USA > Iowa > The blue book of Iowa women; a history of contemporary women; > Part 13
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The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. GEORGE D. RAND
Mrs. Sara McGaughey Rand represents two families historically worth recording, and in her personally is a woman who merits a place in a history of Iowa women. She was born in Greencastle, Ind., the daugh- ter of Edward W. McGaughey and Margaret Mat- lock, who were married Jan. 18, 1838. Their family consisted of five children : Sara, Mary, Edward, Charles and Thomas. In 1835 her father, E. W. Mc- Gaughey, at the age of eighteen years was upon ex- amination admitted to the practice of law in Putnam county, Ind. In 1842 he was elected state senator. In 1843 he resigned to make his first race for a seat in congress in which he was defeated by only three votes. In 1845 he was elected to congress. He was a strong opponent to the Mexican War and delivered a speech against the action taken by congress, which speech cost him the seat of governor of the Territory of Min- nesota. President Taylor nominated him for terri- torial governor, but failed of confirmation by the sen- ate in consequence of his attitude on the war question. In 1852, being broken in health he started to Cali- fornia, in the hope of being benefitted. In crossing the Isthmus of Panama he contracted fever from which he died in San Francisco, Aug. 6, 1852. Mrs. Rand's grandfather, Arthur O. McGaughey, was clerk of the first court held in Putnam county, Ind., in a pri- vate house. He was clerk of the courts for 23 years. He took the first case taken to supreme court. Mrs. Rand was the oldest of five children and was educated in the Conventual College of St. Mary of the Woods near TerreHaute, Ind. For many years she was presi- dent of the Alumnae of St. Mary's, and in 1911, was
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made honorary president for life. At Greencastle, Ind., on Dec. 25, 1862, she was married to George Dex- ter Rand, of Burlington, they had one daughter, Mary Rand. Mrs. Rand is a convert to the Catholic church and for many years has been one of the most promi- nent and useful members, not only of the parish of St. Peters', to which she belongs, but of the church in a wider sense. She has given liberally of her money and of herself in the interests of the church and the schools connected with it. The St. Peter's school for boys was made possible by the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Rand. She is always thought of as one of the fore- most women of Keokuk, a woman intellectually strong, broad-minded, and one who is known and loved by people in every walk in life, from those who are high- est, socially, to the humblest. For four years she was president of the Keokuk Woman's Club. She was one of the organizers of the Civic League and has been on its board of directors ever since its organization. Since 1899 she has been president of the Woman's Aid Society of St. Peter's Church. Her husband, George D. Rand, who "passed from time to eternity" on Nov. 12, 1903, was one of Iowa's well-known men. He was educated in Asbury (now De Pauw) University at Greencastle, Ind. His father was E. D. Rand, the well known lumberman of Burlington, and after leav- ing school he was employed by his father. In 1860 he was appointed assistant paymaster in the Volunteer Navy, and was ordered to the gun boat "Silver Lake." Soon after he was appointed pay master in the regu- lar navy, his commission bearing the signature of Abraham Lincoln and Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy. After the surrender in 1865 he resigned his commission and returned to commercial pursuits. He
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engaged in the lumber business in Alabama until 1880, when he went to Keokuk and took charge of the lum- ber yard of Carson & Rand. In 1883 he was elected mayor of Keokuk. During his term of office the city bought the public park, which the council in compli- ment to him, named Rand Park. He was a director of the Keokuk National Bank, of the Water Works Co., of the Iowa State Insurance Co., and was vice-presi- dent of the State Central Savings Bank. Mr. Rand had a genial nature and made many friends. His
father was one of the very prominent men of Burling- ton, who was twice married, his first wife was Sarah Proud, an Ohio woman. By this marriage there were six children: George D., Mary, Frank, Hattie, and two who died in infancy. On June 13, 1852, Mr. Rand was married to Mrs. Caroline A. Roberts, who was the daughter of Soloman Sherfey, a Burlington pioneer. Four children were born to them: Ellbridge D., Charles W., Horace S., and Carrie. Mr. Rand died April 10, 1887, in Burlington, to the prosperity and growth of which city he had so liberally contributed. It may truthfully be said, that through all his varied and extensive business experiences, he was never known to intentionally wrong any one. He was just courteous, and considerate to every one, from the wealthiest capitalist to the humblest laborer in his yards. He was a self-made man, and suffered many reverses, but with courage kept on until success far beyond the expectation of even an ambitious man, crowned his efforts.
