Parley Sheldon (1844-1932)

SHELDON, LITCH

Posted By: Mark Christian
Date: 5/17/2021 at 16:53:14

Parley Sheldon was born near Cleveland. Ohio, June 7, 1844, and died in Ames, Iowa, May 22 1932. His parents were Parley and Elvira (Litch) Sheldon. He lived on his father's farm until the Civil War, when he enlisted in the One Hundred and Sevcnty-fifth Ohio Volunteers. He was honorably discharged in August, 1865, returned home and gave his attention to the breeding of standard trotting stock. In 1874 he removed to Cedar County, Iowa, and in 1874 purchased and located on 330 acres of land adjoining and south of the then new town of Ames, where he engaged in breeding horses and feeding cattle and hogs and farming. In 1882 he became a resident of Ames and bought and shipped livestock. In 1890 he purchased the Story County Bank, which ran as a private bank until 1917, when it was reorganized as the Story County Trust and Savings Bank, Tn 1929 he retired from banking. One year after he became a resident of Ames, or in 1883, he was elected a member of the Town Council. In 1884 he was elected mayor, and although not serving continuously, he was mayor for eighteen years, ending with April 3, 1916. In 1885 President Cleveland appointed him postmaster and he served until 1890, and was again postmaster from 1894 to 1898. From 1900 to 1908, and again later for many years, he was chairman of the Story County Democratic Central Committee. In 1902 he was the Democratic candidate for Congress in thc Seventh District, being defeated by J. A. T. Hull. In 1904 he was the Democratic candidate for presidential elector iu the Seventh District, and in 1910 was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor. In 1912 he was a delegate-at-large to the Democratic National Convention, as he was to the convention of 1920. He was a Seventh District delegate to the 1924 national convention of his party. He achieved noted success as a business man and became of great service to his community. The principal municipal improvements of Ames were secured under his administrations as mayor, or largely by his helpfulness. He was a leader in promoting highway buiding, in building and sustaining the Ames Chautuaqua, in aiding the State College and in numerous other enterprises that were beneficial to Ames and to the state. He belonged to numerous organizations, was president of the Iowa League of Municipalities in 1914, and president of the Iowa Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1920. For years he was Ames's most noted man, and was held in affection by the public for his integrity, unselfishness and public service.

Citation: "Parley Sheldon." The Annals of Iowa 18 (1932), 476-477.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.17077/0003-4827.5604