USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 88
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was forced to abandon his farming proclivities. He however had his wild land converted into three large farms, which he sold.
In 1858 he was elected vice-president of the State Board of Agriculture, and in the succeeding year was made president.
On the 5th day of January, 1865, a meeting was held in a country school-house, upon the prairie in Mahaska county, for the purpose of organizing a company for the construction of the Central Rail- road of Iowa. Mr. Fisher prepared the articles of incorporation, which were adopted then and there, Mr. Fisher being elected one of the directors, and subsequently elected by the board as its secretary. The enterprise was conducted with great vigor, and the road, about one hundred and thirty miles in length, was completed in four or five years, and is now a very important link in the railway system of the state.
Desirous of placing his two sons in business, he began to look about the state for a proper location, and determined upon Red Oak as a suitable place, to which point he removed in 1871. Here he im- mediately commenced the practice of law.
In May, 1872, he purchased a half interest in the Red Oak " Express," and became its editor, running the paper through the Grant campaign. In 1872 he was elected mayor of Red Oak, declining a renomi- nation at the close of his first term. He is now in full practice of his profession, though he is a part- ner with his son, Z. T. Fisher, junior, in one of the largest hardware establishments in the State of Iowa.
We have here but briefly sketched the career of this eminently self-made man. His parents were burthened with a large family, and had but slender means, and Zelotes had to fight his way along the rugged paths of boyhood as best he could. At the age of eighteen years he had the misfortune to lose his right arm, thus disqualifying him for any agri- cultural pursuit, which no doubt was the natural bent of his mind. Under the most discouraging circum- stances we find him trying to learn. His indomitable will, ever encouraged by the kindly words and coun- sel of his devoted mother, nerves him on to renewed exertions. He abandons physic for law, in the prac- tice of which he has had an enviable professional and financial success, and now in his fifty-eighth year he is in splendid condition, both physically and mentally.
Mr. Fisher claims that his great success in life has come from two causes ; first, he had one of the very
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best of mothers, who inspired him to early exertion, and secondly, he has one of the very best of wives ever vouchsafed to man, who in his maturer years has ever been his counsel and advice, and to whose clear judgment he owes much of the good fortune that has followed his life. His family at present
consists of his wife, five sons and three daughters, one daughter having died.
In politics, Mr. Fisher is a very active republican, frequently appearing before his fellow-citizens in this and adjoining counties. He is a powerful and ready speaker.
REUPKE, SCHMIDT AND SCHWARTING,
DAVENPORT.
A MONG the many manufacturing interests of the northwest, none deserve more favorable men- tion than the firm of Reupke, Schmidt and Schwart- ing, cracker and biscuit manufacturers, Davenport, Iowa. The firm, although still in its infancy, has gained for itself an enviable reputation throughout the country, and established a trade wherever they are known. They are comparatively young men, but they are ambitious and enterprising, and are doing a large and very lucrative business, which is steadily growing every year. They established their busi- ness on the ist of July, 1874, with a capital of six- teen thousand dollars, their building for manufac- turing purposes being about one-half its present size, and employed a force of from ten to fifteen hands, and manufacturing about sixteen thousand barrels of crackers per annum. From the time they started their success was guaranteed, and they very soon had to enlarge their factory and put in new machinery to keep up with their orders. They now occupy a fine two-story brick forty-two by one hun- dred and fifty feet on its original situation, corner of Fourth and Iowa streets, and employ from eighteen to twenty hands constantly, requiring a capital of thirty thousand dollars, with a produce of thirty-five thousand barrels of crackers per annum, their sales amounting to from ninety to one hundred thousand
dollars. Their success may be attributed to their energy, perseverance and business ability, as well as the superior quality of the goods made by them.
Charles H. Reupke, the senior of the firm, was born in Europe. However, he came to this country while quite young, and engaged in the grocery business for a number of years successfully. He is a self- made man in every particular and owes his success to his own unaided ability and energy, and has par- ticular qualifications as a manager.
