The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume, Part 8

Author: American biographical publishing company, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago, New York, American biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 954

USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 8

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Judge Mitchell died on the 6th December, 1865.

As a jurist, he took a high position; he was pro- foundly discriminating, a keen, careful analyst, whose deductions were always reliable. His mental pro- cesses were seemingly slow, but in reality rapid, for while others would dash to a conclusion - often the wrong one-with an imperfect view of a few con- tiguous facts, he traversed the whole ground, omit- ting nothing, however seemingly trivial; and although he may have occupied more time than others in evolving a question, yet he performed a much greater amount of labor, and his conclusions were in that proportion worthy of credence. If he was possessed of one trait more prominently than another, it was his

thorough comprehensiveness,- his ability to include everything in the examination of a subject, and to add to this a nice instinctive and cultivated percep- tion of the character and weight of a fact, and one may see why he rarely went wrong or fell into an error in conclusions.

In regard to his everyday life -that portion of a man's being which all are interested in knowing - he was wealthy, with cultivated literary taste, a choice and ample library, a large social circle of sincere.and pleasant friends, an amiable wife and dutiful children. He enjoyed life as only one surrounded by such cir- cumstances could. Fresh, instructive and engaging in his conversation, he took a very high rank as a social companion, and as one who could be instruct- ive, amusing and brilliant without effort.

His only surviving son, Nathaniel S., was edu- cated at the University of Notre Dame, St. Joseph county, Indiana; read law under the direction of the Hon. John W. Thomson, of Davenport, and was admitted to the bar in February, 1876. He is a gentleman of great urbanity and amiability of man- ners, brilliant intellect and fine personal appearance. He promises to follow closely in the footsteps of his father. He was married on the 29th of April, 1874, to Miss Charlotte E. McManomy, of New York city, of Scotch-Irish lineage. They have one child, a daughter, Helena.

The surviving daughter of Judge Mitchell is Miss Josephine, a young lady of rare beauty and culture.

HON. WILLIAM B. ALLISON,

DUBUQUE.

W ILLIAM BOYD ALLISON, a native of Ohio, was born in Perry, Wayne county, on the 2d of March, 1829, his parents being John and Margaret (Williams) Allison. His youth was spent in aiding his father to cutivate a farm, and in attend- ing a common school a few months each year. His early manhood was devoted to studies in Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, and Western Re- serve College, Hudson, Ohio. He commenced study- ing law in Wooster, in the latter state, in 1850, and was admitted at the Wayne county bar two years later. He practiced awhile in Ashland, Ohio, and in 1857 moved to Dubuque, Iowa, which has since been his home. Mr. Allison applied himself closely to his profession, and built up a large practice in a

very short time. He immediately identified himself with every local enterprise tending to further the . interest of Dubuque and the state, and became, almost from the start, a leader in more than one im- portant movement.

When the rebellion broke out in 1861 Mr. Allison was appointed on the staff of Governor Kirkwood as one of his aids, and acted with great efficiency until 1862, when he was elected to congress. Thrice he was reelected, serving in all eight years, in the lower house. He entered congress in the darkest hours of our political history since independence was gained ; vigorously supported every measure for suppressing the rebellion, and took advanced ground on the methods for accomplishing that end. He was one

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of the hopeful members of that body, and believed the rebellion would be crushed as soon as the gov- ernment guaranteed "all the privileges of religion, of family, of property and of liberty." During the first two years that he was a member of congress he introduced a bill for the improvement of the naviga- tion of the Mississippi river, and had the happiness of seeing the measure succeed, he being one of its ablest and most earnest supporters. It was through his influence that the land grant was secured for the railroad leading westward from McGregor, Iowa. While in congress he voted for all the constitutional amendments, and earnestly supported every repub- lican measure, such as the Civil Rights bill and the Freedman's Bureau bill. During the last six years that he was in the lower house he was on the com- mittee of ways and means, and showed, by his effi- ciency the wisdom of the selection. He did himself much credit and rose higher and higher at the close of each session. His speeches were prepared with much care, have great logical strength, and some of them have been much sought for and widely circu- lated.

