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

Progressive Men of Iowa
1899

ANSON, Henry. At Marshalltown, where he is revered and respected, resides Mr. Henry Anson, founder of Marshalltown, and who, though now at an advanced age, is one of its most active and influential citizens. He was born in Ontario county, N. Y., April 19, 1826.

His parents removed to Erie county, Ohio, in 1833, and it was there, in 1846, he married Miss Janet Rice, sister of Hon. Wells S. Rice. In 1851 Mr. Anson started for the west, in true pioneer style, arriving in Bureau, 111., in May of that year. It was there he left his family behind and came over into Iowa on horseback in search of a location, and finally chose Marshall county because of its central location within the state. It was his belief at that time that the capitol of the state would someday be located within the border lines of that county. On his way he passed the fort being erected by the few early settlers, who were then in a panic because of a threatened outbreak of the Sioux Indians, and when he had reached a divide, which was bounded on the north by the Iowa river and on the south and east by Linn creek, he became enraptured with the scene presented, and concluded to make his future home there.

The preemption cabin which he then erected was located a little west of what is now the corner of First and Main streets, of Marshalltown. He at once took steps for the survey of a town site, which he will be pardoned for believing would ultimately be the future capital of Iowa. The first persons to arrive at the new Eldorado were Mr. Anson's mother and two sisters and Horace Anson, a brother. These people erected the second house in the new city. In 1853 settlers began to arrive in great numbers, but lumber was hard to get, and to overcome that difficulty Mr. Anson had a sawmill brought out from Ohio, and the same proved of incalculable benefit to the newcomers.

In 1851 commissioners were appointed to locate the county seat of Marshall county, and then began a fight which lasted many years and was only won through the energy and generous contributions of money of Mr. Anson. His many shrewd moves to defeat injunctions by the court during that time would fill a volume. At the present time he is at the head of an immense brick factory, building and real estate business, and has associated with him in business his son Sturgis. Adrian C. Anson, the famous baseball player, is the only other living child. Mrs. Anson, the wife of our subject, died more than thirty years ago.

Mr. Anson always claims that if the same amount of effort and expense dispensed is the county seat fight, which lasted seven years, could have been applied to securing the location of the capital of the state at that time, it could have easily been done. His own contributions in that line were enormous, embracing nearly one-half mile square of the choicest of the city property, including the old court house site, together with a large part of the material for the building. The present court house block was later also contributed to the county by Mr. Anson, he requiring the erection of a building worth not less than $100,000.

In the spring of 1856 there was consumed by fire two immense lumbering mills be had constructed for making lumber, lath and shingles from native timber, that being the only material for building purposes before the advent of railways. Insurance in those days in the west was unknown, and accordingly the loss was entire, and growth of the city delayed until new mills could be erected. The flouring mills of the city at the river were secured by Mr. Anson donating the site, together with forty acres of land and $500 in cash for the improvements, to G. M. Woodbury. Add to this the grounds donated for railroad depots and other expenses of securing the roads, together with attorney's fees and other expenses of seven years' county seat war, and the modern "tenderfoot" may form some idea of the efforts necessary in founding and starting the city of Marshalltown. Mr. Anson has built an enduring monument for his name in the affections of the people of his chosen home.

BIRCHARD, Abner Theodore, of Marshalltown, Iowa, was born near Montrose, Susquehanna county, Pa., on the 24th day of August, 1834.

His father. Plinny Birchard, was a native of Massachusetts, and came to Susquehanna County, Pa., with his parents when a boy, at a time when the country was an unbroken forest. The trip was made with what was called a spike team-a yoke of oxen and one horse ahead. He was reared and spent his days in that county, hemmed in from outside strife and trouble, and led the quiet and uneventful life of a farmer and neighborhood miller. He died in 1861 at the age of 50. His mother's maiden name was Martha Griffis, daughter of a revolutionary soldier and pensioner, living at Unidilla, Otsego county, N. Y.

Abner T. received his education at the country schools of Susquehanna county, Pa., where the teacher received the munificent sum of $1.25 per week and boarded around. This kind of education was continued summer and winter, till he was twelve years old, when the school term was cut in the middle, when thereafter he only attended three months in the winter. This continued until he was sixteen years of age, when he was indentured three years to learn the cabinet-maker's trade. This indenture included six months' schooling at a private academy, to finish his education, and provided for an annual salary of $25. $40 and $70.

Mr. Birchard came to Iowa in 1856, when railroads were a rare convenience, the only one in Iowa then being the Rock Island, terminating at Iowa City. He came to Iowa City by rail, thence to Oskaloosa by stage, having worked at Hampton, 111., as carpenter, for sufficient money to pay fare to Oskaloosa. Here he hired out as an itinerant tin peddler during the summer, and in the fall he had the good fortune to be employed as manager of a general store to be opened up at Dakota City, Humboldt county. Thence he made his way through a wilderness of prairie to his new position. The county was not then organized and included a great area of northwestern Iowa. Here he remained during the winter of 1856-57. During this winter the last session of the legislature was held at Iowa City, which was in continuous session till July.

The excitement incident to the Spirit Lake Indian massacre drove the settlers from the country, and so he moved his store to Boonesborough, Boone county, where he located and was joined by his family. He was married to Orpha Celia Smith, of Dimmock, Susquehanna county, Pa., July 24, 1854. His wife died at Boonesborough, Iowa, July, 1860. During the year 1861, he assisted in the survey and location of the Chicago & North-Western railroad from Marshalltown to the Des Moines river. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the Thirty-second Iowa Infantry volunteers, and on October 7th of the same year he was mustered into the United States service, with Company I, and was immediately made quartermaster sergeant and served in that capacity with the regiment until October 7, 1864, just two years, when he entered the general hospital at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., as a patient. Upon becoming convalescent he was sent home on a furlough, returning to the hospital on December 7th, and was at once assigned to duty as a clerk in the headquarters office where he remained until May, 1865, when he was mustered out of the service by reason of the termination of the war, having occupied all the various clerkships in the office; and the last few months, that of chief clerk. After mustering out, he took the position of chief clerk with Capt. T. C. McCall, A. Q. M., remaining until October, 1865, closing up the business in the quartermaster's department at New Madrid and Kansas City, Mo.