Hugo Schmidt was born in Prussia, and came to this country when fifteen years old. He has filled many positions of honor and trust; has acted as sur- veyor, draftsman, bookkeeper, and, for fourteen years prior to going into this business, as a banker. He has the charge of the financiering and money matters of the firm, to which he is eminently qualified.
Bernard Schwarting runs the Walcott Flouring Mills, and supplies the factory with twenty to thirty barrels of flour per day. He is interested also in the grocery business, and not active in the bakery.
Altogether the firm is a good one. They are keen, active business men, and are building up an im- mense trade, which their good management and close attention will constantly improve. They ship all over the west, and their goods are growing into de- mand and popularity.
R. WALLACE DUNCAN,
.ILBIA.
R. WALLACE DUNCAN, the member of the general assembly from the eighth district, is a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, and dates his birth on the 13th of January, 1836. His father, Thomas Duncan, a descendant of an old Scotch family, is a farmer, still living in Trumbull county.
Ohio. His mother was Susan Leach, descended from New Jersey stock. The grandfather of Wal- lace, John Duncan, was a soldier in the second war with England.
The subject of this notice early imbibed a strong love for books, and became a great reader. Most
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of his youth was spent in intellectual pursuits, and he received his academic education at Warren and Lordstown, in his native state. He went as far as the middle of the junior year in the classical course of the college at Mount Union, teaching meanwhile more or less, then left and taught steadily for ten years, principally select schools and academies, at Austintown, Oldtown, Mineral Ridge, and at one or two other places in Ohio. He taught the English branches and classics, and as far as we can ascertain was an expert in English grammar and mathematics.
In 1867 Mr. Duncan ceased to teach ; immigrated to Iowa, and has since been in the hardware and grain business with an elder brother, John R. Dun- can, constituting a house of high standing in Mon- roe county, and quite successful in its business op- erations. Wallace pays no attention to the hardware store, his specialty being the grain department. He also deals largely in agricultural implements, wagons and machines.
Mr. Duncan has always been a democrat, but not a bitter partisan. In 1877 his party nominated him a candidate for the lower house of the general as-
sembly, and though living in a strong republican district, he received a majority of more than three hundred votes.
Mr. Duncan has a wife and three children, his marriage occurring on the 11th of October, 1860. His wife was Miss Laura E. Jones, of Trumbull county, Ohio. She is a member of the Christian church, where the whole family worship. Though not a member, her husband is a regular attendant at the house of God, and a firm believer in the funda- mental doctrines of Christianity.
The taste for reading which Mr. Duncan culti- vated with great assiduity in youth has never aban- doned him. He continues to gratify it with una- bated ardor, and to no meagre or mean extent. The writer heard him remark not long ago that, however pressing his business, he read his three hours a day, even though he could not commence till ten o'clock at night. His reading is not all news- papers, but mainly solid works. He has a love for the newer branches of science, and for literature of the standard class, the gratification of which must to some extent daily expand and enrich his mind.
HON. GEORGE W. MCCRARY,
KEOKUK.
G EORGE W. MCCRARY, secretary of war J (1878), was born near Evansville, Indiana, on the 29th of August, 1835, his parents being James and Matilda Mccrary née Forrest. His father was one of the pioneers who settled in what is now Van Buren county, Iowa, in 1836, when it was a part of the Territory of Wisconsin. In 1838 Iowa became an independent territory, and in 1846 a state of the Union. Hence it will be seen that Mr. McCrary has grown up and developed with a large region of country having a common interest, and producing four or five fine states.
