|
Paul Edwin Stillmanem
Paul
E. Stillman, elected to represent Greene county in the Iowa general
assembly in 1906, is well known as an active force in those movements
which uphold the legal and political status of the country and which
work for intellectual and moral advancement. He is now editor and
manager of The Bee at
Jefferson and one of the principal stockholders in this paper. The
press has not only recorded the history of advancement, but has also
ever been the leader in the work of progress and improvement - the
vanguard of civilization - and Mr. Stillman has sought to make his
journal such an expression of universal growth.
Mr. Stillman was born in Chicago, Illinois, November 4, 1868, and is
the younger son of Edwin B. and Elizabeth L. (Bowman) Stillman. His
father is one of the oldest representatives of journalism in Iowa and
was selected for the authorship of the history of Greene county as the
best known authority concerning its annals and its records. The son was
educated in the common schools of Chicago and in the country school at
Waucoma, Iowa, and received academic training in the Chicago Manual
Training School. He thus prepared for collegiate work at the State
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, in which he matnculated in the
fall of 1887, and graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in
1891. He began his newspaper work even in his college days, as managing
editor of the senior publication of the university. His taste has
always been along literary lines, and his initial step in the business
world was made as his father’s partner in the ownership and publication
of the Jefferson Bee, which has the largest circulation of any county seat weekly newspaper in Iowa. He has been editor of The Bee, with full charge as
manager, for ten years.
Mr. Stillman came to Jefferson from Chicago with his parents in 1884
and has resided here continuously since. He has been successful in
business from the start, the patronage of the paper having grown
steadily during the sixteen years of his connection therewith, both in
its circulation and advertising departments. Mr. Stillman is also
interested in Greene county farm land and city properties, and is the
vice president of the Jefferson Savings Bank.
From his youth Mr. Stillman has been an interested student of the signs
of the times and of the great problems which mark the trend of modern
thought and action. He is a republican, believing in the reform
principles of Roosevelt, but he never aspired to public oflice until
1906, when he was elected as representative from his district, as above
noted. He is also interested in literary and musical societies and for
three years has been a director of the Jefferson Chautauqua Assembly.
His fraternal relations have since 1891 connected him with Morning Star
lodge, No. 159, A. F. & A. M., of which he served as secretary for
seven years. He belongs to the Presbyterian church of Jefferson and is
a member of the board of church trustees.
Mr. Stillman was married February 28, 1894, to Edith May Anderson, a
daughter of S. B. Anderson, one of the old settlers of the county. They
have no children of their own, but in June, 1905, adopted an infant
girl, whom they have christened Faith Winifred Stillman. Mr. Stillman’s
strong characteristics include a stalwart defense of what he believes
to be right and a firm expression of his opinions, without bitter
aggressiveness. In fact, he is very considerate of the feelings of
others, with a highly sensitized temperament, which is an almost
invariable accompaniment of one who finds his pleasure in literary and
aesthetic rather than in business lines.
|
