USA > Iowa > Clinton County > Wolfe's history of Clinton County, Iowa, Volume 1 > Part 56
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Mr. Olson was married in Illinois on April 17, 1858, to Betsy Olson. who was born in Norway December 29, 1833, the daughter of Ole and Carrie Olson. The father died in Norway and the mother came to America, locat- ing in Illinois in 1856, where her death occurred one week after her arrival. To Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Olson these children have been born: Malinda ; Eli; Carrie, deceased; Maria; Ole, deceased ;. Anna; Olivia; Peter; Evaline, deceased.
"THE FOUR RANDS."
The family of which the gentleman whose life histories are briefly set forth in the paragraphs below are creditable representatives, has been known in Clinton county for many decades. They played well their roles in the general development of the locality along material lines, being leaders in industrial affairs from the first. They never forgot the religion of their fore- fathers and were ever active and liberal in their support of their church. the Protestant Episcopal. and were regular attendants upon its services, and it may well be said that their name was well known and highly esteemed in Clinton county in those early days.
The Rand family has been widely known in the New England states since the colonial days, being closely identified with the history of New Hampshire and Connecticut. as well as New York state and Iowa in a later day, each suc- cee ling generation producing men prominent in the various walks of life.
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Robert Wheeler Rand. William Aikken Rand, Samuel Rand and Robert Norton Rand were early settlers in Clinton county. They came to Lyons separately and in the order named during the years 1855 to 1857. The first three were brothers, and the fourth a son of Samuel Rand. They organized, managed and controlled the first organized banking institution in the county, which was the Lyons City branch of the State Bank of Iowa. Robert W. was president; William .A. was a director; and Robert N. was cashier of this bank during its existence, which was from March 14, 1859. to May 7, 1866, while Samuel, the eldest, was its real head and manager, both financially and otherwise.
The grandfather of the first three named was Robert Rand, a resident of Middletown, Connecticut. He had four sons, and late in life moved with his second son, also named Robert, to North Charlestown, New Hampshire, where he engaged in the mercantile business. Here the son, Robert, married Laura Wheeler, and to them were born five sons and five daughters. Three of these sons, as above stated. finally settled in Lyons.
Robert Wheeler Rand, born at North Charlestown, New Hampshire, January 28, 1810, first settled in Honeoye Falls, Monroe county, New York, where he married Susan Smith. Two children were born to them, Laura Jane and Susan. He was_station agent at this place for what is now the New York Central railroad. His wife died. and he then moved to Lyons, where he became interested in the banking firm of Rand, Hazlett & Company, and in the State Bank, of which he was president, as above stated. His sec- ond wife was Mary Gibbs. In very late life he moved back to Rochester, New York, at which place he died in 1887. . One daughter survives him, Susan, now living in Chicago. He is remembered as a man of fine principles, .
his entire career exemplary and his life worthy of imitation.
William Aikken Rand was born at North Charlestown, New Hampshire, March 22, 1814. He represented the town of Charlestown in the Legislature in 1848-49 and was first selectman from 1852 to 1856, the holding of which positions shows him to have been a very reputable citizen. Coming to Lyons, he became an original stockholder in and was a director also of the State Bank, and later when this bank was merged into the First National Bank, he became a director in the latter. He never married and died in Chicago while there on a visit December 29, 1864.
Samuel Rand, the eldest of the family, was born in North Charlestown, New Hampshire. January 14, 1806, and in early life settled in Honeoye Falls, Monroe county, New York. Here he became connected with Norton's Mills,
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and was manager of the company's general store, where the farmers of the surounding country traded while waiting for their grain to be ground at the mills. He married the proprietor's daughter, Electa Norton, and to them was born one son, Robert Norton Rand. Upon the death of the wife and mother, he later married his first wife's sister, Mary Norton, and to them were born four children : Lyman Hamlin, Mary Antonnett, Sarah Antonnett and Curtiss Philip, all of whom are now deceased, with no heirs: He became president of a railroad which are building from Canandaigua, New York, to Batavia, that state, this being now a part of the New York Central system. He was interested in the foundry and other business in Rochester, New York, but finally entered the employ of the Union Bank of Rochester. He became a stockholder and director in this and two other banks in Rochester, and it was here that he learned the system which enabled him to so successfully organize, with his brothers and twenty-four other men, our first Clinton county bank, viz., the Lyons City Branch of the State Bank of Iowa. The Rands owned three-fifths of the capital stock of this bank. and Samuel was its active head. Later this bank purchased the controlling interest in the newly organized First National Bank and merged the two as the First National Bank of Lyons. He became a director and vice-president, continuing so until he retired in 1867. He died at Lyons September 28, 1868.
