Trails-to-the-Past-Iowa-Linn-Co.-Biographies-Progressive-Men

Progressive Men of Iowa1899

PATTERSON, John W., was born on his father's farm in Perry township, Ashland county, Ohio, June 3, 1847. His father, William Patterson, lives with two unmarried daughters at Waterloo, Ind. His father was also a merchant for many years after leaving the farm. His wife was Elizabeth Shaeffer, whose father served his country in the war of the American revolution.

While a boy John W. helped his father on the farm, attending the public school in the winter months until he was 17 years old. In September, 1862, at the age of 15, he answered the call of Governor Todd, of Ohio, for the minute men of the state to go to the defense of Cincinnati, then being threatened by the confederates. Every man furnished his own arms and ammunition. The troops thus assembled, after serving in the intrenchments and fortifications of the city for ten days, were honorably discharged, and are known in Ohio's history of the war as " The Squirrel Hunters. He was too young to enter the army at the beginning of the war of the rebellion, but when he reached the age of 17, in 1864, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Seventy sixth Ohio Volunteer infantry, commanded by Col. E. C. Mason. The regiment was assigned to the army of the Cumberland, which was then at Nashville, Tenn. He was in the great battle of the 15th and 16th of December, 1864, in which General Thomas won a great victory over the rebel army, under General Hood. Mr. Patterson acted as quartermaster of the regiment during the larger part of his term of service.

After being mustered out, Mr. Patterson secured a position as a clerk in a grocery. He came to Iowa in the fall of 1881 and engaged in the retail dry goods business in Marion, Linn county. For many years he has been a commercial traveler. His first vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln for president in 1864, and he has always been an active republican since. He has been a member of a campaign glee club in nearly every political campaign since the close of the war. He has often been a delegate to county, congressional and state conventions of the republican party, and has served as chairman of Linn county republican central committee for four years. He was assistant sergeant-at-arms at the St. Louis republican national convention which nominated McKinley for president. He is a member of the Masonic order, a Shriner, and a member of the Knights of Pythias, and of Post No. 204 of the Grand Army of the Republic at Marion. January 5, 1898, Mr. Patterson was appointed collector of internal revenue for the Third district of Iowa, and entered upon his duties February 7, 1898. January 12, 1870, he was married to Miss Ella Howell, of Danby, N. Y. They have had five children, three of whom are living: Ida H., Clarence H., and Walter J.

RICHARDSON, Napoleon B., of Coggon, Linn county, is a prosperous banker of that town. His father, Aaron Richardson, came to Iowa in 1855, settling on a farm in Delaware county. His wife's maiden name was Maria E. Belding. Their son, Napoleon, was born July 6, 1857, in a small log house containing but one room, on the farm in Union township, and spent his boyhood there.

His early education was begun in the common schools and as he grew up, he took a course in Lenox college in Hopkinton, and graduated from Baylies Business college in Dubuque in September, 1877. From boyhood he had been industrious and economical, saving his earnings. His first business venture was in a creamery which he carried on from June, 1881, with success. He developed fine business ability and so invested his earnings as to bring a good interest.

In 1892 he took a subordinate position in a bank for the purpose of getting a thorough knowledge of the business. He worked as a clerk for about a year, developing a capacity for successful banking, so that before the year had expired he was promoted to cashier of the bank, a position which he continues to hold. March 21, 1883, he was married to Miss Flora J. McBride. Three children have been born to them, of which the oldest, Winifred, died in infancy. Florence M. was born July 25, 1891, and Anna, October 18, 1897.

Mr. Richardson has always been a republican and is not a member of any church. He has been successful in business and enjoys the confidence of the community in which he lives.

RICKEL, Henry, of Cedar Rapids, was born in Richland county, Ohio, August 16, 1835. His father, Samuel Rickel, was of German descent and was born in Bedford county, Penn. Several members of his family were in the revolutionary war, and an uncle was killed at the battle of Brandywine. His more remote ancestors came from Frankfort-on-Main, where many of the same name are now living. He was a cabinet maker, and in 1829 removed to Richland county, Ohio. He married Barbara Smith, who was of German and English descent, and whose father, Henry F. Smith, was a soldier in the war of 1812. Samuel Rickel and his family moved in 1839 to Springfield, 111.; from there to Galena, and in 1849 to Clayton county, Iowa.

