USA > Iowa > Polk County > The history of Polk County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., biographical sketches of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 96
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CLAPP, ED. R .- Among the daring and enterprising pioneers who were borne westward on the advanced wave of civilization were two broth- ers by the name of Clapp. W. W. Clapp was one of the most energetic business men in the early history of the county. He afterward removed to California, where he died. The subject of this sketch, E. R. Clapp, though yet a comparatively young man is still actively engaged in the business affairs of the city he assisted in founding. He was born in Madi- son county, New York, May 30, 1827. He afterward, while yet a youth,
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removed to Ohio, and when ten years of age located in Keokuk county, of this State, and, in 1846, again removed to Polk county, Iowa. Thus far. Mr. Clapp was chiefly engaged in the occupation of farming and stock- raising and as such was successful in accumulating considerable property. Possessed of more than an average amount of business foresight and sa- gacity, he readily perceived, at an early time, that Des Moines was destined to become the leading business center of the State. He laid his plans ac- cordingly and at the present time he is the owner of one of the best busi- ness locations and one of the most prominent business buildings in the capital city. In 1867 Mr. Clapp was appointed stock agent of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, which position he still occupies, he having discharged the difficult duties of that office for a period of thirteen years. He is one of the most trusted employes of the railroad and is a universal favorite among the stock men and shippers of the State. He was married in 1849 to Miss Emily J. Baughton, a native of New York; she died in 1869. By this marriage there are three children living: Ella (now Mrs. White), Ida (now Mrs. Smith), and John W. His second marriage occurred in 1871 to Mrs. S. A. Mills, a native of Rush county, Indiana. By this union they have one daughter: Bertha. Mrs. C. has two children by former marriage: Pleasant Jacob and Minnie (now Mrs. Harry Elliott).
CLARK, CAPT. J. S .- Of the firm of Clark & Connor, attorneys. Is a native of Johnson county, Indiana, and was born in October, 1841, and resided in his native place until fifteen years of age, when he then removed to Warren county, Iowa. He was there engaged in agricultural pursuits and acquiring an education until the outbreak of the rebellion. He enlisted first in the First Iowa and afterward in the Thirty-fourth Iowa, and after passing the various grades of promotion from private, he was mustered out as captain. Deciding to study law he attended the State University at Iowa City, and graduated from the law department of that institution. In 1874 he formed a business connection with Wm. Connor, the present State Attorney for this district. He was married to Miss Laura C. Hutchinson, of Iowa City, November 30, 1870. She died in September, 1871. He married for his second wife Miss Fannie M. Page. They have: one daughter: Laura Osgood.
CLARK, CHARLES J .- Of the firm of Geo. C. Baker & Co., hardware dealers, and manufacturers and jobbers of tinware. Was born in Onon- daga county, New York, November 15, 1835, where he lived until 1852. He received all the advantages of a common school education, supplemented by two years of academic study. In 1852 he came west with his parents, and located in McHenry county, Ills., and four years later removed to. Fountain county, Ind., where he continued to reside until 1859. He then came to Polk county. In September, 1860, he was married to Miss Calista Kellison, a native of Indiana. Their family consists of three sons and one daughter: John F., Charles J., George Ward, and Clara L. On the break- ing out of the rebellion Mr. Clark entered the service as first lieutenant of company A, Tenth Iowa infantry, in August, 1861, and was with that regi- ment until January, 1862, when he was obliged to resign on account of ill health. Soon afterward, having regained his health, he recruited a com- pany for the Twenty-third Iowa infantry, in August, 1862, and was elected their captain. The following December he was promoted major, and lieu- tenant-colonel in June, 1863, and remained with the regiment in that ca- pacity until the close of the war. He participated in the following bat-
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tles: Port Gibson, Champion's Hill, Black River Bridge, Milliken's Bend, seige of Vicksburg, Fort Esperanza, Texas, and siege of Mobile. Such is. the brief outline of the life of one whose career has been marked by enter- prise, energy, pure motives and honest effort. He has made himself what he is, a worthy type of independent manhood.
CLARK, AUSTIN-Proprietor of livery stable. Was born in Oneida county, New York, October 16, 1839, and in 1859 came to this State, set- tling in Adair county, where he resided for two years, and then moved on the farm known as the Frank Allen farm, where he remained for seven years. After that he removed upon the land lying near the South 'Coon river; has been engaged in the livery business since April, 1877; owns a farm of 96 acres. He was married in Polk county to Miss Jennie Good -. hue, a native of Massachusetts. They have one son and two daughters: Alice, Hallett and Mabel.
