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 97
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COOK, IRA-Is a native of the Empire State, having been born in Union, Broome county, New York, October 6, 1821; during his mi- nority he spent the most of his time in attending school, and in 1836 he came with his father and family to Iowa and settled at Davenport, Scott county and improved a farminow within the city limits, and a part of which has been laid out in city lots. Here Mr. Cook found employment on the farm until twenty-eight years old when he engaged in merchandising. During a part of this period, in 1851-2, he was deputy U. S. Surveyor, en- gaged in townshiping and subdividing in the northern part of Wisconsin,
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a work in which he did good service as an expert and prompt official. In 1855 he closed his merchandising interests in Davenport and moved to Des Moines, where he entered into the banking business with the firm of "Cook, Sargent & Cook," which was continued until 1860, at which time he engaged in the real estate and insurance business in company with C. C. Dawson. In 1864 Mr. Cook became sole proprietor and since that time has followed that business with the exception of two years. During 1862-3 he spent nearly all his time in Washington, D. C., in the post-office depart- ment, but resigned during the latter year. He has filled several places of trust in the gift of the people. In 1861 he was elected mayor of Des Moines and did good service in that capacity; served two years in the city council; was deputy revenue collector under Horace Everett in 1864, and in 1868 was one of the trustees of Des Moines township. In every position in which he has been placed he has been true and loyal to his convictions of duty. He was married in 1854 to Miss Mary C. Owen, a native of Ohio, by whom he has one child, Rachel. Has one adopted daughter, Carrie.
COOLEY, N. B .- Brick manufacturer, was born September 2, 1820, near Salem, Indiana, and when seven years of age his parents removed to Butler county, Ohio, where he was raised and resided until he removed to Iowa, locating in Des Moines in October, 1855, where he has since resided and been engaged in his present business. He has furnished the brick for a great many of the principal buildings of the city, and burns annually from six hundred thousand to one million brick. He was united in marriage in 1846 to Martha Wray, a native of Butler county, Ohio.
CORMAC, JAMES-Secretary of the Eureka Coal Company, is a na- tive of Scotland, and was born on the twenty-fourth day of October, 1829. In 1833 he was brought by his parents to the United States and settled in New York where he was raised and educated. He selected dentistry as a profession and followed it as an avocation. For years during this time he also gave attention to medicine and attended one course of lectures. Owing to impared health he was compelled to abandon his business, and in 1868 came to Iowa and settled in Atlantic, Cass county, and engaged in the lumber and merchandise business. In 1874 he came to this county and engaged in coal mining. He was married in 1854 to Miss Julia A. Bal- lou. She was born in Tompkins county, New York. They have two children: William D. and Hattie M.
COX, HENRY, M. D .- Physician and surgeon. Prominent among the men of his profession is the one whose name heads this sketch. He was born in Butler county, Ohio, September 21, 1821, and when five years of age emigrated to Indiana, and shortly afterward his parents died. Then he returned to Ohio where he remained three years and then went again to Indiana. His early education was received in the schools of Ohio and the latter State. This he supplemented with a medical course as he had made choice of medicine as his profession, and after graduating from the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, in March, 1853, he began to practice in Indiana. This he continued until 1866 when, on account of his health, he came to this city, and engaged in the drug business, following the same until 1873. He then engaged in the practice of his chosen calling which he has since followed. In 1849 Dr. Cox made a trip overland, to Califor- nia, and was five months on the way. He practiced in California, and after his return, in November, 1851, went to Cincinnati and graduated. He
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was married in Highland county, Ohio, October 15, 1846, to Miss Catha- rine H. Batie of Ohio. They have three sons and two daughters living: Mary I., Eliza, James E., Cassius C. and Elmer E .; lost one son, Frank E. As early as 1843 the Doctor engaged in the drug business and continued the same until 1849.
CRAWSHAW, J. R .- Was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 4, 1834. He learned the trade of carpenter in that city, and resided there until 1856, when he came to Iowa and located in Des Moines. During the rebellion he served in the Twenty-third Iowa infantry, company C, as fife major of the regiment, enlisting in July, 1862, and serving until March following, when he was discharged on account of disabilities. He has been engaged in working at his trade since residing in the city, having had charge of the carpenter work on the post-office building, beside other im- portant buildings in the city. When work first began on the new capitol he assumed his present position as superintendent of the carpenter work, and has since had charge of the same. Besides this, he also has charge of the centering iron work, and has made all the drawings for the numerous patterns used. He was united in marriage, in 1855, to Mrs. Ann Volmer, also a native of Philadelphia. Have one child living, Effie H. Have one buried, Henrietta D.
