Trails to the Past
Iowa
Allamakee County
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Trails to the Past Iowa Allamakee County |
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Biographies
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Progressive Men of
Iowa
Henry Dayton
received his first schooling in his native country. When 19 years of age
he entered Fort Edward (N. Y.) Collegiate institute, and continued till a
scientific course was completed. Six months at the New York Conference
seminary, soon after, completed his schooling. He taught his first school at
Creek Center, N. Y., when 20 years old. He came to Allamakee county in
1857, and taught school at Hardin that winter. In the spring he went to
Batesville, Ark., and read law for three years with Byres & Company.
Returned to Iowa in 1861 and read law with W. V. Burdick, at Decorah, and
was admitted to practice in Howard county the same November. For eight
years Mr. Dayton taught school at Hardin, Lansing and Decorah, and acted
as deputy surveyor to H. O. Dayton, surveyor of Allamakee
county. The present firm of Dayton & Dayton was formed in 1873, in Waukon, of which John F. Dayton was junior member. Mr. Dayton was married at Waukon, Iowa, May 26, 1874, to Mary M. Wilcox, daughter of Cortes and Rebecca (Palmer) Wilcox. The children born to this union are, Harry Lewis, born January 15, 1875, and Ruby Laura, born February 11, 1878. Harry is practicing law, and Ruby is attending school at Mt. Vernon. Mr. Dayton is a democrat and has been greatly honored politically by his party. He was two years county surveyor; for eight years the board of supervisors appointed him as its attorney When the office was made elective he was elected county attorney, and held the office for six years. He was elected to represent his district in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth General Assemblies, and no one in those two bodies did more honest and conscientious work.
Mr. Dayton
attended the public schools of Rockford, graduating therefrom in 1867, and
taught school while preparing for college. He attended Beloit college for
two years, and in 1871 began the study of law in the offices of
Messrs. Brown & Taylor,
of Rockford. In 1873 he came to Waukon, Iowa, and was admitted to
practice, and formed with Henry Dayton the firm of Dayton & Dayton,
which has since been continued.
October 13, 1875, he married Miss Laura Hewitt, of Rockford,
111. Mr. Dayton was
elected as the first mayor of Waukon, Iowa, upon its incorporation, and
served three terms in that capacity. He was the representative of
Allamakee county in the Twenty-second, Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth
General Assemblies, and took an active part in the legislation of the
Twenty-second with reference to corporate control. He was the chairman of
the committee upon railroads and commerce in the Twenty-third General
Assembly, and the nominee of the democratic party for the speakership of
the Twenty-fourth. He was also the candidate of the democratic party for
the office of district judge of the Thirteenth judicial district, in the
election of 1894, but was defeated by the great republican vote of that
year. In 1897 his name was presented to the democratic state convention by
the delegates of the Fourth congressional district, as their choice for
the nomination for governor, and he received a large vote in the
convention. In addition to the active practice of his profession, Mr. Dayton carries on one of the largest nurseries and fruit farms in the northwest; he is particularly interested in the growth of small fruits, which are shipped to many distant points in Iowa, Minnesota and Dakota. He keeps constantly in his employ a large force of assistants, and in the time of berry picking a small army of pickers is marshaled, making the enterprise of great value to the community. Mr. Dayton makes a special study of new varieties of fruits, and experiments largely with all recent introductions, with the purpose to select those kinds which are particularly valuable for cultivation in Iowa and in the northwest, and deals largely in the plants and trees which he finds adapted to our trying climate. This experiment station is entirely his private enterprise, and is conducted without state or government aid, and promises to be of great advantage to the citizens of the community.
Dr. W. C.
Earle was born October 7, 1833, at Honesdale, Wayne county, Pa. He received a common school
education, and attended Westminster, Mass., academy from 1850 to 1852,
where he was pre-pared to enter Brown university, but on account of poor
health had to postpone further attendance at school. He was advised by the
family physician to go west, and accordingly came to Allamakee county,
Iowa, in 1854, at the age of 21. The last part of the journey was made by
boat up the Mississippi river. The steamer was so crowded with passengers
that many were unable to secure berths, and young Earle, with numerous
others, had to sleep on the floor of the cabin. During the last night of
the trip his pockets were picked, so that when he arrived at Lansing he
had not a cent of money. He was loaned a half dollar by D. W. Adams, and
with this paid for a ride in a farmer's wagon to Waukon, where he soon
secured work in a sawmill, which he afterwards owned and operated,
together with a flouring mill. Dr. Earle
enlisted October, 1861, with the Twelfth Iowa infantry, and was made
captain of Company B, which was recruited almost entirely in Allamakee
county. He was in the
engagements at Ft. Henry, Donelson and Shiloh. At Shiloh he was taken a
prisoner, and was held over six months. He was finally released in
ex-change for rebel prisoners at Jackson, Miss., and his company was one
of the very first to enter that city. Here they were in several
skirmishes, and then went by forced marches to Champion Hills, and then
took part in the siege of Vicksburg, after which they followed the
confederate army back to Jackson. Not long after this Captain Earle was
detailed by Adjutant-General Thomas to raise on recruit a regiment of
colored troops. This he did, knowing at the time that it was sure death to
all officers of colored troops captured by the confederates, and was
finally mustered out of service as colonel of the Seventieth United States
Colored regiment, October, 1865. After the
war he returned to Waukon,
and the following winter attended lectures at Rush Medical college,
at Chicago, and later, Jefferson Medical college, at Philadelphia, from
which he graduated in 1867, and has practiced at Waukon ever since. He also does an extensive business
in general merchandise, and in 1878 built the block in which his store is
situated, at a cost of $15,000. He holds much valuable real estate,
including several farms, on one of which is situated the Oak Leaf
creamery, which he built in 1879. He has been identified with the location
of two railroads at Waukon, one in 1854, the P., Ft W. &. C., for
which he helped survey, and the W. & M., in 1877, to which he
contributed more liberally than any other man in the
community. The doctor
was a republican until the nomination of Grover Cleveland in 1884, and
since then has been a democrat. He was elected in 1884 to fill the vacancy
in the state senate caused by the resignation of William Larrabee, who was
then elected governor. He was nominated for congress by the democrats of
the Fourth district, but was not elected. This was in
1886. The doctor was married January 1, 1860, to Miss Ellen A. Hedge, daughter of Dr. I. H. Hedge. They have two children: Minnie, born in 1860, now Mrs. G. C. Hemenway, and Carlton, born in 1866, who is associated with his father in the mercantile business.
