USA > Iowa > Clinton County > Wolfe's history of Clinton County, Iowa, Volume 1 > Part 43
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The next day Colonel Van Deventer ( for he attained that rank during the Civil war) introduced me to a number of gentlemen who were his associ- ates in the enterprise, and in the course of the morning I was invited to ride with three of them. One was Colonel Toll (afterward sheriff and quarter- master in the army), another a Mr. St. Clair, and the name of the third I cannot recall. A fine span of horses and democrat wagon took us over nearly all the streets and avenues of the newly-laid-out town, and my companions, while we were passing over the well graded roads, pointed out the desirable locations for investment, and I remember that I was urged to purchase the lot where the Toll block was afterward erected, at the price of eighteen hun- dred dollars, which they all assured me was dirt cheap. In an incautious moment I remarked that my business in Clinton was not to invest in real estate, but to estimate its possibilities as a desirable place to practice law. I never knew just how it came about, but a few minutes afterward I found myself at the hotel, and for the rest of the day enjoyed abundant leisure.
In the morning I had noticed a locomotive standing in the dirt just at the ferry landing, and near it a railroad track which had not been ballasted, and learned from my friend that the track had been laid about a mile and a half out, and that they had got their first locomotive over the Mississippi from Fulton on the ferry boat the day before. Before noon the engine had been placed on the rails and the tender loaded with wood. Some time after dinner I saw that the engine had been fired up and the scream of the whistle brought nearly every man in the town to see it. After a while they began to climb on the engine or rather on the tender, and seated themselves on the top of the tank with their legs hanging over. Among them I noticed my companions of my forenoon ride and Gen. N. B. Baker and also another of their associates, Judge Bonesteel, from Poughkeepsie. New York, where I had often seen him while I was teaching in that town. He was short of stature, but of consider- able girth, and his appearance on the top of a locomotive was hardly as digni- fied as when he sat on the bench as surrogate of Duchess county, the office he
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filled when I used to see him there. The innate modesty that has been the bane of my professional career was all that kept me from a seat beside him.
With a full head of steam and a tender full of fire wood and men, the engineer opened the throttle, and, sitting on the porch of the Iowa Central House, I saw the first revolution of the wheels of the first locomotive on what is now that part of the vast net work of the Chicago & Northwestern railway that lies west of the Mississippi river. It was then the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska railroad, and threatened rivalry with the Chicago & Galena Union railroad, which was then backing the Iowa Central Air Line railroad, which had for its eastern terminus the town of Lyons, two miles north, and had an immense land grant, but which never built a mile of road, and ultimately succumbed to the energy and enterprise of those who backed the Clinton venture.
After about an hour the locomotive returned, having made a trip to the end of the track with its masculine freight, and had met with no moving acci- dent by flood or field. I have heard men in Clinton tell how the first locomo- tive was brought over on the ice during the terrible winter of 1856 and '57, but, being able to fix the date of my first visit to Clinton, I am able to certify that the first movement of a locomotive over the rails at Clinton was on the afternoon of October 14, 1856.
About all the business done in Clinton at that date was transacted in a little wooden shanty on the levee some distance south of the hotel. It was the office of the railroad company, of the land company, and I do not know how many other concerns beside, but it was certainly on that day a lively place.
Later in the day I went up to Lyons, which I found to be a busy place. A trial before a justice was in progress, and some who have since attained distinguished rank in their profession were enlightening the court with great volubility and expenditure of wind power. In the evening a book auction was in progress, conducted by a man whom I had met in the same business "down east." Judge W. E. Leffingwell was his best customer, and as the campaign between Buchanan and Fremont was then at its height, and as the auctioneer was an intense Republican and the Judge as prominent in his Democracy the verbal exchanges between them kept the bystanders in high good humor.
I had intended to stop that night at the hotel in Fulton so as to take an early morning train for Dixon and as I missed the ferry boat I arranged with a man to take me over in a skiff about nine o'clock. In making my way to the boat in the dark I walked off the end of an unfinished and unprotected plank sidewalk, and landed about six feet below with a jar that certainly surprised
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me, but as no bones were broken I didn't stop to bring an action against the city for personal injury, but pursued my way and, crossing over, found the Dement House, which had lately been built at a cost of seventy thousand dollars and furnished, I was told, at about the same cost.