Robert Norton Rand was born at Honeoye Falls, Monroe county, New York, in 1830, he being the son of Samuel and Electa (Norton) Rand, as above stated. After leaving college he was employed in the surveying of the railroad, now a. branch of the New York Central, from Canandaigua, New York. to Batavia, that state, and later became the station agent at Honeoye Falls. Resigning this position in 1857, at the instance of his father, he came at once to Lyons, where he entered the employ of the private banking firm of Rand, Hazlett & Company. On January 26, 1859, he was elected cashier of the newly organized bank known as the Lyons City Branch of the State Bank of Iowa, in which he was a stockholder. This position he held until this bank was merged into the First National Bank of Lyons May 7, 1866. On Jan- uary 4, 1864, he also became cashier of the First National Bank. holding the position until May, 1871, when he sold the major portion of his stock and re- signed. For the next few years he conducted an insurance and allied business. and helped organize the Lyons Paper Mill Company in 1873, of which com- pany he was vice-president until in 1881, when he purchased an interest in, and became superintendent of the Lyons and Clinton Street Railway Com- pany, operating this horse car line until 1886, when he sold his interest. From 1886 to 1894 he was connected with the Lyons Paper Mill Company, and was
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its manager during this time, with the exception of about one year. On Jan- uary 12, 1876, he was elected a director in the First National Bank, which position he held until his death. He was also a director in the Lyons Savings Bank from the time of its organization in 1891 until his death. He was active in church work, being a vestryman and senior warden in Grace Episcopal church for a number of years. He was married at Honeoye Falls, New York, September 21, 1860, to Hannah Jane Shulters, who, with the two children, Electa Marion Rand and Samuel Curtiss Rand, survive him and still reside at Lyons. He died at Lyons January 9, 1895, loved and lamented by a wide circle of friends who accord him the highest esteem owing to his splendid characteristics.
HON. WALTER I. HAYES.
Iowa has always been distinguished for the high rank of her bench and bar, and one of the most prominent representatives of the profession was Judge Walter Ingalls Hayes, of Clinton, who passed away on the 14th of March, 1901. He was born in Marshall, Michigan, December 9, 1841, a son of Dr. Andrew L. and Clarissa Selden (Hart) Hayes. The father was born in New Hampshire, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, a scion of the New Eng- land Hayes family, his mother being a Sanborn, of Sanbornton, New Hamp- shire. He was reared and educated in his native state and fitted himself for the medical profession. He began practice at Marshall, Michigan, being one of the pioneers of that state, and he became prominently identified with its public affairs, taking special interest in military matters. He was a brigadier- general in the state militia, and was commonly known in Michigan as General Hayes. He took an active part in the Texas war, and at the opening of the Civil war was assigned to raising troops for the service, but died in 1864, and on account of ill health he never entered the army. He was a member of the Legislature that first sent General Cass to the United States Senate, and continued in the practice of his profession throughout life. His wife was born in Durham, New York, of English descent, and was a representative of a good old Puritan family of New England.
Judge Hayes' early life was pleasantly passed under good home influ- ences, and, his parents being well-to-do people, he was not forced to endure the hardships which have often fallen to the lot of great men. His educa- tion was obtained at the fine private schools of Marshall, and at the age of nineteen years he commenced the study of law in the office of Hughes &
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Woolley, of Marshall, Michigan, the senior member of the firm being the late Hon. D. Darwin Hughes, who subsequently lived in Grand Rapids. Later the Judge was graduated at the law school in Ann Arbor, in the class of 1863, and was admitted to the Michigan bar the same year. A year later he became a member of the firm of his late preceptors, which was then styled Hughes, Woolley & Hayes.
