USA > Iowa > The blue book of Iowa women; a history of contemporary women; > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19
225
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. HENRY A. SCHLICK
Mrs. Flora Schlick was born at Charles City in 1868. Her father, Samuel F. Ferguson, was the son of James Ferguson of Scotland, a member of the Ferguson clan. Her mother, Nancy Mckinney, born at old Salem, N. Y., one of ten children. The oldest was the mother of John J. Hill, president of the Hill Publishing Co., of New York. Mrs. Schlick was educated at the State University of Iowa and at Iowa College at Ames. She was a successful teacher for four years in the schools of Charles City. On May 20, 1891, at Charles City, she was married to Henry A. Schlick. Three sons have been born to them : Marvin F., Forrest S., and Robert, (deceased). She is a member of the First M. E. Church, was superintendent of the Junior League for five years, for several years teacher of a young men's Bible class, and president of the Woman's Home Mis- sionary Society for five years. For six years she was corresponding secretary of the Decorah District. She was the conference delegate to the national conven- tion of the Woman's Home Missionary Society held in Washington, D. C., in 1913. For fourteen years she has been a member of the Cultus Club, and has served in all of its offices. Since 1910 she has been Chairman of the fourth district I. F. W. C's. She is also a member of the state board and of the legislative commission, I. F. W. C. The fourth district contains about thirty club towns, many of which have more than one federated club. From these facts can be judged the success of the work done here under Mrs. Schlick's chairmanship. To her own mind the great- est work she has done has been in her own home, in the rearing of her two sons, young men who would bring pride to the heart of any mother.
226
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MISS EMMA SCHWENKER
The city in Iowa which may be called the pioneer in the way of higher schools is Mt. Pleasant, for it was there the first university was established and one among the first seminaries for young women in this state was established there in 1862. In the days when co-educational schools were looked upon rather askance, this school was established by Prof. Bergen, a Presbyterian minister of unusual ability, and was
called the Female Seminary. It offered a classical course with music, painting, drawing and French ad- ditional. For thirteen years, from the most cultured homes in Iowa, young women came to this school. The first class was graduated in 1866, and in that class was Miss Emma Schwenker. Through the intervening years she has made her home in Mt. Pleasant, spend- ing her winters in California or Florida. She is a gentle woman of the finest type, cultivated, and gra- cious, a woman of rare personality. She is a member of the Episcopal church and faithful to all its interests. She was one of the encorporators of the Ladies' Li- brary Association organized in 1872, and encorporated in 1875, the second oldest club for women in the Uni- ted States. She is a member of the board of direc- tors of the Public Library, and through her generosity many rare books have been placed on its shelves. For many years she has been an active member of The Rambler's Club, a leading literary club. She is gen- erous and charitable to those less fortunate, seeking to hide from one hand the good deeds of the other. She has a beautiful home and is a gracious hostess. She is modest in the extreme, and is altogether unconscious of her own rare qualities, unless she sees them in the appreciative eyes of her friends.
227
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. THEODORE PERRY SHONTS
Amelia Drake Shonts; daughter of the late Ex. Gov. Drake, of Iowa, and wife of T. P. Shonts, the Railroad Magnate of New York, was born in Drakeville, Iowa. Her mother, Mary Lord Drake, was a woman of rare spirit and beauty of character. Mrs. Shonts was graduated from Oskaloosa College, later attended Wellesley and finished with the study of music and the languages abroad. On Dec. 28, 1881, at the beau- tiful old home in Centerville, she was married to Theo- dore Perry Shonts, the son of Dr. Henry Daniels and Margaret Nevin Shonts. He was at that time employ- ed by the national banks of Iowa to standardize and simplify their system of bookkeeping. When a very young man he had been graduated from Knox College. He took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar becoming associated with General Drake, who had very large financial and railroad interests, a large part of the management of which he placed in Mr. Shonts' hands. He built and became the controlling interest in the Iowa Central R. R., built the M., Ia. & Nebr. R. R., and later the Ind., Ill. & Ia. R. R. He sold these interests and bought the control of the To- ledo, St. Louis & Western R. R., which he made a suc- cess. In 1905 he was appointed by President Roose- velt as chairman of the Isthmus of Panama Canal Commission. He formulated the plans for that work and continued as its head until 1907, when he became president of the Interboro Rapid Transit Co., and had charge of the subway and elevated systems of New York. He is now president of the Interboro. Met. Co., Toledo, St. Louis & Western R. R. Co., and the Iowa Central R. R. Co. They have two daughters:
228
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
Duchesse de Chaulnes, and Marguerite Amelia Shonts. They live in the Plaza Hotel, New York, although Mrs. Shonts returns each year to the old home in Center- ville, and spends much time abroad. She is a mem- ber of the Church of Christ, of the P. E. O. sisterhood, the Chicago Woman's Club and the Woman's Athletic Club.