On leaving Washington in March, 1871, Mr. Alli- son returned to his home in Iowa, and aided in pushing on several enterprises of great local impor-

tance. But the people of Iowa were not done with his services. In January, 1872, he was elected to the United States senate, succeeding Hon. James Harlan. His term of office runs until March, 1879. In the upper house he has proved himself an inde- fatigable worker on the committees on appropria- tions, pensions, Indian affairs and library. In the summer of 1875 he was appointed one of the com- missioners to negotiate with the Sioux Indians for the sale of the Black Hills, but the attempts at nego- tiation were a failure.

Mr. Allison has always acted with the republican party, and in Iowa has been one of its leaders.

He attends the Presbyterian church.

On the 5th of June, 1873, he married Miss Mary Nealley, of Burlington, Iowa.

Mr. Allison is a candid and persuasive speaker, and at the time of writing (November, 1876) has just concluded an extensive political canvass, he having spoken about fifty times in Iowa alone. In his oratorical efforts he appeals to the judgment and reasoning powers, rather than the passions, and leaves an excellent impression on the mind. His bearing is such that he commands the high respect of political opponents. His social qualities are ad- mirable, and his moral character is irreproachable.

ASA HORR, M.D., DUBUQUE.

A ASA HORR, a native of Ohio, was born at Wor- thington, on the 2d of September, 1817. His parents were Isaac Horr and Nancy Smith Horr, both of New England stock. Originally the family name was Hoar, of the same pedigree as the distin- guished family of that name in Massachusetts, and was changed to Horr by an act of the legislature. The father of Asa was an early settler in the Black river country in New York, and opened a farm there prior to immigrating to Ohio. In the latter state he engaged in the mercantile business, but losing his property by fire he returned to New York in 1827, and died in Watertown, Jefferson county, soon after- ward. The widow was left with nine children, and very little means for their support. Up to the time when his father died the subject of this brief memoir was kept at school most of the time, and had full scope for his love of books; but now came a hard struggle in that direction. He was put on a farm,

and for several years attended schools during the winters only. His hours of leisure, when he had any, were given to books rather than play, and, much to his delight, he sometimes gained time for study by working by tasks. When nearly grown to manhood he became a house-builder, operating a short time, with an elder brother, at Dundas and other places in Ontario, Canada.

At the age of twenty he returned to his native town in Ohio, and read medicine with a cousin. He attended lectures at two colleges in that State, and graduated from both. After leaving the Cleveland college he practiced six years in Ohio and one in Illinois, and in 1847 made a permanent settlement in Dubuque, Iowa.

Not content with a mastery of the science of medicine, in which profession he has gained high distinction, he has given no inconsiderable attention to the investigation of sciences collateral to medi-

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cine. Quite early in life he studied botany with a good degree of success, and for more than twenty years was one of the leading observers for the Smithsonian Institution. He was influential in origi- nating, and prominent in building up, the Iowa In- stitute of Science and Arts in Dubuque, and has been its president for the last eight or nine years. He is a man of decidedly scientific tastes and re- spectable attainments. Dr. Horr is a member of the Iowa State Medical Society, of the American Medical Association, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of the American Public Health Association, and 'of several scientific societies in the Upper Mississippi valley. He is identified with many important interests in Du- buque. Its town clock was procured largely through his exertions, and the true longitude of the city was established through him ten or twelve years ago, by the aid of his fine astronomical transit.

Dr. Horr is one of the leading surgeons in north- ern Iowa, and neither his practice nor his reputation in this line is limited to any one state. He was post surgeon at Dubuque in the early part of the late war, and examining surgeon for recruits in the regular army.

He has been a member of the Masonic Order since 1856. In politics he was a whig until the extinction of that party, since which time he has been a republican.

Till middle life his religious views were orthodox ; they are now liberal.

He married Miss Eliza Sherman in 1841, and the widow Emma F. Webber in 1868. He has three children, all by his first wife. His eldest child, Augusta S., is the wife of Henry Hackbusch, a civil engineer and surveyor, at Leavenworth, Kansas; Edward W. is a leading merchant at Blandville, Ken- tucky, and the youngest child, May, lives at home.

ELIAS C. CHAPIN,

DAVENPORT.

