USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 80
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He is active in times of peace as a christian sol- dier; has been a member of the Congregational church for twenty years, and has superintended the Sunday-school for a long time. He is a man of pure and generous impulses; has always been phil- anthropic and humane in his feelings, and a thor- ough hater of oppression.
He has never voted any but the republican ticket,
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In October, 1877, he was elected representative for the sixty-ninth assembly district, having a majority of more that nine hundred votes.
His wife was Belle A. Bradford, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and they have six children. Their union dates from the 23d of April, 1867.
In railroad, educational and other public enter- prises 'Captain Lyon has always been prompt to act and efficient in his work. In stature, he is below the average height, being only five feet and six inches tall. His weight is one hundred and forty pounds. His social qualities are excellent.
RUFUS H. WYMAN, M. D.,
KEOKUK.
R UFUS H. WYMAN, M.D., was born in Oswego county, New York, on the 24th of March, 1817; obtained his early education at Middlebury, Vermont, and studied medicine with the celebrated Dr. Pyth- ian, of Johnstown, and graduated with high honors at the Medical University of Pennsylvania at Phila- delphia in 1843, and engaged in practice at Stoyes- town, Pennsylvania, remaining three years. In 1846 he removed to Bonaparte, Van Buren county, Iowa, and in 1847, in conjunction with the late eminent surgeon, Dr. John F. Sanford, administered chloro- form the first time it was ever used in the west in a capital operation. In 1853 he removed to Keokuk . and became the partner of Dr. Sanford, and, except for a short time he was absent in the army as a sur- geon, has resided there ever since, being engaged with marked success in a very extensive first-class lucrative practice.
In 1861 he was commissioned surgeon of the 21st regiment Missouri Volunteer Infantry, commanded by that gallant soldier Colonel David Moore, who lost a leg at the battle of Shiloh, Tennessee. On the 6th of April, 1862, his regiment was the first en- gaged on the morning of the battle, and surgeon Wy- man had the honor of performing the first capital surgical operation that day in amputating the leg of the colonel of his own regiment on a steamer at Pittsburgh Landing. The steamers at that place were soon crowded with wounded officers and men
brought in from the field of battle, and as no proper preparation had been made for their reception, all was bustle and confusion. Being the ranking surgeon, Dr. Wyman organized and directed everything, and with almost superhuman energy and activity soon brought order out of chaos, and had all the wounded properly and carefully attended to.
He amputated the arm of Colonel M. M. Bane, of the 50th Illinois Infantry ; and in all major opera- tions he took personal charge, directing all the less experienced surgeons under his command in minor cases. Though physically a powerful man, his pro- fessional duties, compassing weeks of fatigue and exposure in the care of the sick and wounded in a malarious atmosphere, were too much for human endurance, and he was stricken with typhoid pneu- monia. In consequence of his protracted illness he was reduced almost to a skeleton and totally unfitted for duty in the field, and compelled to reluctantly resign in June, 1862.
He was married to Miss Susan Moore, at Somer- set, Pennsylvania, in June, 1865, by whom he has one son and three daughters now living.
Dr. Wyman is a gentleman of fine personal ap- pearance, tall and well formed, and straight as an arrow; has a winning address and fascinating man- ner; genial, open-hearted and generous, he has in the course of his extensive practice always given his professional services gratuitously to the poor.
JOHN S. CHILD,
ROCKFORD.
T' THE subject of this brief sketch is of New Eng- land pedigree and birth, being born in Wood- stock, Connecticut, on the 30th of September, 1833. His parents, John Child, a successful farmer, and
Alice Walker, are excellent examples of the higher type of Puritan character, honest, industrious, frugal, rearing their children in the strictest principles of integrity, and giving them to understand that idle-
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ness is no part of their inheritance. Both parents are still living, the father aged eighty-eight, and the mother eighty-one. John Child has always been noted for his christian integrity, and for doing well whatever he undertakes to do. His wife has always been a great reader, is thoroughly posted on all cur- rent events, and on matters relating to the general government ; is quite ready and expert in argument, and believes that it is woman's duty equally with her right to inform herself in all the practical knowl- edge attainable by a careful husbanding of spare time. She is a devoted christian, and has laid up a rich store of treasure for the future. The writer once heard her son remark that he felt indebted to his parents for whatever success he has had in life.
