USA > Iowa > The blue book of Iowa women; a history of contemporary women; > Part 10
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The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. CHARLES W. MULLAN
Prominent among the women of Waterloo and one whose history has been closely allied with the city and whose father-in-law surveyed, platted and named that city, is Mrs. Charles W. Mullan. Emma Lucy Ham- mond Mullan was born Dec. 15, 1851, in Paris, Oneida county, N. Y. She is the daughter of William Ham- mond, who came to Waterloo in 1855, and established the first bank and real estate office in that city, and the second bank of the state. Her mother was Frances Chesebro Babcock, a woman of rare beauty and grace of character. She was a gentle woman of the old type, who painted in water colors, did exquisite needle work and read carefully selected literature. She was descended from the historic Perry family. Matthew Calbraith Perry, the American naval officer, who opened commerce with Japan, was her grandfather's brother, as was also Commodore Oliver H. Perry, who defeated the British in the battle of Lake Erie. The late Rev. Maltby Babcock, who was pastor of the Brick Presbyterian church of New York, and Edward Noyes Westcott, author of David Harum, were cousins. Kendric C. Babcock, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences of the University of Illinois, is a cousin. Mrs. Mullen was educated in a seminary conducted by Miss Anna Field, of Mt. Holyoke, and a pupil of Mary Lyon. She was married Nov. 6, 1782, to Charles W. Mullen and has four children. Chas. W. Mullen was born Dec. 31, 1845, son of Charles Mullen,, one of the first settlers of Black Hawk county, go- ing there in 1846. He surveyed, platted and named the city of Waterloo. He and his wife, a woman of great strength of character, endured many hardships
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of pioneer life. Their son was educated in the Upper Iowa University, read law with a private tutor and was admitted to the bar in 1870. He served as city solicitor, as county attorney and in 1897 was elected state senator, serving in the 27th and 28th general as- semblies. He resigned in 1900 to accept the office of Attorney General, which office he held until 1913, when he was appointed Judge of the Tenth Judicial District, the position he now holds.
Mrs. Mullen is a member of the Congregational church, in which she has been an active member since she was thirteen years of age. She is a member of the Waterloo Woman's Club, the second oldest woman's club in Iowa. She is a charter member of the Fort- nightly Club, a member of the P. E. O. sisterhood and of the Ladies of the G. A. R. Her life work has been to rear her family, and right well has she accomplished that task. Her oldest son, Charles Hammond, is a graduate of Iowa College, and resides in St. Paul, be- ing department manager of the Minneapolis Dry Goods Co. Her daughter, Frances Gertrude Blair, is a graduate of Iowa College and resides in Des Moines, the wife of Mr. John Blair, First Vice President of the Des Moines National Bank. The third child, Alice May Walker, was also a student at Iowa College, is the wife of Carl R. Walker of St. Cair, Mich., manager of the Diamond Chrystal Salt Co. The younger son, Al- fred William, is a graduate of Iowa College and of the law department of the State University of Iowa. He very successfully practiced his profession in Waterloo for several years when because of ill health he tempor- arily gave up the law and is now in the U. S. forestry service in New Mexico.
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MISS S. ELIZABETH MATHENEY
The woman who holds the record in Iowa, if not in all the United States, in the length of tenure of a state office, is Miss Sarah Elizabeth Matheney of Keokuk, who has for twenty-three consecutive years been secre- tary of the Rebekah Assembly I. O. O. F. of Iowa. She was born near St. Francisville, Mo., March 8, 1861. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew N. Matheney, came to Iowa in 1853. Her father was a shoe manufacturer and later in the retail business. Miss Matheney, after graduating from the high school and a business col- lege, for many years aided her father in the store, and it was here she got the business training, which has made her the expert in keeping the records of the more than 41,000 members who comprise the Rebekah as- sembly of Iowa. When she was elected to this office in 1891 there were 74 lodges with a membership of 4,000; there are in 1914, in Iowa, 566 lodges with a membership of 41,000. She has done much to promote this remarkable advancement. Many of the laws and the improved methods in the state work are due to her insight and realization of the needs of the Degree. She is perhaps the best known woman in the organization and is a woman of great influence. The Journals of the State Proceedings which she issues annually are models of their kind. She is a devoted member of the M. E. church, and of the Bible school. She is a mem- ber of the Civic League of Keokuk and has served the organization as treasurer. Miss Matheney is appre- ciated, not only in her public service, but in her home, where she has ever been a most devoted daughter and sister, always ready to sacrifice her own interest and advancement for the love and care of those who were ill or needed her aid.