229
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. ELEANOR J. HAWK
To an Iowa woman, Mrs. Eleanor J. Hawk, belongs the credit for the establishment of the custom all over this nation, of placing an American flag on the breast of the soldiers at burial. Among her personal posses- sions was a flag which she always placed as a guard over the soldiers who died in her home city, Colfax. It was a beautiful tribute paid by a patriotic woman to the soldiers who had bravely defended the stars and stripes. While she was Department President of the W. R. C. of Iowa, she secured the establishment of this custom in Iowa and later the national department G. A. R. adopted it. Eleanor J. Johnson was born Dec. 29, 1850, in Muskingum county, Ohio, and died Feby. 27, 1913, in Colfax. She came to Iowa in 1864. In 1870 she was married to Dr. W. W. Hawk, who served for three years in the Civil War in Co. E, 33rd Iowa In- fantry. To them were born two children: Mrs. Nellie H. Witmer, of Newton, and a son, Charles, who died in early manhood. There are four grand children : Jes- sie, Cecil, Howard and Irene Witmer. Mrs. Hawk was a woman whose strength of character and person- ality made an impression upon all whom she met. Be- side her state-wide work in the W. R. C., she was an active church woman, was one of the organizers of the Colfax Parent-Teachers' Association, and was its president for two years. Was for twenty-one years a trustee of the Colfax library, twelve of those years be- ing secretary. After her death the pupils of the pub- lic school purchased a handsome chair, which they placed in the library in her memory. She was a mem- ber of the Woman's Club of the U. S. Daughters of 1812, and of the O. E. S. She was a devoted wife, a good mother, a loyal friend and a Christian patriot.
230
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. J. L. SAWYERS
Mrs. Jennie Drake Sawyers, daughter of the late General Francis Marion Drake, Ex-Governor of Iowa, and Mary Lord Drake, was born in Drakeville, Iowa. Her father should be remembered in Iowa history, not only because he was governor of the commonwealth, and a man of large financial interests, a general in the Civil War with a record of which Iowa may feel proud, but because he was a great man, a Christian man, who stood on the side of righteousness, a generous phil- anthropist, and a patron of education. Mrs. Sawyer was the first graduate of the Centerville high school, she later attended Oskaloosa College, the Chicago Fe- male College, studied art in New York City, which was followed by three years of travel and study in the art centers of Europe. On June 12, 1883, she was married at her home in Centerville, to Dr. John Lazelle Sawyers, a successful physician and surgeon of Centerville, one of the best known men in his pro- fession in southern Iowa. They have two daughters : Mary Drake Sawyers Baker of Baltimore, Md., and Hygiene Drake Sawyers, who is at school in the east, and one son, Francis Lazelle Sawyers. Mrs. Saw- yers is a member of the Church of Christ, in Center- ville, a member of the Christian Women's Board of Missions, and of the Philathea Class in the Sunday School. She is a member of the P. E. O. sisterhood, and has an active part in the society life of Center- ville when she is at home. The Drake family has been prominent in Centerville since 1865, having always been interested in church school and other local in- terests.
231
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. F. MAY TUTTLE
Mrs. F. May Tuttle, of Osage, is president of the American Society of Curio collectors, editor of its official magazine, "The Curio," is a noted botanist and geologist, and a writer of much merit. The So- ciety of Curio Collectors promotes scientific collection, and has members from all parts of the United States. It includes geological, botanical, zoological students as well as collectors of antiques, autographs, coins, gems, historical articles, rare books, etc. Flora May Woodard Tuttle, daughter of Otis Pinkham Woodard, and Ellen Lucretia Sawyer, was born April 15, 1868, in a log cabin near Manchester, Iowa. She is of Puritan descent, from the families, Woodward-Bryant and Sawyer-Taft of Massachusetts. Her great grand father, Capt. Joseph Bryant, was one of the minute men who defended Concord Bridge. Her love for science came from the English family of Woodwards, some of whom were famous scientists. She was valedictorian of her class in the high school, after which she attended the Cedar Valley Seminary ; this with forty-five years as a student of "God's out- of-doors" constitutes her schooling. On May 6, 1890, she was married to H. E. Tuttle, of Osage, who is at the head of a large printing plant. Mr. Tuttle is de- scended from Dorothy Howe, a cousin of Lord Howe, who commanded the English army during the Revo- lution. Stephen Howe Tuttle is head of that branch of the family and his descendants annually hold a re- union near Poolville, N. Y. Mrs. Tuttle is the mother of four children: Mrs. Ruth Tuttle Simpson, Mrs. Dorothy Tuttle Simpson, Donald Woodard Tuttle, and Marion Alice Tuttle. She is a woman of prominence in the work of the Baptist church in this state.