He is of Scotch-Irish descent ; his ancestors emigrated from Scotland in the early part of the eighteenth century, and settled in the neighborhood of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from whence his great- grandfather, James McCrary, moved to North Car- olina prior to the war of the revolution, and settled in what was then Rowan, but now Iredell, county ; there his grandfather, John McCrary, was born and reared ; and his father, James McCrary, was also born and lived there until he was about nineteen 62
years of age, when the family removed to Tennessee, about the year 1812; lived there about ten years, and then removed to Indiana, and from thence, in 1835 (the year of his birth), to McDonough county, Illinois, where the family resided about a year, and then moved across the Mississippi river to where he was raised. George W. attended the common schools of the district where the family settled, and also an academy, receiving quite a thorough Eng- lish education, and enjoying some, though not great, advantages in the acquisition of knowledge in the higher branches of learning. His early experiences were such as are common to a pioneer's son, namely, plenty of manual labor, which was always cheerfully and dutifully performed, and the usual vicissitudes of frontier life. As a result, however, a fine physical development was secured, and, what is of equal importance, he acquired habits of industry and strict sobriety. His tastes were always toward the intellectual, and consequently toward the improve- ment, of his mind.
He had early determined to make the practice of
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law his occupation, and his first step after leaving school was to enter the law office of Miller and Rankin, of Keokuk. The first-named, Hon. Samuel F. Miller, is now one of the associate justices of the supreme court of the United States. Applying him- self studiously, he was admitted to the bar in 1856, the year of casting his first vote, and determined to settle permanently in Keokuk, in which city he continued to reside, and has ever since regarded it as his home.
In 1857, when only about 'twenty-two years of age, he was elected to the house of representatives of Iowa, by the combined vote of several of the southeastern counties, as a " float," and served two years. He was the youngest member of that body. In 1861 he was elected to the state senate from the county of Lee, which had hitherto been overwhelm- ingly democratic. In this position he served four years, and became conspicuous for his personal ability and wide-spread influence. Then came a period of laborious and eminently successful efforts in the line of his profession. In 1868, at the early age of thirty-three years, he was elected a member of the national house of representatives, and took his seat in the forty-first congress as one of the youngest of the members of that body. He was reëlected to the forty-second, the forty-third and the forty-fourth congresses, and always with the most flattering majorities. This brought his range of public service up to the 4th of March, 1877, when, on the organization of President Hayes' cabinet, Mr. McCrary was offered and accepted the honor- able position of secretary of war, and, it may be added, no one of the selections made by the chief magistrate has met with more universal approval.
Upon entering congress Mccrary took position very quickly. He was assigned immediately to the committees on naval affairs, revision of the laws, and elections; as a member of the latter, he dis- tinguished himself most signally. The considera- tion and decision of election contests gave play to his extensive legal knowledge, and his strong love of justice and fair play enabled him to rise above party prejudice and decide such cases upon their merits only. He at once took rank as one of the best lawyers in the body, and as an authority upon election law. In the forty-second congress speaker Blaine, in accordance with the general desire of his fellow-members, appointed Mr. McCrary chairman of the committee on elections; in this position his services were highly honorable and successful. With
his own party in a majority of more than two-thirds in the house, he induced that body for the first time in its history to vote upon election cases without regard to party lines; and a majority of the cases considered and reported by him were decided in favor of his political opponents. His reports were all adopted, and most of them without a division. When the forty-third congress assembled, and the questions relating to transportation, and the import- ant matters connected with the subject of inter-state commerce, were absorbing public interest and atten- tion, "Mr. McCrary was made chairman of the com- mittee on railways and canals, to which all these subjects were referred. He took hold instantly, and labored with his usual thoroughness and vigor ; he prepared a report on the constitutional power of congress to regulate railroad commerce among the states, which was and still is regarded as exhaustive, comprehensive and conclusive ; he reported a bill on the subject, and advocated it before the house with remarkable power. After one of the most memorable debates on record it passed that body, but was not reached for consideration in the senate.
In the forty-fourth congress Mr. McCrary was se- lected by speaker Kerr (the democrats now being in the majority) as a member of the committee on the judiciary, where he served with his usual in- dustry, ability and success. He was the author of a bill to reorganize the judiciary of the United States, which he advocated on the floor as well as in committee, and which passed the house by a large majority. After the presidential election of 1876, when it was seen that the country was about evenly divided in opinion as to the result of the contest, and that the two branches of congress were sure to differ, not only as to that result, but also as to the proper authority to decide it, George W. McCrary was the first to step forward with a proposition for the adoption of a lawful and peaceful solution of the difficulty. He proposed the joint committee, and was himself a leading member of it, taking an active part in the preparation of the electoral bill, and in its advocacy in the house. He believes, and most people will agree with him, that under all the cir- cumstances this was a wise measure of statesman- ship, which has given the country peace instead of turmoil, excitement, and perhaps civil war.