Henry Rickel's education was commenced in a log schoolhouse in Illinois, and completed in the schools of West Union, Iowa. He learned the cabinet-making trade and worked at that until about 21 years old. After that he engaged in the book and stationery business at McGregor and at West Union, Iowa, under the firm name of Rickel & Huffman, until 1860, when he commenced the study of law with Hon. L. L. Ainsworth, of West Union. In September, 1862, he assisted in raising Company C, of the Sixth Iowa cavalry, and served with that regiment until June, 1864, when he was compelled by ill health to resign. Captain Ainsworth commanded the company and Mr. Rickel was second lieutenant. The regiment was engaged in frontier service, under Gen. Alfred Sully. Before enlisting he assisted in raising five other companies in Fayette county.

In 1866 Mr. Rickel formed a law partnership with Hon. William McClintock, of West Union, which continued for a number of years. He was also connected in the law business with Hon. William E. Fuller and D. W. Clements, of the same place. Later he was a partner of Hon. W. V. Allen, now United States senator from Nebraska. In 1878 he removed to Cedar Rapids, and became a member of the firm of Rickel, West & Eastman. For the past twelve years he has been a member of the firm of Rickel & Crocker.

Politically, Henry Rickel is a republican and his first vote was cast for John C. Fremont, but from 1863 to 1874 he voted with the democratic party. He then voted for Hayes for president, and since that time has usually voted the republican ticket. He was for several years' mayor of the city of West Union, and was a member of the house of representatives from Fayette county during the session of the Seventeenth General Assembly.

He was married October 14, 1857, to Susan Brown, of West Union, who was born in Yates county, N. Y. They have had two children, Willie, who died at the age of 11 years, and Lillian M., who is the wife of Alfred H. Newman, of Cedar Rapids. Mr. Rickel is a member of the Methodist church, and belongs to the Odd Fellows. For many years he has been active in promoting temperance reform in Iowa, and took a leading part in the enactment and enforcement of the prohibitory law, delivering many lectures in northern Iowa.

ROBINSON, John Blair, a prominent physician and surgeon of Mt. Vernon, has won a high place in the practice of his profession. He was born May 29, 1852, in Knoxville, Marshall county, W. Va., in the same log cabin in which his father was born and brought up, and where his grandparents died. The house which has sheltered three generations of the Robinson family still stands. Dr. Robinson was the son of James Robinson, who was a farmer in good circumstances. He served three years in the union army as a private in Company B, Twelfth West Virginia volunteers. He was accidentally killed on Sep-tember 9, 1886, his 57th birthday. His mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Ann Harris, whose ancestors came from Connecticut, was born and still lives in West Virginia. Several of her ancestors served in the revolutionary war. And that they were ardent supporters of the union is attested by the fact that thirty-seven of her, and her husband's relatives offered their lives in the defense of their country during the war of the rebellion. The Terrills, a branch of her family, were instrumental in establishing the first Universalist church in West Virginia, and were Uncompromising abolitionists, and noted for opposition to intemperance and capital punishment. The family is of Scotch and Irish descent, and in America has representatives through five to seven generations.

Dr. Robinson was the eldest of thirteen children, and early in life learned the les-son of self-reliance and helpfulness to others. He began when only 7 years of age to perform many kinds of farm work, and thus in advancing years found his field of operations rapidly increasing. In 1858 he began attending a subscription school in a log house. He never saw a free public school until he was 15 years of age. In 1872 he took a five-months' course in the Meadville academy at French Creek, W. Va. He attended the Waynesburg college, Waynesburg, Pa., during the years of 1873-4-5, completing the sophmore year. He taught in the public schools of West Virginia for a period of thirty-two months. In 1876 he began reading medicine in Wheeling, W. Va., under Dr. C. C. Olmstead, who is now a resident of Milwaukee, Wis. In 1877-8 he attended medical lectures in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the Pulte Medical college, and at Hahnemann Medical college, Chicago, graduating from the latter in 1879. The next year he came west to Iowa, locating at Mt. Vernon, where he began the practice of medicine with less than $100 in cash, and was in debt more than $500 to kind friends in the east, which required six years to pay in addition to keeping up his business expenses and supporting his family. By strict attention to business he soon acquired a lucrative practice.

