Professor H. O. Bateman

BATEMAN, RAVLIN, KAY, BELAMY

Posted By: Peter Gausmann (email)
Date: 1/19/2010 at 17:21:58

PROFESSOR H. O. BATEMAN

Professor H. O. Bateman, identified with educational and agricultural interests at Forest City, was born in Kaneville, Kane county, Illinois, March 22, 1862, a son of Marcus and Hannah (Ravlin) Bateman, who were natives of Rutland, Vermont, and of Kane county, Illinois, respectively. They were married in the latter place, to which the father had removed in young manhood, and in 1868 they came to Iowa, establishing their home in Black Hawk county, where the death of Mr. Bateman occurred in 1901. His widow still survives and is now residing in Waterloo, Iowa.

Professor Bateman had liberal educational opportunities. He attended Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, from which he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1888. Prior to this time he had taken up teaching as a profession and after his college days were over he resumed educational work and has contributed much to the development of the schools of the middle west. He has been principal of the schools of Lisbon, North Dakota, also at Nora Springs, Iowa, and superintendent of the schools at Dysart, Iowa. In 1901 he came to Forest City as superintendent of schools and served in that capacity for six years. He was reared on a farm and during his long identification with educational work he continued to hold farming interests and keep in touch with agricultural development. In 1907 he retired from the schoolroom and has since given his attention wholly to the cultivation of his land. In his holdings he is associated with his brother, G A. Bateman, of Minneapolis, and they are owners of seven hundred and twenty acres in Winnebago county, also five hundred and sixty acres in Black Hawk county, near Waterloo, and one thousand acres near St. Paul, Minnesota. They personally supervise the cultivation of the greater part of their vast holdings and keep in touch with the most progressive agricultural methods. In fact their work largely sets a standard for agricultural development in the localities where they own land.

On the 31st of August, 1892, Professor Bateman was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Kay, of Nora Springs, Iowa, a daughter of Edward and Sarah (Belamy) Kay, natives of England, who came to America when young and settled near Madison, Wisconsin, later removing to Iowa. Both have passed away. Prof, and Mrs. Bateman have a daughter, Dorothy K., who was graduated from the Forest City high school with the class of 1917 and will enter Cornell College in the fall. Mr. Bateman is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Sigma Nu, a Greek letter college fraternity, while he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and guide their lives according to its teachings. She is also a member of the Tourists Club of Forest City. His political allegiance has long been given to the republican party. For an extended period he has been recognized as one of the most substantial and valued citizens of the state, his life work contributing in large measure to its progress. Those who know him, and he has a wide acquaintance, recognize his marked ability and feel that he has ever held to the highest standards for the individual and also in community life.

Source: History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II. Pioneer Publishing Company (Chicago), 1917. pp. 157-158.