NORTHWESTERN IOWA

ITS HISTORY AND TRADITIONS

VOLUME II

1804-1926

E

G. H. Eastman

George H. Eastman, now of Long Beach, California, was one of the venerable citizens of Storm Lake, having been a resident of this community for more than a half century and his labors were a valuable element in its development and progress.  He rose to a position of leadership in financial affairs and his work in the field of public service has been of much importance and value.  He was born April 1, 1846, in North Amherst, Massachusetts, and in  both the paternal and maternal lines is descended from Puritan families of New England.  His parents were Austin and Mary Haskell (Spear) Eastman, the former of whom was born October 5, 1812, in North Amherst, and the latter at Shutesbury, Massachusetts, April 19, 1814.

Mr. Eastman supplemented his common school instruction by three years' attendance at the new London academy of New Hampshire and in October, 1867, entered the first class of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, in which he was a student for two years.  In May, 1870, he came to the middle west and for three years was identified with building operations, residing successively in Elgin, Chicago and Maywood, Illinois.  He came to Storm Lake, Iowa, in November, 1873, and taught school for two years, ringing the first bell in the first permanent school building in the town.  In August, 1875, Mr. Eastman turned his attention to commercial pursuits and for three years engaged in real estate, insurance and abstract work.  In January, 1876, he entered the Storm Lake Bank as bookkeeper and assistant cashier and in January, 1882, became assistant cashier in the First National Bank, of which he was cashier from 1883 until 1886.  For six years he was connected with H. S. Ballou & Company and the Ballou Banking Company as secretary and manager and in 1892 returned to the First National Bank in the capacity of vice president.  He was afterward elected president of that institution and filled the office until 1898, ably and successfully directing the operations of the bank.  Afterward he engaged in insurance and abstract work and when he had reached the eightieth milestone on life's journey was still active in business here, retaining both physical and mental vigor, but on the 1st of October, 1926, removed to California.

On November 6, 1871, at Chicago, Illinois, Mr. Eastman was united in marriage to Miss Kate Agnes Dewey, who was born May 11, 1843, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and passed away December 1, 1917.  Mr. Eastman is a stanch adherent of the republican party and has ever  been actuated by an unselfish spirit of devotion to the general good, serving his city with rare fidelity.  He was city recorder for three years and for a similar period was township trustee.  He acted as county supervisor for three years and for eight years was a member of the city council.  He was park commissioner for fourteen  Years and for a like period was treasurer of the Storm Lake independent school district.  Mr. Eastman has a high conception of duty and honor, caring little for the artificialities of life, and through the bonds of loyal and progressive citizenship and the ties of enduring friendship has attached himself closely to the residents of Storm Lake.

Nettie S. Eells

Nettie Sophia Eells has been successfully engaged in the millinery business at Ida Grove during the past seventeen years and is numbered among the highly esteemed and representative women of the community.  Her birth occurred at Freeport, Illinois, on the 23d of June, 1865, her parents being Amos Gaylord and Adaline (Smith) Eells, the former born in Chautauqua county, New York, February 23, 1826, and the latter in Cattaraugus county, New York, October 23, 1831.  The family is of English lineage.  Amos G. Eells first arrived in Ida county, Iowa, in 1862, at which time he purchased and homesteaded a large tract of land two miles west of Ida Grove.  Owing to the hostility of the Indians, however, he returned to Freeport, Illinois, and did not again come to this state until 1880, at which time he took up his permanent abode in Ida county.  Here he passed a way on the 16th of June, 1891, while his wife was called to her final rest on teh 28th of January, 1894.  Ida Smith, daughter of Edwin Smith and cousin of Mrs. Adaline (Smith) Eells, was the first white child born in Ida Grove and the town was named for her.

The military record of the Eells family is notable one by reason of the distinguished war service of many of its representatives.  The ancestral line is traced back to Sir John Eells, who was killed in Cromwell's army.  His son was Major Samuel Eells, U. S. A.  Fourteen of the name of Eells fought in the Revolutionary war, among these being Captain Waterman Eells.  Major Edward Eells also made an honorable record as a soldier, while James J. Eells died in service in the Spanish-American war.  All the male members of the family who were of the required age participated in the World war.  Many of its representatives have dedicated their lives to the ministry and to the cause of higher education, some of the name being among the first white missionaries who sought to enlighten the Indians in the west.

