William Harrison Gallup (1850-1929)

GALLUP, DYER, HAMILTON

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 5/17/2021 at 16:53:11

From Nevada Evening Journal October 28, 1929 (page 1 continued to page 5)

PIONEER NEVADA NEWSPAPER MAN HAS DRAWN "30"

PASSED AWAY AT HIS HOME IN BOONE--FUNERAL WAS HELD TODAY

Wm. H. Gallup, 89, pioneer Iowa newspaper man and one-time editor of the Nevada Representative, died at his home in Boone Saturday and the funeral services were held this afternoon at 1:30, at the family home at 1308 Story street, Boone. The body accompanied by the funeral party was taken to Marshalltown where the body was laid to rest in Riverside cemetery, by the side of Mrs. Gallup who died in 1923, and where their small children are interred.

Mr. Gallup, who was possibly the oldest of the pioneer editors of Iowa, had been retired for a number of years. It was he who pioneered in the Marshalltown field, being the first publisher of the Times-Republican.

He was editor and publisher of the Nevada Representative for a number of years, selling the paper to the Paynes in the early '80's. Before leaving Nevada in 1887 he was engaged in the banking business for a short time in Nevada and also in Cambridge. From here he went to Perry where he engaged in the newspaper business and later to Boone where he continued in the business for many years.

During the residence of the family in Nevada their home was at 705 Seventh street; the present home of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Scott.

Mr. Gallup, who was past 89 years of age, and had been gradually failing for the past six months due to the infirmities of old age, was compelled to take to his bed in a weakened condition on Friday, Sept. 28, and from that time on gradually grew weaker until the end came Saturday.

It was only in the last few days that it was necessary to relieve him of any suffering or pain. Prior to that he was able to visit with his children and friends and delighted in telling of his early experiences, from the time he left New York state to come west in 1860, up to his retirement from business in 1908.

Daughter and Son Present

With him at the time of his passing was his daughter, Mrs. James H. Hamilton and her husband and his younger son, James G. Gallup and his wife. His older son, Major Fred H. Gallup of the U. S. army, who is stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was unable to come at this time on account of sickness in his own family.

State Loses Pioneer

In the death of W. H. Gallup, the city of Boone and the State of Iowa loses on of its pioneer editors and a man who could recount the early history of the state with unerring accuracy from the time he came to Marshalltown in 1861 up to his retirement from business in 1908.

Was a New Yorker

Mr. Gallup was born in Summit, New York, on May 17, 1840 and was the youngest in the family of eight children. After he was 14 he attended the seminaries at Warnerville, Charlottesville and Fredonia, N. Y. On August 1, 1860 he graduated from the law school at Poughkeepsie and in September was admitted to the bar at Newburg, N. Y.

On April 1, 1861 he decided to go west, crossing the Mississippi from Fulton to Lyons and thence 82 miles by rail to Cedar Rapids and then 75 miles by stage and private conveyance to Marshalltown, arriving there on May 11, 1861.

Dropped the Law

Here he put out his law shingle and at the first meeting of the District Court passed his third bar examination; this time for admittance in Iowa. In October 1861 he purchased the Marshall County times from R. H. Barnhart, and since then up to the time of retirement, was connected with the newspaper fraternity for nearly 47 years. His interest at Marshalltown continued up to 1864. For a few weeks in 1862 he published a daily edition of the Times to give the news of Grant's maneuvers, which culminated in the battle of Shiloh.

To Nevada in 1870

On February 1, 1865 he established the Boonesboro Index which was later changed to the Montana Standard and then the Boone Standard. He was editor of the former until 189. On May 5, 1870 he published the first number of the Nevada Representative and continued here until 1882 when he returned to Boone was connected with the Republican until 1897, part of the time issuing a daily. From then until 1908 he was editor of the The Boone Standard, when the paper was consolidated and he retired.

Was State Senator

During his residence at Nevada he was State Senator from 1876-1879 from the thirty-first district which included Boone and Story Counties, serving in the sixteenth and seventeenth general assemblies.

He was married on August 26, 1862 in Summit, N. Y., to Albina Dyer, who preceded him in death in 1923, but not however, until they had celebrated their sixtieth anniversary.

To the above union were born six children, three of whom died in infancy. Those left to cherish his memory are a daughter Mrs. J. H. Hamilton who has kept house for him sine the passing of his wife and has been a constant companion tenderly caring for him in his declining years and during his last illness of four weeks. Two sons survive, Major Fred H. Gallup of Fort Bragg, North Carolina and James G. Gallup of Boone.

Thus does another of he pioneer men who worked untiringly to build up the community and state in which he lived pass on to a well-earned reward.