Lamb, Lafayette

LAMB, BEVIER, HUFMAN, CARPENTER, BINGHAM

Posted By: Volunteer Transcribers
Date: 1/31/2003 at 01:29:29

Source: "The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated" published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.

LAFAYETTE LAMB

The extent and variety of the industrial, commercial and financial interests with which Lafayette Lamb is connected at once place him among the prominent business men of the Mississippi valley, and the influence of his operations is widely felt in the world of trade. He possesses untiring energy, is quick of perception, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution; and his close application to business and his excellent management have brought to him the high degree of prosperity which is today his. It is true that he became interested in a business already established, but in controlling and enlarging such an enterprise many a man of even considerable resolute purpose, courage and industry would have failed; and he has demonstrated the truth of the saying that success is not the result of genius, but the outcome of a clear judgment and experience.

Mr. Lamb is a native of Carroll county, Illinois, his birth having occurred February 26, 1846, his parents being Chancy and Jane (Bevier) Lamb. On the paternal side he is descended from one of the colonial families of Massachusetts, tracing his ancestry back to Thomas Lamb, who came to this country with Governor Winthrop and located in Massachusetts, when representatives of the name afterward went to New York. The grandfather of our subject, Alpheus Lamb, made his home in the Empire state, and Chancy Lamb, the father, was born in Ticonderoga, that state. Emigrating westward, he resided for a time in Illinois, and thence came to Clinton, Iowa, here establishing the lumber business, which has since grown to such extensive proportions making the name of Lamb a power in the lumber trade throughout the country. He married Jane Bevier, a native of New York, a daughter of Jacob Bevier, who was of Huguenot ancestry, and who served as adjutant in the Third Regiment of Ulster County New York Troops in the war of the Revolution. Representatives of the family were also soldiers in the Indian and Colonial wars of the country at an early epoch in American history.
In the public schools Lafayette Lamb pursued his literary education, which was supplemented by a course in Bryant & Strattons’s Business College, of Chicago. During his boyhood he received his practical business instruction from his father, working in his shingle mill. He mastered the various departments of the lumber business, and in 1867 was made foreman of the yard. In 1873 he was admitted to a partnership in the business under the firm name of C. Lamb & Sons, and on the 24th of January, 1878, the business was incorporated and he became vice-president of the company, acting in that capacity until the death of his father, on the 12th of July, 1897. He was then made president of the company, and since the death of his brother, Artemus, he has also become treasurer. The volume of the business transacted by the company has grown to very extensive proportions, and the output is shipped to many sections of the country.
With many other enterprises Mr. Lamb is also actively connected, and his sound business judgment and keen sagacity prove an important factor in their successful conduct. He is president of the Merchants’ National Bank and a director in the People’s Trust & Savings Bank. He is a director of the White River Lumber Company, of Mason, Wisconsin; of the Mississippi River Logging Company; of the Weyeranser Timber Company; and is president of the L. Lamb Lumber Company, and vice president of the Shell Lake Lumber Company, Shell Lake, Wisconsin. He is also a director of the Clinton Gas Company. These many interests contribute in large measure to commercial activity in the Mississippi valley, indicate the resourceful ability and strong purpose of Mr. Lamb, who occupies an eminent position in trade circles.
August 21, 1866, Mr. Lamb was united in marriage to Miss Olivia Hufman, of Clinton, and they have two children – Marette, the wife of Eugene J. Carpenter, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Chancy R., who is living in Minneapolis, and who married Florence Bingham, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James A. Bingham, of Chicago, Illinois. Socially Mr. Lamb is a prominent Mason, having taken the degrees of both the York and Scottish Rites; and he also has membership relations with the Sons of the Revolution. In politics he is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, but has never sought or desired political preferment. His life has been one of industry and perseverance, and the systematic and honorable business methods he has followed have won for him the support and confidence of many. His devotion to the public good is unquestioned, and arises from a sincere interest in the welfare of his fellow men.