CRESSEY, CAPT. F. J .- Frederick J. Cressey was born at Columbus, Ohio, March 3, 1840. He is one of a pair of twins, his twin brother being Rev. Frank B. Cressey, a Baptist minister of prominence, now located at Detroit, Michigan. In 1846 his father, Rev. Timothy R. Cressey, who, for thirty years, was one of the most noted Baptist ministers in the West, removed to Indianapolis, Indiana, from whence, six years later, he removed his family to St. Paul, Minnesota, then a mere town of three thousand in- habitants, a third of whom were half-breed Sioux Indians. In this place and the adjoining towns of Hastings and Minneapolis (the site of the latter place having been seen by Mr. Cressey when it was simply a wild prairie and patch of hazel brush, with not a house in sight anywhere), the subject of this sketch spent eight years of his youth. At the age of twenty years he added to his somewhat limited education the advantages of a freshman and a sophomore year at Dennison University, Granville, Ohio. It was at this time that the roar of cannon, sighted on Fort Sumter, reverberated from the shores of South Carolina throughout the land, and the greatest re- bellion the world ever saw was inaugurated. Mr. Cressey at once threw down his Latin grammar, shouldered a musket and joined the noble army of patriots to defend the flag of our nation. He enlisted in company B,. Seventeenth Ohio infantry, going to the field in twelve days after the fall of Sumter. Upon the expiration of his three months he enlisted for three years in company D, One Hundred and Thirteenth Ohio infantry, serving faithfully till December 15, 1863, when, as the result of a competitive ex- amination, and for special bravery at the terrible battle of Chickamauga, Mr. Cressey was promoted to the position of captain, company G, Four- teenth regiment, United States volunteer infantry, receiving his commis- sion direct from the Secretaryof War. After over four years active military service, during which time he braved death in eleven different engage- ments, and received frequent mention by superior officers for personal daring and cool bravery, Capt. Cressey was honorably discharged at Nash- ville, Tennessee, March 26, 1866, and with his young wife, Ella Graves,
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came at once to Des Moines, Iowa, where he has since resided. Patriotism runs in the blood of the Cressey family. The father and five sons were in the Union army during the great rebellion, and served with personal distinction. Since the war Capt. Cressey has given his entire time to the insurance business, for which he seems peculiarly fitted. For three years he was special agent and adjuster of losses for the Pacific Insurance Co. of San Francisco. Also for four years in a similar position with the Continent- al Insurance Co. of N. Y. He is now manager for Kansas of the Provident Savings Life Assurance Society of N. Y., a position his energy, self-reliance, genial manners and courteous bearing eminently fit him to occupy. Pos- sessing a nervous-sanguine temperament, he is active, vivacious and pop- ular in social circles. The teachings of his eminent and truly good father, -who died at Des Moines, August 30, 1870, after a gospel ministry of over forty-two years, are evidenced in the fact that four of his sons are Baptist ministers, of which denomination the subject of this sketch has for twenty- 'five years been a member. His mother, now living in Des Moines, is the eldest daughter of the late Jonathan Going, D. D., who died in 1844 while president of Granville College, Ohio. Capt. Cressey was first married February 21, 1865, at Granville, Ohio, to Miss Ella Graves, youngest daughter of Ashley Graves, Esq., a young lady of rare personal piety and beauty of character. She died at Des Moines, February 21, 1869, having been four years a wife, leaving one son, Frank Graves, who lives to honor the name of his dead mother. November 26, 1871. the subject of our sketch married Miss Nora Hall, eldest daughter of Hon. Henry Hall, at Walworth, Wisconsin. She was a woman of energy, warm friendship and Christian zeal. She died very suddenly at Des Moines on the first anniver- sary of her marriage, just one year a bride. Her nameless infant was buried with her. Capt. Cressey's third marriage occurred September 1, 1875, at Anamosa, Iowa, when he was united to his present wife, Miss Imogene Alderman, daughter of Capt. E. B. Alderman, now living at Marion, Iowa. Two daughters, Stella Alderman and Lena Imogene, have come to them as the result of that union. Capt. Cressey is a man of fine personal appear- ance, courteous and affable, energetic and persevering He is positive in his nature, and therefore strong in his likes and dislikes. He readily reads character, fully appreciates true friendship, and as cordially hates hypocrisy in all forms. He is a self-made man and a good type of Western character.