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MISS NANN CLARK BARR
To an Iowa young woman belongs the honor of hav- ing received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the age of twenty-three, being the youngest person so far as the records show to earn that high scholastic de- gree. Miss Nann Clark Barr is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. G. Walter Barr of Keokuk, her mother a col- lege woman and her father an author and literary man of high attainment, she has always lived in an atmos- phere which fostered her ambition. As a child she showed unusual proficiency in literature and wrote a number of poems which appeared in well known maga- zines. She was graduated from the Keokuk high school in .1907, receiving the second Kilbourne prize. She spent four years at the Western College for Women at Oxford, Ohio, the alma mater of her mother. Here she was graduated in 1911 with the degree Bachelor of Arts. Her work at Western College won her the scholarship in philosophy at Wellesley, where she did post-graduate work for a year and won her scholarship in philosophy at Cornell University. At the end of one year's work at Cornell she won the de- gree of Master of Arts, and at the end of the second year, (1914) she had earned her doctor's degree in philosophy, beside winning the philosophy prize. Such a record of scholastic attainment is very unusual and the honors have not come without work, but a re- markable mind and a great ambition has made the work easier than it would have been for a less gifted person. Miss Barr, when but a child, read literature, much beyond her years and reasoned with the faculty of a mature mind. Those who knew her as a child ex- pected great things of her and her work has justified that expectation.
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MRS. STELLA M. PORTER
Mrs. Stella May Porter of Ottumwa, a prominent club woman of the state, was born in Wapello county, Iowa, Nov. 8, 1869, the daughter of Sanford Kirkpat- rick and Hester M. Lentner. Her great grand father, Hugh Kirk Patrick, with six brothers, Scotchmen from the north of Ireland, came to America with the British to fight against the American in the war of the Revo- lution. After they had been here a short time and un- derstood the conditions, every one left the British army, enlisted with the American forces and remain- ed with them to the close of the war. Her great-great- grand father on her mother's side was Conrad Lentner, living in Germany near the French border. He heard the call of Lafayette for troops and with his wife came to America and fought with the Americans to the end of the Revolutionary War. Their son, Jacob, served in the War of 1812. Mrs. Porter's father served almost five years in the Civil War, a member of Co. K, Ia. Reg. He is now United States congressman, repre- senting the 6th District of Iowa. Mrs. Porter was edu- cated in the public schools and in the Iowa Teacher's College at Cedar Falls. She was married Sept. 3, 1892, to George E. Porter, who died in 1913. She was the first president of the Ottumwa Y,. W. C. A., for four years was a member of the I. F. W. C. executive board, member of the Ottumwa Woman's Club, Clio Club, Choral Society, and of the P. F. O. sisterhood, of which she is the first viee-president of the Iowa Grand Chapter, and has served for three terms as state corresponding secretary. She is a member of the First M. E. Church, active in all of its depart- ments, and is a long-time member of the choir. She is a woman of unusual ability.
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The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. L. F. PARKER
Sarah Condace Pearse Parker, who was for seven- teen years a teacher in the State University of Iowa, was born in Sudbury, Vt., Feby. 21, 1828. She was educated in Oberlin, Ohio, and came to Grinnell, Iowa, in 1856. She served as Lady Principal of the State University from 1870 to 1887, when she resigned and returned to Grinnell, where she died, June 5, 1900, survived by her husband, L. F. Parker, and one daugh- ter, Mrs. Harriet P. Campbell, of Denver, Colo. Dur- ing Prof. Parker's residence in Iowa City their home was a veritable haven for the discouraged students. She was fond of society and her home was famed for its hospitality. She was versed in all house-wifely arts, was a musician and a public speaker of ability. She was fond of all beautiful things but con- tent to live in her own beautiful thoughts and deeds that her beneficence might reach a wider circle. She was an unusual teacher,-dignified and firm, but ten- der and kind and true to every pupil under her care; a conscientious, painstaking teacher, the influence and power of whose presence in the class-room continues still in the lives of those privileged to be under her in- struction, an incentive to thoroughness and accuracy. She was a wise counselor, a noble woman-fit model in every respect for the young women under her care. "My girls," she continued to call them to the day of her death, and they reverence and treasure her mem- ory and the memory of those college days-so largely shaped by her-as a precious legacy. Hundreds of these "girls" in our own and in distant lands, rise up and call her blessed.
