JOHN H. COUTTS

View Portrait of John H. Coutts

John H. Coutts was richly endowed with those traits of character which bind a man to his fellowmen in ties that naught but dishonor can sever. It is seldom that the death of a man not in public life calls forth such uniform sorrow or higher eulogium. Through the years of his residence in Cedar county, however—and that period covered his entire life—he had stood for all that is progressive and honorable in business and in citizenship. He was born at Red Oak Grove, Cedar county, Iowa, July 20, 1850, and his life span covered the intervening years to the 7th of January, 1904.

His parents, William and Barbara Coutts, were natives of Scotland and crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1833, becoming residents of Ohio, where they remained until 1847, when they removed westward to Cedar county, Iowa. The father was a successful farmer and acquired considerable land. His family numbered seven children, of whom John H. Coutts was the eldest. The others are: William H., who is a graduate of the law school of the Iowa State University; Jennie, the wife of C. G. Wright; Sarah, the wife of Joseph Bunker; Mary, the wife of W. J. Moore; Ida, who married Dr. R. A. Nash; and Martha E.

In the common schools John H. Coutts pursued his education, supplementing his early training by study in the public schools of Tipton. His youthful days were spent upon the home farm, where he was not only trained to habits of industry in the fields but also developed traits of thrift and integrity, being taught those principles that make for good citizenship and strong character. His early training was manifest throughout his entire life. He stood ever as a man of unquestionable integrity and of high principle. On the 19th of March, 1878, he removed from the Red Oak Grove farm to a farm a mile east of Tipton and thereon made his home for twenty years. In his agricultural pursuits as in all else he believed in continuous advancement and utilized all the modern methods which he deemed of practical value in the development of the fields and the care of the crops. At length he turned from private life to the duties of public office, having been elected county treasurer, which position he filled for four years.

In the year 1891 Mr. Coutts became interested in banking and in the following year purchased a controlling interest in the First National Bank of Tipton. He was elected as president and remained at the head of that institution until the expiration of its charter on the 3rd of June, 1903. He then organized the City National Bank and was again elected president, which position he filled until the time of his death. In 1892 he also established the J. H. Coutts Bank of Stanwood, Iowa, and subsequently the bank was incorporated under the name of the Stanwood Savings Bank. All with whom he had dealings had implicit confidence in his ability and integrity. In the conduct of the banking business he carefully safeguarded the interests of depositors as well as of the institution, and his sound judgment enabled him to correctly solve the intricate problems of finance. He assisted in organizing and was the treasurer of the Tipton Light & Heating Company, and he took an active part in the organization of the Eastern Iowa Loan & Building Association of Tipton, of which he was treasurer. He was likewise instrumental in the organization of the Tipton Hotel Association, erecting the first good hotel building Tipton ever had. His labors were at all times of a character that contributed largely to the improvement and upbuilding of the city as well as to individual success.

On the 27th of March, 1901, Mr. Coutts was united in marriage to Mrs. Martha Peet, a daughter of Reuben and Martha Swartzlander, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. They came to Cedar county in 1840 and both remained residents here until called to their final rest. The death of Mr. Coutts occurred on the 7th of January, 1904, and his widow now resides in Los Angeles, California.

He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He held strong religious views although he did not belong to any church organization. He gave liberally, however, to the support of the church he attended and his influence was always on the side of right and moral development. He was one of the founders of the Modern Brotherhood of America, became its first supreme treasurer and was a member of its first board of directors. In politics he was a Jeffersonian democrat and was deeply interested in all public enterprises for the good of his home town. His social qualities, too, were of a nature which made him a warm friend of all with whom he came in contact, and of Tipton’s citizens none were more faultless in honor, fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation.