HUTCHINS, CLAYTON B.

HUTCHINS, WHITNEY, CALL, WHITE, HAMILTON, BALLOU, DOUGLAS, GIBBS, WILSON, BASS, MORSE

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 3/17/2004 at 09:20:45

Biography reproduced from page 124 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Clayton B. Hutchins, who has been more or less prominently identified with the business life and public interests of Kossuth county since coming here in 1869, was in 1910 elected to represent his legislative district in the state legislature and is now serving in that capacity. He makes his home in Algona and owns more than five hundred acres of land in this county. His birth occurred in Franklin county, New York, on the 11th of January, 1849, his parents being D. H. and Helen M. (Whitney) Hutchins. His paternal grandfather was born in Grand Isle county, Vermont, in 1792, and followed farming throughout his active business career. He gave his early political allegiance to the whig party but in later years became a stanch advocate of republican principles. He married a cousin who was also a native of Grand Isle county, Vermont, and whose birth occurred in 1796. The first representatives of the Hutchins family in this country came from England. A sketch of D. H. Hutchins, who is still living at the age of eighty-eight years, appears on another page of this work. His wife was called to her final rest on the 6th of July, 1910. To them were born four children, as follows: Clayton B., of this review; Marshall L., who died in infancy; Lucinda M., the wife of A. F. Call, of Corona, California, who is a lawyer by profession and also owns extensive orange and lemon groves; and Celia V., the wife of George W. White, who acts as pastor of the First Methodist church of Oakland, California.

Clayton B. Hutchins, who was between six and seven years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal from New York to Clayton county, Iowa, obtained his early education in the schools of that county. Subsequently he continued his studies in Briggs Academy of Garnavillo, Iowa, and later pursued an extensive course in the State University of Iowa at Iowa City. He has always devoted more or less of his time to general agricultural pursuits and is the owner of over five hundred acres of valuable land in this county. His first public service was in the capacity of surveyor of Kossuth county, the duties of which position he discharged for a period of ten years. Subsequently he served as county auditor for six years, while for nine years he has acted as drainage engineer in Kossuth county. In 1910 he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature and is now ably serving the interests of his constituents in that body. He has remained a resident of this county continuously for forty-three years and is widely recognized as one of its leading and influential citizens.

Mr. Hutchins has been married twice. On the 25th of December, 1877, he wedded Miss Eva Hamilton, a native of Farmersburg township, Clayton county, Iowa, and a daughter of Norman and Diana (Ballou) Hamilton, who were born in New York and Ohio respectively. Norman Hamilton, who was a farmer by occupation, passed away in 1884 but is survived by his widow. To them were born seven children, as follows: Mrs. Eva Hutchins; May H., the wife of Reuben Douglas, of Postville, Iowa; Henry, who was formerly a farmer but is now engaged in the grain business at Nora Springs, Iowa; Nellie, living at Algona, this state; John, of Algona, who was formerly a traveling salesman and is now a landowner in Kossuth county and South Dakota; Anna, who was a member of the faculty in the University of California at Berkeley and is now at home; and George, a traveling salesman residing at Des Moines, Iowa. To Clayton B. and Eva (Hamilton) Hutchins were born seven sons, namely: one, who died in infancy; Harold D., living in Dubuque, Iowa, who is a graduate of Iowa College of Grinnell and who is now deputy collector of revenue for the northern district of Iowa; Irving W., who was a graduate of the State Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa, and passed away at the age of twenty-seven years; Lawrence C., a resident of Highland, California; Ralph W., who is a graduate of the Iowa College at Grinnell and makes his home in Algona; Carlton B., at home; and another, who died in infancy. For his second wife Clayton B. Hutchins chose Mrs. Fanny A. Hamilton, a native of Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, and the widow of Horace Hamilton. Her parents were Julius and Nancy (Gibbs) Wilson, the former a native of New York and the latter of Sheboygan county, Wisconsin. Julius Wilson, who followed general agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career, is now deceased, as is also his wife. They had four children, namely: Mrs. Fanny A. Hutchins; Charles J., who resides at Estherville, Iowa, and acts as superintendent of the Rock Island Railroad; J. S., a banker of Hull, Iowa; and Emma, the deceased wife of Hodges Bass, of Dubuque, this state. By her first husband, Horace Hamilton, Mrs. Fanny A. Hutchins had a daughter, Clara A., who is the wife of Walter H. Morse, of Breckenridge, Minnesota.

In politics Mr. Hutchins is a republican, while his religious faith is that of the Congregational church. Fraternally he is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Algona, Iowa. He is loyal in his friendships and true worth can always win his regard. He is by nature genial and courteous, displaying at no time a spirit of conscious superiority or of condescension with those whose opportunities have not been equal to his own.

(Four generations photo of D. H. Hutchins, C. B. Hutchins, H. D. Hutchins, Paul C. Hutchins is printed in the book.)