In 1866, being offered a desirable partnership with Gen. N. B. Baker, ex-adjutant-general of Iowa, Mr. Hayes came to Clinton, and at once entered into active practice under the firm name of Baker & Hayes. This connection continued for two years, when General Baker moved to Des Moines, and the Judge was alone in practice until 1872, when he formed a partnership with the late Hon. George B. Young, then circuit judge, which position he resigned in order to resume his law practice. They successfully engaged in practice under the firm style of Hayes & Young until August, 1875, when, upon the recommendation of the bar of the seventh judicial district, Mr. Hayes, although a Democrat, was appointed by Governor Carpenter to complete the unexpired term of Judge Brennan, resigned, and in October of that year was elected to the same position by the people without opposition. He served as judge until elected to Congress in 1886, although he only accepted the office at the request of the bar, as his income was much greater from his pri- vate practice than the emoluments of the office. He gained an enviable rep- utation for judicial learning and ability, for impartiality, fairness and close adherence to the principles of justice and equity, second to no other jurist in the state. He was also one of its ablest and most successful lawyers, and was always true to his clients' interests. While judge, his decisions were sustained with remarkable uniformity, where appeals were taken. About the close of his judicial term the law firm of Hayes & Schuyler was formed and continued up to the time of his death. While in Congress his partner carried on the business, but after leaving the legislative halls of the nation he devoted his entire time and attention to his practice in Clinton, which was quite extensive, both in the federal and state courts. As a trial lawyer he was eminently successful.
Soon after attaining his majority Judge Hayes began taking a very ac- tive and prominent part in public affairs, and served as United States com- missioner for the eastern district of Michigan from 1864 until coming to Iowa in 1866. He was also elected city attorney of Marshall in 1865. In 1867 he was appointed United States commissioner for Iowa and held that office until elected district judge. He was city attorney of Clinton in 1869, 1870, 1871 and 1875, being elevated to the bench the last year. He had
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been the Democratic candidate for circuit judge of the seventh judicial dis- trict in 1868, but was defeated by Judge Young, who afterward became his law partner. In 1876 he was nominated by acclamation for supreme judge of the state. He was a delegate to the Democratic state convention of Mich- igan in 1864, and to nearly every state convention of Iowa from 1868. In 1872 he was an alternate delegate to the Democratic national convention at Baltimore, which nominated Horace Greeley for the presidency, and when appointed judge he was serving as chairman of the Clinton county Demo- cratic committee. He served on all of the committees of his party from county to state. In 1886 he was elected to Congress from the second con- gressional district of Iowa, and filled that office for four consecutive terms until 1895, being the only Democratic member from the state for two terms, which made him a large amount of extra work. He was indefatigable in his labors not only to advance the interests of his immediate constituents, but the interests of the state and nation. In 1897 he was elected a member of the Legislature, by which body he was appointed a member of the commis- sion to revise the code of the state, the code now in use in the state.
Judge Hayes was married June 28, 1865, to Frances L. Coan, a daughter of the late William F. Coan, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume. Although an invalid for some years, she always took a deep inter- est in her husband's aims and desires, and her keen intellect and generous education made her more than a wife. and also a companion. counsellor and true friend. She was his secretary while in Congress and his helpmate at all times. She now resides with her sister, Mrs. A. G. Ewing, and is a lady highly respected and esteemed by all who know her.
Added to Judge Hayes' earnest study of national, economic and other questions was his love of animal life and study of it. A great admirer of fine horses, he was never happier than when driving over the country roads behind a good team, with his wife by his side and a high-bred dog along. He kept only thoroughbred horses and dogs, and as means permitted him he indulged this desire by gathering one of the best bunches of speed horses in the country, and establishing a farm that would have been recognized before many years as a speed producer.