CLARKE, R. W .- Justice of the Peace. Was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., February 5, 1816, and when about 17 years of age, he went to Blairsville, Indiana county, to attend school. About two years later his parents moved to that place. He is a civil engineer by profession, having followed the same in Pennsylvania for 21 years. In 1855 he came to Iowa, locating in this place. In 1868 he helped to locate the C., R. I. & P. R. R. for 100 miles this side of Council Bluffs, and since that time he has been identified with a number of surveys in this place. In the fall of 1878 he was elected justice of the peace, which office he now holds. He was married in Erie, Pa., December 9, 1840 to Miss Caroline King, a native of that place. They have three sons and three daughters: Mary A., James P., Jane M., Thomas K., R. W. and Sarah. Mr. Clark was a member of the city council in 1857.
CLARKSON, HON. COKER F .- The agricultural editor of The Iowa" State Register. Father Clarkson was born in the grand old State of Maine, in the year 1810. In the year 1819 his father made a visit to Indi- ana in search of a home in the then Far West, and in the year following moved his family. The subject of this sketch, then but ten years of age, drove the team all the way through the vast wilderness that then intervened between the old and new home, and remained upon his father's farm until his seventeenth year, when he entered the printing office of the Lawrence- burg Statesman as an apprentice, and before he reached his twentieth year had the management of the office, as the proprietor had been elected to an office demanding the greater portion of his time. At the end of four years he purchased the paper, and soon afterward started the Brookville American, and continued the publication of the same until 1854. During this time and. the year following he was more or less engaged in the building of railroads. In 1855 he removed to the then new but growing State of Iowa, and located in Grundy county. He selected a choice location, and from the wilds of the prairie succeeded in making the now famous "Melrose farm," and by the faithful co-operation of his sons, the exercise of sound judgment, the intelligent adaptation of means to ends, amassed considerable fortune. He was elected to the Iowa Senate from the 39th district in 1863, and served the State faithfully and well. Has been connected with the Iowa State Register since 1870-the first eighteen months as one of the proprietors, and since that time principally as the editor of the agricultural department, for which position he is peculiarly adapted, on account of his thorough knowledge of all the practical branches of agriculture, and is pre-
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eminently the peer of all the agricultural writers of the West. He removed to Des Moines in 1878, and has since been identified with all the great movements for the public interests in general, and the conduct of his department of the Register, especially. He was married in 1832 to Miss: Elizabeth Gowdy, a native of Uniontown, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, who died in 1848, leaving four children : Mrs. Pemela Coe, of Ft. Atkinson, Mrs. Frank E. Macey, of Marshalltown, Richard P. and Jas. S., of the Iowa State Register. In 1849 he married Miss Elizabeth Coldscott, of Brookville, Indiana. Mr. Clarkson is a man of positive character, and when his opinions are once formed they remain. He is a warm friend and a most vigorous opponent. His social qualites are admirable and his moral character is irreproachable.
CLARKSON, RICHARD P .- Or " Dick," as he is familiarly and bet- ter known, was born in Brookville, Indiana, April 16, 1840. He was lit- erally raised in the printing office of his father. He came to Iowa with his father in 1855 and remained with him in the arduous work of taming a wild: prairie until 1861, when he came to Des Moines and entered the office of. the State Register as a compositor. October 8, 1861, he enlisted as a pri -: vate in company A, Twelfth Iowa infantry. He was captured at the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862, and for seven months received the murderous hos- pitality of rebel prison pens, when he was exchanged and returned to his regiment and served through his term with a valor and heroism which fair- ly entitled him to shoulder-straps. When mustered out of the service he returned to Grundy county and engaged in agriculture until 1870, when he became connected with the Register, and at once assumed the position of business manager, devoting his time so assiduously to his post, from eleven ยท o'clock in the morning until midnight, as to become especially noticeable .. He is emphatically a man who " minds his own business." At a recent re- union of the Twelfth regiment he was present, which was the only time he has been absent from his desk for nearly nine years. He is cautious, firm in purpose, honorable and strictly methodical in all his transactions. To his excellent business qualifications is the establishment largely due for its remarkable financial success. He is reserved in manner, of few words, yet has in reserve those qualities of mind which enable him to write well on any topic he may select. He is popular with those who know him best. Like his father, he is a firm friend and a disagreeable enemy. He is gener- ous where generosity is deserving. In business circles he stands high for his unswerving integrity and stability. Though not a boisterous politi- cian, he began political life at a very early date in a boisterous manner. In the summer of 1840 his mother was selected to present a flag to the Harri- son Guards, of Brookville and make the presentation speech. That was in the log cabin campaign of Old Tippecanoe. Dick was in swaddling clothes, and, when the hour came for the presentation, he was turned over to the tender care of a friend. Dick set up a rebellion instanter, pugnis et calci- bus, and made more noise than all the people on the ground, whereupon his mother took him, and, holding him on one arm, delivered her address and presented the flag, like the Spartan mother she was. He was married in September, 1866 to Miss Aggie Green, a native of Illinois. They have four children: Elizabeth, John, Frank and Bertha.
