USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 82
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For some years he was in feeble health and re- mained with his sister, Rev. Mrs. W. Fuller, at Stur- gis, Michigan. He engaged in teaching, and soon found one faithful assistant, who remained with him for the rest of his life.
He was married at Coldwater, Michigan, on the 25th of January, 1860, to Miss A. F. Whitford, whom the providence of God still preserves.
He was dismissed, on the 4th of April, 1859, from the Third Presbytery of New York to the Presby- tery of Coldwater, Michigan. He had regained his health, and his preaching was attended with such marked results that he could not doubt the call of God to the work of the christian ministry. He preached his first sermon, after his recovery, at Lima, Indiana, from the text: "My spirit shall not always strive with man." He made such a profound impression that those who heard him will never for- get it.
He preached as a regular supply at Constantine, Michigan, for six months, and then accepted a call from the Presbyterian Church at Hillsdale, Michi- gan. He was installed on the 18th of April, 1860. The sermon was preached by Rev. George Duffield, D.D., of Detroit, from 2 Tim. i, 7-11.
In the winter of 1860 Mr. Knox had a severe hemorrhage of the lungs; his life was in great peril. His church was strongly attached to him, and gave him a leave of absence for several months, but he did not recover sufficiently to resume his labors. He resigned his charge, and during the summer of
1861 visited the island of Mackinaw. Its favoring breezes gave him new life. He felt encouraged to commence preaching, and did so as chaplain to a company of soldiers stationed at Mackinaw. De- siring a milder climate for the winter, he came to Clinton, Iowa, in December, 1862. In May, 1864, he received an invitation from the First Presbyterian Church of Cedar Rapids.
We admire his courage in coming to a church so disorganized and weakened. Mr. Knox had not been here two years when the people felt that they must build a new church. In 1866 they commenced to raise funds for that purpose; the next year, in 1867, the work was commenced, and completed at a cost of thirty-two thousand dollars, and was dedi- cated the last Sunday in February, 1869. Mr. Knox remained pastor of this church to the day of his death, on the roth of October, 1875. Thus passed away a brother and father beloved both for what he was himself and for his works' sake. "Blessed are the dead."
Of the deceased as a husband and father we dare not speak (these ties are too sacred for public rec- ords), but in all the other relations of life which he sustained, it is our privilege to testify that he illus- trated those virtues which should adorn the profes- sion of christian faith and the office of ambassador for Christ. As a citizen and neighbor, he manifested a lively interest in the welfare of the state and com- munity in which he resided. All form of sin, social and public, found in him a fearless and uncompro- mising opponent. The cause of christian educa- tion was near his heart.
From the earliest days of the Coe Collegiate Insti- tute Mr. Knox was greatly interested in and worked faithfully for its establishment upon a solid basis, and especially with the view of preparing young men for the ministry of the gospel of Christ, and providing for the young, generally, an education of high moral and religious tone. His social qualities were prominent ; his genial nature and ardent affec- tions were a free passport to the homes of all who knew him, and made him a favorite among his min- isterial brethren.
As a pastor, he was faithful, discreet and wise. His people confided in him, and committed their troubles to him. In the courts of the church he was a worker, not so much by any brilliant talent, but chiefly by the confidence reposed in him by his brethren. When he was absent, his copresbytery entered on important measures with more hesitation.
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In the pulpit he was always instructive and edifying. His theology was distinctively Pauline, Augustinian, Calvinistic or orthodox, as we may please to term it, in the Presbyterian sense. But it is as a christian, a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal Savior, that we chiefly cherish his memory. His life, his humble walk, his exemplary deportment, and his fervid and faithful advocacy of Christ as an all-sufficient and only Savior, abundantly attest his piety.
Nor is this all. Some time previous to his death
he communicated to one, possibly more, of his breth- ren in Christ, his experience and his ground of hope. He was evidently reviewing the whole question of his personal relation to the Savior. He confessed most unequivocally to his own unworthiness, but as distinctively professed his hope of heaven as resting on God's sovereign mercy and grace; the son aton- ing for his sins, and the spirit working in him the needed meetness. His example is before us, let us follow it. Mr. Knox left a wife and one child, a daughter.