E LIAS CORNELIUS CHAPIN, proprietor of the Davenport "Gazette," was born near Cleveland, Ohio, on the 21st of August, 1836. His father was Dr. Descom Chapin, an eminent physi- cian, who for years practiced at Rockport and Cleve- land, Ohio. He died when our subject was but eighteen months old, leaving a family of five chil- dren, of whom Elias was the youngest, to the care of his widow. His mother was Susan (Giddings) Chapin, daughter of Daniel Giddings, a scion of the distinguished New England family of that name, the late Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio, being her full cousin.

The Chapin family of New England is descended in direct line from Samuel Chapin, who took the freeman's oath in Boston, June 2, 1641, and who is supposed to have emigrated from Wales in that year or a short time previously. He was afterward a deacon of the Congregational Church in Dorchester, and "was a man highly esteemed and employed in public business," as the records of the period testify. He subsequently removed to Springfield, Massachu- setts, and on the 10th of October, 1652, was ap- pointed one of the magistrates of that city, and in 1654 his commission was extended indefinitely. Most of those who bear the name in this country

trace their lineage to this source. The family has been distinguished for several generations by the number of clergymen, deacons, scholars, educators and literary and scientific characters it has pro- duced. Among those who illustrate the patronymic in the present day may be named the Rev. Edwin H. Chapin, D.D., of New York; Rev. A. L. Chapin, D.D. LL.D., president of Beloit College ; Chester W. Chapin, Esq., of Springfield, Massachusetts, a prom- inent railroad chief, and M. and E. S. Chapin, of Massasoit House fame, who have been prominently identified with the growth of Springfield, Massachu- setts. Our subject is the lineal descendant in the seventh generation of the above named deacon Samuel Chapin, and is a worthy scion of a worthy sire. The intervening links in the descent are : Decomb Chapin, born on the 12th of December, 1794; Ezra, born on the 12th of February, 1758; Timothy, born on the 8th of March, 1733; Jonathan, born on the 20th of April, 1688, and Japhet, son of the original Samuel, born 1642.

After the death of Dr. Descom Chapin, the mother, with her children, moved to the old New England home in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where our sub- ject was educated, graduating at the high school of that place at the age of thirteen years. After leav-

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ing school he commenced life as a clerk in a store. At seventeen he entered the large dry-goods jobbing house of Austin, Sumner and Co., Boston, Massa- chusetts, and made himself so useful, and by his exemplary conduct so gained the confidence and esteem of the firm, that at the age of twenty years he was admitted to a partnership which continued to the entire satisfaction of the members until the year 1860, when he formed a more advantageous alliance with Mr. Joseph Dix,-brother to Miss Dorothy Dix, the distinguished philanthropist,-in the same line in the same city. The new firm con- tinued in successful operation until the spring of 1865, when failing health caused by the climatic vicissitudes of the east admonished him to seek a more genial clime. He accordingly set his face westward, and after examining several localities pitched his tent at Charles City, Iowa. Here he led an active, out-door life for a period of eight years, carrying on an extensive farming establish- ment, and being also a partner in the large banking house of Chapin, Fairfield and Co., afterward E. C. Chapin and Co. His health being by this means fully restored and his constitution re-established, and agricultural pursuits not being adapted to his tastes and early habits, he embraced an opportu- nity which then offered and became a partner in the Gazette Printing Company, of Davenport; and transferring his residence to that city he has since been the able manager of the business interests of that paper. The "Gazette " is now the leading daily and the largest establishment of its kind in the state. The three years of Mr. Chapin's man- agement has increased the circulation nearly one

half and given it a metropolitan character, it now being the recognized medium for news for the triad of cities, Davenport, Rock Island and Moline,- to each of which it is delivered by carriers every morn- ing before the breakfast hour.

In politics, Mr. Chapin has always been a staunch republican, and, like his puritan ancestors, an uncom- promising enemy of the institution of human slavery, and during the late rebellion gave his influence in support of the integrity of his country ; and though prevented by feeble health from participating active- ly in the military service, yet he rendered efficient aid as a recruiting officer, in which capacity he op- erated for over a year in Massachusetts.

In religion, he follows in the line of Plymouth Rock, and intends to " fight it out on that line." He has been identified with Sunday-school work since his early youth, and in the state of his adoption has been a prominent laborer in the same field. He has served efficiently for six years as a member of the State Sunday-School Association, two years of which he has been its president.

