NORTHWESTERN IOWA

ITS HISTORY AND TRADITIONS

VOLUME II

1804-1926

H

C. E. Haakinson

Carl E. Haakinson, an enterprising business man of high standing, is thoroughly imbued with the admirable qualities of his Scandinavian ancestors and worthily bears a name that is deeply engraved upon the pages of Sioux City's history in terms of honor and success.  He was born May 5, 1876, in Sloan, Iowa, and his father, Edwin Haakinson, was a native of Ringsager, Hedemarken, Norway.  He was born January 4, 1844, and was a boy of ten when his parents, Haakin and Ellene (Amundson) Haakinson, left Ringsager and came with their family to the United States, settling in Winchester, Winnebago county, Wisconsin.  In September, 1861, when a youth of seventeen, he enlisted in the Union army, becoming a member of Company C, First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, and was later promoted to a position on the staff of General Lester.  Mr. Haakinson spent four years in the service of his adopted country, participating in the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary ridge and Knoxville, and was honorably discharged in September, 1865.  After the termination of the Civil war he returned to the Badger stare and obtained employment in the ship yard at De Pere, subsequently taking subcontracts for ship building at Fort Howard, Maryland.  In 1870 he opened a general store in Sloan, Iowa, and there resided until 1883, when he came to Sioux City.  He organized the Union Stock Yards Company, of which he was managing officer until January, 1889, and then established the Haakinson Packing House.  He was sole owner of the business and built up a large industry.  He next turned his attention to transportation affairs and was one of the five men who formed the Sioux City & Northern Railway Company.  He was one of the directors of the Sioux City Rapid Transit Company and a leader in every project for the development of this region.  He was managing director of the University of the Northwest and from 1885 until 1887 acted as treasurer of Woodbury county.  He was one of the most progressive men in Iowa and did much to shape the destiny of Sioux City, in which he was greatly admired and esteemed.  In 1870 he married Miss Carrie Hanson, who was also a native of Norway and during her infancy was brought to Wisconsin by her parents.

Mr. Haakinson was but seven years old when the family came to Sioux City and his education was acquired in its public schools.  He was graduated from high school in 1892 and for three years was employed in his father's packing plant.  In 1895 he started out for himself and for several years conducted his affairs independently as a dealer in building material on a brokerage basis.  he prospered in the undertaking and in 1904 formed a partnership with Robert I. Beaty.  The business was operated under the firm name of Haakinson & Beaty until 1915, when it was incorporated, and the present style of the Haakinson-Beaty Company was adopted.  Mr. Haakinson has formulated many well devised plans for the expansion of the business, which has now assumed large proportions, and as its president displays the foresight, administrative power and unerring judgment which were distinguishing features of his father's commercial career.

On December 20, 1904, Mr. Haakinson married Miss Evelyn Bowers, who came to Sioux City in 1900 from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and they now have five children.  Carlton B., the eldest, was graduated from the Shattuck Military Academy in 1924 and is now attending Williams College at Williamstown, Massachusetts.  He belongs to the Alpha Kappa Epsilon fraternity and is the possessor of a fine physique and a well developed intellect.  While a cadet he played football and baseball and excelled in these sports.  The other children are:  Bradford R., a young man of seventeen and a senior at the Shattuck Military Academy; Sue, who is fifteen years of age and a member of the junior class of St. Mary's Hall at Faribault, Minnesota; John Wallace, who is a student at the North junior high school in Sioux City; and Jean, a pupil at the Hunt grammar school of this city.

Mr. Haakinson is an enthusiastic hunter and fisherman and each season spends considerable time at his lodge on Deer lake, in northern Minnesota.  He belongs to the Sioux City Boat Club and through his connection with the Chamber of Commerce is stimulating municipal growth and development.  He is a consistent member of the St. Thomas Episcopal church and leads a healthful, well balanced life, enjoying to the fullest extent the respect and confidence of all with whom he has been associated.