L. S. GROVES, M. D., AFTON.
D R. L. S. GROVES, the leading surgeon and physician in Union county, was born in Perry county, Ohio, on the 20th of February, 1834. His father's name was Frederick Groves; his mother's maiden name was Harriett Selby. His grandfather immigrated from Virginia, and was one of the pioneers of Perry county, bringing with him his son Frederick, then fifteen years of age. This lad, the subsequent father of Dr. Groves, was a farmer, and young L. S. Groves worked upon his father's farm in the sum- mer and attended a district school about two miles distant in the winter, walking the distance in all sorts of weather, intent on the acquisition of knowledge. This he continued to do till he was fourteen years of age, he then went to learn the carpenter's trade of his elder brother in a neighboring village. Here he attended a graded school during most of the winter months, dividing his time between books and the jack-plane. At the last of his four years with his brother he taught school; subsequently he attended the University of Ohio at Athens. . He taught school or worked at his trade in the out-of-session months to obtain money for his tuition and board for the two first years. The last two years were passed almost exclusively at the University, he assuming the duties of janitor and otherwise assisting the faculty in lieu of tuition and board. Although he had secured position in the senior department of the graduating class, he was denied a passage at its examination on account of failing health; he there- fore left the University for recreation; but his finan- cial necessities soon compelled him to seek employ- ment, and he commenced teaching a select school at Deavertown, Ohio. At the same time he com-
menced reading medicine in the office of Dr. Ken- nedy at that place for one year, and completed his office studies under Dr. W. H. Holden, at Millers- town, Ohio. Subsequently he attended a course of lectures at the Starring Medical College at Columbus, Ohio; this was in the winter of 1856-7. He finally graduated at the Medical College of Ohio, Cincin- nati, in March, 1858. He then located at Duncan's Falls, Ohio, and commenced the practice of his pro- fession.
During his first course of lectures the doctor had married Miss Mary E. Cherry, of Deavertown. He continued in the practice of medicine at Duncan's Falls until the spring of 1862, when he removed to Afton, continuing his practice until 1864, when he was commissioned by Governor Stone a surgeon in the army, where he served until the close of the war. On his return to Afton he united the drug business with his practice, and still continues both branches of business. His store is the most complete estab- lishment of the kind in the city.
The doctor's practice of medicine is large and lucrative; he has won an enviable reputation both as a physician and surgeon.
Dr. Groves by no means has a winsome manner about him on first acquaintance, though upon further probing of the man one readily discovers a genial gentleman, as full of modesty as he is full of worth ; a man with a well-stored mind, one who loves his profession, and at the same time loves literature for the sake of literature.
He has not mixed much in the affairs of life out- side his profession, though he has always manifested great interest in the cause of public education; has
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been long an active member of the board of edu- cation, and is now its president. Afton can boast of as good a high school as exists in the State of Iowa.
Dr. Groves has had born to him three sons and four daughters. His eldest daughter is a teacher in the select school of Afton.
He is an inactive Mason, though he has gone through the blue lodge. He has been a member of the Methodist church since he was seventeen years of age. He is a very intelligent and very pro- nounced democrat in politics.
Dr. Groves is preëminently a domestic man; he is never more at heart's ease than when surrounded by his family. His residence is a model establish-
ment, externally and internally. Beautifully situated on the outskirts of Afton, and yet within easy walk- ing distance from his store, it is surrounded with beautiful grounds, while within are evidences of that culture and refinement which ever mark the gentleman and the gentlewoman. A fine library of first-class literature, interspersed with art treasures of various kinds, are among the many attractions of his home. Here, when not professionally engaged, this arbiter of his own good fortune can take solid comfort, and in the company of the wife of his early . love, surrounded by a large and devoted family, take that degree of enjoyment known only to those who have earned the ease and luxury with which they are surrounded.
COLONEL LEANDER CLARK,
TOLEDO.