CROCKER, GEN. M. M .- Deceased, was born in Johnson county, In- diana, in 1830. In 1844 he removed, with his father, to Fairfield, Jefferson county, Iowa, and shortly after to Keokuk county, where a claim was taken and improved in the most beautiful part of the county, about two miles northwest of Lancaster. In 1846 young Crocker was called from the plow to accept a situation tendered him by Congressman Leffer, to the United States military academy at West Point. At the expiration of two years he was called back to the farm by the death of his father. In 1850 he entered upon the study of law, and the following year was admitted to practice and opened an office at Lancaster. Here he followed the practice of law until 1854, when he removed to Des Moines, and soon became recognized as one of the leading lawyers of the State. Upon the declaration of war in 1861 he immediately responded to the call for volunteers, and raised the first company organized in Central Iowa. This company was incorporated in the Second Iowa infantry, of which. Mr. Crocker first became major. Shortly after he was promoted to the office of lieutenant-colonel and given
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command of the Thirteenth infantry. At the battle 'of Shiloh he com- manded a brigade, the commander having been wounded early in the engage- ment. He afterward was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, which rank he held at the time of his death. His health failing toward the close of the war, he was sent to New Mexico. His health improving while there, he was, at his own request, transferred, and again became connected with the Army of the Cumberland. In August, 1865, he started for Washing- ton, his health again having failed. Here he rapidly grew worse, and on the 26th of that month died.
CRYSTAL, J. A .- Was born August 4th, 1840, in Park county, Indi- ana, and in 1847 his parents removed to this county, settling in Des Moines, where the subject of this sketch was raised. His father, Richard S. Crys- tal was one of the early settlers of the city, and opened out the first black- smith shop on the East Side. He also built the first frame house erected in what is now called Scott's addition. Young Crystal worked at his father's trade with him untilhe was twenty-six years of age. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted in company D, Second Iowa infantry, serving a little over two years, when he was veteranized and served until the close of the war. In the fall of 1864 he was taken prisoner near Macon, Georgia, and confined for seven months in the prison pen at Andersonville, when he, with several others, made good their escape. He was united in marriage, in 1865, to Louisa Shannon, a native of Indiana. Have two children: Ellie and Mil- dred.
CUMMINS, A. B .- Attorney, one of the more recent acquisitions to the bar of Des Moines, is the subject of this sketch, who was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, on the 15th day of February, 1850, and resided in his native place until nineteen years of age. He was educated at Waynesburg College. He removed to Chicago in 1869, and, making choice of law as a profession, he entered the office of McClelland & Hodges, and was admitted to the bar in 1875. He came to this county in 1878, and has already taken a prominent place and commands the respect of his brother practitioners. He was united in marriage with Miss Ida L. Gallery in 1874. She is a native of Eaton county, Michigan. They have one daughter, Kate.
CUMMINS, J. C .- Was born in the Keystone State, which has given many men of worth to the younger West. The place of birth was Greene county, and the time January 15, 1852. His early education was at the academy at Carmichaels, and was concluded, in due time, at the Washing- ton and Jefferson College. He removed to Michigan in 1871, where he was engaged in the engineer corps of the Northern Central, now Janesville branch of the Michigan Southern Railroad. He pushed west again the next year, and stopped in Chicago. Here, for a short time, he was engaged in a wholesale stationery house, but in 1874 he began the study of law in the office of Frederick Ullman, where he remained until 1875. He then entered the office of Finneys, Flower & Abercrombie and continued to read law until January 1, 1877, when he was admitted to the bar at Springfield, Illinois. In October of the same year he came to Des Moines and became associated with his brother in the practice of his profession. He was united in marriage to Miss Cora, daughter of O. S. Cook, Esq., of Chicago, Decem- ber 17, 1878. They have one son, Frank.