232
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MISS IDA VAN HON
Among the prominent members of the Rebekah As- sembly of Iowa, and one who has served as the State President, is Miss Ida Van Hon, of Mt. Pleasant. She is the daughter of Thomas J. Van Hon, who for forty- six years was identified with the First National Bank of Mt. Pleasant, and its president for twelve years. He was a soldier of the Civil War in the 155 Ill. Vol- unteers. He died May 2, 1913. Miss Van Hon's mother, Melissa Rathbone, is descended from a promi- nent English family, which settled in Block Island, in 1636. Both of her grand fathers were captains in the Revolutionary War, and her father, Dr. Rathbone, was a prominent physician of southern Illinois. Miss Van Hon has two brothers, Dr. William Van Hon, who died in 1896, and Fred Van Hon. She was graduated from the Mt. Pleasant high school in 1886 from the Iowa Wesleyan University in 1890, B. S., 1893, M. S. She belongs to the Pi Beta Phi Sorority and was one of the organiezrs of the Hypatia Literary Society in I. W. U. She specialized in Latin and for several years was a high school Latin teacher. For twenty years she was secretary of the I. W. U. Alumni Asso- ciation. She is a member of the O. E. S. and of the W. R. C., having served as presiding officer of both. She served the Rebekah Assembly of Iowa as state treasurer, warden, vice-president and president in
1901-'2. During that year the organization had the largest increase in membership of any previous or sub- sequent years. For four years she was chairman of the Advisory Board of the Iowa Odd Fellows Orphans' Home, and assisted in its dedication. She is a member of the Board of Charities, Ladies Library Association, Y. M. C. A. Auxiliary, and the Episcopal Church.
233
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. O. R. YEAGER
Mrs. Katherine Ambrose Yaeger, of Greenfield, is one of the most successful business women of this state, owning and managing one of the large depart- ment stores of southeastern Iowa. She was born in Peoria, Ill., Feby. 27, 1868, the daughter of Robert Ambrose and Anne Creeden, natives of Ireland, who came to this country in 1865. At the age of fifteen she left school and a year later began to gain a practical knowledge of the dry goods business in one of the leading stores of Creston, in which she was employed for nine years. April 10, 1894, she was married to Orville R. Yaeger, who that year established the Yae- ger store in Greenfield. For fourteen years she and her husband conducted the store most successfully, until his death, in 1908, since which time she has been sole proprietor. In religious faith she is a Catholic. She is very generous in her aid to charity and philan- thropic organizatioins. She is a member of the Com- mercial Club, the L. W. A. C., a federated club of Greenfield. She joined the P. E. O. sisterhood in 1901; she has served the State Grand Chapter as organizer, treasurer, vice-president, and was elected state presi- dent in 1911 all of which state offices she filled with the greatest efficiency. For the past four years she has annually audited the state treasurer's books as well as those of the supreme chapter. One of the facts which speaks of the personal side of this business woman, is that all who are in her employ are devoted to her and her interests. Strikes or dissatisfied employes are quite unknown in that establishment. Mrs. Yaeger is an enthusiastic motorist and takes her pleasure out of doors in that way.
234
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MR. J. M. EARLE
Mrs. Teda Morgan Earle, of Des Moines is the daughter of Elija Dodson Morgan, and Kirilla Ann Dorsa Wilhite, who came to Pella, Iowa, April 1, 1854, being early settlers of that very interesting Holland colony. Beside the daughter there were four sons in the family : John S. Morgan, who served through the Civil War and was promoted from the ranks to the office of First Lieutenant for conspicuous gallantry in the field. After his return from the war he practiced law for several years, but died as a result of exposure while in the service. The other three sons were prac- ticing physicians,-Dr. Horace Wilbur Morgan, and Dr. Curtis Chapman Morgan, both of whom died a few years ago, and Dr. Benjamin Franklin Morgan, who practices his profession in Clay Center, Kansas. Mrs. Earle was educated at Central University at Pella, Iowa. In 1876 she was married to Ira Marshall Earle, of Des Moines, general counsel for the Bankers' Life Association, and its vice-president. Mrs. Earle is a member of the Christian Science Church, Des Moines Woman's Club the Votes for Women League In 1910 she published a charming book of verses,-Jack Frost Jingles under the nom de plume of Earlaine Morgan. Other poems and verses have been published in the Mid Western, and other maga- zines. Her verses have all been well received. While she does not write as much as she did a few years ago, occasional verses still appear in magazines and periodicals. She has a fine appreciation of literature, music, and all of the refining things of life. She is a woman of poise, of remarkably sweet spirit, and opti- mistic in every view of life.