In 1863, for the benefit of his then failing health, he made a trip to Europe, visiting the principal cities of that quarter of the globe.

On the 22d of September, 1857, he married Miss Fannie M. Breed, of Lynn, Massachusetts, a scion of an old and long established family, which has embraced in its membership many names of marked ability, Mr. Isaiah Breed, her grandfather, having been for thirty years president of the Lynn Mechan- ics' Bank, and serving two terms in the state senate. They have two children, namely, Elmore Descom and Mabel Bartlette.

HON. SYLVESTER BAGG, WATERLOO.

T' HE subject of this brief sketch, a native of Massachusetts, was born in Lanesborough, Berk- shire county, on the 6th of August, 1823, the son of Calvin and Martha (Wheeler) Bagg. At an early age he attended a private school in his native town, and afterward pursued a three years' course of study at Lenox Academy, in the same county. At the age of nineteen he entered the law office of William T. Filly, Esq., of Lanesborough; and, on being ad- mitted to the bar, removed, in May, 1845, to Elyria, Lorain county, Ohio. There he practiced law

twelve years, and built up a good business; but desiring a wider field of action, he resolved to remove to the west, and accordingly crossed the Mississippi river, and in March, 1857, settled at Waterloo, then recently made the county seat of Blackhawk county. Here he has since resided, and established a fine reputation as an honorable man and skillful attorney. During his first ten years in lowa he practiced in partnership with Hon. Henry B. Allen, and the docket of the district court showed a growing and very lucrative business.

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On the 23d of November, 1862, Mr. Bagg was appointed assistant quartermaster in the army, with the rank of captain, and afterward was breveted major for efficient service. He served till Decem- ber, 1865.

In November, 1868, he was elected the first circuit judge of the ninth district; he was reelected in 1872, and at the time of this writing is again a candidate on the republican ticket for the same office. His affiliations have always been with the party of which

he is now so popular a favorite, and no jurist in northern Iowa is more deserving of public confi- dence and esteem.

Judge Bagg is a member of the Masonic fraternity. In religious sentiment, he is a Baptist, and has been a member of the Waterloo church for eighteen years.

On the 15th of May, 1845, he was married to Miss Mary M. McKnaught, of Lebanon Springs, New York, a very accomplished lady, by whom he has one child, a daughter.

JOHN WEARE, CEDAR RAPIDS.

T THE oldest continuous banker in the State of Iowa, and one of the builders of the first flour- ing mill in the valley of the Cedar, is John Weare, for more than thirty years a resident of Cedar Rapids. His parents were John and Cynthia Ash- ley Weare, his father being a farmer, lumber dealer and general business man. The great-great-grand- father of the subject of this sketch was the first governor of New Hampshire, and the first bank resident in that state. The Weares were a patriotic family, several of them participating in the struggle for independence, and the father of our subject los- ing a leg in the war of 1812.

John Weare, junior, was born on the 8th of Octo- ber, 1816, in Stanstead, Canada, then Lower Canada, and in his infancy his parents moved across the line into Orleans county, Vermont. There he spent his childhood and early youth, reared in industry and always ready for work. From ten to fourteen years of age he often picked potatoes for neighbors at ten cents a day; that sum, in those days, looking as large to him, no doubt, as a thousand cents to-day. To secure pocket money for the holidays he and his playmates used to climb hemlock trees for young crows and get the bounty money.

When John was fifteen years old, the whole family, father, mother, four boys and four girls, moved to Allegan, Michigan. There they cleared up a large heavily-timbered farm, the father engaging also, in a short time, largely in the lumber business. Young John remained with his father until he was past twenty-one years of age, always ready for any task, however rough and hard.

After the panic of 1837 Mr. Weare came to Iowa, and spent some years in prospecting and in various

kinds of employment in different places, settling finally in Cedar Rapids in the spring of 1845. The previous winter he spent in Dubuque, procuring sub- scribers and making collections for the "Miners' Express," doing a remunerative writer's work.