The Judge died very suddenly at his old home in Marshall, Michigan, having been called there to attend the funeral of his uncle, the Hon. Charles T. Gorham, and his remains were brought back to Clinton for interment. From the address of Dr. J. K. Fowler on this sad occasion we quote the fol- lowing :
"We are assembled this afternoon to pay the last tribute of respect to
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one of Clinton's honored citizens, a man of national reputation, a successful lawyer, an eminent jurist upon our district bench, and for eight years the laborious, efficient representative of this district in the national Congress. There was a breezy, vivid virility about his mental operations that insensibly acted as a tonic upon his associates. If I were to characterize in the manner most satisfactory to myself the impressions made by Judge Hayes upon those with whom he came in contact, I would say that he seemed to clear the atmos- phere of sham and humbug, and even if you had to differ from his views you left him with sense of a refreshed and invigorated intellectuality."
There were many other glowing tributes paid to his memory by those associated with him either in business, political or social life and by the press of Clinton and other places, for he was widely known and universally re- spected. Appropriate resolutions were also passed by the business men of Davenport, the Scott County Bar Association, the Clinton Bar Association, and other bodies. It was said of him that as a congressman his influence was sought by men from all sections of the country, and that he carried as much weight in the determination of important national measures as any member of either branch of Congress. His great forte consisted in his persuasive and convincing power of presenting his arguments before committees. He was either quite fortunate in taking the right side of every public measure or he was exceedingly influential in making the side he was on the right side. He thought quickly and decided promptly all questions submitted to him, and was the same courteous gentleman on the bench, in the legislative hall and in the social circle. He attended every Democratic national convention but one after attaining his majority.
WILLIAM E. BUELL.
In taking a cursory glance at the list of Clinton county's progressive citizens and eminent men of affairs. the name of William E. Buell is soon encountered, and a perusal of his life record shows that he has led a life consistent with high principles and worthy ideals, and that his success has been most worthily attained. He comes of an excellent old family, and was born at Lyons, Iowa, January 25, 1858. He is the son of Elijah and Mary (Pearce) Buell. His paternal grandparents were Jeptha and Rachael (Strong) Buell. The former was born in France and accompanied Gen. Marquis de La Fayette to this country and spent the remainder of his life
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here. Elijah Buell, father of William Buell, was born in Utica, New York. April 1, 1801, and in 1811 he accompanied his parents from Utica to Sack- etts Harbor, that state, and there in 1813 the grandfather died. and Elijah accompanied his widow with her eight children to the site of the present location of Cleveland, Ohio. Elijah Buell completed his education in that city and turned his attention to navigation by becoming a sailor on the lakes, following this life for ten years, then turned his attention to the south end of the Mississippi river. He became well known in navigation circles in that section of the country. He possessed remarkable ability and was a man of keen discernment, so that during his long service there was no serious dis- aster to any vessel under his command. While working as a pilot he made St. Louis his home, but in 1835 he left his family in that city and came to the site of the present city of Lyons, Iowa, where he developed a farm and erected a small cabin on the banks of the Mississippi, at what is now Pearl and Front streets. From that time on he assisted materially in building up the city of Lyons, being prominent and influential in local affairs.
Elijah Buell married Caroline Boyd, of Pennsylvania, in 1839, and they became the parents of three children : Jeptha, deceased: Robert and Strong. Robert being the first white child born in Clinton county. For his second wife, Elijah Buell married Mary Louise Pearce, of Rhode Island, and to this union the following children were born: Mary E., wife of W. D. Eaton, of Lyons; Caroline B., wife of Capt. A. D. Gaston, of Washington, D. C .; Lucy A., deceased; George P., of the state of Washington : Eliza T .. wife of C. A. Hobein, of Minneapolis, Minnesota ; Elijah, who died in infancy ; Lang- worthy J., farming west of Lyons, and William E., the subject of this sketch.