John Spencer Child was educated in the select school and academy of his native town; subse- quently taught for a season or two, and in March, 1857, immigrated to Iowa. He settled in Rockford, engaged in mercantile business with a brother-in- law, O. H. Lyon, now a banker in Rockford. The firm of Child and Lyon, general dealers, continued for twelve or fourteen years, and few houses in the Shellrock valley were better known, and none had a better name. They knew only one way of doing business, that of dealing fairly and honestly with all customers.
Mr. Child is still in trade, having for the last five
years operated alone. His eldest son, Harris M., a very competent young man, only eighteen years old, is managing the entire business, purchasing as well as selling goods. Mr. Child has had marked success in business, and not enjoying very good health, trav- els more or less, and lives partially at his ease.
Mr. Child was treasurer of Floyd county for two years, commencing on the ist of January, 1870, and during that time was also interested in trade. He left the treasurer's office with a clean balance-sheet.
In politics, he is a republican ; in religion, he is a Congregationalist, and is benevolent, active in tem- perance, and in all other enterprises for the good of the people.
On the 30th of March, 1858, he was united in mar- riage with Miss Lydia F. Lyon, of Woodstock, Con- necticut, and they have five children. The eldest son is in the store, and the eldest daughter, Alice S., is being educated in Massachusetts ; the other three, Mary Lyon, Anna Gertrude and Leonard Walker, are young and still at home.
Rockford, like scores of other towns in Iowa, was particularly fortunate in the character of its early settlers, most of whom were not only public-spirited and enterprising, but were men of noble principles, whose impress is still seen and felt in the village. Mr. Child is prominent among the Rockford men of I this class whose names appear in this book.
MAJOR CHARLES H. TOLL,
CLINTON.
C HARLES H. TOLL, son of Charles H. and Sally Toll, was born on the 18th of April, 1817, in the town of Van Buren, Onondaga coun- ty, New York. His father, a descendant of the old Mohawk Germans of that state, was one of the most thorough and energetic business men of that section. He was in his time largely engaged in various enter- prises, both of a public and private nature, besides filling and faithfully discharging the responsible du- ties of several public positions in the community in which he resided. He was highly esteemed for his business talent and integrity of character, and like- wise for his public spirit and sterling worth. His mother, a native of Franklin county, Connecticut, was a most estimable lady, and a near relative of Chancellor Walworth, of New York. Her tender regard for her son, and her loving devotion to his
welfare, has left upon his mind throughout life an indelible and lasting impression.
He was principally educated at the public schools of his neighborhood, but subsequently, during one year, pursued a more thorough course of study in an institution under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Yates. At the age of eighteen he left home and soon after engaged himself as a clerk in a grocery store in the city of Syracuse, New York. After a brief term he retired from the above position, and obtained a more desirable one in another establish- ment in the same vicinity and continued with it one year. Having obtained in this time some knowl- edge of business as well as practical experience in trade, in 1837 he entered into a business arrange- ment with another party, and established himself in the parental neighborhood in a mercantile capacity.
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After continuing in this business some three years the partnership was mutually dissolved, he having embarked in another enterprise in a neighboring lo- cality. His business career during the following eight years, although exhibiting great business tal- ent and ability, as well as financial skill and compre- hension, was characterized by various adverse expe- riences, arising invariably from injudicious man- agement of his associates in trade. In 1849 a gen- tleman with whom he was intimately and largely associated in business was killed on the cars. This unfortunate circumstance involved him in much financial difficulty, and pressed heavily on his busi- ness operations during many subsequent years. At the same time, other business disasters following in rapid succession, he decided to close up as satisfac- torily as possible his tangled business complications and seek a new field of enterprise in the west. He arrived in Chicago in 1853, and after having spent a few months as bookkeeper in a well-known firm in that city, he decided to locate at Lyons, Iowa, where he took up his residence in 1854, having previously made a small investment in that vicinity. Soon after his arrival he was employed by eastern capi- talists to assist in superintending the building of a railroad from the Mississippi river to Council Bluffs, on the Missouri. In 1855 he was elected mayor of the city of Lyons, and was forced from his position to take an active interest in the various public en- terprises in successful operation as well as those in contemplation. The contending interests of the two principal localities, Lyons and Clinton, neces- sarily drew him before the public, and involved him, during the local controversy regarding the railway bridge, in a strife foreign both to his nature and in- terests.
