TUBBS, Lewis Whitman

TUBBS, WHEELER, MCKYES, COOLIDGE, STRAHAN, WOODROW, SMITH, SHIPMAN, EVANS, ALEXANDER

Posted By: Roseanna Zehner
Date: 3/12/2004 at 18:27:08

Mills County had no citizen more loyal to its interests or more helpful in promoting its welfare along many lines than was Lewis Whitman Tubbs. His generous giving to public projects largely promoted the welfare of the town and county in which he made his home and aside from this the real characteristics of the man won for him the enduring friendship of all with whom he came in contact.

He was born in Binghamton, New York, January 4, 1826, and had passed the Psalmist’s allotted span of three score years and ten when death called him on the 28th of February, 1901. In his youth he accompanied the family on their removal to Ohio, settling in Wood County in what is known as the Western Reserve. There he attended the public schools of Sandusky, Ohio, and later he became a student in Oberlin College, where he made notable progress in his studies, especially in civil engineering. He was afterward employed in a large flour mill in Sandusky until he reached the age of nineteen, when he went to Michigan to assist the engineering corps in the survey of a line for the Michigan Central Railroad from Detroit to Ypsilanti.

When that work was completed he established his home at Flowerfield, Michigan, where he operated a mill, continuing the business until the spring of 1849, when attracted by the gold discoveries in California, he started on the 1st of March for the Pacific coast, making the journey with ox teams across the plains. The days lengthened into weeks and the weeks into months long before he reached his destination. He was among the first to make the trip at a time when the Indians were frequently hostile and when there was considerable danger from wild beasts. The party with which he traveled unanimously elected him captain of the expedition and he guided the train through six months of weary travel until they arrived in safety at Long’s Barr on Feather river. He sought wealth in mines, but did not meet with the success he had anticipated and turned his attention to other interests. He was elected a member of the first state legislature of California in 1850 and for two years served in that office, rendering effective aid in formulating the early policy of the commonwealth. He then turned his attention to merchandising and from the beginning met with marked success in that undertaking. His trade grew rapidly and he realized therefrom handsome profits, but his close application at length undermined his health and his physician recommended an ocean voyage as a means of recuperation. Accordingly, he sailed several thousand miles on the Pacific and visited the Hawaiian islands and Chili. On reaching California he learned that his partner had converted everything into cash and had silently made his departure in the night to points unknown.

Mr. Tubbs had at that time been away from his Michigan home for four years and decided to return to Flowefield. Immediately after reaching that place he resumed the milling business and in that undertaking, as in others to which he gave his attention, met with a substantial measure of prosperity. In 1856 he left Michigan and removed to Mills County, Iowa, where he was elected the first probate judge, filling that position for several years, or until the office was abolished. He then took up his abode upon a farm at Malvern, comprising twelve hundred and eighty acres of unbroken prairie land. He at once began to turn the sod and continued the work of improvement, bringing much of the tract under a high state of cultivation. He also raised large numbers of cattle and continued his farming and stock-raising interests at that place until 1870, when he sold out and removed to Emerson, having previously purchased the land upon which the town now stands. In fact, he invested in much land in that vicinity, having at Emerson and in nearby districts altogether thirty-four hundred acres. He dealt extensively in real estate, not only handling farm property but also city realty and he erected many of the buildings in Emerson, including the hotel. In all of his business dealings he manifested sound judgment and unfaltering enterprise. Moreover, he was thoroughly reliable, never being known to take advantage of the necessities of another in any business undertaking.
On the 1st of October, 1853, Mr. Tubbs was united in marriage in Michigan to Miss Sibyl Jane Wheeler, a daughter of the Hon. William Wheeler, of Flowerfield, who was a very active business man and prominent citizen of that state. He was particularly well known along political lines and represented his district in the stat senate. In New York he wedded Phoebe D. McKyes and in 1831 they removed westward to Michigan, where Mr. Wheeler turned his attention to farming. He was one of the oldtime abolitionists and made his home a station on the underground railway at the time when many opponents of slavery were banded together in a united effort to assist the slaves on their way to freedom in the north, transporting the fleeing negroes from “one station to another.” In 1863 Mr. Wheeler came to Iowa and after residing for a year at Malvern removed to Glenwood, where he purchased land, giving his attention to its development and cultivation but making his home in the city. He served as a soldier in the Black Hawk war and was one of those who aided in removing the Indians across the Mississippi river. He was also one of the founders of the republican party at Jackson, Michigan, and his name is inseparably interwoven with the history of that state as well as of Iowa. His death occurred in 1885 at Glenwood, when he was seventy-five years of age, for he was born in 1810. His wife was born in 1813. They were the parents of fourteen children, seven sons and seven daughters. Three of the sons reached manhood and one is yet living, William B. Wheeler, of Chicago. Six of the daughters survive, namely Mrs. Sibl J. Tubbs, Mrs. Theda M. Coolidge, Mrs. Mary Strahan, Mrs. Hattie Woodrow, Mrs. Rozine Smith and Mrs. Jessie Shipman.