Nettie S. Eells enjoyed the advantages of a high school education.  She was a maiden of fifteen summers when in 1880 she accompanied her parents on their removal from Freeport, Illinois, to Ida county, Iowa, where she has resided continuously to the present time.  It was in 1909 that she embarked in the millinery business at Ida Grove, where she has since developed a patronage of extensive and profitable proportions and enjoys an enviable reputation as a woman of marked artistic skill as well as executive ability.  Miss Eells belongs to the Daughters of the American Revolution and to the Women's Club.  She is a Congregationalist in religious faith and a member of various church societies.  She is widely and favorably known throughout the community in which she has lived from girlhood, the circle of her friends being almost coextensive with the circle of her acquaintances.

C. O. Epley

The biography of a man is of importance and interest to the men just to the degree that his life and work touches and influences his time and the lives of individuals.  Only in a feeble way, at best can the life story of any man be told on the printed page.  The story is better as it is written in the hearts of men and women, and the man himself does the writing.  Dr. Clarence O. Epley has long been engaged in the work of alleviating human suffering and thus lengthening the span of life, and has not only been successful in the professional work but has also won the gratitude and confidence of those with whom he has come into contact.  Born in Butler county, Iowa, on the 25th of December, 1882, he is a son of Jacob H. and Mary (Becker) Epley, the former born in Center county, Pennsylvania, and the latter in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany.  The mother was brought to this country when eight years of age by her parents and was reared in Stevenson county, Illinois, as was her future husband, their marriage occurring there.  There Jacob H. Epley enlisted for service in the Civil war, taking part in the last year of the conflict, and soon after returning home he was married.  About 1868 he came to Iowa, locating in Butler county, where he bought eighty-six acres of virgin prairie.  Here he built a frame dwelling and prospered in his farming operations, later buying one hundred acres additional, just across the line in Bremer county.  He conducted farming operations there until 1904, when he retired and moved to Waverley, where he is now living, but still retains his farm holdings.

Clarence O. Epley attended the public schools, graduating from Shell Rock high school in 1903, and he then spent three years at Upper Iowa University, at Fayette.  In 1906 he matriculated in the medical school of the University of Illinois, where he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1910.  He served a seven months' externship at the Augustana Hospital, Chicago, before graduation.  He was given third place in the competitive examination for internship at the Chicago Polyelinic Hospital, and then served two months.  There he was given a recommendation to the Hospital of the Good Shepherd, at Syracuse, New York, where he served for six months on the surgical staff.  For three months he was with Dr. L. C. Kern, at Waverley, Iowa, and then engaged in the practice of his profession at Fort Dodge, Iowa, for six months, followed by six months at Nora Springs, Iowa, and five years at La Porte City, Iowa.  In 1917 he went to Durango, Colorado, where for fourteen months during the influenza epidemic he served as assistant to Dr. Benjamin J. Ochsner.  He was making preparations to go to Denver and enlist for service in the World war when the Armistice was signed, and on December 15, 1918, he came to Spirit Lake and has since been engaged in the active practice of medicine here.  He has been very successful and has gained an enviable reputation among the leading physicians of this section of the state.

In 1909 Doctor Epley was united in marriage to Miss Valtina E. Carbauh, of Fort Madison, Iowa, who is a graduate nurse of the West Side Hospital of Chicago, class of 1909.  To them have been born two children, Violet Geraldine and Berne Carbauh, both of whom are students in high school.  The Doctor is a member of the Dickinson County Medical Society, the Upper Des Moines Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.  Fraternally he is a member of Twilight Lodge, No. 329, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Minnewaukon Lodge, No. 274, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his wife are members of Twilight Chapter No. 59, Order of the Eastern Star.  The Doctor is a member and formerly a director of the Spirit Lake Commercial Club and takes an active and effectual interest in community welfare.  Genial and kindly, he easily wins friends and throughout this locality is held in highest esteem.