I thought the establishment rightly named as it seemed to me that any- one who would invest such an amount in such a venture must certainly be demented, but I had no right to complain as I was ushered into an apartment elegantly furnished as my room, and had a half dozen darkey waiters to at- tend me at breakfast, at which I was the only guest. I was not surprised at its failure the next year.
VOTE ON PROHIBITORY AMENDMENT.
On June 27, 1882, was held a special election in all the counties in Iowa for the purpose of knowing the sentiment of the people in the state on the question of a constitutional amendment prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in Iowa, which included "ale, wine and beer." The vote of Clinton county stood as follows, by townships and precincts :
For Amendment. Against Amendment.
Berlin township
25
62
Bloomfield township
163
59
Brookfield township
92
66
Camanche township
III
108
Center township
38
I35
Clinton City, First ward.
224
299
Clinton City, Second ward
232
157
Clinton City, Third ward
155
77
Clinton City, Fourth ward
320
122
De Witt township
248
280
Eden township
89
67
Elk River township
47
151
Hampshire township
23
122
Liberty township
34
98
Lincoln township
30
21
Lyons township
229
259
Olive township
102
115
Orange township
50
98
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Deep Creek township 56
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Sharon township
103
90
Spring Rock township
63
192
Washington township
6
IIO
Waterford township
37
182
Welton township
70
91
Total
2,547
3,267
Majority against the proposed amendment, 720.
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LI'S ARY
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GEORGE M.CURTIS
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GEORGE M.CURTIS
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BIOCRAPHICAL
HON. GEORGE M. CURTIS.
Gaining success and recognition for himself and at the same time honor- ing his county and state by distinguished services in important trusts, Hon. George M. Curtis, of Clinton, holds worthy prestige among the leading public and business men in eastern Iowa. Distinctively a man of affairs, he has long filled a conspicuous place in the public eye, and as a leader in many im- portant civic enterprises, as well as a notable figure in the political arena of his day, he has contributed much to the welfare of his fellow men and attained dis- tinction in a field of endeavor where sound erudition, mature judgment and tal- ents of a high order are required. Clinton county has been the scene of the major part of his life's earnest efforts and extensive achievements, having for many years been the potent factor in business enterprises of extensive magni- tude and where he also commands the esteem and confidence of all classes.
Mr. Curtis is the scion of an influential old family of the Empire state. He and his brothers, Charles F., of Clinton, Iowa, and Cornelius S., of Wau- sau, Wisconsin, are the sons of John S. and Elizabeth (Carpenter). Curtis, of Chenango county, New York, where, on April 1, 1844, occurred the birth of George M. Curtis. He remained in his native state until 1856, when he re- moved with his parents to Ogle county, Illinois, settling on a farm in the vicin- ity of Rochelle, and there the father and sons engaged successfully in agricul- tural pursuits. In 1866 the family moved to the town of Rochelle and two years later to Clinton, Iowa, in which city the sons, G. M. and C. F. Curtis, had previously located and which has remained the home of George M. Curtis to the present time. Until sixteen years of age he attended the district schools during the winter months and worked on his father's farm in the summer, and then became a student in Mt. Morris Seminary, Mt. Morris, Illinois, preparing himself for a teacher, which profession he afterwards followed during the win- ter terms of 1862 and 1863. For the two years following, until 1865, he clerked in a store at Rochelle. From this date until 1867 he engaged in the coal business at Cortland, Illinois. He then purchased an interest in the sash and door business which his brother had established the previous year at Clin-
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ton, Iowa, conducting the affairs of the office and going out on the road in the interest of the business. To his personal efforts may be attributed much of the solid foundation on which this firm has been able to build its present vast volume of business. Of the original members, C. F. and G. M. Curtis still hold a large part of the stock of Curtis Brothers & Company, the stock former- ly owned by J. E. Carpenter now being in possession of George L. Curtis, son of the subject, who. together with his brother, Eugene J., are now prominent stockholders of the Curtis establishment. They carry on a wholesale business in the manufacture of sashes, doors, blinds, stairs, stair-railings, balustrades, mouldings, lumber, lath and shingles, and employment is furnished to a large force throughout the entire year. The plant is located on the river bank at Clinton, covers a wide area and is equipped with the most modern and ap- proved machinery for turning out first-class work. The output has long stood for an excellence that commands a very ready sale on the market and is eagerly sought for over a wide territory.