To Mrs. And Mrs. Tubbs were born eight children, of whom six reached adult age, namely; William, who died two years ago in California, leaving three children; Mary, who is the wife of Edward Birdsall and has five children; Hattie M., who is the wife of M.L. Evans, of Emerson, Iowa, and has six children; Volney V., who lives at Tustin, California, and has four children; Bertha E., the wife of William G. Alexander, of Evanston, Illinois; and Ray B., who is a graduate of the Rush Medical College of Chicago and is now practicing in Council Bluffs. He is married and has one child. Two of the children, Wallace Wheeler and Lizzie J., died in infancy.

If there was one quality in Mr. Tubbs that transcended all others it was perhaps his public-spirited citizenship. He manifested great love of country during the period of the Civil war. The Indians on the north and the invaders of Missouri were a source of constant annoyance to the people in this section and he was the first to fully realize the situation. In May, 1861, he secured an order from Governor Kirkwood permitting him to raise a company of mounted minute men and with the order was the request that no man should be selected or permitted to join who for any reason would not be able to go to war. Within four days fifty-two men were enlisted. Mr. Tubbs insisted upon an election being held and was unanimously chosen captain. He received his commission June 8th and the organization continued to the close of the war. A second communication from the governor in October, 1861, ordered him to recruit a regiment of all the men in the county, exception being made to those enlisted in the mounted force. At the election which followed Mr. Tubbs was chosen colonel, receiving all the votes. The regiment, however, was never called out, as the minute force was ample to keep back the Missouri raiders. This was but one evidence of his public spirit. He did everything possible to advance the welfare and upbuilding of his community and gave to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad the town sites for both Malvern and Emerson. His political allegiance was given to the republican party but he had no political aspirations for himself, although he ever kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He was a charter member of the Masonic lodge and that he had deep sympathy for the work of moral progress in the community is indicated in the fact that he gave all the sites for the churches of Emerson. He gave to the town its beautiful park and was a generous supporter of many public institutions which are a credit to the community. He passed away at the age of seventy-five years, one month and twenty-four days. His death brought deep regret to all who knew him, for every man with whom he was acquainted was glad to call him friend. The greatest sorrow, however, was felt in his home, for he was a devoted husband and father. For almost a half century Mr. and Mrs. Tubbs had traveled life’s journey together, sharing with each other the pleasures and sorrows, the adversity and prosperity which checker the lives of all. Mrs. Tubbs was ever, indeed, a helpmate to him and their mutual love and confidence increased as the years went on.

One of the local papers spoke of him as “Mills county’s foremost citizen,” further adding: “No man in the state of Iowa was ever more loved and respected; not because of his wealth but because of his friendship for every worth man; because from his abundance he was always ready and willing to succor the needy and kindly assist those in distress. At the ripe age he passed to his long rest, leaving behind him a record of spotless integrity and public-spirited and honorable citizenship. The community will remember him as one of its loyal upbuilders; his neighbors all bear testimony to his kindness and helpful disposition.” In the resolutions of respect passed by Humanity Lodge, No. 378, A.F. & A.M., of which Judge Tubbs was long an honored member, he was spoken of as one “who was ever ready to proffer the hand of aid and the voice of sympathy to needy and distressed of the fraternity; an active member of this society, whose utmost endeavors were erected for its welfare and prosperity; a friend and companion who was dear to us all; a citizen whose upright and noble life was a standard of emulation by his fellows.”

-source: Iowa: Its History and Its Foremost Citizens 1915