George W.
Metcalf's career as a printer began at the age of 11 years. He had been attending school in
Belmont, Ohio, up to that time, when his father noticed an advertisement
in the Barnesville, Ohio, Enterprise, calling for a boy to learn the
printer's trade. Young Metcalf took the place and worked there for about
three years. He afterward worked on the Bellaire Independent and the
Steubenville Daily News. He set the first type on that paper, and it was
his only experience in a daily newspaper office. Coming to Lansing, Iowa,
in 1872, he served as foreman in the office of the Mirror, and when his
brother, James T. Metcalf, now superintendent of the money order office in
Washington, D. C., was appointed superintendent of the census in 1880, he
leased the office to George W. Metcalf and E. M. Woodward, now deceased, who was
afterward county attorney of Allamakee county. Three years later Mr. Woodward
removed to Minnesota and Mr. Metcalf employed Dick Haney to edit the
Mirror, while he continued to do the mechanical work. Mr. Haney is now judge of the supreme
court of South Dakota, and lives at Pierre. In April, 1883, Mr. Metcalf
took editorial charge of the paper and has continued in its control ever
since, with increasing success. His office has been called "the parlor
printing office of Iowa," by old printers and those who have examined many
offices. This compliment has
been earned by the enforcement of Mr. Metcalf's rule to have "everything
in its place, and a place for everything." In 1885 the Mirror was almost
destroyed by fire, but by the determined efforts of the editor the paper
never lost an issue, although he was compelled to drive thirty-six miles
overland to have his press work done. Today he has a thoroughly equipped
printing office, with a circulation of about 1,200, an excellent business
for a county paper. Those who have tried it know that such results cannot
be accomplished without good management and plenty of push. Mr. Metcalf
has accomplished all this alone, for he commenced without
capital. In 1875 Mr.
Metcalf was married to Miss Eva Strong. They have four children, the
oldest son, Herbert J., born August 24, 1879, is now editor of the New
Albin Globe, and is perhaps the youngest editor in the state. George W.,
born July 4, 1883, is employed on the Mirror. A daughter, Edna May, born
September 4, 1876, is married and resides in Chicago. The Mirror and its editor have
always supported the republican ticket and have done their share towards
advancing the interests of the party at all times, loyally supporting its
candidates in nation, state and county. He is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church.
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DAYTON, Hon. Henry, senior partner of the law firm of Dayton
& Dayton, Waukon, Iowa, was born September 30, 1836, on his father's
farm in Saratoga county, N. Y., near Hadley post office. His parents were
Telem and Lucinda (Fletcher) Dayton. His ancestry is clearly English.
DAYTON, John Franklin, was born at Hadley, Saratoga county, N.
Y., on the 10th day of January, 1849. His parents were Dr. Simon N. and
Lydia (Houghton) Dayton. His ancestors were of old New England stock, a
detailed statement of the Dayton family being given in the biography of
Henry Dayton, in this work.
EARLE, Willard Chauncy, of Waukon, is one of Iowa's oldest
practicing physicians, as well as a leading business man and politician.
He has lived in Waukon between forty and fifty years, ever since 1854, and
has probably done more than any other one man to promote the welfare of
the city. He is of Puritanic ancestry, tracing his lineage back through
seven generations to Ralph Earle, who settled in Massachusetts during the
seventeenth century. Dr. Earle's father, Calvin Earle, was born February
1, 1790, in Hubbardstown, Mass., and was a man of great energy and thrift
He was married July 19, 1814, to Betsey Foster, and during the early 20's
moved to West Troy, N. Y., and from there to Honesdale, Pa., where he
built the first frame house in the town.
METCALF, George Washington, editor and publisher of the Lansing
Mirror, is one of the oldest newspapermen in point of continuous service,
in the state.