Clevenger, William P.

CLEVENGER

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/28/2021 at 23:34:16

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.821

WILLIAM P. CLEVENGER
W. F. Clevenger is numbered among the prominent and active business men of Lacona, where he is engaged in the real-estate and insurance business, and in the present year was elected as mayor of the city, in which connection he is giving a public-spirited and businesslike administration. He is a native of Indiana, born in Oxford, Benton County April 23, 1848, a son of Captain Willis and Elizabeth (Cochran) Clevenger, both natives of the Buckeye state, the former of Highland County.
Mr. Clevenger followed farming in his native state and later removed to Indiana, becoming a pioneer settler of Benton County, where he opened up and developed a farm. Their four children were added to the household and in 1855 he removed with his family to Warren County, this state, entering land from the government, on a portion of which the city of Lacona now stands. He owned altogether three hundred and twenty acres of land and was classed among the prominent and public-spirited citizens of this section of the state. During his residence here he was elected and served as post­master of the town and for a time carried the mail between Newbern and Indianola. He likewise served as a veteran of the war and was captain of a company of militia. His death occurred soon after the close of the war, in 1866, but his wife still survives and has now reached the advanced age of eighty-five years.
W. F. Clevenger, whose name introduces this review, was a little lad of seven years when he was brought by his parents to Warren County and his education was acquired in the Lacona schools. His advantages in this direc­tion, however, were very limited but through reading, observation and exper­ience in later years he has greatly added to his fund of knowledge. At the time of the strife between the north and the south he put aside all business and personal considerations and enlisted as a member of the Forty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Company A, joining on the 21st of May, 1864. Going to the front he was engaged mostly in garrison duty till the close of hostilities.
After his return from the war he engaged in teaching in Warren County, following that vocation in this district for some time. He was later engaged in teaching in Harrison County, this state, during the winter months, while in the summer seasons he worked at the carpenter's and joiner's trade. After a residence of fourteen years in Harrison County he removed westward to Nebraska and took up a tree claim and engaged in merchandising in Long Pine, remaining in that city for about thirteen years. He then returned to Iowa and lived in Des Moines for about three years, on the expiration of which period he removed once more to Lacona, where he has since made his home. Upon his arrival here at that time he engaged in contracting during the sum­mer months and continued to teach school in the winter seasons, but at the present time he is doing a real-estate and insurance business, in which he is meeting with success. He has made a close study of property values and is therefore able to make judicious purchases and profitable sales for his patrons. He also writes a large amount of insurance annually and this branch of his business is also proving profitable. He had the sagacity and prescience to discern the eminence which the future had in of Warren county, and acting in accordance with the dictates of his judgment, he is now reaping a rich reward.
Mr. Clevenger was married May 31, 1866, the lady of his choice being Miss Isabella Dutton, a native of this state, born and reared in Warren Cunty. Their marriage has been blessed with three children, two sons and one daugh­ter, as follows: Willis F., now of Krum, Texas; Louisa I., the wife of Charles Williford, of Dalhart, Texas; and Jesse D., now residing in Napa, California. He served as a soldier in the Spanish-American war and was four years in Manila and in China. The mother of these children passed away in Long Pine, Nebraska, and following her demise Mr. Clevenger was again married, his second union being with Carribel Davis, whom he wedded in Pennsylvania, December 27, 1887. This union was blessed with one son, William F. B., a res­ident of Morris Plains, New Jersey. Mrs. Clevenger died April 6, 1907.
Politically Mr. Clevenger has allied himself with the principles and policy of the Rpublican Party and has been elected to and served in many positions of public trust. For four years he served as treasurer of the county, while for two years he acted as clerk. He also served for seven consecutive years in the office of assessor, while for the past year he has filled the office of jus­tice of the peace, his decisions being strictly fair and impartial. In 1908 he was elected to the office of mayor of Lacona and in this connection is working toward reform and improvement in many lines. He also served for four years as committeeman and in many ways has contributed to the public good. He is a member of the First Church of Christ in Des Moines and is a Mason, belonging to the blue lodge and chapter at Long Pine, Nebraska. He has also been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for the past thirty-one years and is prominent with the brethren of his craft. He maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his membership with the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is the present commander.
He is a man of good judgment and excellent business ability. His record as a soldier, as an official and as a business man has been so honorable that he has gained the confidence and good will of all with whom he has been brought in contact, while as chief executive of the city of Lacona he has won still higher encomiums from his fellowmen by reason of the fidelity and ability which he manifests in the discharge of his duties.