James G. Hornbaker 1875 - 1898

HORNBAKER

Posted By: Volunteer - Rich Lowe
Date: 10/19/2001 at 07:41:43

Died, at Skaguay, Alaska, February 24, 1898, James G. Hornbaker, aged 22 years, 9 months and 13 days.

The deceased was the son of Mr. and Mrs. David R. Hornbaker and was born near Bonaparte, Iowa, May 11, 1875.

In his early boyhood he attended the district school near his home and later the high school at Bonaparte, from which he graduated with honors as a member of the class of '93. Desiring to be fully equipped for an active business career, he entered the Gem City Business College at Quincy, from which institution he graduated in 1894. For a time after his return from college he successfully taught school in a district near his old home.

In the summer of 1895 he went to Astoria, Ore., and after visiting there for some weeks with relatives, accepted a position with the wholesale and retail general merchandise dealers, Foard and Stokes Co., of that city. Here, his close application to the duties of his position and the accurate knowledge of business methods so won the confidence of his employers that in the latter part of December, 1897, they sent him to take sole charge of their branch store at Skaguay, which business he conducted to their perfect satisfaction until his untimely death. A private letter from a member of the firm to Mrs. Hornbaker assured her of the high esteem in which her son was held by them, and also gave her the further assurance that had he lived he would soon have been admitted to a partnership in their great business.

Dying far in the frozen north, after ten thousand miles of travel by sea and land, the body reached his childhood home March 15, and now sleeps by the side of his father and brother in the Thompson Cemetery.

The funeral took place from the family residence at 2 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, March 16, 1898, conducted by Rev. C. W. Wilson, of Martinsburg.

The body was borne to its final resting place by the following young gentleman, who, like himself, are graduates of the Bonaparte High School: Rannie Story, Bruce Whitmore, a Erwin Whitmore, John Anderson, Evert Brown and Guy Meek.

-----

Letters received by relatives bring the intelligence that James Hornbaker, whose death we mentioned last week took sick with spinal meningitis, at Skaguay, Alaska, on February 20th, and died on the 24th. It is likely that the remains will be sent here; but that matter is not now definitely known. He was in the employee of Foard and Stokes Co., in the merchandise business, and his employers took the best care of him during his last hours.
-------------
Source: Entler Scrapbooks, vol. 4, Iowa Historical Library, Iowa City, IA