CLARKSON, JAMES S .- Mr. Clarkson, or "Ret," as he is better known to nearly every one acquainted with him, was born at Brookville, Indiana, May 17, 1842, and was a graduate from the printing office of his
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father, beginning his trade when so young that a pile of boxes were neces-, sary to raise him to a level with the "space box." He came to Iowa with: his father and worked on the farm in Grundy county until the tocsin of war. sounded, when he offered his services, with his brother, to the Union army, but was rejected for physical disability, from over work in a steam saw mill the prior winter. He continued his labor on the farm, and while his father was a member of the State Senate was the sole manager thereof. His natural inclinations were averse to agricultural life and toward journalism. He thought he saw a good investment in the Eldora Ledger, and consulted his father about it. His father squelched his ambitious dream with the remark that if he had no higher aspiration than that he had better stick to. the farm and wait for a better opportunity. He came to Des Moines in May 18, 1866, and took a "case" on the Register. Six weeks after he was promoted to assistant foreman of the composing room, and three months after to the foremanship. About this time J. M. Dixon, who was the city. editor of the Register, retired. Mr. Palmer, the editor, started east to find a successor to Mr. Dixon, leaving the paper in charge of Col. J. N. Dewey, and "Ret" as his assistant. While en route Mr. Palmer found a copy of his paper, and scanning its local page, was satisfied, returned home, and "Ret" was retained as assistant editor, which position he occupied until Palmer was nominated for Congress, when "Ret" became sole editor. When vis- iting his father in 1869 he suggested to him the purchase of the Register establishment. The suggestion was promptly acted upon. The purchase was made for thirty-thousand dollars cash, and the establishment passed into the hands of the father and sons December 4, 1870, under the firm name of the Clarkson Company. In 1871 the father retired from the firm and assumed editorial control of the agricultural department. "Ret" from . the outset has been the managing editor, and has become one of the best in the West, as well as one of the most popular. He possesses a versatile, well-stored mind, thinks and puts his ideas on paper with great rapidity in a style of chirography most execrable, and the horror of compositors. He writes on soft print paper with pages about seven by nine inches square, beginning at the northwest corner, each line growing shorter to the right until at the bottom of the page the line will be about three inches long, inclining to the northeast corner at an angle of thirty degrees. There is a jubilee in the news-room when a fresh compositor tackles a "take" of his copy. He will retire to his case with visions of a "fat take" and thick "leads," industriously interviews it about five minutes, when the silence of the quiet night is broken with "Here! See here, foreman; what the h- is this? Looks like an inscription from the Egyptian obelisk!" With the help of the old stagers he worries through one or two lines and is ready to trade it off. He is a diligent student, and possessing one of the most valuable and extensive libraries in the State, he has eminently fitted himself for his vocation. He is of nervous, lymphatic temperament, genial and social, but not loquacious. He is decidedly positive in character and possesses indomitable will, which never yields, even to the most adverse circumstances. He is a warm, tenacious friend, and a hard hater. An enemy he may forgive -- but forget, never. He is naturally inclined to combativeness, and woe to the person who becomes a target for his trenchant pen when dipped in gall. He is a firm, fast friend of his adopted city, and loses no opportunity to advance her interests and prosperity. He has filled several public trusts with great fidelity and success. He was appointed postmaster of Des Moines two
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terms, and resigned on account of impaired health, caused by over work. He is at present an active and influential member of the West Side board of school directors. He has an abiding faith in railroads as a means of de- veloping a city, and so believing, he took hold of the Des Moines, Knox- ville & Albia road when it was practically a dead letter, and by persistent individual effort secured its completion. He inaugurated the Milwaukee, Marion, Marshalltown & Des Moines railroad project, was made president of the company, and spent several months in the field to secure its success, furnishing the means from his own pocket to survey and locate the route, and to him alone will be due the credit of acquiring so valuable and import- ant an addition to the railroad facilities possessed by the city. His familiar soubriquet. "Ret," was a signature assumed by him in newspaper corres- pondence. The compositors adopted it and soon it became universal among his friends. He was married December 26, 1867, to Miss Anna Howell, of Pella, daughter of Dr. J. G. Howell, a most estimable woman, possessing those graces of mind and heart which endear her to a wide ex- tended circle of friends. Two children have blessed this union: Hallie and Coker F.