Returning home to Boonesborough, he entered the service of the American Express company, as messenger, and in August, 1866, as agent at Jefferson, Greene county, having formed a partnership at that place with Dr. W. S. McBride in the drug business.

In December was married to Mrs. Margaret Steele Lytle Birchard. In May, 1867, he removed to Missouri Valley, Harrison county, establishing a drug business. Closing out the business at both points in October, 1870, he removed to Marshalltown, continuing the partnership in the same business until the fall of 1872, and continued the business till spring of 1886, about two years of this time being in partnership with C. J. Lander. In 1883 he became a stockholder in the Marshall Canning company, and in 1891 acquired all the stock and has since continued the business. In 1886 he established a milling business in Norfolk, Neb., under the firm name of Birchard, Bridge & Co., which was continued until September, 1897. He has always been a republican. Has held the position of school director for several years at Boonesborough, Missouri Valley and Marshalltown, postmaster at Missouri Valley, member of city council at Marshalltown, member of board of commissioners of Iowa Soldiers' home, treasurer and president of same, and acting commandant.

BOUCHER, Dr. Francis Henry, of Marshalltown, inherits his taste and talent for his medical profession from his father, James Henry Boucher, A. M., M. D., who settled in Iowa City in 1859 and attained high rank in his profession. He was principal of the Polytechnic college in Philadelphia, and when the war broke out was made assistant surgeon of the Thirteenth Iowa infantry. He was promoted to the rank of brigade surgeon, acting as medical director of the army of the Mississippi, and later became medical director of the army of the Tennessee. He was also medical director of the Seventeenth Army corps under Gen. James B. McPherson, of which the famous Crocker's Iowa brigade formed a part. He was commissioned colonel, and appointed by General Grant, who knew him personally and well, to be medical director of the department of Georgia and South Carolina, being the only surgeon from Iowa who attained that rank. When the war closed he became professor of anatomy in the medical department of the State University of Iowa. His early ancestors were French Huguenots, who were driven into Germany, and finally emigrated to America in the eighteenth century. A great-grandfather served for a time in the New York legislature. On his mother's side the family history goes back to the time of the revolutionary war, members of her family taking part with Mad Anthony Wayne in the storming of Stony Point.

Francis H. Boucher was born in Binghamton, N. Y., November 14,1855. He attended the common schools in Iowa City, and was prepared for the university in McClain's academy. He entered the collegiate department of the Iowa State university, and later the medical department, where he attended lectures during the winter of 1874-75. He then spent two years in the Jefferson Medical college in Philadelphia and received from that college the degree of M. D. in 1877. For the better preparation for active practice, he took a special course in surgery, under Dr. J. Ewing Mears, and had special courses in obstetrics in the Philadelphia Lying-in institute, and in medicine in the wards of Blockley and Pennsylvania hospitals, two famous institutions. In 1893 he received post-graduate instruction in the Chicago polyclinic for post graduates. He began to practice when but 21 years of age in Clarksville, Iowa, and remained there three years, where he was local surgeon for the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern railway, examiner for several insurance companies, and was instrumental in establishing the local board of health, one of the first organized under the state law. He was appointed the first health officer. He is a charter member of the Butler County Medical society, and was at one time its secretary and president. He assisted in the formation of the Clarksville Library association, of which he was elected president. While located in Clarksville he became a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge, serving successively as its secretary and noble grand, and joined Marton Encampment No. 98. He was also here made a master Mason.

In 1880 he removed to Brooklyn, Iowa, where he married Miss S. Marian Judd, daughter of Rev. F. E. Judd, one of the pioneer clergymen of the Episcopal church in the state, and Isabella Page Judd, his wife. Mrs. Boucher is becoming prominent in newspaper circles as a special correspondent. She is a member of the Women's National Press association, and as a musician is noted for her execution of the works of the classical masters. By this union there have been born to Dr and Mrs. Boucher four sons: Forest Francis (deceased), Francis Emerson, Leonidas James, and James Henry.

After five years of successful practice in Brooklyn he removed to Marshalltown, where, for nearly fourteen years, he has been engaged in active practice. He gives particular attention to surgery, especially that branch pertaining to the ear, nose and throat, and has invented several useful surgical instruments. He has successfully performed many capital operations in abdominal, thoracic and cranial surgery, as well as the more common capital operations on the extremities. His surgical, electrical and microscopical office outfit, to which he is constantly adding modern instruments; is most complete for any general surgical emergency, and he has one of the largest medical libraries in central Iowa. He is medical examiner for more than twenty life insurance companies and secret orders; he is local surgeon for the Iowa Central Railway company, and is a member of a number of medical societies and associations, among others the American Medical association, and International Association of Railway Surgeons, Iowa State Medical society, before which he has read papers pertaining to his profession. He is also a contributor to the leading medical journals of the country. He is prominent socially as well as professionally, and his time, such as can be spared from the many duties of his profession, is given to the furtherance of the best interests of his home city, of which he is health officer.

BURKART, Charles J. A pioneer in newspapermen is Mr. Burkart. and for so many years was he connected with the Statesman, of Marshalltown, that to speak of the one is to allude to the other. Of his ancestors little can be said. His father and mother came to the United States from Switzerland in 1845, and lived a quiet and contented life without seeking to achieve any great financial success.

Charles J. Burkart was born in Galena, 111., December 22, 1852. His parents removed to Savanna, 111., in 1853, where he was given the advantages offered by the common schools. When 13 years of age the family went back to Galena, and Charles entered the schools there, where he remained for one year. In 1865 he learned the printer's trade in the Galena Gazette office, and he has followed the business of publishing and printing during all the years since that time. It will thus be seen that nearly all his education has been obtained by a series of years of practical experience in the world's greatest educational work-shop, and without aid from any person whomsoever.