235
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. CLARA PERDEW SHELDON
Mrs. Clara Idella Perdew Sheldon, was born in Keo- kuk, June 12, 1861, and that city has been her home all her life. She is the daughter of John and Maria Vrooman Perdew, who came to Iowa in 1851. Her mother was a direct descendant of the Vroomans who settled "behind Kinderhook" in 1670. She received her early education in the Keokuk schools, being a graduate of the high school, which has been supple- mented by courses in summer schools, by constant reading of the best literature, classical and current, and by travel. June 17, 1886, she was married in Keo- kuk, to Claude Allen Sheldon, a native of New York state. Two sons were born to them: John Perdew Sheldon, in 1887, and George Alyn Sheldon, in 1888. Mrs. Sheldon is a member of the M. E. Church. She is a member of the Keokuk Chapter, D. A. R., joining on the service of Samuel Vrooman. She is one of the most faithful and efficient members of the chapter. She has served as treasurer and vice-regent, declining the regency because of other duties. For thirty-four years she has been an efficient teacher in the public schools of Keokuk, during nine years of which she was principal of the Carey School, and for the past eight years principal of the Tarrence building, which posi- tion she still holds. One of the most interesting sub- scription lists to the bronze statue of Chief Keokuk, erected through the efforts of the D. A. R's., was made up of gifts sent Mrs. Sheldon by one hundred of her former pupils who wished to aid in this public enter- prise, in which she was deeply interested. Mrs. Shel- don stands very high in her profession, is a woman who loves her friends and society, but above all, loves her own fireside, and the companionship of her sons.
236
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. REBECCA H. S. POLLARD
Rebecca Harrington Smith Pollard, author, was born in Allegheny City, Pa., in 1831. She was edu- cated by her father, Professor Nathaniel Ruggles Smith, a graduate of Harvard, who is said to have taught fifty years in advance of his time. Miss Smith, herself, adopted the pedagogical profession and also contributed frequently to literary periodicals. Mark Twain once stated that he remembered "setting up" some of her poems. George D. Prentice, editor of the Louisville Courier Journal, was interested in her career, and through him she met her first husband, Mr. Oliver I. Taylor. Mr. Taylor, a gifted poet and editor, died two years and six months after their mar- riage, leaving his widow with a litle daughter, who, also, passed away in 1869, on her tenth birthday. A poem, entitled "Maymie," written by her mother in memory of this child, was published in book form in 1870. It is a poem full of tender pathos, peculiarly comforting to bereaved mothers. Mrs. Taylor was afterwards married to James Pollard, an Iowa state senator. Four children were born to them, three of whom are still living. Mr. Pollard died in April, 1902. Lippincott & Co., of Philadelphia, published a volume of Mrs. Pollard's poems-"Centennial and Other Poems"-in 1876. She is also the author of a novel, dealing with conditions prevalent at the time of the Civil War, and called "Emma Bartlett or Prejudice and Fanaticism." "Full Surrender," one of Mrs. Pol- lard's hymns, ranks among the most popular conse- cration songs of the present century. One of her best poems is "The Legend of Indian Summer." In her eightieth year, although nearly blind, she composed
237
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
a story in verse-"Althea, or the Morning Glory" -- which was published by Sherman, French & Co., of Boston, Mass. It tells the story of the summoning to service of a missionary and her friends, it is full of missionary spirit and inspiration. Mrs. Pollard's method of teaching beginners to read, known as the "Synthetic Sound System," with its teacher's man- ual, its series of spellers and readers and its stencil pictures, was the outcome of many years of practical experience in primary work. She, herself, when a child, had been carefully drilled, by her father, in phonics. She recognized the defects and limitations of the word method, and gradually originated and formulated a successful plan of teaching by sound and diacritical markings which unprejudiced students believe to be the foundation of the new education now so wisely used by primary instructors. A letter, re- cently received, and signed by many Iowa school su- perintendents and teachers, gratefully acknowledges Mrs. Pollard's contribution to past and present gene- rations. Mrs. Pollard has shared the fate of almost every genius who discovers new and better paths for humanity. She has been persecuted for the courage of her convictions, and her ideas and devices and illus- trations have been appropriated, without permission, by imitators. Nevertheless, she says, "My greatest compensation is found in the thought of the benefit my method affords to the children themselves."