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MRS. DOROTHY CHRISTY KETCHAM
Dorothy Christy Ketcham enjoys the distinction of belonging to one of the oldest and most prominent families of Van Buren county, Iowa, being the daugh- ter of Thos. Christy, who came from Harrison county. Ohio, in 1842, and Sarah Johnson Christy, who came from Fountain county, Indiana, in 1837. Her father was prominent in the commercial and political affairs of the state and county during his life. He served as County Supervisor in 1873 and as a member of the State Legislature in 1876. He organized the Farmers & Traders' State Bank of Bonaparte, Iowa, which was the first bank in the county and was active in the management of it until his death in 1887. Her mother, who is still living, now resides at Bonaparte, Iowa, in the same home where she entered as a bride sixty years ago, this being the birthplace of Mrs. Ketcham on June 16, 1876.
Miss Christy became the wife of B. F. Ketcham, Nov. 29, 1899, after which they spent a year in Donnell- son where her husband was cashier of the Citizens' Mutual Bank. They came to Farmington in 1900, where they have since lived, Mr. Ketcham being the vice-president of the First National Bank of Farming- ton. They have one child, Helen Christy Ketcham.
Mrs. Ketcham is a graduate of the Bonaparte High School. Her ancestry on both sides for several genera- tions back were of the Presbyterian faith, but since coming to Farmington Mrs. Ketcham affiliates with the Congregational church. She is active in society and club work. She is president of chapter O, P. E. O. She is a modest, dignified and charming woman whose influence is pronounced in behalf of all that is noble and lofty in sentiment.
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MRS. J. B. MORRISON
Toma Espy Morrison, the wife of Col. Joseph Mor- rison, was born in Ft. Madison, June 11, 1849, the daughter of Stephen Barlow Espy and Rebecca Cutler. She received her education in Shelbyville, Ill., Semi- nary, Denmark Academy, Mt. Pleasant Seminary, and at Knox College. On May 3, 1868, she was married to Joseph Blacker Morrison at Ft. Madison. To them were born eleven children: Vincent Espy Morrison of Minneapolis, Dr. William Iverson Morrison of Aurora, Il .. , Genevive Marie, now Mrs. Walter G. Smith, of Chicago, Mabel Josephine, now Mrs. Robert N. John- son, of Ft. Madison, Maria, now Madame Morrison, nun of the Sacred Heart, Omaha, Helen Louise, Sinia Lucile, Joseph Barlow Morrison of Chicago, Denis August Morrison of Chicago, Loras who died in in- fancy, and Virginia.