In 1883 he formed a partnership with Dr. Joshua Doron in the practice of medicine, and conducted a drug store at Mt. Vernon, which continued until the partnership was mutually dissolved. He did this in order to devote all of his time to the practice of medicine, and his work has been since that time confined to that of a general practitioner. That he has been successful is attested by constantly increasing practice, which has run throughout a course of nineteen years. When the war broke out he was too young to shoulder a musket, but for two or three years he carried the mail on horseback for the soldiers' families in the neighborhood, two or three times a week, from the nearest railroad station, a distance of five miles.

Dr. Robinson has always been a republican, and has frequently served as a dele gate to county, congressional and state conventions. He has never been a candidate for any political preferment. He is now, and has been for several years, chairman of the Mt. Vernon school board, and served six consecutive years as a member of the city council. He has for several years held the position of physician to the Mt. Vernon board of health. He is a member of the Iowa Legion of Honor, Modern Woodmen of America, Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Modern Brotherhood of America, in all of which he holds, or has held, important offices, and is a member of the grand lodge of Knights of Pythias of Iowa. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and holds official positions therein.

He was married September 28,1878, at Moundsville, W. Va., to Sarah E. Howe, a daughter of Rev. Wm. R. Howe. They have two children: Nellie Howe, born October 8, 1880, and James Arthur, born December 25, 1883. February 7, 1893, Mrs. Robinson died. He was again married, October 2, 1895, to Anna Coldren Shepler, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Shepler, of Belle Vernon, Pa.

SMITH, Jesse Hitchcock, president of the Farmers Insurance company, of Cedar Rapids, is a native of Indiana. His father was Isaac Smith, a substantial farmer, living in Elkhart county. His mother's maiden name was Sarah Thomas.

The son, Jesse, was born on the 27th of August, 1838, and was brought up on the farm, working during the summer months, and attending district school in the winter. In the summer of 1853 the family moved to Iowa and again settled on a farm in the then new state, locating on the fertile prairie land of Linn county. Here for many years Jesse assisted his father in breaking up wild prairie, building fence, plowing, sowing, planting and reaping, performing all the varied labor pertaining to farm life in a new country, before barbed wire and twine binders had so greatly lightened the tedious and exhausting labor of fencing the farms and harvesting the small grain, then so extensively grown.

In the winter he again attended the district school, kept in a rude log house meagerly equipped for educational progress. But Jesse was studious and prepared himself to enter the first class organized in Western college, when that institution was established, not far from his father's home. Here he got a good education and soon after studied medicine in Cedar Rapids. He became a practicing physician in that city and for fifteen years devoted his time to that profession, almost exclusively.

In the fall of 1887 Dr. Smith was nominated by the republicans for senator in the Twenty-second General Assembly, and elected for the term of four years, serving with ability and fidelity. He has always been an active and ardent republican, casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln for president in I860. He has served four terms as mayor of Cedar Rapids and for ten years has been president of St. Luke's hospital in that city. He owns a stock farm south of the city, where he has for many years given attention to stock raising. But Dr. Smith is more widely known as president of the Farmers Insurance company, of Cedar Rapids, a position which he has held continuously since the 1st of January, 1869.

SMITH, William M., of Mount Vernon, is a native of Ohio. He was born in Penn township, Morgan county, May 29, 1848. His father, James Smith, was born in Belmont county, Ohio, March 16, 1826, and with his parents, Thomas and Nancy Smith, moved to Morgan county, Ohio, when a mere boy. James Smith's grandfather, Samuel Smith, was one of the early settlers of Ohio, and removed from his native state, Virginia, before Ohio had been admitted to the union. He located in Columbiana county and married Sarah Bishop. James Smith was married to Ruth King April 27, 1847. Mrs. Smith was a native of Morgan county, Ohio, and a daughter of Joseph and Mary Morris King. Three children were born to them: William M., Caroline N. and Charles T., all living. Mr. and Mrs. James Smith were members of the Society of Friends. They resided in Pennsville until 1865, and in September of that year removed to Iowa, and into Mount Vernon in 1873, where they now reside. Mr. Smith has held the office of mayor of Mount Vernon for four terms. William M. Smith's childhood was spent in Penns-ville, and he received his education in the common schools of that place. In his fifteenth year, he enlisted as a volunteer for three years' service in the union army. Owing to his extreme youth, he met with much opposition from his parents to joining the army. He enlisted at Marietta, Ohio, in Company E, Seventy-eighth O. V. I., in February, Joined his regiment at Vicksburg, Miss., in March, 1864, and stood his first picket guard at Black River Bridge. In April he came up the Mississippi river to Cairo, 111., and there met the regiment returning from veteran furlough. They waited there but a short time and then went by transport up the Ohio river to Paducah, Ky., and thence up the Tennessee river to Clifton, Tenn. At Clifton they disembarked and started on the march for Huntsville, Ala, then started to join Sherman and met his command at Big Shanty, Ga. He was engaged with his regiment in all the principal battles from that time, including Keneeaw Mountain and that of Atlanta, which was fought July 22, 1864.