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MRS. ALBERT MYRON PRICE
Georgia V. Snoddy was born on a farm in Clinton county, Iowa, Dec. 13, 1868. Her parents, Matthew Snoddy and Ellen Teskey, figured in the early strug- gles of the first settlers, of eastern Iowa. In 1886 she moved with her parents to Maquoketa, Iowa, where she was educated in the public schools, later taking a course in the Northern Illinois Normal College. For several years she was a successful primary teacher. She was married to Albert Myron Price, cashier of the First National Bank, De Witt, Iowa, on June 18, 1895. Besides looking after a commodious home, she takes an active part in all organizations, having for their object, public improvement, and moral and social progress. She is serving as president of Pierian Club for the second time; was first president of the Clinton County Federation of Women's Clubs, a charter mem- ber of Chapter BG, P. E. O., also of Golden Star chap- ter, O. E. S., and in 1909, served as deputy grand ma- tron. She helped organize the Twentieth Century Dames, a local organization, and was its second presi- dent. She is now chairman of the second district of the Iowa State Federation of Women Clubs, and was a member of the educational committee during the previous year. She is a trustee for the Carnegie Pub- lic Library, is an active member of the First Congre- gational church, and interested in all branches of church work. She has traveled extensively in the United States, Alaska and Canada. Her capable and efficient service has brought many responsible posi- tions, which she has filled with much credit to herself, as well as to the organizations which she represented.
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MISS ANNIE E. PACKER
One of the most widely known, most successful and most beloved teachers of Iowa, is Miss Annie E. Pack- er, of Salem. For more than fifty tears she has been actively connected with the schools of southeastern Iowa,-forty years of teaching and eleven years as county superintendent. In 1913 when she had com- pleted fifty years in the schools, a public celebration was held in Salem, in her honor, which was attended by former pupils from many states. Telegrams and letters of congratulations, and many handsome gifts were sent to her in appreciation of the work she had done and of her splendid personality. She was born near Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, April 30, 1845. She is the daughter of Thomas Vickers Packer and Margaret Linton. The first Quaker sermon in Philadelphia was preached by an ancestor, John Linton, son of Sir Roger Linton, of England. Wm. F. Packer, Gov. of Pennsylvania was her father's cousin. Miss Packer was a member of the first graduating class of Whittier College, 1871, receiving the degree M. S. She taught in Whittier College for many years; it was a Quaker institution, having very high standards and for nearly forty years continued its splendid work for the young people of southern Iowa. She served for eleven years as county superintendent in Henry and Van Buren counties and for seven years was principal of the Bon- aparte high school. She has taught in many insti- tutes and summer schools in Iowa and Kansas. She has delivered many lectures, done newspaper report- ing and for seven years edited the Henry County Teacher. She belongs to the Ladies' Library Associa- tion, Chapter Original A. of the P. E. O. sisterhood, and to the Congregational church.
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The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. CHARLES WILSON PINKERTON
Among the prominent women of Afton, and one who has had part in the public welfare work of the city for many years, is Mrs. Elizabeth Frances Nix Pinkerton. She was born near Danville, Iowa, Sept. 16, 1869. She is the daughter of Benjamin T. Nix and Virginia E. Rhodes. Her grand father Nix was a pioneer Methodist preacher, a "circuit rider" in Ken- tucky and Tennessee, and her mother's people were Virginians. Her parents were married during the Civil War and lived in Kentucky. Her father was a captain in the Union army, an unusual thing for a man born in the south and living in the south. They came to Iowa in 1868. Mrs. Pinkerton was graduated from the Afton high school in 1884. She was gradu- ated from the Iowa Wesleyan University in 1889, with the degree Bachelor of Music. She is a member of the Pi Beta Phi Sorority. On Feby. 21, 1898, she was mar- ried to Charles Wilson Pinkerton. Since girlhood she has been a member of the M. E. church and has been for years church organist. She is a charter member (1893) of the East End Club, a social organization, and the oldest club in Afton, and is its president. She is president of the Alpha Book Club, a member of the Library Association, and the Cemetery Association. Since 1900 she has been a member of the P. E. O. sis- terhood, and of the O. E. S. She is interested in chari- ty organizations and in every agency for the aid and uplift of those unfortunately placed in life. She believes with Robert Louis Stevenson that "The best things are nearest; flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life."