The stockholders of this company are also the principal stockholders of the Curtis & Yale Company, which has factories at Wausau, Wisconsin, and branch houses at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the subject of this sketch being its president. Curtis Brothers & Company have branch houses at Lincoln. Nebraska, Sioux City, Iowa, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, all of which aid largely in disposing of the Clinton output which is shipped to many states.
Illustrative of his strong faculty for large enterprises, George M. Curtis, a number of years ago, founded and is the principal owner of one of the largest olive oil and pickling of ripe olive plants in this country, its products standing, without a doubt, as absolutely pure and the most popular upon the market today. The ranch where the olives are grown, together with other citrus fruits, is located at Bloomington, California, Mr. Curtis at all times keeping in close touch with his interests there. The present style of the company pro- ducing olives and olive oil is Curtis Olive Company, the ranch proper of which there is about eight hundred acres of citrus land at Bloomington and territory adjacent thereto, being under the corporate name of G. M. Curtis Company.
Mr. Curtis has at all times manifested a lively interest in the political affairs of his state and nation, having made a careful study of the same and kept fully abreast of the times on all current topics, his business affairs having been such as to require that he know what the effect of legislation would be upon the country at large. He was twice elected to serve his district as a mem- ber of Congress, his wide popularity winning the first Republican victory in
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the second Iowa district, as then and now organized. His first election in 1894 was over a natural Democratic majority of almost nine thousand, his ma- jority in that election being four hundred and thirty-six. The record of Mr. Curtis was so satisfactory that his constituents re-elected him in 1896 by a majority of over three thousand. He was urged for a third term in 1898, but for business reasons he positively refused to be a candidate.
During his congressional life, Mr. Curtis was a member of the committee on the District of Columbia, one of the most active and important committees of Congress, much of the time serving as chairman pro tem. of the committee. From this committee he probably reported and had charge of more bills than any other member during his term of service in the fifty-fourth and fifty-fifth Congresses. He was especially active in the interests of his city and county, and it was through his influence that the appropriation of one hundred thou- sand dollars was secured for the government building at Clinton. While a member of that distinguished body he took an active part in the general de- liberations, participating in the discussions and debates, and withal his con- gressional experience is replete with duty ably and faithfully performed, and such was the interest he manifested for his district that he won the confidence and good will of the people, irrespective of political alignment, all of whom speak in praise of his honorable course and the broad, enlightened spirit which he displayed throughout his career as a member of Congress. For many years he has been prominent in local and state conventions of his party where his influence for the general good is always manifest. Twice he has been prom- inently mentioned by the leaders of his party to make the race for governor, both factions of the Republican party having been apparently united in his support.
Mr. Curtis is known as a vigorous and independent thinker and investi- gator, spending much time in his splendid and carefully selected library, com- posed of the world's standard and choicest literature.
Fraternally, Mr. Curtis is a thirty-second-degree Mason, being a mem- ber of DeMolay Consistory of Clinton, Iowa, and has by the supreme council been elected to the thirty-third degree of the Rite, being recognized as one of the prominent Masons of the state. He is a member of the Emulation Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is also a member of Holy Cross Com- mandery and has served as its eminent commander. "
The domestic chapter in the life of Mr. Curtis began in 1872, when he led to the hymeneal altar a lady of culture, education and refinement in the
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person of Ettie Lewis, a representative of an excellent family, and this union has been graced by the birth of two sons, each young men of rare attributes and much promise, George Lewis and Eugene J.