In this battle he received two gunshot wounds and lay upon the battlefield many hours before being cared for, and after he was found he was compelled to remain two days in the rear before his wounds could be dressed. He was taken, in a wagon, to Marietta and placed in the old military academy, where General Sherman once taught military tactics, at that time used as a hospital. After a few days he was removed to Rome, Ga., where he remained in the field hospital until the latter part of September. Unable to walk and almost destitute of clothing, he started home on furlough, arriving at his destination about October 1st his wounds and subsequent suffering unfitted him for further service in the field, consequently he was honorably discharged at Louisville, Ky., in June, 1865. He still carries an ounce ball in his left hip.

Mr. Smith came west with his parents in the fall of 1865, and stopped that winter near Springville, Linn county, Iowa. In March, 1866, the family moved to Tama City, Tama county, and Mr. Smith made that his home for six years. He then returned to Ohio and in September, 1872, engaged with Drs. Jennings and Kessler, West Milton, Ohio (Miami county), to manage their drug store, until they sold out the following spring. He was afterwards engaged as a traveling salesman for E. F. Rinehart, wholesale and manufacturing druggist of Troy, Ohio. He traveled for this house five years, selling goods in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. In 1878 he pursued the same business for Dr. Cary, of Zanesville, Ohio, traveling in Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, until the fall of 1879, when he purchased stock in the Rinehart Medicine company and remained with that company until 1883, when he disposed of his interest and came to Mount Vernon. In 1884 he entered into partnership with Dr. James Carson, opening a bank, which he has managed ever since that time. The business has been steadily successful, and February 1, 1893, Col. H. H. Rood purchased one-third interest. The bank was conducted under this management until February 1, 1897, when Dr. Carson sold his interest to W. C. Stuckslager, of Lisbon, and retired from the banking business. At this time the capital was increased to $50,000. During the period of the bank's existence, so conservative has been the management of Mr. Smith as cashier, that not a dollar of its loans and investments has been lost. He also owns and manages a farm adjoining the city, on which he has a fine registered herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle of the best families.

Mr. Smith has been a life-long republican. He is a member of Mount Vernon Lodge No. 112, A. F. and A. M., Ashler Chapter No. 122, R. A. M., and W. C. Dimmitt Post No. 400, G. A. R.

He was married to Miss Clara A. Brackett, September 9, 1884. Mrs. Smith is a native of Putnam township, was reared in Mount Vernon, and is a daughter of William and Elizabeth Sherman Brackett She is a graduate of Cornell Conservatory of Music, and was for some time a teacher in that institution. They have had two children: William Edgar, born January 19, 1891, who died in his third year, and Ruth Elizabeth, born December 29, 1893.

STEWART, James Orbison, of Cedar Rapids, is of Scotch-Irish descent and is a native of Mercer county, Penn., having been born near North Liberty, in that state, October 3, 1837. His father, John Stewart and family, moved to Washington, Iowa, in 1844. His mother's maiden name was Wadell. Her father, who was of Scotch descent, was a soldier in the war of 1812. James was only 7 years old when the family moved to Iowa, and to him at that age it was the event of a lifetime. This was long before the day of railroads and the trip was made by water from Allegheny City, Penn., to Keokuk, Iowa. Wagons and horses were brought along to make the balance of the distance. In 1850 the family moved in the same primitive fashion to Cedar Rapids, which was then but a small village. The country was very sparsely settled and the family endured all the hardships and vicissitudes incident to early pioneer life in the west.