Mrs. Pollard's home is in Ft. Madison. Her children are Miss Adelaide Pollard, New York; Mrs. Eleanor E. S. Ehart, and J. A. S. Pollard, Ft. Madison.
238
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. G. W. STURDIVANT
Mrs. Mary Lord Drake Sturdivant, during her father's term of office as Governor of Iowa, assumed the social duties devolving upon the first lady of the commonwealth. with charm and dignity, making her one of the most popular Iowa women who have had that honor. She was born at Centerville, Iowa, the youngest of six children, and to her was given her mother's maiden name, Mary Lord. She attended the Centerville schools in her childhood, later attend- ing the Grant Collegiate Institute at Chicago, and finishing at Miss Reed's school in New York City. Her education has been supplemented by travel in many lands. On March 28, 1896, she had the honor of Chris- tening the U. S. Battleship, "Iowa," at Cramp's ship yard, Philadelphia. She was one of the charter mem- bers of the Society of Sponsors of the U. S. Navy, and served on the Board of Control. She is a P. E. O. and is a member of the Central Church of Christ in Center- ville, of which denomination her father was one of the most liberal supporters. His gifts to the various de- nominational schools and colleges, and to the advance- ment of Christian civilization, through its mission boards won for him the title of "first philanthropist among a million disciples." He gave most generously to philanthropies and charities of many kinds. For more than twenty years he made a gift to the building fund of every church of his denomination in Iowa. Drake University is named in his honor. To this insti- tution alone he gave more than a hundred thousand dollars. On Act. 28, 1896, Mary Lord Drake was mar- ried to George Wood Sturdivant, a prominent mer- chant of Centerville. They have one daughter, Mary Drake Sturdivant.
289
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
MRS. W. G. BLOOD
Jane Ewing Blood, was born at Kittaning, Arm- strong county, Pa. Her father, the Rev. Thomas Ewing, D. D., was an alumnus of Washington and Jefferson College, and of the Allegheny Theological Seminary. He was pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Kit- taning, Pa., 1864-1880, was president of Parsons Col- lege, Fairfield, Ia., 1880-1889, and was principal of the Academy at Corning, Ia., 1889-1905. He died, July, 1905. He was a scholarly man of a very high type of Christian character. Her mother, Anna Maria Gra- ham, was born of Revolutionary ancestry at Browns- ville, Pa., July 16, 1844. She was distinguished by un- usual beauty and intellectual brilliancy. She died at Fairfield, September, 1884. Mrs. Blood was educated at Parson's College, Fairfield, a coeducational Chris-
tian College, in the class of 1890. For a number of years after leaving school she made her home with her grand mother, Mary Rebecca Graham, at Brownsville, Pa., where in the same house and the same room in which her mother had been married, she was married to William Graffen Blood, a successful attorney of Keokuk, Jany. 15, 1903. Mr. Blood is the son of Col. H. B. Blood, a Civil War veteran, born near Wor- cester, Mass., and of Anna Belle Graffen, who belong- ed to a Quaker family of Philadelphia. They came to Keokuk in 1876. Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Blood have one son, William Graffen Blood, Jr., born Oct. 2, 1904. His paternal great-great-great grandfather was a Lex- ington minute man, Nathaniel Blood. Mrs. Blood is a
dyed-in-the-wool blue Presbyterian. She served for three years as Treasurer of the Iowa Presbyterial Mis- sionary Society Auxiliary to the Woman's Board of the Northwest at Chicago. Her sister, Rebecca Ewing
240
The Blue Book of Iowa Women
McClintock (Mrs. Paul W.) is engaged in foreign mis- sion work on the Island of Hainan, China. During her visits to this country she has spoken in many Iowa churches and no one who has met this brilliant, charm- ing woman could forget hier or the missionary mes- sage she always leaves in the hearts of her hearers. Mrs. Blood's brother, Prof. James F. Ewing, of Port- land, Oregon, is an alumnus of Princeton University, Class 1893. He is principal of Portland Academy, an elder in the First Presbyterian church, and superinten- dent of the Sunday School. Mrs. Blood is a member of the Daughters of the Revolution, and of the Daughters of the American Revolution, joining on the service of Michael Sowers. She served on the committee of the Keokuk chapter, which raised funds for the monu- ment to Chief Keokuk, unveiled in Rand Park, Oct. 22, 1913. Her son, Graffen, was one of the two chil- dren who unveiled the statute. She belongs to
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.