Col. Joseph B. Morrison served with distinction through the Civil War, enlisting as a private at the age of nineteen in Co. D, 7th Ia. Vols. At the siege of Atlanta he was serving on the staff of Gen. E. W. Rice, Commander of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Div., 15th Army Corps. He was brevetted Lieut. Col. by a special act of Congress for gallant and meritorious service. At the time of his death, in 1904, he was president of the Morrison Mfg. Co. He was one of the most prominent citizens, and for many years was a leader in business, social and church life. His paternal ancestor, William Morrison, came from Scotland to Orange county, N. Y. just before the Revolutionary War and served as a private soldier. He married a daughter of Capt. Crane of New Jersey. Samuel D. Morrison, his son, and the father of J. B. Morrison, came to Iowa from Ohio in
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1848 and died in Ft. Madison in 1881, honored and re- spected by all who knew him. The Morrisons are all devoted members of the Roman Catholic church. Mrs. Morrison's father, Capt. Stephen Espy, was born at Espyville, Pa., June 8, 1827, and came to Ft. Madi- son September, 1846, when he entered into mercantile business and married Rebecca Cutler, Sept. 11, 1848. In 1861 he entered the service of the Union as Captain of Co. G, 115 Ill. Vol. Infantry, at Shelbyville, Ill., where he was then in business. He was killed Sept. 20, 1863, at the battle of Chickamauga. Maj. Hicks said of him in a letter from the field to the N. Y. Trib- une: "Capt. Espy, of Gen. Whitaker's staff, was a very lion that day. He was advised to remain with his trains but too noble spirited for that, he went on the field and fearless of danger did wonders in cheer- ing and rallying the men under the destructive fire of the enemy. He was one of Illinois' noble sons and his loss is severely felt." He was the son of Patterson Espy, a man of education and a lawyer by profession, who married Mercy Freeman, a quaker. Patterson Espy was the son of George Espy who was a barefoot boy at Valley Forge and was captain of a company in the War of 1812. George Espy was the son of Josiah Espy, a member of the committee of safety in the State of Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War. His father, George Espy, came to Pennsylvania from Scotland and married Jean Taylor. Jean Espy had nineteen descendants-sons and grandsons, in the Rev- olutionary War, and for her the Jean Espy chapter, D. A. R. is named. Mrs. Morrison's mother, Rebecca Cut- ler, was the daughter of Judge Jacob Cutler, who came to Ft. Madison April 7, 1836, and her mother was a lineal descendant of Abraham Clark, signer of the Dec- laration of Independence ..
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The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. MAX MAYER
A woman who stands very high in her own city in social, civic, and club life, and one who leaves behind her wherever she goes friends and admirers, is Mrs. Max Mayer of Iowa City. She has spoken in many cities of the state, before clubs and conventions of both men and women, on "The New Civic Spirit," "Public Playgrounds," "The Sanitary Disposal of Garbage," and other subjects of a civic nature. She has a logical mind, is quick witted, and always very pleasing to an audience. Julia B. Mayer was born in Iowa City, Sept. 28, 1872, the daughter of Moses Bloom and Sarah Wise. Her father came to America from France at the age of seventeen, and for fifty years was a resident of Iowa City where he was a suc- cessful business man and held many positions of honor and trust. Her mother was of German ancestry and was always a great inspiration to her daughter and her close companion until her death in 1914. Mrs. Mayer was educated in Sacred Heart Convent, Omaha, St. Mary's, in South Bend, Ind., and at St. Katherine's Hall, Davenport. She was married to Mr. Max Mayer in Iowa City, March 20, 1894. One son has been born to them-Edward Bloom Mayer, who with two chil- dren of Mr. Mayer's, Florence and Lawrence Mayer,
form the family. Mrs. Mayer is President of the Iowa City Improvement League, Treasurer of the Home for Aged Women, Chairman Public Playground committe, Chairman Visiting Nurse Association, mem- ber of the Art Circle, Charities Council, King's Daugh- ters, Child Welfare Committee, Fine Arts Association, State Historical Association. For many years she has been very prominent in the I. F. W. C. as an officer and committee worker.