He resigned his office as mayor of Lyons and lo- cated in Clinton, where his business required his presence. At this time Clinton was not in exist- ence. To a business man the locality, as a future business point, possessed many advantages over Ly- ons, but it must have required strong faith in one's own discernment and judgment to induce a man to invest his interests in so uninviting a locality. Dur- ing his connection with the railroad company he was elected assistant treasurer of the Iowa Land Com- pany, and was appointed also superintendent of the ferry boat owned by this company. In 1859 he was elected sheriff of Clinton county, and served two years.
In 1862 he was appointed United States commis-
sary for a division of the Union army, and immedi- ately reported for duty at Cincinnati. In that ca- pacity he served until the close of the war in 1866.
His military career has been equally varied and honorable. As a commissary he enjoys the reputa- tion of being one of the most efficient of the entire Union army. During his term of service he was assigned to duty in various departments as commis- sary, and in every position he increased the effi- ciency of the department in which he was called to serve. His remarkable ability as commissary was duly appreciated and handsomely acknowledged by his commanding officer. His military experience is full of startling interests and adventure; his duties were extremely trying and very arduous, and his re- sponsibilities great. After the surrender of Lee the force was gradually reduced, and he was finally re- lieved in January, 1866, when he returned home.
His life has been eventful, and marked by several peculiar incidents, revealing in their detail the in- herent traits of character and disposition that have led him on in business and crowned all his under- takings with success ; but the studied brevity of this sketch will not allow of their introduction.
Although an active business man, Major Toll has filled several civil positions of trust and responsibil- ity. In 1845 and 1846 he was supervisor of the town of Lysander, Onondaga county, New York ; in 1854 a member of the legislature; in 1859 elect- ed sheriff, and in 1862 appointed war commissary in the Union army. He has been justice and super- visor of Clinton during the past five years.
In 1846 he joined the Odd-Fellows, and continued with that fraternity till he came west in 1856, and has recently renewed his fellowship.
He is a highly intelligent and respected member of the Baptist church, and contributes liberally to its support, having joined the denomination in 1839.
He married, in 1840, Eliza H., daughter of Rich- ard Lusk, of Lysander, New York.
In politics, he is a republican, a decided and in- dependent thinker.
At the close of the war in 1866, he built in Clin- ton, Iowa, one of the most elegant and superb busi- ness blocks in that vicinity, at a cost of over fifty thousand dollars. His public spirit, and his desire to improve and extend the town, induced him to make what subsequently proved to be unprofitable investments in buildings and other enterprises hoth public and private. He suffered severe losses by fire at this period, and likewise by misplaced con-
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fidence in irresponsible and injudicious parties. In 1874 certain defalcations having been detected in the postoffice department at Clinton, he being one of the bondsmen, was appointed cashier for the time being, and in 1875 was himself made postmaster in place of the defaulter.
All his various and widely extended transactions have been throughout characterized by fair and open dealing, and an honest endeavor to do as he would be done by; and they furnish ample proof of his comprehensive intellect and thorough business ca- pacity. His reputation for financial ability and in-
tegrity of character have never yet been questioned. Major Toll, like his ancestors, is a man of strong and vigorous constitution, of a solid, compact or- ganization, and a clear and active intellect. He is a man well qualified for business and social inter- course ; prompt, courteous and frank in his manners, and from his natural quickness of perception and his constant habit of mingling with men he has a clear and accurate knowledge of human nature. In the army he achieved an honorable record, and just- ly occupies a high position in the community where he resides.
CHARLES H. W. STARKER, BURLINGTON.