On reaching Cedar Rapids, in connection with others, he immediately made preparations for util- izing the water-power, building a dam, digging a race, etc. Shovel in hand, he worked side by side with the Irishmen and other laborers in the race, standing in the water sometimes ten or twelve hours a day; and went twenty miles up the Cedar for timber for the first flouring-mill and saw-mill built in Cedar Rapids. He floated the logs down the stream, having the oversight of the whole work. Night after night he camped out with the choppers, having a force of twenty men under his charge. The completion of the flouring-mill -still standing, and one of the landmarks of the city-marked an epoch in the history of the place. Frontier settlers came a hundred miles for flour, doing more or less shopping, and making Cedar Rapids an important trading point.

With the mill in operation Mr. Weare soon began to open farms, one after another, until he had five under good cultivation, adding stock and improving its breed from time to time. All these farms he owns to-day, and all, with their neat houses and industrious tenants, are within the sound of the church bells and steam whistles of Cedar Rapids.

As the country began to develop, Mr. Weare opened an agency office for the transaction of mis- cellaneous business, it eventually growing into a bank. He used to take emigrants up and down the Cedar valley and out into the open prairie; select

THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.

lands and make entries for them, and give them liberal time in which to make payments, usually from two to five years. These settlers were almost invariably persons of very moderate means, yet they were honest and industrious, coming here to make homes and rear families ; and, strange to say, out of something like three millions of dollars invested for these poor farmers, he never had to take a farm back, never resorted to the law to secure his full pay, and never lost a dollar! Years ago they ex- changed their log cabins for one and a half and two- story frame and brick houses, and are among the most independent class of people in Linn and its adjoining counties. The thrift of these early settlers Mr. Weare has often cited to people at the east, on his visits there, and has thus induced multitudes in later years to settle in the Cedar valley and other parts of Iowa. Directly and indirectly he has ex- erted a mighty influence in filling up the "Empire State " of the west.

As the country has increased in population and wealth, his banking operations, commenced twenty- five years ago, have expanded in proportion, until he is not only the oldest continuous banker in the state, but one of the most extensive, as well as the most reputable financier. He is president of the First National Bank of Cedar Rapids.

Mr. Weare has always taken a deep interest in the railroad enterprises centering here, and was one of the foremost men in bringing most of them into town. No interest likely to enhance the growth of Cedar

Rapids, or in any way to benefit the people, has failed to receive his hearty cooperation. He is very active in every good cause.

Mr. Weare belongs to the Masonic fraternity.

He is a liberal contributor to the Protestant churches of Cedar Rapids, and promptly responds to charitable objects generally.

In middle life he voted the whig ticket; latterly, the republican.

In March, 1840, he married Miss Martha Park- hurst, of Allegan, Michigan, and raised five of her children in Cedar Rapids. Most of them are settled in Iowa, and within a few hours' ride of the paternal home. His first wife died in 1858. In December. 1862, he married Miss Martha Rogers, of Clinton, Iowa, formerly of Buffalo, New York. She has two children, both at school in this city. All of Mr. Weare's children have been educated in Iowa. He is a warm friend of education, and believes in patronizing home institutions.

Mr. Weare has seen his sixty autumns, yet is as fresh-looking and as sprightly as most men in middle life. Not one man in ten thousand has a finer physique, or shows better preservation. His health is perfect, the result, in part at least, of strictly tem- perate habits, and great prudence, coupled with great activity. In a business point his life has been a grand success, and the lesson of his indomitable industry and pluck and his unflinching rectitude is now before the young men of the state and country. Let them study it.

HON. LEMUEL DWELLE,

NORTHWOOD.

N TORTHWOOD, Iowa, was fortunate in having men of solid merits for its founders and its early settlers. They gave a good reputation to the town, and that reputation abides. Among the first families to settle here, the pioneers, in fact, were the Dwelle brothers, Lemuel, Albert J., and Horace V. Dwelle, all men of excellent character and full of public spirit.

Lemuel Dwelle, a native of New York, was born at Greenwich, Washington county, on the 16th of August, 1824. His parents were Alphonso and Elizabeth Tefft Dwelle. The grandfather of Lemuel was a captain in the revolutionary army, and several of his uncles were in the war of 1812. Lemuel

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The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume, Part 8

Author: American biographical publishing company, pub Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Chicago, New York, American biographical publishing company Number of Pages: 954

Author: American biographical publishing company, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago, New York, American biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 954