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The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MISS EDITH PROUTY
Among the very successful professional women of Iowa, is Miss Edith Prouty, a lawyer, practicing at Humboldt. She was born in Freeport, Ill., and came with her parents to Iowa when she was only one year old. Her father, James Nathaniel Prouty, served dur- ing the whole period of the Civil War as a private and a non-commissioned officer. He was the first lawyer in Humboldt, helped to found Humboldt College, to establish the Unitarian church and has had a part in all the public interests of that city. He still maintains a law office with his daughter, and age has by no means lessened his skill in his profession. Her mother, Irene Sabastian Henry, was one of the pioneer women who helped to form society in a new town, ac- tive in church work and all social matters. Her mid- dle name was given her in honor of her father's friend, William Sabastian, the Quaker "tavern keeper," men- tioned in the story "On Indiana Roads" by Mary Hartwell Catherwood.
Miss Prouty was graduated from the State Univer- sity of Iowa in 1890 ,with the degree B. S. In 1891 she received her degree LL. B. She has been engaged in the active practice of law since June, 1891. She has been in the continuous practive longer than any other woman in Iowa. She has argued one case orally in the supreme court and been engaged in other cases be- fore that court but did not appear personally. She has been local attorney for the Chicago & North- western R. R. for several years, and has appeared as attorney for the M. & St. L. R. R. Co. in several cases, and her father's law firm was local attorney for that road for many years. She has taught law in the Law
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The Blue Book of Iowa Women
School connected with the Humboldt College, and in 1901 was appointed on the Board of Examiners who examined the law classes of the State University for admission to the bar. She has traveled very exten- sively in this county. She was a member of the Baha- ma Expedition sent out by the State University of Iowa in 1893 to the West Indies for the purpose of studying marine invertebrate life. A history of this expedition was written by Prof C. C. Nutting who had charge of it. She is a student of the equal suf- frage question, having visited all the states in which women vote and observed the conditions before and after the granting of the franchise to women. Her in- vestigation has made her a strong advocate of equal suffrage and she has done all in her power to further the cause in Iowa. She is firm in the faith of the Uni- tarian church and a zealous worker in its interests. She was the first president of the Humboldt Woman's Club and has served on state committees I. F. W. C .. She was a charter member of the Humboldt chapter of P. E. O. In the second year of her membership she was elected recording secretary of the Iowa Grand Chapter and remained on the state board for four years, being state president in 1905-6. She was for four years organizer of the Supreme Chapter and visited every quarter of the United States and British Columbia in P. E. O. interests. In October, 1913, she was elected to the highest office in the gift of the sisterhood, that of supreme president, which office she now holds.
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The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. FRANK PRICE
Jennie Maude Reeves Price was born in Salem, Dec. 18, 1866. She is descended from a family which came to lowa in its territorial days. Her grandfather, David Stewart Bell, was born in Miffin county, Pa., Nov. 11, 1811 and came to Ft. Madison, April 9, 1838. He bought a farm in Cedar township, Lee county, which was for many years the family home. He was a member of the Iowa legislature in 1870, at which session the bill was passed for the erec- tion of the present capital building in Des Moines. He died Jany. 14, 1878. His wife, Sarah Stewart Rail, was born near Harrisburg, Penn., Sept. 22, 1819. She was of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry and was a cousin of the Studebakers, who in later years became the great wagon manufacturers. Mrs. Price's grand par- ents, John Mulford Reeves, born March 11, 1811, and died November, 1889, and Lydia Clark Reeves, born in Green county, Penn., Oct. 17, 1813 and died Oct. 24, 1904, were early settlers in Henry county. Her father, Isaac Clark Reeves was born in Green county, Penn., May 23, 1835. Her mother, Agnes Susanna Bell, was born at Enisville, Penn., Sept. 23, 1843, and was married at West Point, Sept. 24, 1863. Mrs. Price was graduated from Whittier College in 1888. On Jany. 10, 1889, she was married to Frank Price, the son of T. J. and Josephine McFarland Price. They have five children: Agnes Josephine, now Mrs. Jack Caviezel, of St. Joseph; Robert Jefferson, Frank Reeves, Walter Withrow Harlan, and Ralph. Mrs. Price is a member of the Presbyterian church, and a P. E. O. since 1886. Their home is in Mt. Pleasant, where Mr. Price has large business interests.