C HARLES HENRY WILLIAM STARKER, capitalist and president of the Iowa State Savings Bank, was born in Stuttgard, Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, on the 11th of March, 1826. His parents were Fleinrich and Catharina Starker. His father was a dealer in furniture, as his father had been before him. He was educated by an un- cle in Stuttgard and attended the Beale School, and afterward the Polytechnical School. In youth, his time was devoted to labor, either over his books by hard study, or employed in the little duties of house- hold labor. He left school at seventeen, and was engaged by the Bavarian government for four years as superintendent of the work of erecting bridges,
locks, etc., upon the canal. Thus at an early age was he employed by his government in positions of responsibility and trust. When twenty-one he at- tended his military duties, but freed himself from the conscription. In April, 1847, he went to Upper Italy (Lombardy), and was engaged in the marble quarries there, where he remained until February, 1848, when the revolution broke out and most all the enterprises of the German government ceased ; and as there appeared no chance for its renewal, he concluded to emigrate to the United States, and em- barked from Havre on the 22d of October, 1848, and after a voyage of forty-two days arrived in America. Having no relatives or friends in this country, he went to Buffalo, where he formed an engagement in a leather store, at a salary of eight dollars a month. The house he engaged with having opened a branch store in Chicago, and he being desirous of going far- ther west, he obtained a situation there, and by mak-
ing himself useful he received a much better salary. In the spring of 1850 he left the store and engaged in the office of Mr. T. Knudson, an architect, and assisted him in the erection of the Sweden Church and the construction of a new arched roof for the Episcopal Church. In July, 1850, he made an en- gagement with Hon. James W. Grimes, of Burling- ton, Iowa, to erect a residence for him, which, with other buildings, kept him employed nearly a year. Finding his regular profession unprofitable, in Octo- ber, 1851, he went into the mercantile business. He had but small means, the result of his earnings, but by the assistance of some relatives he commenced the retail grocery business with a capital of four thousand dollars. He engaged exclusively in whole- sale trade in 1865, under the firm name of Charles Starker and Co. Commenced business about 1852, his sales being about seven thousand dollars the first year, and the last year they were eight hundred thousand dollars, the result of his good management and business enterprise. He attributes much of his success to steadiness, politeness and honesty, which gained for him a reputation. He retired from busi- ness in 1875, and enjoys, as the result of his labors, a comfortable competence.
He was alderman for four years, and was chair- man of wharf, finance and several other committees during that service. He is president of the German- American School, erected in 1866 ; also president of the Burlington Loan and Building Association since 1868, to this date; director of the First National Bank since 1862; trustee of the Aspen Grove Cem- etery for some time and is now president of the in-
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corporation, and for the past two years has been president of the Iowa State Savings Bank. He is a stockholder in nearly every road coming into the city, and is prominent in all enterprises for the de- velopment of the city and county.
He joined the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows in 1851, and is still a member of that order.
He is republican in his principles, and an earnest worker for republican interests.
He was brought up in the Lutheran church, but since his seventeenth year has not been an attend- ant. He is liberal in his views, and hopes to die in peace, returning his remains to the great nature that gave them.
He has made three trips to Europe, and traveled
upon the continent, and through his influence more than three hundred families have emigrated to Bur- lington and its vicinity, increasing its population about fifteen hundred. He is deservedly popular among the German population, and is much es- teemned by his fellow-citizens.
He was married, on the 9th of October, 1852, to Miss Maria Runge, of Burlington, a former resident of Missouri. Her ancestors were descendants of General De Bachella.
Mr. Starker is a well-built man, of fine appearance and handsome features, whom fifty years of age sits very light upon. He is social and entertaining, and possesses in a high degree the confidence of all who know him.
HENRY C. LAUB,
DENISON.
