|
Progressive Men of Iowa
1899
 ARCHER, James, one of the substantial
business men of Cherokee, Iowa, was born at Dundee,
Scotland, on the 1st of June, 1829. His father, William
K. Archer, was a merchant in that city, in good
financial circumstances. His mother, before marriage,
was Miss Anna Finn. Her father was a liberal politician
of Dundee. In 1842 the family emigrated to America and
pushed out to the great wild prairie country of northern
Illinois, settling in Winnebago county. While a boy in
Scotland, James had attended school at a private academy
in Dundee, but when they got out onto the western
prairies, the only instruction within reach was at the
pioneer district schools, which were kept generally only
through the cold weather.
On the 26th of October, 1861, when James
was 32 years of age, he was united in marriage with Miss
Arminda Stephens, at Leona, in Winnebago county, and in
1864 they moved to Iowa, settling on a farm in Fayette
county, then moved to Waverly, Iowa, in 1867, and
engaged in the lumber business.
In 1870 they moved farther west, locating
in the new town of Cherokee, where Mr. Archer
established the first lumber yard, and connected with
his business grain buying. As the county settled up and
the town grew into a large village, and the Illinois
Central railroad was constructed through it, Cherokee
became one of the best business in northwestern Iowa,
between he
extended his business as the population increased
and by fair dealing and enterprise has built up an
extensive trade in the surrounding country, dealing
largely in lumber, sash, blinds, window screens, doors
and all kinds of building materials, supplying coal and
buying grain.
Politically Mr. Archer is a republican,
having come in at the organization, casting his first
vote in November, 1856, for Gen. John C. Fremont, the
first republican candidate for president. Mr. Archer has
served on the board of county supervisors, as a member
of the city council, and for nine years on the school
board, and always takes a deep interest in public
affairs in his own town, county and state. Mr. and Mrs.
Archer have had four children: George H., Frank B., Guy
S. and Elmo S., three of whom are living, Frank B.
having died in infancy.
HOBART, Alva C., better known as
Senator Hobart, of Cherokee, was born at Royalton, Wis.,
July 26,1860. His father C. E. P. Hobart, married Eliza
A. Tibbitts, and was formerly an attorney at law, in
Wisconsin. He removed to Cherokee, Iowa, in 1870, and
engaged in the grain business. He is of English
ancestry, being a direct descendant of Edmund Hobart,
who came from Hingham, England, in 1634, and settled at
Hingham, Mass., where he was a prominent and influential
citizen for many years.
Young Hobart attended the public schools
of Royalton and Cherokee, and an academy at Iowa City.
During the years 1878 and 1879 he managed his father's
farm, near Cherokee, and earned enough money to take him
through college. Entering the State university, at Iowa
City, he continued his studies for four years, and
graduated in June, 1885, taking the degree of Ph. B. He
then studied law for one year in the office of Senator
A. P. Meservey, of Cherokee, and in 1887 was elected
clerk of the district court and served one term. Not wishing to
delay his admission to the bar, he was not a candidate
for re-election, and was admitted in May, 1889. He
immediately opened an office in Cherokee, and in 1890
was elected county attorney and served two terms, or
until the close of 1894. In 1895 he was
elected state senator for the Forty-sixth senatorial
district, comprising the counties of Cherokee, Ida and
Plymouth. The senator's law practice has been successful
and satisfactory, and his work has been done alone until
June, 1897, when he associated with him, Truxton
Goodrell, of Washington, D. C. The following
from a Des Moines daily shows what is thought of Senator
Hobart's legislative work: He is thoroughly unassuming,
and if he has any particular fault, it lies in the fact
that he under estimates his own abilities. As a senator
he is as plain and unpretentious as he is in his own
home.
Still, he is an able legislator and wields a
large influence in the law-making body of the state.