James Stewart's early education was procured in the common schools and in a country printing office. At the age of 16 he entered the office of the Progressive Era, the first paper published in Cedar Rapids, earning his first dollar rolling and inking the type for the printing of the Iowa supreme court reports, on a hand press. After about six months' service in that capacity he was regularly apprenticed as the "printer's devil " for four years, receiving the sum of $30 the first year, $50 the second, $75 the third and $100 the fourth year. Out of this princely salary he was supposed to pay his board and clothe himself. He worked at the printing trade until the spring of 1861, when he enlisted as a private soldier in Company K, First Iowa infantry, under the first call for volunteers. He took part in the skirmishes of Mud Springs, Forsvthe and the noted battle of Wilson's Creek, Mo., where he received his first "glory mark" and in which the noble General Lyon fell while he was leading the First Iowa. In May, 1862, he re-enlisted, entering the service as first sergeant of Company B, Twentieth Iowa infantry, and took part in all the marches and battles of the regiment; the more important being Prairie Grove, siege of Vicksburg, Fort Morgan, Blakely and the capture of Mobile, Ala. He was, soon after entering the service, promoted to second lieutenant and later commissioned first lieutenant and then captain, but not mustered in the two latter owing to the reduced size of the company. About eighteen months of this service he acted as adjutant of the regiment, an honor seldom conferred on a second lieutenant. He also acted for a time as judge advocate of the second division of the Thirteenth army corps, and later as mustering officer on the staff of Gen. C. C. Andrews, and in October, 1865, when mustered out of service, held that position on the staff of Gen. Joseph C. Mower, for the department of Texas

On his return to civil life he again took up the printer's trade and in 1866 bought a half interest in the Waverly Republican; selling this later he bought the Clarksville Star, which he published for twelve years, building up a state reputation for himself and for the paper as an unswerving advocate of the principles of the republican party, to which he still adheres. Captain Stewart has always been an enthusiastic Grand Army man and has held all the positions in the post from the lowest to the highest, and also appointments on the staffs of the national and department commanders; but his best work has been in quiet aid to indigent comrades and other dependents. In 1884 he relocated in Cedar Rapids and was connected as a writer and otherwise with various newspapers. In 1895 he was appointed deputy clerk of the United States circuit and district courts and United States commissioner for northern district of Iowa, which position he still holds. He takes an active interest in politics, but is not a politician only in the better sense of the term. In all his long and active career he would never allow his name to be presented for an elective office, although often urged to do so, preferring to aid others to taking office himself. He has never held office only these he now holds and four years as assistant postmaster in his home city.

He was married in 1868 to Miss Leah E. Alexander, of New York state. They have one child, Raymond Grant Stewart, who is now a resident of Cedar Rapids, and following in the footsteps of his father as a printer. He was brought up in the faith of the United Presbyterian church and is now a member of that society.

THOMPSON, Judge William George, Judge of Marion, Linn county, has borne a conspicuous part in the affairs of the state since 1853. He was born in Center township, Butler county, Pa., January 17, 1830. His father was William H. Thompson, a farmer in comfortable circumstances, who died at the age of 73 years. He was a quiet, peaceable man, was six feet five inches in height, weighed 240 pounds and had no surplus flesh. He never had a lawsuit or quarrel. Mr. Thompson's mother's maiden name was Jane McCandless. The grandparents on both sides were Scotch and Scotch-Irish, and emigrated to western Pennsylvania in 1798. Both of Mr. Thompson's parents were born and reared in Center township, Butler county, Pa., and lived and died there. In forty-five years of married life Mrs. Thompson, mother of William G., was never one night away from home. They were all strict Presbyterians.

William O. received his early education in a log schoolhouse two and a quarter miles from home, where he attended every winter from the age of 7 to 17. He then began to teach school, working on the farm in the summertime. At the age of 19 he entered Weatherspoon institute as a student for two years, continuing to work on the farm during harvest time, and then entered the law office of Wm. Timblin, in Butler, Pa., as a law student, keeping the office open and doing chores for his board in the family of his employer. In two years he fitted himself for admission to the bar, and was given a certificate after thorough examination by a committee, of which Judge Daniel Agnew was chairman, October 15, 1853. A little more than a month later, November 27, young Thompson started for Iowa, not knowing where he would locate. In Davenport he heard about the promising little town of Marion and went there in December without money, books or acquaintances, but with good health and industry and ability. He decided to stay, and has never changed his location. His first dollar was earned in about two weeks after locating by attending to a suit before a justice of the peace, and from that time on he has never lacked a competence. His reputation as a lawyer extends all over the state and he has won considerable renown as a criminal lawyer, having defended in twelve murder trials and lost but two of them. He was in the famous Bever contested will case.