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MRS. FRANCIS D. REID
Mary Blanche Reid, of Oskaloosa, teacher, writer, the adopted daughter of Benjamin and Martha Richey Beatty, was born in Pella, Iowa, June 13, 1856. Her own father was John Little Wisner, who fought in Co. F, 14 U. S. Inft., in the Mexican war. Her mother, Amanda Stephens, was a cousin of Alexander Stephens. She was educated in Drake University, graduating in the class of 1875, with the degree M. S. She was a successful teacher in the public schools for a number of years. On June 14, 1876, she was married to Francis D. Reid, an attorney of Oskaloosa. Four children have been born to them: Frank Beatty, Alice Evangeline, who died in 1900, Jessie and John B. She is a member of the Christian church, for twelve years a teacher in the Sunday school. Charter member of the Oskaloosa Woman's Club, acting president for three years, and a member of the board of dirctors since organization. For fifteen years she was chair- man of the philanthropic and civic improvement de- partment, during which time the department raised funds for a public hospital and completed its erection. She has been a member of the hospital board since its organization. She was chairman of the library com- mittee, which together with the Y. M. C. A. and the Woman's Club, secured the City Carnegie Library. For five years she was president of the Woman's Suf- frage Club, and says she is "a born suffragist." For ten years she has been a member of the Associated Charities, is a member of the Mothers' Club. She has been a contributor to many papers and magazines, has published several songs and written many poems which have been published. She is an omniverous reader and a woman who puts to good use every hour of the twenty-four.
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MISS GRACE ROBERTS
For fifty-five years, through three generations, the Van Cise home in Mt. Pleasant, has had its doors hos- pitably open to kinsmen, friends and to strangers, who for any cause would welcome shelter under the wide spreading roof. Miss Grace Roberts, with her two aunts, still live in the old home. In 1857, when Iowa was "away out west," Dr. Edwin G. Van Cise brought his family to Mt. Pleasant, being attracted by the good schools there, for he had nine children to educate. He established a drug store and practiced his profession. His oldest daughter, Elizabeth Garretson, married Dr. Watson Roberts, who became Dr. Van Cise's partner in the practice of medicine. Dr. Roberts died in 1872, leaving two children, a son, Edward, and a daughter, Grace, who with their mother, went back to the old home to live. Dr. and Mrs. Van Cise loved books and all the refining things of life, and in this atmosphere their children and grand children were reared. They were descended from the early Quaker settlers of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Roberts' great grand parents were married by the old time Quaker ceremony in which the young people in the presence of the congre- gation in the meeting house repeat the vows without a minister's officiating. She was educated in the pub- lic schools and the the Iowa Wesleyan College. She is a member of the Unitarian church and active in all its departments. She is a member of the Art Study Club, the Rommel Musical Club, the P. E. O. sister- hood, the Ladies' Library Association, and is chair- man of the First District I. F. W. C., is a member of the board of trustees of the Public Library. She is a woman of quiet voice and gentle manner, a gracious hostess and a woman of great executive force.
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MRS. EFFIE HOFFMAN ROGERS
Mrs. Effie Louise Hoffman Rogers, editor, journalist, and teacher, was born in Jackson, Ohio, May 13, 1853. She is the daughter of David Allen Hoffman, who for sixty-one years was a physician engaged in active practice. He was the son of Daniel Hoffman, who was a member of the Ohio state senate for a number of years, and whose wife was Julia James, born on James Island, above Parkersburg, Va., in 1800. Dr. Hoffman was educated at the Ohio University, and received his medical degree at the Western Reserve College, Cleve- land, from which he graduated with honors in 1847. He died Jany. 12, 1908. He was married to Emily Smith at Logan, Ohio, Nov. 16, 1848. She was edu- cated at the Female Seminary at Putman, Ohio. She is the daughter of John Adams Smith and Mary Emluch, whose father served in the Revolutionary War. Dr. and Mrs. Hoffman came to Oskaloosa in 1861. This family consisted of four children, three sons and one daughter, Effie Louise. She was edu- cated in the Female Seminary at Mt. Pleasant, gradu- ating in 1872 with the degree Bachelor of Philosophy. On April 2, 1880, she was married at Oskaloosa to John Franklin Rogers, who was born in Thibodeaux, Louisiana. His father was James Arthur Rogers, born in Baltimore, Md., a descendant of one of the old families of that state. His mother, Sarah Ball Gillis, was born in Philadelphia of an old and promient fam- ily of that city. He was a man of unusual business ability and of fine literary and artistic taste. He died Aug. 9, 1883. They have two children, Emily Jozelle and Franklin Ripley, who was born after his father's death, and who died Nov. 25, 1883, The daughter,
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