In June, 1868, he went to Marshalltown, where he worked at his trade in the different offices of the city until 1876, when, in partnership with Mr. U. S. Mitchell, he founded the Statesman. Mr. Mitchell brought with him a small outfit of printing material, and with only a few hundred dollars of capital, and that borrowed, he began the difficult task of establishing a democratic paper in the then banner republican county of Iowa. Mr. Burkart says that in those days dollars were as scarce as democrats, and the last-named article no more numerous than hen's teeth. In 1876 Mr. Mitchell sold out his interest to Mr. Cook Sanford, and in October, 1879, the entire plant was disposed of to Byron Webster. In the spring of 1880, however, Mr. Burkart again became a half owner in the paper, and the firm of Webster & Burkart continued its publication until November, 1894, when Mr. Burkart became the sole owner. It will be seen that with the exception of four or five months Mr. Burkart had the business management of the paper from the time it was founded, and through his tireless efforts it became the official paper of the county with a large influence and circulation. In January, 1897, the Statesman was consolidated with the Daily Press, under the name of the Statesman-Press, making one of the strongest combinations in central Iowa. In January, 1898, after twenty-two years' connection with the Statesman, he disposed of his interests in the Statesman-Press and retired from the newspaper business, to devote his time to the Southwestern Mutual Life association, Marshallto wn, of which he has been the vice-president since its organization in 1882.

COTTLE, Cassius Clay, practicing physician in Marshalltown, was born in Glasgow, Iowa, July 22, 1865, and is the son of the late Dr. William Wallace Cottle, of Fairfield, who died in 1880. Dr. W. W. Cottle was born in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1817, and was of English ancestry. He was engaged in the practice of medicine until about 1868, after which he was engaged in business pursuits and was highly successful, chiefly in banking. He was married in February, 1861, to Miss Elizabeth Endersby, a native of Illinois, also of English descent. He was a member of the legislature in 1860-61, and was an influential and useful citizen.

At the age of 5 years Cassius C. Cottle began to attend school and ten years later was ready for the preparatory course of Parsons college in Fairfield, where he entered as freshman in the year 1882. He remained there until the beginning of the senior year, when he went to the Commercial college in Iowa City for six months. He then entered Rush Medical college in Chicago in the winter of 1885, and was graduated in February, 1889. For a year he was supervisor of the Cook County infirmary He was a charter member of the Orio Literary society of Parsons college.

In his boyhood Dr. Cottle had a liking for mechanics and was fond of working with tools. During vacations he worked at gun-smithing, carpentering and at one time was employed on the survey of the C., K. & N. railroad in Kansas.

He was a charter member of Chapter No. 5 of the Agassiz society of natural history and has been a member ever since. He regards its influence as an important one in directing him to a professional career.

Dr. Cottle located in Marshalltown August 3, 1889, and has been in the successful practice of his profession in that city continuously since that time. He is a member of the American Medical society, Iowa State Medical society, the Austin Flint Medical association and the Central Iowa Medical association. Of the latter he was secretary three years. The doctor has also been interested in real estate in Marshalltown and assisted in laying out an addition and building twenty-eight houses thereon. He cast his first vote for the republican ticket and has remained a straight republican ever since.

He was married February 19, 1891, to Hattie May Church, of Marshalltown. They have had three children, Margaret E., born November 22, 1892, died December 9, 1892; Katharine E., born May 4, 1894, and William W., born January 23, 1898.

DENMEAD, David Thatcher, a quiet man of business, thoroughly conversant with banking, a shrewd financier whose methods are always confined to legitimate channels, and a citizen in whom the utmost confidence is imposed by the people of Marshalltown, is the one to whose life this sketch cannot do full justice. David Thatcher Denmead, son of Thomas and Caroline Denmead, was born in Baltimore, Md., December 4, 1849; from which city his parents removed during his childhood. Alter a short residence in Martinsburg, Alexandria and Wheeling, Va., they settled in Steubenville, Ohio, where Mr. Denmead passed the greater part of his early life, attending the public schools. He was then sent to Gambier, Ohio, to complete his education, but preferring a different course of study, finished his school work at the Ohio Military academy near Cincinnati.

After leaving school he was employed as clerk in the office of the Pittsburg, Chicago & St Louis Railroad company. He afterwards engaged in general merchandising and coal mining in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and in those ventures was highly successful.

He came to Iowa in April, 1876, and located at Marshalltown, engaging in the lumber and coal business. Later, he became interested in the wholesale grocery firm of Letts, Fletcher & Company, a concern which did an immense business in the western and middle section of the state. In January, 1886, he sold his interest in the company and purchased a large block of stock in the City bank, which has since become the City National bank. Mr. Denmead is now president of the institution. It is one of the sound financial concerns of central Iowa, with a paid up capital of $100,000. He married Miss Gertrude Alice Williams, only daughter of the late Hon. James L. Williams, April 30, 1879. They have three children named James L., Harry K. and Dwight H.

GETZ, Hiram Landis, of Marshalltown, ranks among the foremost physicians and surgeons of the state, and has also been prominent in political and educational circles; commissioned by President Cleveland, July, 1894, for a term of four years as postmaster at Marshalltown; was for a number of years a member and twice elected president of the Marshalltown school board; elected president of the department of school administration, National Educational association, 1896. He is of German and Swiss descent, although his ancestors have lived in America many generations. His father, Levi Gross Getz, was a farmer and fancy stock breeder, noted for his integrity and thrift He died in February, 1896, in Lancaster county, Pa., aged 68 years, having spent the most of his life on the farm which had been owned by the family since 1804. John Getz, the doctor's grandfather, was an extensive land owner, and was also engaged as a school teacher. His wife, Magdalena Gross, was of German descent. Jacob Getz, Sr., the doctor's great-great-grandfather, emigrated from Pfalz, Germany, during the eighteenth century, and settled in eastern Pennsylvania. Maria Long Landis, Dr. Getz's mother, was a resident of Manheim township, Lancaster county, Pa., and is a descendant of Rev. Benjamin Landis, who came to America in 1717, from the vicinity of Manheim, on the Rhine, where his ancestors had been driven from Zurich, Switzerland, about 1660, on account of their religious belief, Hans Landis having been there beheaded in September, 1616. Their denomination was that of Pietus or Mennonites. The Landis family is a very old one, their name having been known to the French and Germans many centuries ago. A large number of their descendants still live in Lancaster county, Pa., and twenty-seven representatives of them were in the civil war.