Judge Thompson has been a leader in politics, and has always been a republican. He was a delegate to the convention at Iowa City February 22, 1854, which nominated James W. Grimes for governor, and founded the republican party. In 1854 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Linn county, the first republican ever elected in the county. At the expiration of his term he was elected a member of the state senate and was a member of the last senate held in Iowa City and the first one in Des Moines. He was presidential elector-at-large in 1864, and with C. Ben Darwin as the other elector-at-large, stumped the state and cast the vote of the state for Abraham Lincoln, which he says was the proudest act of his life. He was then elected district attorney for the district composed of the counties of Linn, Jones, Cedar, Johnson, Iowa, Benton and Tama, and served six years, declining another term. In 1879 he was appointed chief justice of the territory of Idaho by President Hayes, but declined to accept, but being urged to do so by his friends and members of congress he accepted long enough to hold the term of court then provided for, and in March, 1879, having completed the term, resigned. In November, 1879, he was elected to congress and in 1881 was re-elected. In 1886 he was elected to the lower house of the legislature and served two years. He was one of the committee from the house that prosecuted John L. Brown, auditor of state, before the state senate, sitting as a court of impeachment. In September, 1894, Mr. Thompson was appointed judge of the Eighteenth Judicial district by Governor Jackson, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Preston, and was immediately nominated and elected to that office, which he still holds, and is now re-nominated for second term. Judge Thompson has never been defeated when a candidate for office. His conspicuous ability and vigorous character and innate honesty have attracted people to him.

In 1862 Mr. Thompson was commissioned major of the Twentieth Iowa Volunteer infantry, and was in command of the regiment for over a year. He was severely wounded in the battle of Prairie Grove, Ark., December 7, 1862. He was at the siege and capture of Vicksburg, and then went to Texas and was present at the capture of Fort Aransas Pass. A post was established there and Major Thompson was put in command of the same, and so remained until 1864, when he was honorably discharged from the service. He is a member of the G. A. R. Post of Marion, and is a member of the Loyal Legion. Judge Thompson was married June 12, 1856, to Harriet J. Parsons, now deceased. They had one child, John M. Thompson, born May 24, 1875.

VAN VECHTEN, Giles F. and Charles D., of Cedar Rapids, have made that name known and honored throughout that region. The name of Van Vechten dates back in its origin to the time of Ceasar, and is traceable to the name of an old Roman camping place called Vectum (now Vechten) near Utrecht in Holland. The name of Van Vechten signifies from the fighting place.

The first of the family who came to America, was Teunis Dirckaen Van Vechten, who came to New Netherlands in the ship "Arms of Norway," with his wife, one child and two servants, and settled on a farm at Green bush, opposite Albany, N. Y., in 1638. Persons of this name are now found in nearly every state of the union; but the Dutch habit of continuity clings to the greater number, who have remained near the home of their fathers in New York. The family, however scattered or mingled with the blood of other families, has retained a remarkable resemblance in its different members and has furnished its full share of those who, in peace and war, have made a history for this country.

The father of Giles Fonda and Charles Duane Van Vechten, was Gilbert Van Vechten, a farmer, of Lewis county, N. Y. Their mother, Ilona Bent, came from New-England stock, her father having been born in Templeton, Mass. He removed, soon after his marriage, to Lewis county, in northern New York, which was then a dense forest, with only two families anywhere near the place which became his home.

Giles F. was born in Denmark, Lewis county, N. Y. August 6, 1827. He was educated in the district schools and at Denmark academy. In 1854 he moved to Milledgeville, Carroll county, 111., and engaged in farming and stock raising. In 1865 he and Henry G. Page, of Lanark, 111., opened the private bank of Van Vechten & Page, in the town of Lanark. He remained there for about ten years, changing the bank meanwhile into the First National bank of Lanark. In 1875 he sold his interest in the bank and other property at Lanark and soon after removed to Minneapolis, Minn. In November, 1876, he came to Cedar Rapids, where he has since resided, and opened the private bank of G. F. Van Vechten. In 1886 the bank was changed to the Cedar Rapids National bank, of which he has since been vice-president.

In 1889 he assisted in organizing the Security Savings bank of which he has since been president. Mr. Van Vechten is naturally conservative, his ventures have been along the line of safety, and his business career has been in the best sense successful. Passing through several panics, his business methods have always been sufficient defense against disaster, and the financial institutions with which he has been connected have never suffered failure. He has given much of his time to the investment of funds Intrusted to him for that purpose, and can truthfully say he has never lost a dollar for his clients. Although naturally a money-maker he cares little for simply accumulating money, but believes that men who occupy positions of trust owe it to the community in which they live to help others as well as themselves. He would, if he could, give all men and women an opportunity in the world and would guard them against failure. Politically, Mr. Van Vechten has, as a rule, acted with the republican party, although he was never a partisan. In his later years he has grown more independent in politics and is a believer in the justice of the doctrine known as the "Single Tax."

