Walden, William D.

WALDEN, DAVIS, BENNETT, GABRIEL, ATKINS, MANVILLE, BALL, DONALDSON, LAND, JOHNSON

Posted By: Volunteer Transcribers
Date: 2/14/2003 at 17:12:31

WILLIAM D. WALDEN. 

Among those who have come from foreign lands to become prominent in business circles in Iowa is William D. Walden, the well-known contractor, architect and builder of Clinton. His success in all his undertakings had been so marked that his methods are of interest to the industrial and commercial world. He has based his business principles and actions upon strict adherence to rules,--industry, economy and strict, unswerving integrity. His enterprise and progressive spirit have made him a typical western man, and he well deserves mention in this history. By constant exertion, associated with good judgment, he has raised himself to the prominent position he now holds, having the friendship of many and the respect of all who know him. He is one of the pioneers of Clinton county, and as an architect and builder of public buildings, residences and bridges he has contributed in a large measure to the substantial improvement of this portion of the state.

Mr. Walden is a native of England.  He was born at Christ Church, Hampshire, on the 6th of June, 1825, and is a son of William and Mary (Davis) Walden. The father was a contractor and builder at that place, and the paternal grandfather was also a general contractor and builder of bridges.  Our subject has now in his possession a draft of a bridge built by his grandfather in 18919 and engraved on a silver vase,---a relic which he highly prizes.

W. D. Walden was reared and educated in his native land. Leaving school at the age of sixteen, he was employed in his father’s office as draftsman for two years, and later was employed by William Stent, an architect of Warminster, Wiltshire, for over two years. At the expiration of that time he entered the service of Edmund Pearce, an architect and surveyor of Wimbourne, Dorsetshire, England, with whom he remained four years, being engaged on several important works during that time. He was clerk of the work of restoring Turnworth Hall and rebuilding of an old church at Maxwell, Dorsetshire.

Believing that advancement would come too slow in his native land and that better opportunities were afforded on this side of the Atlantic, Mr. Walden decided to come to America, and arrived in New York in October, 1850. He was first employed by Montgomery Queen, of Booklyn, New York, as draftsman in his office, but soon afterward Mr. Queen gave up his business as contractor and builder, and Mr. Walden decided to visit Canada. After spending the winter in and around Montreal and Quebec, he returned to New York in the spring of 1851, and engaged with Samuel Osman, a contractor and builder of Brooklyn, as draftsman,, remaining with him but a short time, however. Through that gentleman he became acquainted with Henry Grimsteed, an architect of that city, and became associated with him in business under the firm name of Grimsteed & Walden, with office in Brooklyn, this connection continuing until August 1855. As architects and superintendents of construction they had charge of the building of the Monteagle Hotel at Suspension Bridge, New York, for Charles B. Stuart, who at that time was consulting engineer of the Mississippi & Iowa Central Railroad, and who with others connected with the railroad company had arranged and purchased land below the town of Lyons, Iowa, for railway purposes, and had arranged to lay out a town which now forms a part of Clinton. Mr. Stuart called upon Mr. Walden in reference to a business block and hotel to be erected on the town site, and plans were drawn and arrangements made with the railway and Iowa Land Company to erect the building, which was named the Iowa Central Hotel, now the Windsor Hotel, of which Mr. Walden had supervison. After its completion he remained in Clinton and carried on business as an architect and builder until the fall of 1859, when he went south looking for a new location. He had secured contracts and was at work on several buildings on sugar plantations south of the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when the difficulty arose between the north and the south, and the parties concluded not to continue work. After encountering some obstacles, Mr. Walden returned to Clinton, in 1861. Two years later he was employed by the engineering department and assisted in the construction of the railway bridge across the main channel of the Mississippi river, now owned by the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company. Later he had charge of the construction of the present machine shop located at Clinton, the passenger depot, and the round-house, which was erected in 1900 and is the largest in the world, having a storage capacity for fifty engines. The company, recognizing his worth and ability, appointed him superintendent of bridges and building in 1865, and he continued in that position until the 1st of January, 1901. During that time he built many bridges on the Iowa division, his labors extending over six to seven hundred miles of the road. He now has charge of the bridge over the Mississippi river, and thus remains in the service of the company with which he has been so long connected, and of which he is a most trusted employee, his record being one of unquestioned fidelty and ability.

On the 26th of November, 1852, in Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Walden was united in marriage with Miss Mary Ann Bennett, also a native of Christ Church, Hampshire, England, and a daughter of Joseph P. Bennett. Fourteen children have been born to then, namely: Mary Jennett, who died at the age of eight years; Emily Susan, who married John Gabriel; Henrietta, who, like the two older ones, was born in Brooklyn, New York, while the younger children were born in Clinton, Iowa; Fannie, at home; Jessie, wife of George F. Atkins; William Joseph, who married Lucy Manville, and is station agent at DeWitt, Iowa; Henry Alfred, who married Mabel Ball, and is assistant superintendent of the bridge and building department of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway; Ann Louise, wife of Herbert E. Donaldson; George Frederick, at home; Lucy Teresa, who died at the age of twenty-six years; Robert Stokes, who died in childhood; Charles D., a mechanic of Norfolk, Virginia, who married Orra May Land; Albert Stokes, who married Louise Johnson and is a mechanic in the employe of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway at Clinton,; and a son who died in infancy.

Mr. Walden is a demitted member of Western Star Lodge, No. 100, F. & A. M., and was one of the first men initiated therein. He belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His hope of more rapidly advancing himself in business has been fulfilled in America, and his life demonstrates what can be accomplished by industry and genius in this land where the broad field of opportunity is open to all.
Source: The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.