Progressive Men of Iowa
1899

BALDWIN, William Wright, of Burlington, is one of the best-known railroad attorneys of Iowa, having been for many years associated with the Burlington company. His father, Charles Baldwin, also a lawyer of ability, is now living in Keosauqua, at an advanced age, and was one of the very earliest settlers of Van Buren county, coming there in 1840 from Ohio.  He is a man of much force of character and the highest integrity. Mr. Baldwin's mother, Rachel Wright, was born in 1816, and came from Indiana to Van Buren county, Iowa, in 1840, and is still living at Keosauqua. The Baldwins are direct descendants of John Baldwin, a leader in the New Haven colony, which came from England in 1638. He settled at Milford, Conn.  Members of the family did good service in the revolution, and among many well-known descendants are Abraham Baldwin, a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia, Judge Nathaniel Baldwin, a distinguished jurist of Connecticut, and Hon. John W. Daniel, now United States senator from Georgia. The members of his mother's family, the Wrights, have occupied many prominent positions. Hon.  Joseph A. Wright, Mrs. Baldwin's brother, was governor of Indiana, United States senator, and twice appointed ambassador to Germany, where he died at his post in Berlin. Another brother, Hon. George G. Wright, was for many years' chief justice of the supreme court of Iowa, and also United States senator.

Hon. W. W. Baldwin was born September 28, 1845, at Keosauqua, Van Buren county. He attended the public schools of that city, and in 1860 and 1861 was a student at Lane's academy, founded by Rev.  Daniel Lane, one of the celebrated Andover Band of Congregational ministers. He entered the State university in 1862 from Keosauqua and graduated in 1866. He helped to found the Zetegathean society, and belonged to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He was an active debater, and was thoroughly identified with the life of the university. Upon leaving college, he entered the Iowa Law school, then located in Des Moines, and afterwards established as the law department of the State university.  He graduated from the law school in 1867, delivering the salutatory address of the class. While a law student he earned considerable money copying for the printer the opinions of the supreme court, and, upon graduating, had a capital of $75, after paying all bills. He then entered the office of J. C and B. J. Hall at Burlington as a clerk and office boy, and, at the end of a year, accepted an offer to become a partner of the late Judge Harrington, with whom he remained two years, and then formed a partnership with his former employers, J. C. and B. J. Hall In 1879 he accepted the position of land commissioner for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway company, and has remained in their service ever since. He is now assistant to the president, and is president of the St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern, and other branches of the Burlington system. He was one of the active promoters of the Burlington & Northwestern railway, and has been a member of the board of directors ever since it was organized.  Thoroughly public spirited, Mr. Baldwin has always been prominent in aiding local enterprises. He has been president of the Burlington school board for many years, a trustee of the public library, and, from its foundation, president of the Charity Organization society of Burington. He is also director and secretary of the Opera House company.

While at college, Mr. Baldwin enlisted, in 1864, as a private in Company D, Forty-fourth Iowa infantry, and was discharged September 15, 1864, by the expiration of his term of enlistment. The service of his regiment was in western Tennessee. Mr.  Baldwin has always been a democrat, and a firm believer in sound money and a low tariff.

Mr. Baldwin was married in 1870, at Des Moines, to Miss Alice Tuttle. To them four children have been born.

BARHYDT, Theodore Wells, has been conspicuous in the history of Burlington for more than forty years, and has had a large part in advancing the prosperity and growth of that city. Mr. Barhydt was born in Newark, N. J. April 10, 1835; he was the son of Nicholas and Phoebe H.  Gardner Barhydt. His father was a native of New York and his mother of New Jersey. On both sides, his ancestors were among the first settlers of their respective states. On the paternal side, the Barhydts settled on the Hudson river below Albany in 1665, and the Gardners were among the early settlers of New Jersey, and very prominent citizens of that state. Jerome Barhydt, grandfather of Theodore W., was a revolutionary soldier and a very highly-respected citizen of Schenectady, N. Y. 