He was married to Miss Emma Melissa Humphrey on April 14, 1858. They have had no children of their own. They have one adopted daughter, Mary, who is now the wife of Merritt W. Pinckney, a Chicago attorney.

Charles D. Van Vechten was born in Denmark, N. Y., September 4, 1889. At the age of 16 he went to Battle Creek, Mich., where he attended school for one year and then went to the Kalamazoo schools for two years.

When about 22 years old he went into the general merchandise and lumber business at Mattawan, Mich., about twelve miles west of Kalamazoo, where he remained until 1876. He then removed to Minneapolis, Minn , with his brother, Giles F., and in February, 1877 came to Cedar Rapids, where he has since resided. For about seven years he acted as cashier of his. brother's bank. In August, 1884, be was elected secretary of the Cedar Rapids Insurance company. In January, 1885, the stockholders of ibis company placed it in liquidation on account of losses which occurred prior to Mr. Van Vechten's connection with It, and an arrangement was made by which its risks were gradually reinsured in the Continental of New York. He acted as state agent for the Continental until January, 1888. In February, 1888, he accepted the position of associate general agent in the general agency of northern and western Iowa, for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company, of Milwaukee. Although taking up insurance business rather late in life his success has been entirely satisfactory. Politically, he is independent, al-though usually acting with the republican party. He is a believer in the "Single Tax." and is warmly interested in other reform movements. The only public office he ever held was that of alderman for the fifth ward of Cedar Rapids.

August, 1861, he was married to Ada Amanda Pitch. They have three children: Ralph, born August 29, 1862, and cashier of the Cedar Rapids National bank; Emma, born June 11, 1867, and the wife of Clifford K. Shaffer, of Cedar Rapids; and Carl, born June 17, 1880, who has recently completed the high school course.

WILLIAMS, Robert, is the son of Mr. Wareham Williams, deceased, and Ellen Elizabeth Thacher, now a resident of Norwich, Conn. His father was engaged in the wholesale and retail dry goods business and was prominently identified with other commercial interests at Norwich, Conn., at which place Robert Williams was born, July 11, 1852. He attended school at the Norwich Free academy and then entered Yale university, graduating from that institution in 1873. Desiring to follow the footsteps of his father and perfect himself in commercial pursuits, he in 1874 sought and obtained a clerkship in the Thames National bank of Norwich, Conn., without salary, and he attended to the duties allotted him there under these circumstances until June, 1875, when he secured the position of clearing house clerk in the Continental National bank of New York city, but was soon obliged to give it up on account of his health. In August, 1875, he moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, his present homeland entered the service of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota railway company, under Gen. E. F. Winslow, receiver of that company, as clerk for Mr. C. J. Ives, then superintendent of the road. In 1879 he was appointed purchasing agent, the company being reorganized in the meantime as the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern railway company. In 1881 he was made assistant superintendent, and in 1882 promoted to the position of superintendent of the road in charge of the operating department; in 1884 he was elected vice-president of the company, and in 1894 he became its general superintendent, now holding both these positions.

He is in private life of a quiet and retiring disposition, taking much of his social pleasure from the surroundings of his home and in the company of friends with whom he has been intimate for years. In business matters he is both active and energetic, and pursues all of his duties in that conscientious, earnest manner peculiar to those who have inherited the sturdy traits of a vigorous New England ancestry. He is noted in railway circles for the tenacious way in which he adheres to the principles of fairness and justice in the management of the affairs of the company he has been so closely identified with for the past twenty-three years. As the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway company is recognized and stands in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, the three states in which its line is located, as the embodiment of fair and reasonable business principles, it can be fairly said that our Mr. Williams bears the same relationship to the company as far as these qualifications are concerned, as it does to the business interests of the states through which its system extends. He has always been a republican in politics, but cannot be considered a partisan in the strict sense of the word.

He was married in May, 1888, to Miss Mary Foster Bard, of Norwich, Conn. They have one daughter, Ellen Elizabeth, born July 21, 1892.

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