William E. Buell was reared and educated in Lyons, later pursued his studies at Ames, Iowa, and at a business college in Davenport. having been graduated from the latter with the class of 1877. He has always made his home in Lyons, and has been engaged in the real estate business, at which he has been very successful. He has done much for the general material good of the community. one of the most notable things to his credit in that line being the establishment of the Clinton District Agricultural and Fine Stock Fair Association; he erected the Buell block in Lyons, a substantial, well located and attractive structure, which is a credit to the place. He aided in the organization of the Citizens National Bank of Lyons, one of the sound and popular banking institutions of the county. He assisted in erect- ing the Fulton-Lyons high bridge. Politically. he is a Democrat, having long taken an interest in political affairs. and he served his city very faith-
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fully and capably as councilman from his ward. He organized the Citizens Building Association, of which he is secretary. He is by nature an organizer and promoter, a man of unusual breadth of wisdom, being able to foresee with remarkable accuracy the future outcome of a present transaction. He has always enjoyed the confidence and good will of his fellow men, having been honest and straightforward in his dealings with them.
Mr. Buell was married to Georgiana Tripp, of Lyons, and their union has been blessed with three children. William E., Dorothy and Helen. Mrs. Buell is a lady of culture and refinement and her family has long been promi- nent in this vicinity.
Fraternally, Mr. Buell is a thirty-second-degree Mason, belonging to the Scottish Rite, and he is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
WILLIAM F. SIEGMUND.
Being ambitious and industrious, William F. Siegmund, a well known and substantial citizen of Calamus, Olive township, Clinton county, has won in his chosen lines of endeavor because he has worked along legitimate lines, forging ahead despite obstacles. He was born in Davenport, Iowa, May 8, 1864. and is the son of William C. and Johannah (Kelling) Siegmund, both born in Germany, from which country they came to America when single and located in Davenport, Iowa, the father arriving in that city in the year 1857, and there they were married. The father was a cabinetmaker in Germany. During the Civil war he was a teamster in Davenport, also in the saloon busi- ness. In 1864 he established a butcher business at Wheatland which has been continued by the family as Siegmund Brothers to the present time. he having conducted the same until 1883, when he retired, and his death occurred on February 7, 1900. His widow is still living here. The father was a Democrat in politics. This family consisted of five sons and two daughters, of whom four sons and one daughter are still living, namely: Mrs. Frank Witte, of Wheatland; Otto lives in Wheatland; William F., of this review; Edward, of Wheatland; Paul, of De Witt, Clinton county. The family at- tends the German Reformed church. William C. Siegmund always took an active interest in local affairs and he was popular and highly respected in his community.
William F. Siegmund, of this review, attended the high school at Wheat- land, Clinton county, then in 1880 he came to Calamus and clerked for ten
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years for S. B. Walker in a drug and general store, then Mr. Siegmund and G. Baumgart purchased that store and continued in partnership for a period of five years. Mr. Siegmund was very successful in this business. Since dissolving partnership with Mr. Baumgart he has been conducting a general store and has enjoyed a very liberal patronage,-in fact his well stocked and attractively arranged store at Calamus would do credit to a much larger place, and the courteous and conscientious treatment he has always accorded his customers insures their future trade and also their friendship and good will.
In 1897 Mr. Siegmund and S. B. Walker formed the Exchange Bank, the latter acting as president and Mr. Siegmund as cashier, and they have one of the sound and popular banking institutions in this part of the state which has rapidly grown in prestige and volume of business. Mr. Siegmund also buys live stock extensively, having been engaged in this line of endeavor since 1904. He and D. A. Boyland started in as partners, but they dissolved in 1909, since which time H. H. Dosland has been associated with Mr. Sieg- mund in the stock business. The subject is a stockholder in the Farmers Savings Bank at Calamus and the German Savings Bank at Wheatland. What- ever he turns his attention to, he is singularly successful, being a man of keen discernment, possessing the ability to forecast with remarkable accuracy the future outcome of a present transaction. He has his extensive business affairs under such a splendid system that he manages them with little or no difficulty. He is deserving of a great deal of credit for the large success that is today his, considering the fact that he started in life for himself practically empty handed and has never relied upon anyone to bear the brunt of life's battle for him, preferring to go it alone at all times, being self-reliant and independent.
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