D AUGHERTY, JOHN-Of the firm of Morris & Daugherty, brick manufacturers. Was born Dec. 25,1822, in Perry Co., Ohio, where he resided until 1843, when he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio. He was
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engaged in brick-making there until 1856, when he came West and located in Des Moines. During his residence in this city he has been principally engaged in brick-making; 1874-5 he served on the police force of the city. He has been largely engaged in the brick business, having burned the principal part of the brick of which the business part of Des Moines is con- structed, and is now furnishing annually something over one million brick. He was united in marriage in 1845 to Miss Margaret Ann Ross. They have six children living: Albert J., Belle, Frank, W. P., Annie and Leroy. Have buried one child.
DAY, JOHN M .- Attorney and broker. Numbered among the suc- cessful men in this county may be mentioned the person named in this sketch. He was born in 1831, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, where he grew to manhood upon the same fields from which, in the early part of this century, his father had removed the original forests of oak. He attended school at Waynesburg College, Pennsylvania, for three years, then studied law, and in the year 1859 entered upon the practice of his profes- sion at Davenport, this State, where he continued to practice until his change of residence to Des Moines in the year 1868. Mr. Day's habits of great industry and rigid economy, combined with his known foresight and sagacity in all matters of business, have placed him in the front rank of men of enterprise and capital in this State. The D. & M. R. R. project was resurrected by him, in the year 1873, and through his energy and per- severance largely the same was pushed forward to success. He was mar- ried in 1861 to Miss Jennie Rogers, of Davenport, Iowa, and they have two sons: Herschel P. and Robert H.
DE VOTIE, DUANE-Was born June 30, 1819, in Oneida county, New York, where he was raised to manhood. He removed from there to Ohio about 1843, and resided in that State some nine years, the last six years in Tuscarawas county, where he lost his wife and two children. His wife's maiden name was Emily A. Scott, to whom he was married in 1842. After settling up his business he spent the greater part of the year 1853 in traveling, and in May of the year following he came to Des Moines. His first three years' residence in Polk county was spent in entering and selling land, after which he opened out a farm of 700 acres in Jasper county, remaining on the same for some six years. In 1862 he disposed of his real estate in that county and came back to Des Moines, where he has since. resided. In 1877 he erected a fine brick block on the east side. Since his return to the city he has been mainly engaged in dealing in real estate, in both this and other portions of the State. In March, 1875, he was elected a member of the City Council from the Fifth ward, which position he held for two years.
DICKINSON, DR. W. H .- Was born at Stanstead, Province of Que- bec, Canada, on the 19th day of September, 1829. His father was of Eng- lish descent and his mother of Welsh parentage. He received an academic education in his native village. After leaving school he went South, and was engaged in teaching for four years, the first half of that time as prin- cipal of the Louisville (Georgia) Female Seminary, and the latter half in the preparatory school of Mercer University, Penfield, Georgia. Having always had a taste for the medical profession, he commenced reading, first with Dr. Hunter, of Louisville, and afterward with Dr. Jones, of Penfield. From Georgia he proceeded to Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended lectures at the Homeopathic College, from which institution he graduated in 1858.
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After graduating he located in this city, where he has since resided, except- ing during the years 1863-4, when he visited New York and attended lec- tures at the Homoeopathic College on Twentieth street and Third Avenue, from which institution he graduated for the second time in the spring of 1865. He then immediately returned to Des Moines and resumed his practice, which has now become large and lucrative. In 1870 he was elected President of the Iowa State Medical Society. In 1877 Dr. D. was elected to the chair of Theory and Practice of Homoeopathy in the Iowa. State University, which position he has filled since.' In April, 1880, he was appointed a member of the State Board of Health, and was subse- quently elected Vice-President. He married Miss Sarah A. Butin on the 24th day of December, 1853. She is a native of Rensselaer county, New York. Their family consists of three children: Wilmot D., Robert and Warren.
DIPPERT, WILLIAM-Dealer in and manufacturer of harness, sad- dlery, etc. Was born in Baden, Germany, in 1823, where he grew to manhood and learned the trade of a harness maker. He resided in his native land until 1848, when he emigrated to the United States and located in Fairview, Erie county, Penn., where he engaged in business, and there remained until 1855, when he removed to Des Moines. Here he has since resided, and with the exception of two years has been continuously in business. He was married in 1847 to Miss Josephine Ambs, also a native of Baden. They have a family of eight children: William, Robert, Albert, Joseph, Charles, Frederick, Louie and Josephine. Mr. D. enjoys a large trade in his line, having a large acquaintance and being genial in his disposition.