T. W. Barhydt received his education in the private schools and Lyceum academy of Schenectady, and spent his time in school and in working in his father's boot and shoe store until 1855 when he came west, locating at Burlington, where his relatives, Dr. and Mrs. G. W. Snyder, persuaded him to try his fortune. Soon after his arrival, Mr. Barhydt accepted a clerkship in the shoe store of Mr. Sweetser, and, not long afterwards, became one of the principal clerks in the post office. In 1859 he opened up a new boot and shoe store, in partnership with Mr. Tizzard, who was postmaster at that time. The partnership continued for one year, when Mr. Barhydt purchased his partner's interest, and, for some years, ran the business alone. In 1866 he took in, as a partner, his brother-in-law, Mr. Henry A. Brown, and, since that time, has not been active in the business himself. In 1870 he assisted in the organization of the Merchants National bank, and has been its president ever since, and is also a director in the German-American Savings bank. He became interested in the building of railroads in Iowa in an early day, and was one of the organizers of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota, now the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway company, and was for several years one of its directors, and also a member of the executive committee. He was also one of the directors of the Burlington & Southwestern railroad. In 1880 he was elected president of the Burlington & Northwestern Railroad company, and has served continually in that position since that time. When the Burlington & Western road was built, in 1881, he was elected president of that corporation, and has been annually re-elected since that time. Mr. Barhydt has large real estate interests in Burlington, and is the owner of the Dolano hotel, and several other business blocks.

He has never been a politician, but has held several offices of public trust. He was one of the citizens through whose influence the Burlington water works were established, and was one of the principal builders and promoters of the first street railway in the city, serving for several years as treasurer of the company. He has been president of the board of trade, a member of the city council, and a director and treasurer of the city water company. Mr. Barhydt has every reason to be gratified with the results of his labor, both financially and intellectually. He has been an extensive traveler and has profited by contact with the distant scenes which he has visited. He has been a man of the world, and at the same time an earnest student of literature and art. As a business man, as a member of society, as a manipulator of public affairs, and as a man who has taken every opportunity of advancing the welfare of his home city, he has the highest respect of all. The young business man who takes Mr. Barhydt's career for example need fear no disaster from which he may not readily and quickly recover. 

He has been prominently connected with the Masonic order since 1862, being a member of the Des Moines Lodge No. 1, A. F. & A. M., of Iowa Chapter No. 1, R. A. M., St Omar Commandery No. 15, K. T., and of Kaaba Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Sons of the Revolution and is one of the board of managers for the state of Iowa. He has lately been elected a member of the Holland society of New York. Politically he has always been affiliated with the democratic party, but his life has always been too much taken up with business pursuits to accept or desire any public office.  His wife was Miss Eleanor Christiancy, of Knickerbocker Dutch origin, and, like himself, of revolutionary stock. They have both been active members of the First Presbyterian church of Burlington since 1863.

CASTER, Dr. Jacob S., is a son of the late Dr. Paul Caster, of Ottumwa, and is a native of Decatur county, Iowa. When quite young he became associated with his father in his work in various ways. In 1874 he took charge of the engine in the heating department of his father's large infirmary, which resulted in giving him a taste for machinery that greatly influenced his after life. In 1878 he was made superintendent of the infirmary, which brought him in still closer contact with his father, and probably accounts for much of his subsequent success.

He was married March 23, 1880, to Miss Mary E. Biederman, of Ottumwa, and in August of that year resigned his position as superintendent of the infirmary to engage in other business.  For a short time he was employed as a machinist in the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy round house at Creston, and in November, 1881, removed to Burlington, Iowa, where he was employed as a machinist by the same company. His father had urged him strongly to use the gift of healing, which he knew he possessed, but the son was prejudiced against it, and felt compelled to refuse his father's request It was not until 1887, when out of sympathy for suffering friends, he treated several cases with such wonderful success, that his power became known. He was then sought after constantly by some sufferer, but according to a promise made his father, he received no pay until he came before the world publicly as a magnetic healer. 

In June, 1889, he received his first public patient. The following November he opened an infirmary, which soon proved too small to accommodate his patients and in June, 1891, he removed to larger quarters, and in November, 1894, to his present location on North Fourth street.  Dr. J. S. Caster has, like his father, had patients from nearly every state in the union and from more than 500 different cities.  He possesses a wonderful power of diagnosis, being able to accurately describe the patient's trouble, sometimes going back twenty years for causes long since forgotten by the sufferer, and this without asking a question.