During the extra session he developed much prominence by
his advocacy of the famous Temple amendment, which
provides that the railway employees who were members of
a protective association, organized and controlled by a
railroad company, should not thereby forfeit claims for
loss of life or limbs while in the employ of the
company. This amendment was bitterly opposed by certain
railroad corporations, and finally defeated. The joint
legislative committee of the railway employees'
organizations of the state issued a pamphlet reviewing
the result of the proposition involved in the amendment,
in which it took occasion to highly compliment Senator
Hobart for the manly stand he took in the senate in the
interests of the railway men. This pamphlet speaks of
him as one "who stood as a beacon light in the interest
of the people and public policy," and added that "the
railroad men of the state surely ought to know from
this, our appreciation of the action of this senator,
without an elaborate eulogy. " Senator Hobart comes from
a town that is largely populated by railroad men, and we
are sure they will all remember his good offices in
their interests. He was equally as earnest in his
opposition to the Berry substitute, which was
practically an annulment of the Temple amendment, and
made a vigorous speech against it. The vast army of
railway men in Iowa should not soon forget Senator
Hobart's efforts in their behalf, and the bold and
courageous manner in which he defended their interests,
when to do so called for the exercise of a vast amount
of moral courage. Besides opening and closing the debate
in the senate in support of the Temple amendment, he was
one of the able supporters of the Cheshire
amendment.
In September, 1887, Mr. Hobart was married
to Hattie L. Beckwith, and they have three children:
Verner, Carroll and Louise. He has always been a
republican and has taken a very active part in both
state and local campaigns. Is also a member of the
Masonic order.
 STEELE, Thomas H. One of the leading and most
active men in the work of developing the varied
interests of Cherokee county, especially in the way of
securing eastern money for farmers who desired to
improve their land and for individuals lacking capital
for the promotion of different enterprises, is Thomas H.
Steele, of Steeles' bank at Cherokee. The father, Thomas
S. Steele, who was at the head of the firm until his
death in 1896, did not give his personal attention to
the business at Cherokee. The mother before her marriage
was Isabella Fenwick, a niece of Rev. Alexander
Bullions, for more than fifty years pastor of the
Associate Presbyterian church at Coila, N. Y., and the
Rev. Peter Bullions, author of a series of Latin
school books. The early paternal ancestors came from
Coleraine, Ireland, about 1760, and settled in Salem,
Washington county, N. Y. The mother's parents were
natives of Scotland, who came to Salem, N. Y., in
1810.
Thomas H. Steele was born at
Salem, N. Y., May 2, 1844. He attended the district
school, the Cambridge academy, and the Clinton Liberal
institute at Clinton, N. Y. He came to Iowa in the fall
of 1872, and through the assistance of J. H. Leavitt, of
Waterloo, secured employment with Bowman & Burr,
bankers, of Waverly. While thus
engaged he became convinced of his own ability to
undertake a like enterprise, and in the spring of 1874
communicated that belief to bis father in the east, who
at once authorized him to look up a location and
promised to join him in the venture. The son decided
upon Cherokee, and in the spring of 1874 a banking
business was started there under the firm name of T. S.
Steele & Son. The county at that time was new, and
the pioneers stood in great need of money, so the
business of the new firm grew to goodly proportions.
More help being required for the transaction of the
constantly increasing business, two brothers, D. T. and
J. F.
Steele, were taken into the firm, and continued
the business for some years as T. S. Steele &
Sons. Since the death of T. S. Steele, which
occurred August 14, 1896, the bank has been known as
Steeles' bank, the firm consisting of T. H., D. T. and
J. F.
Steele. These men have been of material assistance in
promoting the prosperity of the town of Cherokee and the
surrounding country, and are regarded as among the most
progressive and useful citizens of that
community.
Mr. Steele is a republican,
but has held no political office except that of member
of the school board. He is an elder in the Presbyterian
church, but is not a member of any social club or secret
society. He was married August 25, 1875, to Miss Evaline
M. Washburn. She was born in New York, but came to Iowa
while yet young.
Her education was secured in the high school of
Cedar Falls and the Iowa college at Grinnell. At the
time of her marriage she was principal of the Waverly
high school. They have had ten children, nine of whom
are living. The children are: Eva Belle, Grace S.,
Winifred, Mary B., Fannie Corey, Susan W., Margaret T.,
Harrison C. and Richard T., besides a son, Thomas H.,
Jr., who died in his fourth
year.
The information
on Trails to the Past © Copyright may be used in personal family history research, with source citation. The pages in entirety may not be duplicated for publication in any fashion without the permission of the owner. Commercial use of any material on this site is not permitted. Please respect the wishes of those who have contributed their time and efforts to make this free site possible.~Thank you! |