Secretary McCrary was raised in the Christian denomination, a largely influential body of religious people in the west, and has been a Unitarian for twenty years past.
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In politics, he has always been a republican, and cast his first vote for General John C. Fremont in 1856.
He was married to Miss Helen A. Gelatt, a resi- dent of Van Buren county, Iowa, on the 11th of March, 1857. Mrs. McCrary is of a sterling type of American womanhood, intelligent, practical and energetic ; is possessed of the finest religious, moral and domestic instincts, and capable of adorning any position into which she may be carried by the con- stantly advancing fortunes of her partner in life. Their union has been blessed with five children, the eldest and youngest being sons. Of the daughters, two ere long will approach the period of entering into society. The boys and girls alike are being educated in consonance with the views of their parents, solely and with reference to their usefulness as men and women.
The secretary is somewhat less than six feet in height, is finely proportioned, rather muscular, and weighs about two hundred and ten pounds. He has a slight, scholarly stoop, arising no doubt from his studious habits. His expression of countenance is
frank and benevolent. Great equanimity of mind, and a disposition to weigh matters carefully and justly, are prominent traits of his character ; but back of these lies an immense fund of energy for the prosecution of any cause his judgment commends. In speech, he is remarkably easy, fluent and instruct- ive, especially during his social hours. Before the public, he is strong, logical and impressive, using, in his most carefully prepared addresses, sturdy Saxon language, and his voice on such occasions is full, clear and ringing. True in his friendships, kind to the poor and rich alike, with naught of venom ever coming from his tongue, he is a general favorite with all who know him.
Mr. McCrary is one of the growing men of the republic, and, if life be spared, will continue to be heard from. In every station he has always come fully up to the expectation of his friends. It is seldom, even in this country, or indeed in any other, that at the age of forty-two years any person has had so large an experience, and, under its influence, expanded so well. His example is truly an excellent one for the ambitious youth of our land to imitate.
JOHN VAN NESSE EVANS,
LOGAN.
O NE of the youngest attorneys whose names ap- pear in this volume is John Van Nesse Evans, who has been only seven years at the bar, and is already at the head of the profession in Harrison county. He is a native of the Empire State, and was born in the town of Shelby, Genesee county, on the 8th of January, 1847. His paternal great- grandfather was in the battle of Bennington, Ver- mont, on the 16th of September, 1777. He came from Wales, and settled in Otsego county, New York, where Barnabas Evans, the father of John Van Nesse, was born. His wife was Julia Ann Brown, a native of Pownel, Bennington county, Ver- mont.
The subject of this sketch spent his youth in Ak- ron, Erie county, six miles from his birthplace, at- tending a district school in the winters and farming the rest of the time. In October, 1863, the family moved to De Witt, Clinton county, Iowa, reaching there on the 30th of the month. After farming there two seasons, the son entered Lenox Collegiate Institute, Hopkinton, Delaware county, Iowa, spend-
ing most of the years of 1865 and 1866 there, and nearly all of the next two years at Monmouth Col- lege, Knox county, Illinois, pursuing the scientific course, yet giving some attention to German and the classics, but not graduating. During this period and afterward he taught school to defray expenses, six or seven terms in all. Whatever education he has, literary or legal, he obtained by his own re- sources.
Mr. Evans read law with George B. Young, of De . Witt, and was admitted to the bar at Clinton, on the 7th of December, 1870. His mother had died at De Witt two years before; his father followed her in 1872, and after practicing a year or more at De Witt, in the autumn of 1871 he removed to western Iowa, settling at Magnolia, then the shiretown of Harrison county. In the autumn of 1875 he moved, with the county records, to his present home, where he is building up practice of the best quality and of liberal extent. For the last two years he has been county attorney. Young as he is, his position is at the head of the Harrison county bar.