He does not claim to be able to cure every case that presents itself, but bis success has been something almost miraculous, as shown by the joyful testimony of hundreds of patients, including many of the most prominent people of Burlington, as well as of the state, who have been permanently cured or have gained years of comparative health from his treatment, after being pronounced hopelessly incurable. The doctor belongs to a number of secret societies, and originated and carried out a plan for " Secret Society Day " during the semi-centennial celebration in Burlington, in October, 1896, conducting a parade which contained nineteen different secret societies. He belongs to the Masons, Odd Fellows, A. O. U. W. and other orders.  The doctor is a strong advocate of the principles of the republican party, and vigorously supports that organization. In 1896 he was elected alderman in a democratic ward, by a large majority.  Dr. and Mrs. Caster have three children living: Charles Edwin, born February 28, 1883; Mabel Rose, born May 25, 1887, and Mary Blanche, born May 7, 1890.

CLARK, Charles Clapp, the well-known lawyer of Burlington, and county attorney, is a son of J. Warren and Sophia M.  Clapp Clark. He was born July 10, 1859, in Huntsburg, Geauga county, Ohio. The original American ancestor on the Clark side was William Clark, who came to Massachusetts about 1630. Roger Clapp, the founder of the mother's family in this country, settled in Massachusetts about the same time, Mr. Clark's father served in the war of the rebellion as a union soldier and died from the effects of that service, in August, 1867. His wife died in November, 1884.

The parents had removed to Iowa City, Iowa, about 1856, and here, in the public schools and in the State university, Charles C. received his education. He took the degree of A. B. in June, 1881, and the degree of A. M. was conferred upon him in June, 1884 After graduation in 1881, he took the position of principal of the Fairfield, Iowa, high school, where he taught two years, and became teacher of mathematics in the high school in Burlington.  He resigned that position and entered the State University Law school in 1885, entering in the senior year, having studied during the previous year and summer to make up the junior year work, which he succeeded in doing, as he passed a creditable examination. He graduated in June, 1886, and in August returned to Burlington and entered into a very desirable law partnership with John J. Seerley, since elected to congress and referred to elsewhere in this work, and the practice and partnership have continued ever since. Unlike his partner, Mr. Clark is a republican, and when Des Moines county became republican in 1896, his party services and professional ability were recognized by an election to the office of county attorney. This was repeated in the fall of 1898. He served as a member of the school board from 1891 to 1897. Mr. Clark belongs to the Masonic fraternity and was junior grand warden of the grand lodge of Iowa, in 1896-97. He was married September 5, 1885, to Ella Lamson, of Fairfield, Iowa. They have one child, Margaret M.

CRAPO, Philip M., a prominent, wealthy, and philanthropic citizen of Burlington, was born in Freetown, near New Bedford, Mass., June 30, 1844. He traces his ancestry through more than two centuries.

The founder of the family in America was Mr.  Pierre, or Peter, Crapo. About 1675, when a mere lad, he was cast ashore with his brother upon the New England coast by the wrecking of a French vessel, of which his brother was commander. The elder brother returned to France. Peter remained with the Massachusetts colonists, and when he arrived at manhood married a granddaughter of Peregrine White. His wife's grandfather enjoyed the distinction of being the first white child born in the Plymouth colony. Philip M. Crapo's father.  Philip, was born October 12, 1796, and was married in 1823 to Hannah Crapo.

Their son enjoyed the benefits of an excellent school system and was prepared for college. His college plans were interrupted by his enlistment as a private soldier in the Third Massachusetts infantry. He served in the eastern department with headquarters at Newberne, N. C. After the war Mr. Crapo went to Michigan, where he engaged as a civil engineer in the construction of what is now the Flint and Pere Marquette railroad. He afterwards engaged in the state offices at Detroit in the preparation of the military history of Michigan. While a resident of Detroit Mr. Crapo occupied a prominent social position, being a member of many social, literary, and military organizations.