Mr. Curtis has his labors so systematized that he experiences little incon- venience in doing them. He is essentially cosmopolitan in his ideas, a man of the people in all that the term implies, and in the best sense of the word a representative type of that strong, virile American manhood, which commands and retains respect by reason of inherent worth, sound sense and correct con- duct. His beautiful residence in Clinton is one of the social meccas, the many friends of the family here finding a spirit of good cheer and old-time hospital- ity ever prevailing.
Few there are who have made such good use of their talents and oppor- tunity as has Mr. Curtis, and he stands today one of the most representative men of Iowa, and doubtless would have become one of the great men of the nation had not ill health cut short his political career; but, measured by the ac- cepted standard of excellence, his career has been eminently honorable and use- ful, and his life fraught with great good to his fellows and to the world.
SAMUEL S. KELLY.
A well known and honored representative of the Kelly family in Clinton county is Samuel S. Kelly, of Elvira, Center township. He was born Febru- ary 23. 1849, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. He was two years of age when his parents made the long overland journey to Iowa bringing him to a new country. They started life in early-settler fashion and here he grew to maturity, assisting with the work in developing a farm in the wilderness or, more properly, perhaps raw prairie. He is the son of Adam and Elizabeth Kelly. It was in April, 1851, that they located in Clinton county. The father was born October 11, 1814, and the mother's birth occurred on August 25, 1816. They settled in section 16, Center township, on the same section and adjoining the farm now owned by Samuel S. Kelly. It contained two hundred and eighty acres, which was brought up to a high state of cultivation and a good home was established. The death of the father occurred on January 23, 1906, and that of the mother in 1848.
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Samuel S. Kelly received a good common school education and he grew to maturity on the farm. He was married on December 16, 1869, to Anna M. Smith, daughter of Jeremiah and Jane Smith.
Samuel S. Kelly is a farmer and stock raiser by occupation and he has been very successful in his life work. He is a member of the United Presby- terian church and politically he is a Republican. In his family were seven children, named as follows: Ida M. Reed, Herbert, Hattie Pearson, Essa and Irma are at home; Carrie and Cora are deceased.
PATRICK H. MANION, M. D.
The student interested in the history of Clinton county does not have to carry his investigations far into its annals before learning that Patrick H. Man- ion, the esteemed and capable president of the Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank at Charlotte, has long been an active and leading representative of indus- trial life of the locality, being one of the strong, sturdy individuals who has contributed largely to the material welfare of the vicinity honored by his resi- dence, being not only an up-to-date business man but also a public-spirited citizen, and progressive in all that the term implies. And yet, with all his accomplishments, he is entirely unassuming and is popular with the people, being a good mixer. He is also a medical practitioner who ranks second to none in the county and he maintains one of the best equipped drug stores in this vicinity.
Dr. Manion is a native of the state of Minnesota, where his birth oc- curred on July 2, 1865. He was reared on a farm and there laid the founda- tions for a robust manhood, and he received a good primary education in the rural district schools, later attended the State University of Minnesota, where he read and studied medicine, making full preparation for medical college, which he entered in 1887, selecting the Rush Medical College at Chicago, where he took three full courses, made a splendid record and was graduated with hon- ors in March, 1890. He then returned home and engaged in the practice of his profession, being successful from the start. He continued there, however, only a few months, coming to Charlotte, Clinton county, Iowa, in the fall of 1890, where he has since been actively engaged in practice and has built up a very extensive and lucrative patronage. In order to further fit himself for his chosen life work, in 1900 he attended the Clinic Hospital School in Paris, France, also Berlin, Germany, being abroad six months. Returning to Char- lotte, he has by strict attention to his duties won the confidence and good will of all classes. In 1898 he erected a brick store building and put in a full line
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of fresh and up-to-date drugs, drug sundries and notions, and he has one of the best and neatest drug stores in the county. He has been very successful as a business man and, besides his holdings here, he owns several excellent farms in Minnesota. In 1908 he agitated and was first in promoting and or- ganizing the Farmers and Merchants' Savings Bank at Charlotte, with a cap- ital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars, a bank of deposit and discount. to do an exchange and general banking business. He was one of its heaviest stockholders and at the first was made president, which position he still holds to the satisfaction of all concerned. The other officers are: Harry Beeby, vice-president ; Peter C. Duer, cashier, and C. T. Hanrahan, assistant cashier. The nine directors are all leading men of the community. This institution. having behind it the leading business men and citizens of the community, has made a splendid showing and cannot help but continue to prosper. The state- ment of the bank's condition on June 30, 1910. was a splendid one, consider- ing the length of time the bank has been doing business. Its deposits were $82,600.71, and its resources and liabilities were $108,953.16. The bank is housed in its own building, a modern, substantial structure. Doctor Manion has a beautiful and commodious residence in Charlotte, and he is a stockholder in the Modern Woodmen of America Association, which has erected some substantial buildings in Charlotte, and the Doctor is director and treasurer of this association. Politically he is a loyal Democrat, but he does not aspire to public office, though he filled, very acceptably, the office of county physician for thirteen years at the poor farm. He has filled positions as examiner for various life insurance companies. He is a member of the Clinton County. the Iowa State and the American Medical associations. He is an enterprising and public spirited man, always ready to assist any enterprise that will further the advancement of Charlotte and Clinton county.
