SYMMES, George N.

SYMMES, DOE, DRAKE, BRADBURY

Posted By: Gordon Felland (email)
Date: 2/3/2011 at 16:55:46

George N. Symmes is a prominent merchant of Osage, where he is engaged in the grocery business under the firm style of G. N. Symmes & Company. He has long figured in connection with the commercial interests of the city and his business ability is evidenced in the success which has attended his labors. Throughout the entire period he has maintained an unassailable reputation for integrity as well as for business enterprise and he enjoys in full measure the high regard and confidence of those with whom he has been associated.

He was born in Newfield, York county, Maine, in December, 1843. His father, Eben Symmes, was also a native of Newfield and spent his entire life in the Pine Tree state, where he followed the profession of teaching for forty-two years, becoming active in the work of the schoolroom at the age of eighteen and continuing as a capable instructor until he reached the age of sixty. He devoted the winter months to teaching, while the summer seasons were given to farm work. During a period of ten years he was superintendent of schools at Saco, Maine, and he contributed in marked degree to the intellectual progress of that section of the state. He was a highly educated man and he inspired teachers and pupils with much of his own zeal and interest in the work. In early manhood he wedded Mary Doe, of Parsonsfield, Maine, who passed away in 1882, having for almost ten years survived her husband, who died in 1872. They became the parents of eight children, as follows: Susan Kinsman, who passed away in 1915; Anna, who died in infancy; Charles, whose demise occurred in 1890; Anna, who died at the age of eighteen years; George N., of this review; Luther E., who passed away when sixteen years of age; Abbie, who married Frank Drake, a resident of Watertown, Massachussetts; and DeWitt C., who died in infancy.

George N. Symmes pursued his education in the public schools of Maine and left the home place at the age of seventeen years, going to Limerick, Maine, where he engaged in clerking in a general store for five years. He next went south and for about a year was a resident of Virginia. On the l0th of November, 1868, he arrived in Osage, which was then a small village, and near by he took up the occupation of farming, which he followed for six years. In 1876 he accepted a position as clerk in the lumberyard of M. .A. Sprague, with whom he remained for four years, and later he was employed by J. A. Smith, the well known lumber dealer, and by J. H, Agen and Edward Fay, as the lumber business passed from one ownership to another, Mr. Symmes working for each in turn. On the 3d of January, 1884, he entered mercantile circles, opening a grocery store, at which time he entered into partnership with Mr. Sprague, his former employer. He has now been engaged in the business for thirty-four years, during which time it has grown from a small undertaking to its present extensive proportions. Mr. Symmes was the active partner in the firm and his interests are centered entirely in the business. Mr. Sprague passed away in De­cember, 1916, and the firm style is now G. N. Symmes & Company. For forty years the two men had been in close business and social relations and the death of Mr. Sprague was a great blow to Mr. Symmes. The house had ever sustained an unassailable reputation for the integrity of its business methods and. for its earnest desire to please its patrons. The trade therefore grew year by year and Mr. Symmes at all times kept in close touch with the market and the demands of the public. He is a man of marked energy and business discernment, and his sagacity and sound judgment have enabled him to utilize every opportunity and advantage in the best possible Way.

On August 23, 1868, prior to his removal to Osage, Mr. Symmes was united in marriage to Miss Laura A. Bradbury, a native of Limerick, Maine, born in 1842, and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Aaron N. Bradbury, who were old residents of the Pine Tree state but who have now passed away.

In political allegiance Mr. Symmes is a stalwart republican. He belongs to the Congregational church and its teachings have guided him in all of the rela­tions of life. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to the lodge, chapter and commandery in Osage and to the Mystic Shrine at Cedar Rapids. For many years he was treasurer of the chapter and commandery and has held various other offices in the different Masonic organizations. In accordance with the teachings of the craft, he is extending a helping hand where aid is needed and his life has been dominated by honorable principles and worthy purposes, making him one of the valued and respected citizens of Mitchell county.

Source: History of Mitchell and Worth Counties, Iowa, 1918, Vol. II, page 396