HEMENWAY, Herman Caswell 1834-1922
HEMENWAY, SCHERMERHORN
Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 2/21/2014 at 00:36:44
[The Evening Courier and Reporter, Waterloo Iowa, Friday, January 27, 1922]
Funeral of H. C. Hemenway, 87, Will Be Sunday: Was Officer in the Civil War
Cedar Falls, January 27 – Herman C. Hemenway, 87, dean of Black Hawk County bar, Civil War veteran and resident of this place for 55 years, died at his home here at 3:30 AM today after an illness of two weeks. The funeral will be conducted at 2:30 PM Sunday at First Congregational Church, the pastor, Rev. A. B. McLeod, officiating. Interment will be in Greenwood.
The birthplace of Mr. Hemenway was Potsdam, New York, from which place his parents Vashni and Eliza Hemenway, moved to Stephenson County Illinois in 1850. His education was received from union and private schools of Freeport and after finishing his studies he taught school for time.
In 1858 he began to read law with Meacham and Bailey, Freeport. He was admitted to the bar in June 1860, and opened an office in Independence a year later, practicing his profession in that town until August 1862 when he enlisted in the union army, receiving a commission as second lieutenant in Company C, 27th Iowa infantry. He was mustered into service October 3 and served until discharged with the Regiment August 1865. During the period of his enlistment he was never confined to hospital nor absent on furlough.
The Regiment to which he belonged served as a detachment of 16th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee. He took part in the battles of Little Rock, Nashville, Mobile and the Red River expedition.
After his discharge he returned to Independence, where he remained until early in 1866 when he opened an office in Cedar Falls. In May 1867, he formed a partnership with J. B. Powers, which existed until 1873. Sometime later he became associated with A. D. Polk and George H. Thorpe. In 1884 he joined Alfred Grundy in the practice of law.
He was married in 1868 to Miss Lanie G. Schermerhorn of the city. She died January 22, 1913. They had no children, but through their joint efforts or by Mr. Hemenway's individual generosity since the death of his wife, about 15 young men and women were financed, wholly or in part, in order that they might attend college. Mr. Hemenway retired from practice during 1913.
Mr. Hemenway served one term in Iowa assembly as a representative and two as senator. He also served 10 years as city attorney is Cedar Falls, was on the city library board for a time and during the 18 months following the organization of Iowa State Teachers College, then a normal school, served as director.
He was a member of Masonic orders and of James Brownell post, Grand Army of the Republic.
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Herman Caswell Hemenway, one of the leading lawyers and Republicans of eastern Iowa and a resident of Cedar Falls, was born in Potsdam, New York, April 1, 1834. He is the son of Vashni Hemenway and Eliza Goodnow Hemenway, who were married in 1824. Vashni Hemenway was born November 24, 1788, at Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. He removed to Shoreham, Vermont, in 1792 and to Potsdam, New York, about 1816. In 1850 he came west and settled in Freeport, Illinois, removing to Lansing, Iowa in 1868, and died in Cedar Falls, August 18. 1878. He was a lineal descendant of Ralph Hemenway, who was married to Elizabeth Hewes in Roxbury, Massachusetts July 5, 1634. His wife was born in Boston. Massachusetts, in 1801, and her ancestors were among the early settlers of Massachusetts. She died in Freeport, Illinois on December 8, 1862. Both parents were teachers in early life, and subsequently farmers by occupation.
Herman C. Hemenway received a good common school education and was employed as a teacher for several terms. He began his legal studies in Freeport, Illinois, in 1858 and was admitted to the practice of law in Illinois in 1860. The next year he removed to Independence, Iowa, and in 1862 enlisted in the Twenty-seventh Iowa Infantry and served three years. Upon his discharge from the army he moved to Cedar Falls and has since resided there, where he has been continuously and actively engaged in the practice of law. He served as a member of the General Assembly from Blackhawk County for ten years, being a member of both House and Senate, and has held several minor local offices. He was married in Cedar Falls October 15, 1868, to Lanie G. Schermerhorn, a native of Seneca County, New York. He has always been a republican and an active and prominent factor in the affairs of his party. He belongs to the G. A. R. and several other civic societies.
[Biographies and Portraits of the Progressive Men in Iowa. By Benjamin F. Gue.]
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