CONRAD, CAPT. W. F .- Of the firm of Phillips & Conrad, attorneys at law. Was born in Ithica, New York, November 7, 1826, and when young his parents moved to Oswego, and afterward to Hinsdale, Catta- raugus county. When 15 years of age he removed to Brantford, Canada West. Hegraduated from the Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Conn., in 1853, and afterward moved south to Port Gibson, where he taught school for about two years, studying law in the meantime. He was there admit- ted to practice in 1855, and soon after removed to this State, settling in Burlington, and at once commenced the practice of his profession. In August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in company G, Twenty-fifth Iowa. Before the command moved from Burlington he was commissioned ser- geant-major, and on the 1st of January, 1863, was elected captain of company K. May 24, 1863, he was taken prisoner at Raymond, Miss., and was held 11 months in Libby Prison; was then taken to Macon, Ga .; remained there in the hands of the enemy for nearly 3 months, and about the same length of time in Charleston, S. C. He was then removed to Columbia; was de- tained two months and on the 29th of November, 1864, managed to escape. He made his way to Knoxville, Tenn., reaching there January 8, 1865. He saw some pretty hard times, since then unequalled. Then returned home, - and soon after was sent on detached service to Fort Snelling, Minn., re- maining there until July, 1865, when he was mustered out. He went to
Canton, Mo., where he commenced to practice, and remained there until his coming here, in the fall of 1876, and since 1878 has been engaged in business with Mr. Phillips. January 22, 1853, he was married in Aurora, New York, to Miss Harriet S. Pierce, a native of Maine. They have one son and one daughter: William F. and Hattie L.
CREIGHTON, HUGH R .- One of Des Moines representative business men and most successful financiers, is a native of Starke county, Ohio, and enjoyed good educational advantages in his youth. At the outbreak of the war he early tendered his services to his country and enlisted on the nine- teenth day of August, 1861, in company A, Third Illinois cavalry, as a pri- vate. He served with his regiment through the Missouri and Mississippi campaign until 1863, when he was detailed for staff duty, and for several months was provost-marshal at Holly Springs, and while occupying this
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position paroled over seven thousand rebels. He was mustered out of the United States service on the twentieth day of August, 1865. Forming a taste for the profession of law, after a thorough course at the Albany Law School, was graduated from that institution and admitted to the bar. In 1872 he removed to this State and settled at Indianola, Warren county, and established the firm of H. R. Creighton & Co., which firm was succeeded by Creighton & Creighton, a brother of the above. In 1876 Mr. Creighton came to this city and took charge of the Union Loan Association, and has since become proprietor of the same, and in the management of which he has been eminently successful.
COGGESHALL, J. M .- Real estate dealer. Was born in Guilford county; North Carolina, on the 10th day of June, 1829, and in 1832 removed with his parents to Rush county, Indiana, where he was principally raised. He learned the trade of saddle and harness-maker, and worked at the business from 1848 to 1852, and from 1852. to 1860 was engaged in various pursuits. The following four years was in general merchandise. He came to this city in 1865 and engaged in the clothing business for a short time, and for four years was in the manufacture of pottery ware, and has had a large experience in grain and real estate, in which he has been fairly suc- cessful. He has served as a member of the city council, and is one of the prominent men in his business in the city. He was married in 1857 to Miss Mary J. Whitely, a native of Fayette county, Indiana. Their family consists of four children : George W., Carl C., Harry, and Corrinne.
