Lake, William

LAKE, PONTIFEX, MEREDITH

Posted By: Volunteer Transcribers
Date: 1/28/2003 at 14:05:32

WILLIAM LAKE

After a very busy and useful life, in which he has won for himself a comfortable competence and an honored name, William Lake is now living retired in the city of Clinton. He is a native of England, born in Trelluck, Monmouthshire, July 20, 1826, and is a son of John and Flora Margaret (Pontifex) Lake, who spent their entire lives in that country, where the former died at the age of sixty-one, the latter at the age of sixty-seven. By occupation the father was a grocer and farmer.

Our subject, who is one of a family of six children, was reared and educated in his native land, and was twenty-two years of age when he crossed the ocean and took up his residence in Elgin, Illinois, where he was first engaged in farming, and then accepted the position of fireman on the Fox River Railroad with John Smith as engineer on the Galena--an engine which was made at the Norris Iron Works in Philadelphia.

On the 9th of March, 1857, Mr. Lake came to Clinton, Iowa, as engineer on the construction train, building the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad, now the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. A year and a half later he went south to Memphis, Tennessee, where, under General Joseph E. Johnson, he assisted in surveying for fortifications preparatory for the Civil war, and remained there about a year. He then returned to Clinton, and with Darwin Parsons built a flouring mill near the site of the present Farmer’s Mill, it being the second mill erected here, but a year later he sold his interest in the enterprise to Chancy Lamb and entered the railroad shops as a mechanic, being thus employed for five years. During the following year he was employed a s engineer on the steam ferry boats carrying cars across the river.

Mr. Lake next went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and entered the employ of the government as an engineer and mechanic, and while there had charge of rebuilding the engine “General,” under General Sherman, who had captured it from the Rebels. This engine had quite a history and figured in one of the most exciting episodes of the Civil war. Captain Foster, a Union scout, together with eighty men, were one hundred miles inside the rebel lines, dressed in civilian clothes, and one day arrived at Big Shanty, a station on the Chattanooga & Atlanta road, and while the passengers and crew of a waiting train, to which was attached the engine “General,” were eating breakfast, Captain Foster and his men made a dash, captured the train and started for the Union lines. The train crew came out, got a handcar and followed it about five miles, when they got a construction train, took on some rebel soldiers and gave chase, and when within a few miles of the Union lines they overhauled Captain Foster, and in an engagement shot most of his men, captured Captain Foster and sixteen men, took them back to headquarters, where they were all hung as spies.

At the close of the war Mr. Lake returned to Clinton and again entered the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad shops as a mechanic, remaining there until 1871, when he took up the study of law under #. C. Foster and was admitted to the bar the following year. For several years he was successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, but of later years has devoted his attention principally to dealing in grain and stock as a speculator, and in this he has also prospered. He has built his own and several other residences in the city, some of which he has sold, and in 1894 he also erected a fine double residence.

Mr. Lake was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Meredith, also a native of Monmouthshire, England, and a daughter of James and Paulina Meredith. She died in 1897, at the age of seventy-three years. Eight children were born to this union, but five died in infancy, the others being William, an engineer on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad; John, deceased; and Eleanor Elizabeth.

Mr. Lake has twice visited his native land, the first time in 1867, when his mother was still living, though his father was dead, and again in 1871. He is a member of the Baptist church and a thirty-second-degree mason, belonging to all of the Masonic bodies, including the blue lodge chapter, commandery, Mystic Shrine and consistory. The Republican party has always found in him a stanch supporter of its principles, and his fellow citizens, recognizing his worth and ability, have called upon him to fill several political positions of honor and trust. While engaged in the practice of law he has served for seven years as justice of the peace, and he has also been a member of the city council four years and county supervisor six years. In 1880 he was elected to the legislature and most ably represented his district in that body, serving as a member of several important committees.
Source: The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.