T HE subject of this brief biography is a native of Huron county, Ohio, and was born in the town of Wakeman on the 17th of July, 1823, his parents being Harmon M. Clark, a physician, and Laura Downs, both of Connecticut. Dr. Clark owned a farm while practicing medicine, and here his family were reared, Leander being the second son in a family of three boys and one girl. He worked on the farm and attended school until about twenty, finishing his education in the preparatory department of Oberlin College. He remained with his father until twenty-three years of age, went to Port Washington, Wisconsin, in 1846; spent nearly three years there in surveying, and in a drug store owned by his elder brother, Dr. P. H. Clark; in 1849 crossed the plains in the great waves of Saxon gold seekers; returned in 1852 with between three and four thousand dollars; traveled and prospected sixteen or eighteen months, and in the spring of 1854 came to Iowa and took up land, and built a saw-mill in the township of Geneseo, Tama county, four miles from the village of Traer.
In 1857 Mr. Clark was elected county judge, and moved to Toledo, the county seat. After holding the office by reelection nearly four years, he resigned and returned to his farm. In 1861 was elected to the lower house of the general assembly; served in the regular session in the early part of 1862 ; enlisted in the following August in the 24th Iowa Infantry; rendezvoused at Muscatine as captain, company E,
and while the regiment was there he attended the extra session of the legislature, heartily supporting every war measure of that body. In October the regiment went into the field, and Captain Clark ac- companied it for nearly three years, and was in all its engagements but one or two. In September, 1864, he was promoted to major, and in January, 1865, to lieutenant-colonel. At the battle of Cham- pion Hill, Mississippi, May 16, 1863, he received a small ball in his face, and still carries it there. He was mustered out with the regiment in August, 1865. Persons who served under him in the gallant 24th give the colonel credit for being a brave officer, never absent from duty, and never quailing in the thickest of the fight.
Returning to Tama county in the autumn of 1865, he was again elected to the lower house of the gen- eral assembly, serving one term. He was chairman of the committee on claims, and did important work on other committees.
For the last ten years Colonel Clark has been in the land and banking business. He is president of the Toledo Savings Bank, an institution organized under the state laws, and very popular ; it has about fifty stockholders.
He has one of the finest residences in Toledo, centrally located in an acre-and-a-quarter lot, which has an abundance of shade and fruit trees, and arboral adornments. Aside from his interest in the bank and other property in town, he owns large
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tracts of land in Tama, Franklin and Buena Vista counties. He has been quite successful in his land and other operations.
In politics, Colonel Clark was originally a whig, and has been a republican since the formation of that party. He is a Freemason, being a member of the blue lodge.
In religious sentiment he inclines toward the Con- gregationalists. He is generous hearted, kind to the poor, obliging to all classes, cordial and gentlemanly, and a liberal entertainer.
His wife was Miss Maria A. Barker, of Toledo, their union dating February 14, 1867.
Colonel Clark is above the average height, being five feet and eleven inches tall, and weighing one hundred and eighty pounds. He has seen his share of frontier life, "ronghed it" in Wisconsin and Iowa at an early day, "roughed it " over the bison's home and in California, "roughed it " nearly three years' service in the "tented field," yet has always taken good care of himself, and is one of the best pre- served men in Tama county.
WEST B. BONNIFIELD,
OTTUMWA.
W EST BENSON BONNIFIELD, the leading banker of Ottumwa, was born in Randolph county, Virginia, on the 23d of February, 1827. His great-great-grandfather, Luke Bonnifield, was a na- tive of England, and on his arrival in this country settled where the city of Washington, District of Co- lumbia, now stands. There the family continued to reside until the grandfather of our subject, Samuel Bonnifield, removed to Hampshire county, Virginia, where Rhodham Bonnifield, the father of our sub- ject, was born in 1789, and who, on reaching matu- rity, removed to Randolph county, where, in 1811, he married Nancy Minier, a lady of German descent. Out of a family of thirteen children born to them, seven are at this writing (1878) still living. In 1836 the family removed to the tract of land then known as the "Black-Hawk Purchase," and settled in that portion now known as Jefferson county, Iowa. Here they struggled with the many adversities which en- compassed all early settlers until 1840, when both parents died, leaving their large family dependent entirely upon their own exertions for support. The educational facilities in this new and sparsely settled country were extremely limited; and after a few years on the home farm, with winters spent in at- tending school at the "log school-house of the per- iod," our subject decided that something must be done to obtain more extended opportunities for the improvement of his mind, and accordingly hired out for a few months, and invested his scanty earnings in tuition in what was then known as the Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute. Here he remained until his money was exhausted, when he obtained a situation, and for a time taught school near Bur-