O NE of the first settlers in Crawford county, Iowa, and one of its most enterprising and suc- cessful citizens, is Henry C. Laub, twenty- five years a resident of this state. He is a native of Pennsyl- vania, and was born at Little York, on the 18th of April, 1824, his parents being William and Catherine (Snyder) Laub, both of German extraction. His father was a sergeant-major in the war of 1812, and an uncle was a midshipman with Commodore Perry, and was killed in battle on Lake Erie. William Laub moved to Gettysburgh, Pennsylvania, before Henry C. was a year old; the son, after remaining twelve years in town, and spending four years on a farm in the vicinity, attending a school during about six weeks each winter, at sixteen went to Frederick county, Maryland, learned the shoemak- er's trade, and worked at it in all five or six years. During this period he attended school two or three terms in the preparatory department of Pennsylva- nia College, Gettysburgh ; subsequently taught for three or four years, and in 1852 came as far west as Muscatine, Iowa. There he spent two years, teach- ing the first year and serving as city and township clerk the second.
In the summer of 1854 we find Mr. Laub at Cedar Rapids keeping a small store for a short time, but long enough to have the ague fastened on the whole family, then pushing westward into the adjoining county of Benton, where he farmed one season ; and on the 18th of December, 1855, he unpacked at
Mason's Grove, Crawford county, seven miles from the spot where Denison now stands. In unpacking his trunks, Mr. Laub found the little stock of goods which he had on hand when the ague closed him out at Cedar Rapids; and while he was opening a farm at Mason's Grove, there being no store of any kind within seventy miles of him, he found no trouble in disposing of his little stock. While there he lived in a plank house twelve by thirteen feet, built with his own hands, six persons in the family, and it was then the best house in Crawford county. In the autumn of 1856 Mr. Laub moved to the site of Denison, built a store fourteen by eighteen feet, and has since that time been in the mercantile trade here. At an early day he was elected county super- intendent of schools, and held that position for ten consecutive years. During this period he taught for two winters. He has since served on the county board of supervisors at sundry times, commencing with the first year of such board, and has also held different offices in the city of Denison. Since locat- ing here, in addition to merchandising, Mr. Laub has dealt considerably in lands and live stock, man- aging a farm also from the start. He now has sev- eral farms, cultivating them mainly by renters.
On the ist of August, 1877, he sold out the main part of his mercantile business, and is giving most of his time to settling his affairs.
During the early part of the rebellion, Mr. Laub, by appointment, recruited for the regular army ; and
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when the Indian outbreak occurred in 1862, he vol- ' He gave one thousand dollars toward endowing a unteered to serve on the northwestern frontier, and chair in Simpson Centenary College at Indianola, Iowa. became first lieutenant, company D, Colonel Sawyer's regiment, serving eight or ten months. During this time he furnished a substitute for himself in. the army at the south.
Mr. Laub is a Master Mason, and has taken the degree of Rebecca in Odd-Fellowship.
In politics, he was a whig until 1854, and has since acted with the republicans, being an unwavering party man.
He found his wife, who was Miss Lydia Baer, in Frederick county, Maryland, their union taking place in February, 1847. They have had eight children, all yet living.
Mr. and Mrs. Laub are members of the Methi- odist church, and he is steward and trustee of the same. He is a man of solid christian character, lib- eral toward literary as well as religious enterprises.
Mr. Laub has lived to see Denison spread itself over the hill on which it is located until it numbers fifteen hundred inhabitants, with its dozen large stores, besides smaller ones, some of them in elegant brick blocks ; its two banks, its great union school houses, and its six churches. Few men have done more to make Denison what it is than Mr. Laub.
The true nobility of his nature was seen in early life, before he crossed the Mississippi river to find a home on the Iowa prairies. He was the eldest child in a family of eight children, and assisted his wid- owed mother, left wholly to her own exertions to support them, not only in rearing the younger ones, but in securing a good education for them. He laid a broad foundation of moral principle in early life, and has reared a noble superstructure thereon.
DANIEL T. NEWCOMB,
DAVENPORT.
D ANIEL TOBIAS NEWCOMB, son of Daniel and Elizabeth née Wallace Newcomb, was born in Pittstown, Rensselaer county, New York, on the 25th of July, 1794.
His grandfather, Zacheus Newcomb, was the fifth in descent from the original Captain Andrew New- comb, a native of the West of England, who was . among the earliest settlers of New England, being of Puritan stock, and the founder of the family in America. The first mention which we find of him is dated in the year 1663, in Boston, Massachusetts, at which place he died in 1701."
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