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Mr. Evans is a member of the chapter in Odd- Fellowship, and is a blue-lodge Mason.
His religious connection is with the Methodists; his political, with the republicans.
His wife, who was Miss Clara M. King, is a daugh- ter of Stephen King, late judge of Harrison county, and residing near Logan. They were married on the 16th of June, 1875, and have one child.
While reading law as well as while pursuing his literary studies, Mr. Evans taught school, and be- fore he was admitted to practice had learned the full value of time and money. That was one of his most important lessons, and he has not forgotten it. Every spare moment is now devoted to study, mainly in the line of his profession; hence his rapid progress and his high standing at so early an age.
JOHN A. NASH, D. D.,
DES MOINES.
OHN ANSON NASH, president of the Univer- J sity of Des Moines, and an educator of much experience and eminence, is a native of Chenango county, New York, and was born in the town of Sherburne, on the 11th of July, 1816. His parents were John and Elizabeth Peck Nash, his mother being a sister of Rev. John Peck, long an agent of the American Baptist Home Mission Society. An uncle, Moses Nash, was in the war of 1812-15.
The subject of this sketch lost his father before the son was five years old, and was reared on a farm by an aunt in Otsego county. At the age of twenty he entered the preparatory department of Madison University; graduated from the university in 1842, and from the theological seminary at the same place in 1844. His first pastorate was at Watertown, New York, where he spent six years, leaving there in July, 1850. On the 3d of the next January he reached Des Moines, which has since been his home. He immediately gathered the few Baptists together, or- ganized a church, and was its pastor between seven- teen and eighteen years, teaching also the larger part of this period. About 1853 he started a select school, which soon grew into what was long known as Forest Home Seminary, the only classical school during its existence.
Des Moines being centrally located in the state, and some inducements being held out to the Bap- tists, it was resolved to establish an institution here of the highest order, and the University of Des Moines is the result of that movement, organized in April, 1865. Dr. Nash became its financial agent, and labored in that. capacity, with some interrup- tions, for four years, until his health broke down. This was not, however, until some time after the brick building on the hill in Des Moines had been
completed, and the institution was in operation there. During the period that he was regaining his health Dr. Nash was superintendent of schools for Polk county, his term expiring on the Ist of Janu- ary, 1874. Prior to this date, in the autumn of 1872, he became acting president of the university, and was at its head three years, when Hon. Frederick Mott became president. After holding that posi- tion a little more than a year, President Mott re- signed, and Dr. Nash was again placed in the presi- dential chair (May, 1877), where we still find him, laboring with the utmost assiduity to build up the university. From the time it was opened in April, 1866, its corps of teachers has been gradually in- creased and its curriculum enlarged until it em- braces a full college course. It is open to both males and females, and graduated its first class in 1875. Each year shows a steady increase of stu- dents, and being located at the capital, it can hardly fail of becoming in time one of the great centers of educational influence in Iowa. It has an endow- ment of something like thirty thousand dollars, which, no doubt, will be doubled or quadrupled in a very few years.
Dr. Nash was, we believe, originally an anti-sla- very whig, and has voted with the republican party since it was formed.
He has had two wives : the first was Miss Jennie C. Calhoun, of Pittsford, Monroe county, New York ; married in July, 1846. She died childless on the 3d of February, 1851. His present wife was Miss Mary E. Hepburn, a native of New York, residing at the time of her marriage (March 15, 1853,) at Augusta, Lee county, Iowa. She is the mother of four children, all living. John Alasco, the only son, was educated at the university and the law school
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of Des Moines, and is an attorney in this city; Jennie C. is in the senior year of the same college ; Netta in the junior year, and Hattie, aged eleven, is in the public schools.
Since Dr. Nash located in Des Moines, at the opening of 1851, he has accomplished a great relig- ious as well as educational work, organizing two Baptist churches, one on each side of the river, in Des Moines, and being largely instrumental in the formation of nearly thirty others in central Iowa.
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