lington. With the money thus earned he started with his brothers, Allen M. and M. S., in 1849, for the Alleghany College, at Meadville, Pennsylvania. There being no railroads, the brothers traveled on foot nearly all the way from Burlington to Chicago. He spent about two years in this college, when, his means becoming again exhausted, he went to Ken- tucky, and for eighteen months taught school. His health becoming impaired through close application to study, he was obliged to forego, for a time at least, the great aim and ambition of his life, the attainment of a good education, and went to California, where for six years he was engaged in mining and stock raising, in which pursuits he met with moderately good success. In 1860 Mr. Bonnifield returned to Ottumwa, Iowa, on a visit to some friends, and finally concluded to locate and commence business there. After conducting a private banking house for a few years, he, on the passage of the national banking act in 1863, organized and became the president of the First National Bank of Ottumwa, which position he still holds. This institution was one of the first organized, and is considered one of the safest, most prosperous and well conducted banks of the west. Mr. Bonnifield has been largely interested in the coal business ; was president of the Iowa Central Coal Company; also treasurer of the Saint Louis and Cedar Rapids Railroad Company from its or- ganization in 1865 to its completion and transfer to the Saint Louis and Northern in 1871, and is now (1878) president of the Ottumwa Water Power Com- pany, which has a capital of one hundred thousand dollars.
Though brought up in the democratic faith, Mr.
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Bonnifield was an ardent supporter of the war, and has since voted with the republican party ; never, however, taking an active part in politics.
He was married on the 28th of October, 1862, to
Miss Alcinda Inskeep, of Hillsborough, Ohio, a lady of fine collegiate education; rare literary taste, and a devoted christian mother. They have three chil- dren, Mary Thrall, Lizzie Brooks, and Willie Benson.
HON. SAMUEL H. KINNE,
LANSING.
S AMUEL HORACE KINNE, state senator from Allamakee county, is of remote Scotch descent, and comes from a very early Rhode Island family. His father, Jonathan Kinne, now in his seventy-ninth year, lives on the same farm in the town of Butter- nuts, Otsego county, New York, where his father was born. The great grandfather of Samuel H. was an officer in the revolutionary army. Our subject was born in Butternuts on the 18th of February, 1832. The maiden name of his mother was Lydia Haynes, whose grandfather was a Hessian, who deserted from the British army and came to the new world.
Senator Kinne received an academic education at Gilbertsville, in his native county, studying the classics as well as the higher English branches, and reading law with Hon. H. Sturges, since a judge, thus fitting himself for his future career in profes- sional life. He was admitted to the bar at Morris- ville, Madison county, in May, 1856; remained in the office of Judge Sturges one year, but wishing to win fame and fortune for himself, he left his native home, and on the 7th of May, 1857, settled at his present home in the northeastern part of the State of Iowa. He added real estate to his legal practice, and soon became known, financially and profession- ally, as a successful and reliable business man. He excels in commercial law, and his collecting' and real estate are both very remunerative branches of his business.
Senator Kinne was elected mayor of Lansing in 1869, and held that office three years consecutively. In 1871 he was elected to the state senate, was re- elected four years later, and is now (1878) attending the second session of his second term in the general assembly. Though a democrat, in a strongly repub- lican legislature, he has usually been placed on im- portant committees, such as railroads, constitutional amendments, etc. At the opening of the seventeenth assembly, now in session, a new committee on court fees and jury expenses was created, and Senator Kinne was placed on that, and also on six other committees, always performing his duties in an able and conscientious manner.
His affiliations have always been with the demo- cratic party. During the progress of the rebellion he was active in recruiting men, and was known as a "war democrat." He was a delegate to the na- tional democratic convention which met in Balti- more in 1872 and nominated Horace Greeley for President. He is a Knight Templar in the Masonic order, and has been master of the local lodge for several years, still holding that position.
In religious sentiment, he leans to the Episco- palians, with whom the family worship.
His wife was Miss Mary J., daughter of Hon. Enos T. Halbert, of Gilbertsville, New York; married on the 26th of October, 1857. They have three chil- dren, and have lost one child.