Dr. H. L. Getz was born November 14, 1850, in East Hempfield township, Lancaster county, Pa. He obtained his early education at the district school and the high school at Manheim, Pa. He also received private instruction in Latin and German. He has been a student all his life. In 1885 he graduated from the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific circle, and in 1890 received the honorary degree of A. M. from Iowa college. He began the study of medicine in 1871, with Dr. John M. Dunlap, of Manheim, Pa., attended four terms at the Jefferson Medical college in Philadelphia, graduating March 11, 1874, with special honors in anatomy, being also secretary of the graduating class. He also attended lectures and clinics at Will's Ophthalmic, Allen's Obstetrical and other hospitals in Philadelphia; was connected with some of the city's free dispensaries, and was an assistant and student under Dr. R. J. Levis, a noted surgeon. He came to Marshalltown, March 20, 1874, opened an office April 1st, and has been in active practice ever since.

In addition to his regular professional work the doctor has served as medical examiner and surgeon for numerous life and accident companies, and medical director for the Northern Life association, of Marshalltown, Iowa was for many years the city health officer of Marshalltown, and was the first regularly appointed county physician for Marshall county. He is the present chief surgeon for the Iowa Central Railway company, district surgeon for the Chicago North-Western Railway company at Marshalltown, local surgeon for the Chicago Great Western Railway company, and surgeon for the Marshall Light, Power and Railway company. He was elected professor of physiology at the Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1882, but declined the offer owing to property and other interests at Marshalltown. In 1884 he was elected professor of obstetrics, surgical diseases of women and diseases of children in the Iowa College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Des Moines, where he served until 1887, when he resigned in order to give more time to professional duties at home. In 1894 he was elected professor of anatomy and clinical diseases of women in the St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons, but did not accept, owing to his receiving the appointment as postmaster, there having been thirteen candidates for the position. He was appointed assistant surgeon of the Iowa National Guard, and commissioned captain June 12, 1887, by Governor Larrabee; commissioned lieutenant-colonel, as a member of his staff, June 14, 1890, by Governor Boies; commissioned past assistant surgeon-general August 19,1889, rank of colonel of the U. R. K. of P. of Iowa. He has been especially skillful and successful as a surgeon, performing most of the major and special operations known to 6urgery. He has devised an improved combined trocar canula and aspirating needle; a new uterine repositor; an antiseptic surgical cabinet; Getz's bicycle ambulance and hand stretcher, and has designed Getz's physicians' and surgeons' labor saving day book and ledger and Getz's daily conduct record and ledger for penal institutions, which is now used by the state Industrial schools. He has been a frequent contributor to many of the principal medical and surgical journals of the United States, among them the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Medical and Surgical Reporter, the Medical Record and the Iowa State Medical Reporter, etc., etc. Some of these contributions were translated and published in foreign journals, and he had often read original papers at the state, national and international meetings of the surgical and medical fraternity.

In politics the doctor is independent, having voted with the republican party until 1884, when he identified himself with the democrats. In the presidential campaign of 1896 he was in sympathy with the national democracy. He was appointed a member of the board of trustees of the Iowa industrial schools in 1886 by Governor Larrabee, to fill a vacancy, and in 1887 the legislature elected him for a full term of six years. During Cleveland's first and second administrations he served as a member and president of the board of pension examiners. Under his management of the Marshalltown post-office many reforms and improvements were brought about in the office, and it was very generally conceded that the service was the best in the history of the city. The doctor was appointed to fill a vacancy as a member of the board of education of Marshalltown in 1889, and in 1890 was elected for a term of three years, re-elected in 1893 to a third term. In 1896 he was unanimously chosen president of the board and re-elected president in 1897. He was a delegate to the department of school administration at the National Educational association (Buffalo, N. Y.) in 1896, and was there elected the first president of this department. Dr. Getz is a member of the leading medical and surgical societies of the state and nation; was second vice-president of the State Medical association in 1882, and first vice-president in 1897; and the founder and first president of the Iowa Central (State) Medical association. He was elected vice-president of the International Association of Railway Surgeons in 1897, and a member of the executive board in 1898; October 14, 1898, he was elected president of the Iowa State Association of Railway Surgeons, at Clinton. He is a member of the following civic societies: Knights Templars. Mystic Shriners, Knights of Pythias, Uniformed Rank, K. P., Odd Fellows, Elks, Princes of Iran, Knights of Khorasan, and was a charter member of the wood-men's camp organized in Marshalltown. He joined the German Reformed church at Philadelphia, but upon removal to Marshalltown was admitted to the Presbyterian. His views becoming too liberal to be in keeping with the church creed he requested that a withdrawal letter be granted and that his membership be canceled.

Dr. Getz was married May 27, 1874, to Miss Mary E. Worley, daughter of Nathan and Susan Worley. Her paternal grand-mother was the first white female child born where the city of Cincinnati now stands. Dr. and Mrs. Getz have two children, N. Worley, born May 12, 1875, graduated from the Marshalltown high school, was a student for three years at Iowa college, general delivery clerk in the Marshalltown post office for one year, after which he attended lectures at Jefferson Medical college, Philadelphia, for one year, and in 1897-1898 was a student in the medical department of the University of Berlin, Germany; Igerna M., who was born July 13, 1878, graduated from the Marshalltown high school, later a student at Miss Baldwin's Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and in 1897-1898 was a student of languages in Europe.

