Pottawattamie, and served on the committee of the judiciary of that body, and as chairman of the committee on federal relations. During the session, through his personal exertions, he succeeded in securing the location of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum of the state at Council Bluffs.
On the accession of General Grant to the Presi- dency he was appointed United States district at-
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torney for Iowa, which office he administered four years, and received the high compliment from the United States attorney-general of being officially reported by that officer as having conducted the duties of the position several per cent more suc- cessfully than any other district attorney in com- mission at the time.
In 1872 he was a candidate for the nomination before the congressional convention for the eighth congressional district, and was defeated by the Hon. J. W. McDill. Cheerfully acquiescing in the result, he made a thorough canvass of the district in the interest of his successful competitor and the repub- lican cause. In 1876 he was nominated for congress on a vote of seventy-three to thirteen for the Hon. William Hale, and was elected over his democratic and greenback opponent, Hon. Lemuel R. Bolter, by a majority of over four thousand. During the canvass that followed, Colonel Sapp accomplished the feat of making seventy-one speeches in his district, and in the sequel was triumphantly elected.
With the exception of the time he was in the military service of his country, he has devoted his life to the duties of his chosen profession ; during which his practice has been remarkably successful and extensive, gaining an eminent position at the bar, which has been the reward of merit and per- sonal popularity. Notwithstanding an intellectually busy life, he has wisely not been unmindful of the
main chance, and has acquired by square dealing a handsome property, a portion of which is in the city and vicinity of Council Bluffs.
Mr. Sapp is every way a marked man. His per- sonale is commanding, with marked personal mag- netism; his physique is full, tall, erect and hand- somely proportioned, full of healthy blood, life and animation, with a demeanor at once courteous, affa- ble and unaffectedly democratic. His standing in society fully comports with the esteem in which he is held by his brethren of the bar, and all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance as well; and his professional competitors and political opponents universally respect him.
His mother having descended from good Mary- land stock, the noted magnificent manners of that state crop out in the polished and cultivated char- acteristics of her eminent son.
Going now to the capital of this great nation as an honored representative of the vast State of Iowa, he has a brilliant career before him. It is just such men of tried integrity, ability and patriotism that the country needs for governing statesmen at this critical period in its history. Upon the unselfish services and sound principles of men in power, like unto the subject of this sketch, the best elements of the country rely for the safety of the republic, feeling that it is in safe hands, so far as they can influence its destiny.
JOHN J. OLSHAUSEN, M. D.,
DAVENPORT.
AMONG the names of Olshausen, prominent phy- sicians and surgeons of the northwest, is en- rolled that of Dr. John J. Olshausen. He was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on the 6th of June, 1817, and is the son of Rev. John D. and Julianna Olshausen. His father was one of the most prom- inent clergymen of the Lutheran church in Germany, and superintendent of all the churches in the duchy of Oldenburg, the highest position a clergyman could attain.
He was an author of much note, writing several works on theology and geography. In the pulpit he was very eloquent, and carried conviction and truth in his sermons. He died in 1823, much be- loved and regretted. On the maternal side, his grandfather was a very prominent surgeon.
He received his education at the gymnasium at Schleswig, and later at the University at Königs- berg, Prussia, and graduated in the departments of natural science and medicine at Kiel. After leaving the gymnasium he traveled for nearly five years over the continent of South America, part of Europe, and the Mediterranean, as he wished to give all his energies to the development of natural science. Finding it did not pay financially, he returned to Germany and studied medicine at Kiel. After his graduation he visited a number of hospitals and universities, and finally, emigrating to the United States, located at St. Louis in 1847, and commenced the practice of his profession. Here he had a suc- cessful practice, but owing to the warmth of the climate, decided to remove to Davenport, lowa, which
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he did in 1854. Here he founded a large and lucrative practice, which he still enjoys.
His travels and researches, which were extensive, will some day appear to the public, as he intends in time to publish them.
He was married on the roth of December, 1848, to Miss Elizabeth Shepman, a native of Hanover.
He is very liberal in his religious views and opin- ions.
In politics, he is a liberal republican, though never
taking an active part in political matters. He was a director of the public schools in Davenport for fifteen years.
In his medical relations, he has built up his own reputation by his skill and energy, and has acquired an extensive practice. He is a genial gentleman, a quick observer, and as prompt in his business as he is generous in his social relations, and thoroughly merits the esteem in which he is held by his fellow- citizens.
CHAUNCEY LAMB,
CLINTON.
C HAUNCEY LAMB, capitalist and lumber mer- chant, was born at Ticonderoga, Essex county, New York, on the 4th of January, 1816. He is the son of Alpheus and Sophia Bailey Lamb, whose an- cestors were among the first settlers of the State of Connecticut.
His grandparents on both sides are of good old Saxon stock, having early emigrated to this country from England. His father participated in the war of 1812; and the inherited patriotism of the son was not weakened by having his birth near the spot where Ethan Allen, in revolutionary times, demand- ed the surrender of the fort in the name of the " Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress."
His early education was such as could be obtained at the common schools of that period. His parent- age, although worthy and respected, belonged to that numerous class whose worldly means were very limited. The undeveloped resources of the country immediately subsequent to the war of 1812 left many families destitute, and the heroes of " many a well- fought battle-field " found it quite difficult to keep the " wolf" from the door of their humble dwelling.
At the age of fourteen years he began not only to earn his own living, but contributed liberally to the support of his father's family. At the age of nine- teen years he made, with his father, a profitable in- vestment in the purchase of a lumber lot, devoting the proceeds arising from this property to the ne- cessities of the parental home. He continued as a laborer in lumbering and farming, in various ca- pacities, until the age of twenty-two, when he left home.
Having determined from observation that mechan- ics enjoy many advantages over other classes of the
laboring community, he resolved to learn a trade. An old friend advised him to learn the carpenter trade, which he did, but soon exchanged it for that of a wagon-maker. In this vocation his peculiar mechanical tastes and his wonderful inventive and constructive talents enabled him to make and finish completely an entire wagon during the first week of his apprenticeship.
In six months he relinquished this occupation and embarked as a contractor in building saw and grist mills, and continued in this business till 1843. During the latter year he and his father's family came west and located in Carroll county, Illinois. In this locality he continued, improving and culti- vating the farm until 1850.
In 1847 he invented and built the self-reaper known as the Manning machine. Having, however, been anticipated in his invention, he was compelled, to avoid litigation, to forego the benefits resulting from his own genius.
In 1850 he engaged in the lumber business in the State of New York, and continued in it until 1856. He then returned to Iowa, and during the following winter, with very limited means, built a saw-mill and run it during the three subsequent years, when it was destroyed by fire, leaving him at the time penni- less. The disaster may have been a blessing in dis- guise, as it brought forth the latent strength and ca- pacity of his nature. The same year (1869) he re- built his mill with renewed hope and energy; but the failure of his partner, early in 1860, involved him again in temporary difficulty. In due time, how- ever, his indomitable energy and perseverance ex- tricated him from embarrassment, and enabled him fully to discharge his obligations and completely re-
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