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ELBERT H. ESTEY

Holding prestige among the successful attorneys of Fayette and adjoining counties, Elbert H. Estey, while yet a young man, has proven his worth to rank with the leading professional men in a community long noted for its high order of talent, especially along legal lines, and the study of such a life cannot fail of interest and incentive, as he is distinctively representative of his sphere of activity and has contributed in no small measure to the general uplift of West Union and the locality which is his home and field of operation, at the same time establishing a reputation for honor and integrity. Mr. Estey is a member of the firm of Clements & Estey, and he was born in the city of Fayette, this county, November 4, 1873. He is the son of Charles P. and Mary (Scott) Estey, the father a native of Vermont and the mother of Ohio, the latter being the daughter of William Scott, who was among the early settlers of Dover township and where the family is still represented.

Elbert H. Estey's paternal grandfather, Warren Estey, was an early settler of Winneshiek county. Charles P. Estey lived for a time at Postville, Allamakee county, but he came to Fayette about 1871. His family consisted of three daughters and one son, Elbert H. of this review being the youngest; his sisters are, Carrie, who married Rev. M. T. Miller, of Colorado, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church; Addie, who has remained unmarried is a talented lecturer and reformer, engaged in the work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, located at Des Moines, Iowa; Blanche is the wife of Rev. George C. Fort and is located at Salina, Kansas. All the family except the youngest sister are graduates of the Upper Iowa University. The father of these children is a painter and decorator, having made this his life work and he is very adroit in the use of the brush, his services having always been in great demand. He and his wife make their home in Fayette, where they are highly esteemed by a wide circle of friends.

Elbert H. Estey, after completing his college course, performed in a very commendable manner the duties of court reporter in the thirteenth judicial district for a period of two years, during the term of Judge William A. Hoyt. All the while he studied law during his spare moments, having decided early in life to devote his energies to the legal profession. He took a law course at the State University of Minnesota, where he made a good record and from which institution he was graduated in June, 1896. He soon returned to Iowa and opened an office in the city of Waterloo and he practiced there with a very satisfactory clientele for a period of seven years and became one of the leading members of the bar of that place, but desiring to return to his home county, he began practice in West Union on December 1, 1905, and has been here to the present time, his record at the Fayette county bar having been one of honor and credit and has won the admiration of his clients and contemporaries at the bar. He was associated with the late David W. Clements, one of the leading lawyers of this district, the firm of Clements & Estey having been a most potent one in all local courts.

Mr. Estey was married on August 19, 1903, to Mary E. Scobey, daughter of George P. and Martha B. Scobey, a prominent early family of Fayette, where the father was long a leading merchant and where his death occurred on February 2, 1904. The mother is still living. One son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Estey, Robert, born July 17, 1907. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and politically Mr. Estey is a Republican. Fraternally, he is a member of the West Union Lodge No. 69, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the West Union lodge of the Knights of Pythias.

~transcribed for the Fayette Co IAGenWeb Project by Mary Thiele Fobian