HAMMOND, Hiram, of Le Grand, Marshall county, has lived in Iowa forty-five years, during most of which time he has been engaged in the milling business. He was born near Smithfield, Jefferson county, Ohio, February 20, 1832, and came to Iowa in the spring of 1854. His father, Benjamin Hammond, was a farmer, and so were his ancestors. His mother was Margaret Naylor Hammond. They were plain people, content with the good living which the Ohio farm afforded them, and they remained upon it from 1808 until 1864. Benjamin Hammond never held an office or sought prominence in any way.

Hiram had the experience common to the farmer boys of that time, working on the farm during the summer and attending the district school in the winter time. For eleven months, during the years 1851 and 1852, he attended a seminary in Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, where he acquired the rudiments of higher mathematics-philosophy, chemistry, etc. He taught two terms district school in Ohio and one in Iowa. After living in Marshall county in the spring of 1854 with but little means, he managed . get hold of a piece of land, making plow and five yoke of cattle. He entered at once the work of subduing the virgin soil of his adopted state, and his success has been continuous from that time, though his business training was altogether that of the practical man looking after his own affairs. He had no apprenticeship. In 1863 he sold the farm and bought a half interest in the Le Grand floor mills, where he has continued to manufacture a high grade of the "staff of life" for a large trade. Mr. Hammond's partner for two years was Isocher Scholfield, who sold his interest to his brother, Thomas Scholfield, and he afterwards sold his interest to W. G. Benedict. At this time extensive repairs were made on the mill; two farms contiguous thereto were purchased, and cattle and hogs raised and fed on a large scale, with good results. An unfortunate investment in Montana mining property resulted disastrously to the firm, and the land was sold to pay up the losses. In 1887 Mr. Hammond purchased Mr. Benedict's interest and sold it to his son, L. A. Hammond, and the father and son are now carrying on the business. Although he has held no office higher than that of county supervisor, Mr. Hammond began to vote the republican ticket when John C. Fremont was the nominee for president in 1856, and has steadfastly clung to the republican party since that time. He served on the school board when the present comfortable, graded school building was erected in Le Grand. He is a stockholder in the Friends' Academy Building association, and has been one of the board of managers of this school, which was established in 1872, up to the present time. He is a stockholder in Penn college, in Oskaloosa, and was for some eight or ten years a director. He gave all of his children a full course in the academy, and three of them graduated from Penn college.

He belongs to the Friends' church and lives up to the teachings of that sturdy faith. Mr. Hammond was married in 1856 to Anna Foglesong, of Ohio. Two sons and four daughters came to this union, all of whom are living; five of them married, with families. The elder son, Lewis A., born July 16, 1859, is associated with his father in business. The younger son, Charles L., born March 31, 1867, is pastor of the Congregational church in Gilman, Iowa. The oldest daughter, Margaret, born August 24, 1857, married H. H. Salisbury, a machinist, and is pleasantly located in Pasadena, Cal.; the second daughter, M. Elisabeth, born April 23, 1861, married the Rev. R. H. Hartley, pastor of the Presbyterian church in La Porte, Ind.; the third daughter, Adaline, born February 12, 1863, married S. M. Hadley, professor of mathematics in Penn college, in Oskaloosa; the youngest daughter, Nettie, born June 5, 1865, is unmarried and lives at home with her parents.

HIBBEN, Edwin Hayden, of Marshalltown, is secretary and manager of the Northern Life association, and to his energy and push, combined with business sagacity and rare executive ability, is due most of the success of this well established and thriving insurance company. Colonel Hibben is the grandson of Thomas Hibben, who, for more than forty years carried on a paying business as a retail dry goods merchant at Wilmington, Ohio.

The colonel's father, George Hibben. born at Wilmington, Ohio, in 1818, was also a successful merchant. He moved to Rushville, Ind., In 1837, where he became prominent in many business connections. He was one of the organizers of the East Hill Cemetery association, was elected county clerk, and was president of the branch of the State Bank of Indiana. He removed to Chicago in 1863, and there became a wholesale merchant. He was married April 21, 1842, to Jane Fielding, who was born at Franklin Ohio, October 4, 1821. She was a daughter of William Fielding, who was born in Pennsylvania, May 1, 1796 and who was a direct descendant of Sir Henry Fielding, at one time lord mayor of London. William Fielding served in the war of 1812 and afterwards studied medicine at a school in Cynthiana, Ky., from which he graduated and then practiced extensively in the counties of Logan. Champaign and Miami, in Ohio. He was married to Elizabeth Vail in 1818, at Franklin, Ohio, and settled at Sidney, Ohio, in 1824. Here be organized the First Presbyterian church and Sunday school in Shelby county, and was afterward elected five times to the state legislature, twice as a senator. He was grand master and state lecturer of Masonry, and for forty consecutive years was the presiding officer in the lodge to which he belonged.

Col. E. H. Hibben was born May 14, 1848, at Rushville, Ind. His mother died when he was only 9 years old, and he then went to live with her parents at Sidney, Ohio. Here he received his early schooling, and was given his first lessons in business by clerking in a drug store mornings, evenings and Saturdays. So apt was he in business that at the age of 17 he began life for himself in the wholesale tea, tobacco and cigar trade in Chicago, and for six years conducted the business with success, but in 1871 lost all he had in the great fire. He came to Marshalltown in 1875, and opened a loan and insurance office. In 1882 he organized the Northern Life association, and under his skillful management it has grown from a small enterprise to be one of the prominent insurance companies of Iowa.