In April, 1868, he came to Iowa and took charge of the business of the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance company in the southern half of the state. Subsequently his territory was enlarged and he was made the general agent for the company for Iowa and Nebraska, to which he devoted his attention for thirteen years. In 1882 he was appointed financial correspondent of the company, which position he has filled continuously since that date. He has served the company successfully and satisfactorily for more than thirty-one years.

While Mr. Crapo has always been an active republican, he has never been an office seeker. He was chairman of the republican congressional committee in his district in the campaigns of 1886 and 1888, and in 1885 was county chairman for Des Moines county. He accepted the nomination for state senator in that year, and, though he ran very much ahead of his party ticket, he could not overcome the democratic majority in the county. In 1889 his friends supported him loyally in the republican state convention for the nomination for governor.

Mr. Crapo has devoted much of his time and has been a liberal contributor to the advancement of public interests. He has been energetic in his endeavors to bring railroad competition to Burlington. In 1887 he organized a company and secured a charter from congress to build a combination bridge across the Mississippi at Burlington, but after completing arrangements for its use, and after the taxpayers had expressed their willingness to vote a large tax to aid the project, a majority of the members of the bridge company declined to assume the responsibility and the bridge has never been built.

Mr. Crapo was chiefly influential in securing the establishment of the Soldiers' home, located at Marshalltown, and delivered the address on behalf of the old soldiers at its dedication. He has been active in securing appropriations for the home ever since It was established. With the same energy and devotion he worked for the appropriation for the building of the soldiers' monument in Des Moines, and the passage of the bill was much due to his efforts. When the Burlington Subscription library, a stock company, proposed to donate its valuable collection or books to the city, Mr.  Crapo guaranteed the debt so the city council could accept the gift. Heading the list with a generous subscription, he speedily collected the balance, paid the debt, and Burlington's free public library was established. He has continued to take a deep interest in the library and is one of its trustees.  As a member of the purchasing committee he has selected nearly all the books that have been purchased for the last fourteen years, something more than 12,000 in number. He has recently made it possible for the city to erect the new public library building by contributing about one-half of the cost thereof. As chairman of the building committee he had almost exclusive charge of the erection of the beautiful and commodious library building, which has no equal in Iowa.

During his long and active business career in Burlington, Mr. Crapo has filled many positions of trust, in all of which he has been a zealous and faithful worker, serving without compensation for any services rendered the public. He has been president of the Burlington & Illinois Bridge company, president of the Burlington Board of Trade, president of the Commercial club of Burlington, president of the Burlington & Henderson County Ferry company, trustee of the city for the ferry franchise, trustee of the public library, trustee of the Congregational church, and park commissioner. His name was given to the national guard camp at Burlington in 1888, and it has been adopted as the camp name for the local organization of the Sons of Veterans. Mr. Crapo took an active part in starting the movement for paving the principal streets of Burlington with brick, and his efforts in behalf of the improvement of the Mississippi river were acknowledged by his appointment on the committee to prepare a memorial to congress by not less than five of the great conventions called to consider the question of the improvement of waterways. He was chiefly instrumental in securing a public park for the city of Burlington. In consideration of his services the city council complimented him by naming the new pleasure ground " Crapo Park."

Another Important service which Mr. Crapo rendered to his city and state was the contribution of service and money which he made to the semi-centennial celebration of the admission of Iowa as a state, which was held in Burlington in 1896. Mr.  Crapo was president of the board of commissioners appointed by Governor Drake and was actively in charge.

In fact this successful business man has been prominent in all matters affecting the growth and prosperity of city and state, and especially in everything calculated to promote education and contribute to the health and happiness of the people. He was married September 6, 1870, to Ruth A. Ray. They have had seven children: Edith Ray, born August 13, 1871; Philip Ashley, born July 17, 1873; Chester Frederick, born July 25, 1876; Clifford Maxwell, born September 6, 1878; Ruth Kelsall, born September 2, 1880; Lucy Howland, born April 7, 1883, and William Mitchell, born July 24, 1886. The oldest son, Philip Ashley, was a graduate of Phillips Exeter academy and the Harvard Law school. He had recently begun the practice of law in New York city when the Spanish-American war began. He left his business and came to Iowa to enlist in Company F, Fiftieth Iowa infantry. He died in the service, of typhoid fever, at Jacksonville, Fla., September, 1898.

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