Thomas S. Redmond

REDMOND, SULLIVAN, WHITLEY, FINSTER

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 3/6/2007 at 10:18:48

Biographies from the 1914 "Past and Present of O'Brien and Osceola Counties of Iowa"

THOMAS S. REDMOND.

It is proper to judge of the success of a man's life by the estimation in which he is held by his fellow citizens, and nowhere can this be shown better than in the lives of men who take part in the public life of their respective communities. If a man in any county seat of Iowa should be elected to the position of mayor of his city for two terms, it would be some evidence that he was a man of influence in his community. Furthermore, if this same man had formerly been county superintendent of schools and a public and normal school teacher, it would be additional evidence of the worth of the man. Then if it were shown that, aside from public affairs, the man had made a pronounced success in the business world, it would show that he was well rounded in those attributes which make a man influential in his community. This statement indicates briefly the career of Thomas S. Redmond, who is now secretary of the Sibley Commercial Club and one of the most prominent business men of this city.

Thomas S. Redmond, the son of Patrick and Mary (Sullivan) Redmond, was born August 1, 1866, in Monmouth, Illinois. His father was a native of Ireland, his birth having occurred in that country in 1834, and his mother was born in the same country in 1839. Patrick Redmond came to America when a young man and first located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where he followed the occupation of a farmer. In 1865 he moved to Illinois and resumed the occupation of farming in that state, in which pursuit he was engaged for the next seven years, after which he moved to Henry county, Iowa, where he lived until 1889. He next settled in Sibley, Osceola County, where he farmed for a short time and then moved to Sanborn. O'Brien County, in 1895, where he is still living. His wife, Mary Sullivan. came to this country with her parents when a young girl. Patrick Redmond and wife were the parents of five children: Mary, who is a resident of Sanborn; Lena, also of Sanborn; S. D., of Sanborn; Margaretta, the wife of Dr. E. J. Whitley, chief surgeon of the National Soldiers' Home at Danville, Illinois, and Thomas S., whose history is briefly outlined here.

Thomas S. Redmond is a man of unusual ability in many different lines. Inheriting a keen intellect from his parents, he has trained it in a way which has brought forth its latent possibilities. After receiving an education in the common schools of the state, he attended Mt. Pleasant Academy in Iowa, and then began teaching school in Henry County, this state. When twenty-three years of age he came to Osceola County with his parents, and for fifteen years taught school in this county. His service, including teaching in the LeMars Normal School and Ashton public schools, where he served as principal, extended over the above mentioned period. In 1895 he was appointed county superintendent of schools of Osceola County to fill out six months of a term. Upon the expiration of his appointive term, he was elected to this office and was subsequently elected three times, serving until 1902 with signal success. While teaching he was president of the Northwestern Iowa Teachers' Association, an honor which came to him unsought. Upon retiring from the office of county superintendent he decided to engage in the real estate business in Sibley, and has been no less successful in the business world than he was in the world of education. He deals in Osceola county land, as well as land in Minnesota, Dakota and Canada. During the course of a year he handles several thousands of acres, and in all of his transactions he has so conducted himself that he has Avon and retains the confidence of all of his business associates. He is the owner of two hundred and forty acres of land two miles east of Sibley, which he has improved and brought to a high state of cultivation. This farm he now rents and realizes a handsome profit upon his investment.

Mr. Redmond was married in 1896 to Edith Finster, of Sibley, and to this union there have been born two children, Marion and Donald. He and his family are loyal members of the Catholic Church and render to it their zealous support at all times. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Columbus. In his political affiliations he has been identified with the Republican Party since coming to this county and he has been one of the leaders of his party for many years. In addition to his services as county superintendent, to which office he was elected by the suffrages of the people of the county, he has also served two terms as mayor of the city of Sibley. While mayor, he took every advantage to further the interests of the city and supported every measure which he felt would redound to its credit. He was elected in the spring of 1908 and 1912, and it is safe to say that no more popular mayor ever held the office in the city than Mr. Redmond. He has been secretary of the Sibley Commercial Club ever since its organization in 1904, and has been largely instrumental in promoting all public measures affecting his city's welfare. In fact, no man has been more active in the general upbuilding and improvement of Sibley than he, and he is certainly earning the title of "progressive," and, in fact, in all matters of advancement he has taken the initiative and urged others to follow. Personally, Mr. Redmond is a most companionable man, uniformly courteous, strictly honest in all the relations of life, and a man who merits in every way the esteem of the people of his county and city.

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