HON. JAMES RICE,
OSCEOLA.
T HE father of Judge Rice was a Pennsylvanian by birth, and came to Shelby county, Ken- tucky, in the year 1800, and Judge Rice was born in that place on the 29th of October, 1820. His mother's maiden name was Mary Cooper, a native of Kentucky. His father married at Shelby about 58
the year 1805. He was a carpenter and joiner by profession, but he inherited a fine farm by his mar- riage, which he settled upon and cultivated, and at the same time prosecuted his mechanical business. These people had born to them seven children,- four boys and three girls,-Judge Rice being the
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youngest of these children. His father died at Shelby in 1822, and his mother in Indiana in 1875, at the advanced age of eighty-seven. Judge Rice commenced going to school when but five years of age, and at six could read very well. He continued to attend school until he was eleven years of age, at which time the family removed to Montgomery county, Indiana. Here the judge went to a district school occasionally, in the winter months, working meanwhile upon the farm until 1843, when he re- tired from agricultural pursuits to a high school in that county, and subsequently attended school and taught for four years. His health failing him he returned to the farm, where he remained for eight years, during which time he read law, and was made justice of the peace, which office he held for five years. He possessed himself of a law library, and continued his study of law. At the end of eight years he entered the senior law department of As- bury University, Indiana, from which he graduated in the winter of 1856. He married, in 1846, Miss Mary G. Hufstedler, of Indiana.
Upon his graduation he came with his family to Osceola, and commenced the practice of law. He was appointed, by the board of supervisors, county judge, in January, 1861, which office he continued
to hold for nine years, continuing his practice in other courts of the state during his official term.
In 1871 he was elected to the fourteenth general assembly of the state legislature. This was an un- usually long term,-lasting in all one hundred and forty days,-with an intermediate adjournment. Judge Rice acted upon the judiciary committee which produced the "Code of Iowa." At the general election of 1874 he was elected to fill a vacancy in the state senate. He is still in the practice of law.
He has had born to him eight children, seven boys (two of whom are dead) and one girl.
Judge Rice has ever been a strong Presbyterian churchman, and has been an elder in the church for twenty years. He has taken great interest in educa- tional matters, and in the Sabbath school. He is a staid and dignified person, large in stature, though never possessed of very sound health. He is uni- versally respected by all who know him, and is re- garded as a sound lawyer and an able jurist.
He was originally a whig in politics, voting for Henry Clay, General Taylor, General Scott and General Fremont. He joined the republican party upon its formation, voting the two terms for Mr. Lincoln, for General Grant the first term, and for Peter Cooper in 1876.
FRANCIS A. KILBURN,
MONTEZUMA.
F RANCIS ASBURY KILBURN, one of the oldest and most successful merchants in Powe- shiek county, dates his birth in the town of Gilsum, Cheshire county, New Hampshire, the 21st of Feb- ruary, 1820. His father, Iddo Kilburn, was a farmer, and reared his two sons in the strictest habits of industry and good morals. The Kilburns were origi- nally from England, and settled in Connecticut. The grandfather of Francis A settled on and cleared the farm on which the subject of this notice was born. Iddo Kilburn was in the war of 1812-15; his wife was Abigail Samson, of whose ancestry but little is known.
Francis A. was educated in the district and high school, and at nineteen moved to Hartford, Vermont; taught school six winters in that state, farming the rest of the season; and in October, 1851, settled in Montezuma, where he has since been a steady resi- dent. During the first few weeks before commencing
business for himself he husked corn at seventy-five cents a day and boarded himself. Shortly afterward he commenced mercantile business on a very small scale. Going to Keokuk, a distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles, with a two-horse team, he pur- chased about one hundred and fifty dollars' worth of goods, mainly groceries, one small trunk contain- ing all of the dry goods, of which calicoes were the principal article. He sold part of the goods on the wagon, and his wife sold the balance in a small room of their private house, while he went for an additional assortment. They soon moved into a large room in the old court-house, which, by the aid of curtains, was divided into store, dining room, kitchen and dormitory. Mr. Kilburn soon hired a one-story building on the north side of the public square, which was used for both store and dwelling- house, each apartment being about thirteen feet by twenty-five feet. Subsequently he built on the south
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