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MRS. G. B. McINTOSH
Rose May Tuttle McIntosh was born at Clear Lake, Oct. 24, 1857. Her parents, Marcus Tuttle and Caro- line Warner, were Iowa pioneers, coming from New York to Clear Lake in August, 1855. Her father was active in the development of the city and county. He helped to lay out the city and was one of the early merchants and lumber man, later engaging in the banking business, and served his district two terms as State Senator. Mrs. McIntosh was educated in the Cazenovia Seminary in New York. On Feby. 4, 1876, she was married to Gilbert Blodget McIntosh, who is of New England birth. Among his ancestors are men prominent in the history of Massachusetts and Con- necticut. He has large farming interests, and is an in- fluential man. They have three children-Arthur Tuttle McIntosh, born March 28, 1877, Walter Gilbert McIntosh, born May 1, 1883; both successful business men in Chicago, and Eunice May, born Sept. 18, 1886, All three children were educated in the North Western University, Evanston. Mrs. McIntosh is a member of the M. E. church and active in all of its interests, par- ticulary in the women's societies connected with it. She is a charter member of the Progress Club, which is a study club, but has also done a good deal of civic improvement work. She is a member of the Civil Ser- vice and Social Reform Committee of the I. F. W C. and has served the federation on the State Board. For many years she was president of the Aid Society and of the Home Missionary Society of the church. She has traveled extensively in this country and spent several winters in the south. It is an interesting bit of history that Yale College is built on the homestead of one of her ancestors, Wm. Tuttle.
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MRS. BELLE A. MANSFIELD
Belle A. Mansfield, nee Babb, was born May 23, 1846, in Des Moines county, Iowa, and died at the home of her brother, Judge W. I. Babb in Aurora, Ill., August 1, 1911. Her father, Miles Babb, came to Iowa in 1837, and was killed by caving in of the tunnel of the Bay State Mining Co., of which he was superintendent, in 1852; and her mother, Mary Babb, removed to Mt. Pleasant, in 1860. Here Mrs. Mansfield attended the public schools until 1862, when she entered the Iowa Wesleyan University, graduating from it in 1866. She spent the next year in teaching in Simpson College at Indianola, Iowa.
In 1867 she commenced the study of law and was ad- mitted to the bar in June, 1869. She had the honor of being the first woman in the United States that was ever admitted to practice law. That she was the first to be so admitted was definitely settled by an investi- gation of the question by a committee appointed by the Congress of Women Lawyers held in Chicago during the World's Fair in 1893. She was married to Prof. John M. Mansfield, Ph. D., then Professor of Chemis- try in the Iowa Wesleyan University, in June, 1898, and in 1872 she and her husband went to Europe where they remained over a year studying in London, Paris and Berlin. Upon their return she was elected Professor of English and Preceptress in the Iowa Wes- leyan University in the fall of 1873, which positions she held until 1881, when she resigned to join her hus- band who was then Professor of Chemistry in De Pauw University of Greencastle, Indiana. From 1881 to the day of her death in 1911, she served De Pauw Uni- versity in various important positions. She was first elected Dean of Woman and in charge of Ladies' Hall,
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which places, in connection with others, she held for nearly twenty years. In 1886 she was also made Reg- istrar of the Faculty and in 1890, on the resignation of Dr. John C. Ridpath, she was elected Professor of His- tory, which place she held until 1894, when she was elected Dean of the School of Music and also Dean of the Art School. Both of these schools, up to that time had been a burden to the University financially. Such was her energy, executive and business ability that they soon became not only self-supporting, but also a source of revenue. She was an eminently effective col- lege woman. She was a close and accurate student, a very extensive reader, and had the highest quality of social traits, so that without apparent effort she im- pressed her rare personality upon the entire college community. The many thousand students with whom she come in contact during her nearly forty years col- lege work hold her name in grateful remembrance. She was always an active church worker, serving for years as superintendent of Sunday school, president of the Woman's Foreign Misionary Society, and an active worker in the cause of temperance. She was also popular as a club woman, cheerful, responding to every demand made upon her.
Bishop Edwin H. Hughes of the M. E. church, who was at one time president of the De Pauw University, thus summoned up her character in a letter written the day after her death :
"She was the strongest and truest woman I have ever known, and my five years' association with her at De Pauw University gave me an adequate opportunity for seeing what a brave, patient, effective worker she was. Above all else she wrought out for herself in ser- vice a splendid character. She will be much at home with God."