Colonel Hibben is a very enthusiastic worker in civic organizations, and holds membership in nearly every order that has ever been organized. He was twice elected grand chancellor and once supreme representative of the Knights of Pythias, and he organized the first division of the uniformed rank in Iowa, as well as the first section of the endowment rank. He was the first man in Iowa to be commissioned as an instructor in the secret work, and for thirteen consecutive years he has held the commission. of aid-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, on the staff of Maj. James R. Carnahan. His original commission, dated May 1, 1884, is the first ever issued to an Iowa Knight. He is a life member of Hesperia Lodge No. 411, A. F. and A. M., of Chicago, of the consistory of Lyons, Iowa, and of the Mystic Shrine. He served as deputy grand master of the grand lodge of Iowa, I. O. O. F., and is now grand master. He organized R. Howe Taylor Canton No. 26, at Marshalltown. He is sovereign emir of the world of the Princes of Iran, a member of the Benevolent Elks, Red Men and Royal Arcanum.

LETTS, Frank Crawford, president of the Letts, Fletcher company, wholesale grocers of Marshalltown, is well known all over the state for his conspicuous success in life. He was born in Magnolia, 111., April 28, 1858. He was the son of N. H. Letts and Herma Cowen Letts, natives of Ohio, who went to Illinois in their childhood. The Letts family settled near La Salle and the Cowen family in Putnam county, near Magnolia. The Letts family were farmers and owned, and still own, large tracts of land in Illinois. The Cowen family has been quite Prominent in the history of Illinois. The Dents and Hamiltons were of her family. Ex-Governor Hamilton was a first cousin of Mrs. Letts. The latter was born in 1825 and Mr. Letts in 1828. They are both living in Yates Center, Kan.

When Frank C. was 5 years old the family moved to Louisa county and settled near the town of Letts, which was named for a brother of N. H. Letts. Frank C. attended the country school until he was 13, when the farm was sold, and the family went to Afton and bought and conducted a hotel for several years. At this time Frank went to Wenona, 111., and spent some time with his grandparents, attending high school. He afterwards attended public school in Afton, and took a business course at A. D. Wilt's Business college in Dayton, Ohio. He had his first business experience working for P. Allen mornings and evenings, before and after school, in his general merchandise store in Afton, but his business instincts were better illustrated by an incident which occurred on the farm.

When he was about 7 years old, several little pigs were left motherless, and his father told him if he could raise them he might have half the proceeds. He was successful, and when the pigs grew up and were sold he realized about 935. This he reinvested, and before leaving the farm, at the age of 13 years, he had about $300. After leaving Afton, at the age of 17 years, young Letts went to Chicago and accepted a position in the wholesale dry goods house of A. T. Stewart &. Co. He worked hard and within a year had been rapidly promoted. Before he was 19 years old he attracted the attention of A. C. Jordan, of the firm of W. A Jordan & Company, of Ottumwa, a customer of the house, who asked him how he would like to go into business for himself in Iowa, and offered to furnish the capital. This seemed a very promising opportunity, and Mr. Letts advised with Jas. H. Walker, then the manager of the house, later himself the head of the great dry goods house of J. H. Walker & Company. The firm disliked to lose Mr. Letts, but said that it looked like a good opportunity. Mr. Jordan selected Marshalltown as the place to begin; furnished about $30,000 capital, and left Mr. Letts entirely in charge of the business. The business was very successful. About six months later W. I. Bates Company, one of the largest concerns in the town, failed and Mr. Jordan bought the stock from the mortgagee and consolidated the business. That was in the fall and winter of 1877 and 1878, and there being fewer railroads and small towns around Marshalltown than now, the country trade was immense, the retail sales some-times amounting to tl,200 on Saturdays. The profits were better than they are now, and inside of a year the young partner had quite a sum to his credit. Mr. Letts speaks very highly of Mr. Jordan, who started him in business. Later he and Mr. Walker, both Mr. Letts' early friends when he was a poor boy, met with reverses and lost their property.

In the summer of 1879 Mr. Letts sold his interest in the dry goods business to Mr. Jordan and joined the Hon. Delano T. Smith in the breeding of Shorthorn cattle. In a year he had the business thoroughly mastered, and owned it all. He visited all the sales and bought cattle of good family and individual merit, and took them home and fed them up so they presented a better appearance and brought higher prices. He was highly successful in the Shorthorn business. Later he was interested in the Ketchum Wagon company, and was its secretary. In 1883 he closed out all his other interests and went into the wholesale grocery business in Marshalltown. The firm was Lacy, Letts & Gray, but Mr. Lacy and Mr. Gray concluded there was too much hard work and too little profit in the business and they withdrew, selling to Mr. T. J. Fletcher and Mr. D. T. Denmead, bankers of Marshalltown. The firm was changed to Letts, Fletcher & Company. In 1886 a stock company was formed and Mr. Letts was elected president and treasurer, which offices he now holds. Mr. Denmead and Mr. Fletcher have since retired. The officers of the company, besides Mr. Letts, are H. L. Spencer, Oskaloosa, vice-president; A. P. Spencer, Oskaloossa, secretary; and the directors are the three officers named, and H. E. Sloan and W. S Robbins. In 1894 the firm started another house in Mason City and incorporated the Letts, Spencer, Smith company, of which Mr. Letts is president. In May, 1898, they bought one of the oldest wholesale grocery establishments on the Missouri river, the Turner-Frazer Mercantile company, of St. Joseph, and formed a stock company called the Letts, Spencer Grocery company, with 200,000 paid-up capital. Mr. Letts is president of that company For several years he was secretary of the lowa-Nebraska Wholesale Grocers' association, and resigned the position during 1898 because of lack of time. He is a director in the City National bank, of Marshalltown.

Mr. Letts has borne a prominent and influential part in the politics of the state and has always been an enthusiastic republican. His activity in politics has been directed towards helping others, and he has never been a candidate for any office, although in 1895 he was widely mentioned for the republican nomination for governor. He served on the military staff of Governor Jackson, Governor Drake and Governor Shaw, In the year when Robert G. Cousins was first nominated for congress, and during Mr. Letts' absence from home, some of his friends started a movement to secure him the congressional nomination. When he reached home he put a stop to this and called attention to Mr. Cousins, for whose nomination he put forth his best efforts. He has always been an ardent supporter of Mr. Cousins, and is proud to say that he always will be.