DRAKE, J. F. N .- Clerk of the Watson Coal Company. Was born March 20, 1846, in Easton, Mass., where he was raised, and resided until he was twenty years of age, when he went to Taunton, same State. There he was employed as a clerk until 1869, when he came West in the employ of the Central Coal and Mining Company, locating in Macon county, Mis- souri, where he remained until February, 1873. He then came to Des Moines, and has since been in the employ of the Watson Coal Company. He is at present one of the Directors of the East Side School Board, being President of the board. He was married in the fall of 1870 to Miss Nannie Tompkins, a native of Illinois. They have three children: J. W., Fran- cis O. and Mabel T.
DUDLEY, C. A .- Attorney. Is a native of Ohio, and was born on the 14th day of November, 1839. His early life was divided between attending school and teaching. He was educated at the State University of Michi- gan, at Ann Arbor, and selecting law as his chosen occupation, he has pur- sued it with untiring zeal and energy. He came to this county in 1867, and formed a partnership with L. J. Brown, and the firm have been asso- ciated together without change longer than any law firm in the city. He is governed by the most rigid principles of honesty and integrity, and as a practitioner his forte is in being thoroughly prepared and never taken by surprise. He was married in 1871 to Miss Sarah E. Washburne, a native of Vermont. Their family consists of two children: Cora and Frank.
DUNKLE, A. J .- Grocer. Was born in Athens county, Ohio, Septem- ber 28, 1830, and there was raised on a farm and educated. In 1855 he came to this city and opened a dry goods and grocery house, remaining in that business until 1864. He then sold out and engaged in the shipping
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of stock, which he followed about five years, and then bought a farm in Bloomfield township. For several years he was engaged in farming, and in 1874 he bought the stock of groceries of George Bros. This he has con- tinued to keep, and has been successful in his trade. In 1872 he made a trip to California with a view of speculating, and took with him a lot of hogs, which he sold, making money out of them. He was married in Feb- ruary, 1854, to Miss Susan E. Will, a native of Ohio. They have seven children: Alice, Linnie, Talbott, J., Daniel, Lizzie, and Mattie, living, and one, Edith, deceased.
E ASON, G. L .- Was born in Windham county, Vt., May 15, 1843. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to Mr. C. A. Tripp, a jeweler,' in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he remained till he arrived at the age of twenty-one years. He immigrated to Iowa in 1864 and located in Des Moines, opening a workshop, where he repaired watches and jewelry, for one year. Soon following this he invented the celebrated Eason watch spring, which he manufactured nearly two years in Canada then selling his patent for thirty thousand dollars. Mr. Eason received the greater part of the consideration in cash. Some time after this the parties purchasing it were burnt out and failed in business whereupon Mr. Eason purchased the inter- est he had disposed of, and is now the sole proprietor and owner of this valuable invention. In 1876 he engaged in business with Mr. Rogg from which partnership he withdrew in 1878, and once more commenced busi- ness for himself. Mr. Eason is one of the most ingenious and skillful me-' chanics in the city, and his reputation as a watchmaker is unrivaled.
ELLIOTT, S. M .- Clerk in State Insurance company's office, was born' July 20, 1830, in Columbiana county, Pennsylvania, where he resided until he was eighteen years of age, when he removed to Wisconsin, where he resi- ded some five years. In 1858 he returned East and entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad company as an engineer, remaining in that position until 1860, when he came to Iowa on a visit. He remained until the following year when he enlisted in Company K, Twenty-seventh' Iowa infantry, as second lieutenant. He remained in the service some eighteen months. Upon account of disabilities he was compelled to re- sign. He then returned to Pennsylvania where he remained until 1867, when he again came West locating in Mitchell county, this State; he lived here until 1870 when he came to Des Moines and engaged in the drug business on the East Side, in which business he remained until July 1877; from that date he has been mostly in the employ of the State In- surance Company. He was married in 1862 to Miss Adalade M. Jones of Mitchell county, this State. -
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