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MRS. THOMAS METCALF
Eva Canfield Metcalf was born in Cardon, Ohio. Oct. 5, 1853, the daughter of Delos Wilford Canfield and Saphronia Allen. She was educated at Lake Erie Col- lege, Painesville, Ohio. Jany. 24, 1871, she was married to Thomas Metcalf at Charder, Ohio, and shortly after came to Iowa. They have three children-Thomas Delos Metcalf, Frank Arnold Metcalf and Della, now Mrs. H. H. Pinney, Llewellyn Oaks, Council Bluffs. In religious faith she is an Episcopalian, being affi- liated with St. Paul's church. She is a member of the Ideal Club, a study club of which she has been presi- dent for eleven years. She is a prominent member in Towa of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is a member of the Council Bluffs chapter which was organized in 1897. She joined on the service of the following ancestors: Nathaniel Read, Lieut. Col. Samuel Canfield, Amasa Read, Thomas Canfield, Capt. Stephen Calkins, and Prince Allen. She has served her own chapter as regent and for three terms was State Vice Regent. She has served on many import- ant committees of both the State and National society. She has had a part on the program of state confer- ences and has attended several national D. A. R. Con- gresses. She was a member of the state committee of the Iowa room in Continental Hall which planned the furnishings of that room. She has served the Iowa Federation of Women's Club on state committees. She is now a member of the Committee on Literature and Library Extension, being chairman of the Biblical Literature committee. She is a woman of ability and of gracious presence, but a woman very modest of her own attainments.
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MRS. ARTHUR W. MANN
A woman who does her duty every day, as she is given vision to see it, and whose life has always been a sacrifice to others and to the common good, is Mrs. Arthur W. Mann of Onawa. Carrie M. Foote Mann was born Sept. 25, 1865, at Fort Atkinson, Wis. She is the daughter of Elisha Lockwood Henman Foote and Ellen Cordelia Simonds. She is a direct descendant of Daniel Foote who came from England and founded Weathersfield, Conn. Nathaniel Foote founded and named Colchester, Conn. Nathaniel Foote the third was a quartermaster in King Phillip's War. Her
mother is descended from Elizabeth Franklin, a sister of Benjamin Franklin. On Aug. 16, 1892, she was married to Arthur W. Mann and shortly after came to Onawa to live. She is a member of the Christian church and for sixteen years has been president of the Ladies' Aid Society of the church. For four years she has been chairman of the Eleventh District I. F. W. C. and has served on many state and general federation committees. She belongs to the Art Club and has been its president for two years. She did all the prelimi- nary work for the organization of the P. E. O. chapter and has served as its president since organization in 1912. She was instrumental in organizing the Onawa chapter D. A. R. and has been its regent since organi- zation in 1910. She is secretary of the Improvement League and a member of the Library Board for many years. She has written many articles for newspapers and journals. Has traveled over America, and Europe. She has spoken before many clubs and organizations on The Passion Play and other subjects.
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MRS. JULIA BALDWIN McKIBBIN
Julia Baldwin Mckibbin-author, college professor and one of "God's good women," was born Dec. 16, 1855, in Keosauqua, Ia. She is the daughter of Charles Baldwin and Rachel Wright, who were mar- ried on the Wright farm in Van Vuren county and lived in Keosauqua for fifty-four years, celebrating their golden wedding in the old home in 1894. Her mother was a sister of Geo. G. Wright of the Supreme Court of Iowa, and later of the U. S. Senate. Another brother, Joseph A. Wright, was Governor of Indiana. Mrs. McKibbin attended the State University at Iowa City and was graduated from the Iowa Wesleyan Uni- versity, B. A. and M. A. She belonged to P. E. O. when it was a college sorority, being one of the early mem- bers. On July 20, 1886, she was married in Keosau- qua to Dr. Geo. J. McKibbin. One son was born to them-George Baldwin MeKibbin, April 26, 1888. He is a lawyer by profession, practicing in Chicago, a young man of whom his mother is justly proud. After the death of Dr. McKibbin for several years she held the chair of history in the Iowa Wesleyan University, and was later field secretary of the Women's Guild of Iowa Wesleyan and Dean of Women. She is the au- thor of "Miriam," a book which has had wide circu- lation, and has received favorable comment by literary critics. She has written many short stories, and serials for magazines and has done a great deal of newspaper work. She is a member of the M. E. church and a woman of staunch Christian character. She belonged to the Mt. Pleasant Ladies' Library Association, the second oldest club in the United States, and the oldest in Iowa. She has traveled extensively in this country and in Europe and is a woman of broad culture.