Mr. Letts is a Knight Templar and Shriner, but has been too busy to .hold office in either organization. He is not a member of any church, but usually attends services at the Presbyterian church. Mr. Letts was married April 28, 1879, to Mary J. Smith, daughter of Hon. Delano T. Smith, in Marshalltown. She died in August, 1892. To this marriage were born two children: Fred C., born November 27, 1884, and Herma Leoni, born April 14, 1888. Mr. Letts was again married November 11, 1897, in Washington, D. C., to Miss Cora Perkins, daughter of the late United States Senator Perkins, of Kansas.

Few men in business have found the time to make as large an acquaintance and accumulate as many friends in all parts of Iowa, and particularly among the young men. He was for several years treasurer of the republican state league, and should he ever appear in the political arena as a candidate, would have a great many active supporters in every part of the state.

PACKARD, Stephen Bennett, now living in quiet upon his large farm near Marshalltown, has had a notable career, and his name is connected with the history of some of the most troublous times the United States has ever seen.

He is the best known for his connection with the reconstruction days in Louisiana, where he was elected governor in 1876, and afterwards abdicated as a pan of the settlement of the presidential dead-lock, out of which Hayes was made president. Governor Packard was born in Auburn, Me., April 26, 1839. His parents were Stephen Packard and Roxanna Briggs Packard. Stephen Packard was a son of Nehemlah Packard, who was born in Massachusetts in 1762, and Betsey Packard, born in 1764. Nehemiah Packard, grandfather of S. B., was a son of Samuel Packard, and his wife, a sister of Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, of revolutionary fame. Nehemiah entered the army at the age of 14 years and served as a drummer boy and as drum major with his uncle, Benjamin Lincoln, until the end of the war. The Packard family came from Ipswich, England, in 1638, and settled in Bridgewater, Mass. Samuel Packard was the first of the family in this country. They afterwards moved to Maine, where they attained prominence. The governor's father was born in North Auburn, Me, September 12, 1793. and died there December 26, 1870. He was a mill owner and held several local offices. He served in the militia in the war of 1812. His wife, Roxanna Briggs, came from a wealthy and influential family and had brothers and sisters residing in Auburn. Stephen Packard was a direct descendant of the original Samuel Packard, who came from Ipswich, England in 1638.

Young Stephen went to the village school until he was 16 years of age, when he took a course in the Westbrook seminary, and at the age of 20 began the study of law with Hon. C. W. Walton, afterwards one of the justices of the supreme court of Maine. He was president of the Philomathian Adelphl society of the seminary during all the time he was a student there. He taught two terms of school in 1860, previous to beginning the study of law. He left the law office October 15, 1861, and joined the Twelfth Maine regiment of infantry as first lieutenant of Company G. He was promoted to be captain of Company B, and served until the regiment was mustered out in December, 1864. The regiment was assigned to Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's division, which participated in the Louisiana campaign, and in the capture of New Orleans and Port Hudson. In 1864 Captain Packard served as judge advocate in New Orleans under General Reynolds. In July, 1864, the regiment joined Sheridan's army, being a part of the Nineteenth army corps, and served with it until It was discharged. Captain Packard's company was the color company of the regiment during this campaign, and when it was mustered out he was designated to convey the regimental colors to Augusta, Me., and deposit them with the governor of the state, which duty he proudly performed.

While in New Orleans Captain Packard met Miss Emma Frances Steele, a daughter of Captain Peter Steele, an old and respected resident of New Orleans, and they were married in December, 1863, in New Orleans. After he was discharged from military service, Captain Packard went to New Orleans and began the practice of law. In 1867 he was elected delegate to the state constitutional convention, and was made chairman of the board of registration, consisting of seven men, who were charged with the duties of administering the civil affairs of the state from the adjournment in April, 1868, until the inauguration of the new state government in July, 1868 He was appointed register of conveyances for the city of New Orleans and served until April, 1869, when he was appointed United States marshal for the district of Louisiana. At this time Governor Packard was in the height of his power in the state and was recognized as the controlling force in the politics of Louisiana. He was the personal representative of President Grant. As a delegate to the republican national convention in 1876 he voted for the nomination of Blaine only after it did not seem possible to secure a third nomination for President Grant. He was reappointed by President Grant, and in November, 1876, was elected governor of the state. He had made an active and aggressive campaign in the state and was never intimidated or insulted by the southerners, Yankee though he was. He went into the worst districts in the state, where it was supposed that a northern man or republican was hardly safe at all, and yet he was so feared and respected that he was entirely safe. He was Inaugurated governor in January, 1877, but in the manipulation of the eleotoral returns and in the settlement of the famous Hayes-Tilden presidential contest, he was compelled to abdicate, which he did April 25, 1877. A committee appointed by the Hayes administration obtained a quorum of members in the so-called Nicholas legislature by breaking a quorum in the state house legislature, which supported Governor Packard. It was part of the arrangement by which Hayes became president. Governor Packard was appointed United States consul at Liverpool in July, 1878, and served until July, 1885.

Returning from England, be sought a more quiet life and purchased his now famous Strathmore stock farm near Marshalltown, where he now resides with his family. Since living in Iowa he has served as a member of the Iowa Columbian commission, which had charge of the Iowa exhibit at the World's fair, and on the Iowa commission at the Trans-Mississippi exposition at Omaha. He is a charter member of the Iowa commandry of the military order of the Loyal Legion, and is a member of the Iowa Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Governor and Mrs. Packard have six children living, three sons and three daughters, viz.: Ada, born September 4, 1867; Blanche, born January 21, 1869; Stephen Bennett, Jr., born September 19, 1871; Walter Steele, born November 31, 1875; Sidney Steele, born August 7, 1877; Ella, born February 6, 1879.