COLE, HON. C. C .- Late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa, and a man with few peers in the legal profession in the State. Sprang from a very early New England family. He was born in Oxford, Chenango county, New York, June 4, 1824. Was fitted for college at the Oxford Academy, and at eighteen was prepared to enter the junior class of Union College, but protracted ill health prevented, and at. twenty-two he entered the law school of Harvard University, where he received a thorough train- ing under the best legal instructors in the country, and graduated in about two years. Mr. Cole went immediately to Frankfort, Kentucky, and took charge for a short time of the legislative department of the Commonwealth, a daily paper of that place. He then located at Marion, Kentucky, where he was admitted to the bar, and commenced what has proven to be a very brilliant career in the legal profession. It was brilliant from the start. Success marked his first case at the bar, and won for him enviable reputa- tion in that district. His uniform success was all the more remarkable from the fact that he had to contend with the ablest lawyers in the State. In May, 1857, Mr. Cole settled in Des Moines, which has since been his home, and his success here as an attorney has been second to none in Iowa. When in the spring of 1861 the American flag was stricken down at Fort Sumter he was among the first to protest against the infamous deed, and to raise his voice for the marshaling of Union troops. In February, 1864, he was appointed one of the judges of the Supreme Court. The next autumn he was elected to the same office by an unprecedented majority, and re- elected in 1870 by an equally flattering vote. In 1865 he was associated with Judge G. G. Wright in organizing a law school at Des Moines, since made a part of the State University at Iowa City. In 1869 Judge Cole became Chief Justice, and served in that capacity until the expiration of that term. He was re-elected but resigned the office on. the 1st of January, 1876, and returned. to. the practice of his profession. His judicial
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work has been distinguished for a display of the highest qualities which are demanded by the bench, and as a judicial writer he has eloquence, clear- ness, and force. Judge Cole has been for several years the editor of the Western Jurist, a periodical published at Des Moines, and conducted with marked ability. The wife of Mr. Cole was Miss Amanda M. Bennett, an associate of his youth, to whom he was married June 25, 1848. They have had seven children, five of whom are still living: Will W. (now associated with his father in the practice of law), Gertrude (wife of A. C. Atherton), Mary, Frank, and Carrie.
COOPER, ISAAC-One of the most worthy citizens that has made his home in Des Moines is the subject of this sketch, who was born in Otsego county, New York, on the 8th day of February, 1813. His father was a brother of the celebrated author and novelist, J. Fennimore. His boyhood and youth were spent in his native place, and his early life was that of a farmer boy. At the age of twenty he emigrated west, and arriving at Toledo, Ohio, found it a small town, containing only one store. He engaged in various occupations, at one time on the lakes, then a contractor on the Wabash and Erie canal, then in mercantile pursuits, in the latter of which he experienced serious losses. He decided to move west and recuperate his waning fortunes, and in company with a brother reached Fort Des Moines in 1845. He first settled in Delaware township, and made the first improve- ments in the township, and at that time there was but one house west of him (that of John Saylor), to the Pacific Ocean occupied by a civilized being, or north to the British possessions. He dug the first well in the township, and the first threshing machine in the county was brought in by Mr. Cooper, who did the threshing for this and the adjoining counties. The first reaping and mowing machine was owned by himself, Daniel Justice, and Peter Newcomer. In 1853 he moved from his farm and made his home in Des Moines until 1875, when, owing to impaired health, he went to Cal- ifornia, and since that time has divided his residence between the two places. He was one of the first justices of the peace in Delaware township. On the 7th day of June, 1853, he was appointed chief clerk in the Register Department of the United States Land Office, an important position in those days, as the receipts were frequently twenty-five thousand dollars per day in gold. He is a good illustration of what economy and perseverance can accomplish. He came here with small means and has always been prudent in his expenditures and richly merits the success which has attended his career. He has been twice married; first to Miss Caroline Armstrong, on the 26th of November, 1839, a native of Pennsylvania. She died on the 23d day of July, 1871 leaving four children: Frances E. (now Mrs. Hubbell), Caroline F. (now Mrs. Grinn), Alice (now Mrs. Thompson), and Fennimore C. Mr. Cooper married for his second wife Miss Charlotte M. Mann, in 1872. She is a native of Massachusetts.
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