The Doctor has one of the best equipped offices in the state, a large. mod- ern case of surgical instruments and a splendid library of standard medical books, embodying the latest researches and discoveries. and he is thoroughly posted on all matters pertaining to his profession. He was reared in the Catholic church. from which faith he has never departed.
Dr. Patrick H. Manion is the son of Owen and Hanora (Dunn) Manion. both natives of Ireland, from which country they emigrated to America when young and were married in the state of New York. Soon afterwards they followed the tide of emigration westward and located in Minnesota, where the father bought land and improved a good farm. giving all his attention to general farming and his family, and he established a good home and laid by a competency. He was a fine type of the energetic, self-made man. a broad-
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minded, intelligent business man and financier, who, by hard work, good man- agement and economy created a fine estate. Politically, he was a Democrat, but never cared for office. He remained on his farm until his death, in 1891. He was a worthy member of the Catholic church. His widow, a woman of many splendid attributes, is still living at the old home place in Minnesota. Their family consisted of ten children, named as follows: John died when six- teen years of age; Michael died at the age of twenty-six; Stephen lived to be forty-nine years of age; Owen J. died at twenty-seven; John, number two, was a medical practitioner, having come to Charlotte, Iowa, several years ago and engaged in the practice with his brother, the subject ; he graduated in medicine in 1895 and his death occurred here in 1904; Mary is yet single and lives on the old homestead; Kate, Mrs. F. A. Zimmerman; Bridget is single; Hanna, Mrs. Dr. H. R. Russell, of Stewartville, Minnesota; Dr. Patrick H., of this review, is the seventh in order of birth. All were well educated and most all taught school.
REV. JAMES JOSEPH NELSON.
In this sketch is briefly reviewed the life of the reverend father in charge of the Catholic church of St. Joseph's, at De Witt. He is a man whose char- acter is better ascertained from his daily life than from printed words of encomium.
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James Joseph Nelson was born in Jackson county, Iowa, May 23, 1853, the son of John and Bridget (McKillip) Nelson. The father was born in Ireland, and his wife in Scotland. They came to this country single in 1842, and were married in 1844 at Mt. Savage, Maryland, and came, on March 31, 1847, to Richland township, Jackson county, Iowa, where John Nelson en- tered one hundred and sixty acres in section 29. Here he died October 12, 1890. and his wife on September 29, 1890. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom two died in infancy, and one, the youngest, March 13, 1888. Six sons grew to maturity, Paul, James Joseph, Charles, Michael J., Patrick J. and John, and three daughters, Mary, a sister of the order of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Catherine, wife of William Kirk, and Elizabeth, wife of M. J. Dillon. John Nelson took active part in the Democratic party and was one of the most prominent men of the county. He was one of the first members of the Catholic church to come to the county, and did more toward the building of the first Catholic church at Otter Creek, his home parish, than any other man. Two of his sons and one daughter still live at the old place.
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