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MRS. ALICE SCOVILLE MILLER
"These are her fruits, kindness and gentleness And gratefully we take them at her hands; Patience she has and pity for distress, And love that understands."
Alice Scoville Miller was born at Coleta, Ill., the daughter of Ira Scoville, a native of Erie, Pa., and Mary J. Bushnell, who was born at Hillsdale, N. Y. When a child her parents came to Vinton, later mov- ing to Grundy Center and in 1898 moved to Cedar Rapids, which is still her home. She was graduated Islathe the Vinton high school and from Tilford Academy. She also attended Cornell College, and Says) later took a course in a business college. On Sept. 30, 1903, she was married to Harry Miller, who is a suc- cessful real estate dealer in Cedar Rapids. His parents, Leslie Miller and Caroline Mckee Miller, were pio- neers and prominent citizens of Vinton, Iowa. Mrs. Miller is a member of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal church. She is a member of Malta chapter O. E. S. She is a member of the P. E. O. sisterhood and is one of the prominent P. E. O's. of the Iowa Grand Chapter, having served as second vice-president 1908-'09, as re- cording secretary 1909-'11, first vice-president 1911- '12, and as state president 1912-'13. She is now a member of the Board of Trustees governing the P. E. O. Record, which is the official magazine of the sister- hood. The Board of Trustees are by appointment of the Supreme Chapter. In whatsoever capacity Mrs. Miller has served, she has been efficient and gracious and has merited all the honors which she has received. She has many times appeared on the program of the state and national conventions. She is a very attrac- tive woman, one of great kindness of heart, and gentle- ness of spirit and yet a woman of strong character.
Chapter FC, Long Beach, Calif.
Moved to G.C. '94 Joined in
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MRS. ANSON MARSTON
Mary Alice Day Marston, of Ames, was born near Gasport, Niagara county, N. Y., June 21, 1865. She is the daughter of Dudley Watson Day, Sr., and Rachel Scott Day, both of New England ancestry. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan. After her graduation she taught school for several years and was married Dec. 14, 1892, to Anson Marston, Dean of En- gineering at Iowa State College. He was born May 31, 1864, the son of George W. Marston and Sarah Scott, pioneers of Illinois. Prof. Marston is a gradu- ate of Cornell University, Ithica, N. Y., and is one of the foremost men in this country in his profession. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engi- neers, of the National Society for the Promotion of Civil Engineering Education, the Western Society of Civil Engineers and the Iowa Engineering Society. Under his professorship the engineering department of Iowa College has become a model for other schools. Two children have been born to Prof. and Mrs. Mars- ton, Morrill Watson Marston, born Jany. 30, 1896, and Anson Day Marston, born May 30, 1905. Mrs. Mar- ston is a member of the Congregational church, of the P. E. O. sisterhood, of the Club of Faculty Women of Iowa State College, of the Parent-Teachers' Associa- tion and of the Sun Dial chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, joining on the service of Abram Van Vleet and Serg. Noah Day. She has served on many committees of the state and national society and was State Regent of Iowa D. A. R., 1911- 12, being a very efficient and just officer. She presided at the con- ference held in Des Moines, which was one of the most successful of the state conferences.
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