John Edmund O'Brien
L- John E. and Decorah (Grattan) O'Brien & son
R- Henry G. and John G. O'Brien
John Edmund O'Brien, controlling an important and
representative business as a dealer in real estate in Waukon, was
born in Oneida county, New York, in 1860,and was one of nine
children born to Michael Smith O'Brien and Henrietta Alice
Jenkins, who emigrated from Ireland in the early '50s and were
married in Oneida county. They afterwards came to Iowa, settling
in Ludlow township, Allamakee county, where the father still
resides upon his farm.
John Edmund O'Brien was ten years of age when his parents came to
Iowa. He worked on farms in this vicinity for several years and
then engaged in carpenter work in various parts of the state,
being employed in the construction of the buildings on the
Illinois Central Railway between Onawa and Sioux Falls.
Afterwards he spent two years working at his trade in Birmingham,
Alabama, and Jackson, Mississippi, going from the latter city to
Chicago, Illinois, where he assisted in the erection of the
exhibition buildings at the World's Columbian Exposition and
served for six months in the Columbian Guards. In the winter of
1893 he went to California and put up the Canadian exhibits at
the Midwinter Exposition in San Francisco. Returning to Iowa, he
established himself in the building business at Waukon and his
ability becoming widely recognized, he soon secured a large and
representative patronage.
Mr. O'Brien served in Company I, the Waukon company, Iowa
National Guards, under Captain Gibbs, Nichols and Stewart. In
1898, a few days after the declaration of war with Spain, he went
to Pensacola, Florida, and with Paul D. May, enlisted in the
United States Navy for one year as carpenter's mate, first class.
He served on the United States ships Tacoma, Lancaster and
Cassius, under commanders Sutherland, Very-Perry, and Lieutenant
Waters of Commodore Remy's fleet. At his own request and through
Senator Allison's influence he received his honorable discharge
at Norfolk, Virginia, at the close of the Spanish-American war.
Returning home he studied law first at the Iowa State University
and then at Drake University at Des Moines and was admitted to
practice before the state and federal courts in 1900. In the
following year however he turned his attention to the real-estate
business and in this he has since continued, his patronage in
Waukon being today profitable and important. He is known as an
expert judge of land values and his opinion has come to be
regarded as an authority on matters of this character. He is
resourceful, far-sighted, capable and energetic and his sagacity
is far-reaching and his integrity beyond question.
At Medord, Oklahoma, March 19, 1903, Mr. O'Brien was united in
marriage to Miss Decorah Grattan, a daughter of Henry G. Grattan,
a pioneer in Allamakee county and for many years one of the most
prominent citizens in this part of Iowa. He was born at New
Haven, Oswego county, New York, June 28, 1826, and was of English
descent, a son of Amos and Abigail (Guyant) Grattan. The former,
a blacksmith by trade, was born in Berkshire county,
Massachusetts in 1797 and died in Ludlow township, Allamakee
county, Iowa, June 2, 1889. In 1835 he took up a claim and built
the first log cabin where Kenosha, Wisconsin, now stands. He was
for fifty years a member of the Baptist church and voted with the
first organization of the old abolitionist party. He fought in
the War of 1812. His wife, who was in her maidenhood Abigail
Guyant, was born September 8, 1794, in Caterbury, Connecticut,
and died in Ludlow township, Allamakee county in 1886. She was
for a time the only white woman in Kenosha, Wisconsin. One child
was born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Amos Grattan-Henry Guyant.
Henry Guyant Grattan was for many years well known in
agricultural and journalistic circles of the middle west and as a
leader in many public movements of a progressive and constructive
character. He founded and published the Janesville (Wis.) Gazette,
the Mt. Carroll (Ill.) Mirror and the Sterling (Ill.) Gazette.
He also did considerable literary work after coming to Iowa, but
in this state was chiefly interested in scientific agriculture,
in the promotion of which he was one of the greatest individual
forces of his time. He was a member of the board of trustees of
Iowa Agricultural College and took a great interest in the work
of that institution, organizing several new departments, among
which may be mentioned that of domestic science. His own farm in
Ludlow township was a practical exemplification of his theories
and was one of the best equipped and most scientifically managed
in the township.
Henry Grattan was married three times, first to Jane Trask who
died in 1849, then to Phoebe Jane Tisdel, who died in 1865, and
to Rosanna Russell who survives him. She was born in Shefford,
Canada, and is of French and English parentage, the daughter of
Francis and Susannah (Griggs) Bryant. Previous to her first
marriage which united her with Franklin Russell who was killed in
the Civil war, Mrs. Grattan engaged in teaching. She was married
to Henry Grattan on the 9th of December, 1865. Henry Grattan's
children are as follows: Marvin Trask, born in Janesville,
Wisconsin, in 1848; Jane, who was born in Freeport, Illinois, in
1851; Orlando Tisdel, born in Mt. Carroll, Illinois, in 1855;
Bertha, born in Ludlow township, in 1868; John ,born in Ludlow
township, in 1869; and Decorah, the wife of the subject of this
review. The last named was born at Waukon, Iowa, December 20,
1871, and acquired her education in the public schools of the
city, in the South Dakota Agricultural College and at Drexel
Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a teacher of
Domestic Science for several years at Toronto, Canada, in St.
Thomas Alma College and at Buffalo, New York. Mr and Mrs John E.
O'Brien have two children: Henry Grattan, born April 2, 1904;and
John Gordon, born January 23, 1908.
Mr. O'Brien is today one of the well known business men of
Waukon, for he possesses as salient elements in his character,
the energy, resourcefulness and sound judgment necessary to
business success. His associates respect his integrity and honor
and his straightforward dealings and his many sterling traits of
mind and character have gained for him the esteem and confidence
of a wide circle of friends.
-transcribed by Cathy Joynt-Labath
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