PIERCE, Franklin Gilman, mayor of the city of Marshalltown, is a young man of wide resources, both native and acquired. He comes of good Puritan ancestry, being a descendant of John Pearce, who settled in Rhode Island in 1632. Another ancestor, John Pierce, served in the revolutionary war. Mr. Pierce's father, William Pierce, a carpenter and builder, of moderate circumstances, was born in 1621, at North Kingston, R. I. He was married in 1865 to Martha Jane Moore, who was born in 1849, at Columbus, Ohio, and whose ancestors, the Moore and Wilson families, are among the oldest in Virginia.

F. G. Pierce is a native of Iowa, having been born at Earlville, in Delaware county, December 7, 1868. When he was three years old he removed with his parents to Marshalltown, where he has lived most of the time since. He began his education in the schools of that city, and graduated from the high school in June, 1886. He entered the State university in 1888, graduating in June, 1892, with the degree of Ph. B. While attending the university he was a member of the Phi Delta the fraternity, and took an active interest in athletics, serving as manager in 1890 and captain in 1891 of the university football eleven. He was also prominent in literary work, being elected editor-in-chief of the Junior Annual, published by his class. After his graduation he was engaged, in the insurance business at Marshalltown for several years, but in 1895 abandoned this for the more congenial vocation of journalism. He first published the Marshall County Register, but in 1896 consolidated with the Daily Press, in which he still owns an interest.

Politically, Mr. Pierce has always been a republican. In 1895 he was elected mayor of Marshalltown on a non-partisan ticket Representing the wishes of the people who desired a reform looking toward greater economy in the city's expenses, he was supported largely by laboring men and elected with a good majority. During his first year in office he had an unfriendly council to contend with, but in 1896 new men were elected who were more in sympathy with him, and he was able to carry out the wishes of his supporters. So well did he accomplish this that he was re-elected in 1897 and again in 1899, and is still serving the interests of the taxpayer. In municipal affairs he has always been in favor of municipal ownership of public franchises and has written a number of articles for different papers dealing with this aspect of city affairs. He was vice-president for Iowa of the League of American Municipalities in 1898. Mr. Pierce is a member of the Masonic Order, Knights of Pythias, I. 0. 0. F., Benevolent Elks, Red Men, Modern Woodmen of America, Maccabees, Ben Hur and Court of Honor. He is also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, and belongs to the Congregational church. He was married June 30, 1897, to Miss Nellie M. Loree, of Marshalltown.

TITTEMORE, James Nelson, of Marshalltown, was born on a farm near Eureka, Winnebago county, Wis., March 2, 1864. His father, Nelson Tittemore, was a machinist and millwright, and was born in the state of New York. He came of English, Dutch and Holland ancestors, who settled early in the New England states and were mostly farmers. His mother, Margaret Crowley, was born of Irish parentage. When a child her parents settled near Oshkosh, Wis., where she lived about forty years. The father died in 1882. Mr. Tittemore is unmarried. His mother and two sisters live with him. He has also two sisters married and one brother dead. They have a lovely, hospitable home and are the social center of a large circle of friends. Mr. Tittemore seems to live to brighten the lives and gratify the tastes of his sisters and mother, without a thought of self.

His business career has been successful, with promotions following each other in quick succession. His first dollar was earned as telegraph operator at the age of 16. He has been promoted from one to another of the following positions: Telegraph operator and station agent on the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western railway in Wisconsin; traveling auditor, Chicago & Northwestern railway; traveling passenger agent, Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western railway; station agent, Soo Line; chief clerk general freight department, Soo Line; traveling freight agent, Great Northern railway; general freight agent, Sioux City & Northern railway and Pacific short lines; assistant to president of the last named companies; general freight and passenger agent, Des Moines Northern & Western railway, and general freight agent, Iowa Central Railway company; acting general manager of the Iowa Central railway.

Mr. Tittemore aspires to farm life and hopes someday to take a position in this line of work. He is fond of live stock and proud of his farmer ancestry. His father served through the civil war as a private. He was in Andersonville prison several months and was mustered out of service in the summer of 1864. He is a republican and a member of the Catholic church. He is one of Iowa's promising young men, finely educated and polished in manner and speech, although his education in the schoolroom covered only about five years. By personal application and study he stands equal to any who have had the opportunities of the magnificent schools of our commonwealth.

TURNER, George A., of Marshalltown, represented his county in the state senate in the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth General Assemblies. He is now a resident of the city of Marshalltown, where he is engaged in the real estate and loan business, but for many years he was a successful and progressive fanner. While in the senate he was chairman of the important committee on insurance.

Senator Turner was born in Canton, 111., March 28, 1843, and his parents were of Yankee ancestors, coming from Vermont and New York. His father, Samuel Turner, was a farmer in moderate circum-stances, and was one of the pioneers of Illinois. His wife was Miss Sallie Brookins, a native of New York. Their son was educated in the public schools, including the graded school of Canton.

Mr. Turner came to Marshall county April 2,1867, and settled on a piece of new land in the north-western part of the county. He owns the same farm now, and his success may be imagined from the fact that it has grown to a fine estate of 1,100 acres, near Bromley. Mr. Turner has been successful in business since boyhood, when he was taught the essential principles of business. He earned his first dollar in Canton, raising onions. He has been for fifteen years a director in the Marshalltown State bank, and is largely interested in public enterprises in Marshalltown. He has always been a republican, and for nine years was a member of the board of supervisors of Marshall county. During this time the magnificent new court house and jail were built, and he says he is more proud of his part in this than anything else of a public nature that he has done. He is at present a member of the school board of Marshalltown.

He is a Mason and Knight Templar, and a member of the Christian church and of the Grand Army of the Republic. He enlisted three times as a volunteer during the civil war; first for three months, but never saw very active service. He was first lieutenant and quartermaster of the Fifty-first Illinois infantry. Mr. Turner was married September 15, 1870, to Miss Maggie Garber, of Marshall county. They have two children, Ella F., born 1876, and Frank E., born 1883. Mrs. Turner died October 12, 1898.

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