George Haight

At an early age George Haight began to provide for his own support, exhibiting that spirit of courage and determination which carries the individual ever forward, and his life has been crowned with success.  He has reached the ripe age of seventy-eight years and is now living retired in Cherokee, enjoying a well deserved period of leisure.  He was born in New York, May 3, 1848, and his parents, Thomas and Adeline Luthera (Reed) Haight, were also natives of the Empire state.  They started for the west in 1857 and settled in Jackson county, Iowa, during the pioneer epoch in its history, spending the remainder of their lives in that section.  The father was a tailor and always followed the trade, acquiring marked skill in his work.  There were ten children in the family and four are now living, three sons and a daughter.

Mr. Haight attended the common schools of Jackson county and when a boy of thirteen secured work on a farm. He earned six dollars per month and at the age of sixteen enlisted in the Tenth United States Infantry, in which he served for three years, from 1865 until 1868, becoming corporal of his company.  He next went to Lawrence, Kansas, and for fourteen years was prominently identified with interests in a fruit farm, which he still owns.  On the expiration of that period he returned to the Hawkeye state and since 1922 has lived in Cherokee

In October, 1868, Mr. Haight married Miss Mary Pickard, who was a native of Newark, Ohio, and he sustained a great loss in her demise on January 27, 1922.  She had become the mother of four children:  Adelaide, the wife of Justin Barry, of Cherokee; Mary E., who lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa; Albert H., who makes his home in the city of Chicago; and Frank L., a resident of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  Mr. Haight casts his ballot for the candidates of the republican party and is s member of the Church of Christ in religious faith.  he belongs to Custer Post, No. 25, of the Grand Army of the Republic and is highly esteemed by the members of that organization as well as by those with whom he has been associated in other relations of life.

T. F. Harrington

Among the men who are closely and prominently identified with the financial interests of Sioux City, none takes precedence over Thomas F. Harrington, who has long been recognized as a man of more than ordinary business capacity and acumen and who has contributed in a very large measure to the prosperity and commercial advancement of this community.  Mr. Harrington was born near Cedar Rapids, Benton county, Iowa, in 1857, and is a son of William and Bridget (Guinan) Harrington, but of whom were natives of Ireland.  They emigrated to the United States with their families at the respective ages of eighteen and thirteen years, settling in Ohio.  After their marriage they came to Iowa, locating first in Iowa City, Johnson county, and subsequently in Benton county, where they were among the pioneer settlers and where William Harrington followed the occupation of farming for many years.  Subsequent to the death of his wife he retired and moved to Cedar Rapids, where he spent the remainder of his life.

Thomas F. Harrington pursued his early education in the public schools of Benton county and continued his studies in Tilford Academy at Vinton.  At the age of nineteen years he came to Woodbury county and engaged in teaching, his first school being four miles northwest of Kingsley.  He taught through five winters and then bought a farm three miles east of Moville, which he operated for three years, when he again engaged in school teaching and county work for about three years.  On the expiration of that period he purchased another farm near Kingsley, to which he devoted his attention for seven years, and in 1900 he came to Sioux City and for four years was connected with the Lockwood Land & Emigration Company.  In 1904 he formed a partnership with Ed M. Hunt, with whom he operated in the land business under the firm name of Hunt & Harrington until 1907, when the partnership was dissolved.  Mr. Harrington continued in the land business independently until 1911, at which time he sold his interests to James F. Toy and became associated with the Farmers Loan & Trust Company and the Farmers Trust & Savings Bank.  He served as vice president of the Farmers Loan & Trust Company for two years.  About 1912 the Farmers Trust & Savings Bank was made a national bank and the name of the institution was changed to National Bank of Commerce, of which Mr. Harrington soon afterward became the president, in which capacity he continued until the fall of 1914.  At that time Mr. Harrington and his associates organized the Continental National Bank and the Continental Mortgage Company and he was made president of both corporations.  In 1921 the Continental National Bank was merged with the Sioux National Bank, of which Mr. Harrington is vice president.  he is president of the Leeds Bank of Sioux City and was formerly interested in a number of country banks.  In all these relations he has shown superior capacity in financial matters and in business circles of this community he is highly esteemed as a man of high ideals and progressive principles.

In 1884, at Kingsley, Iowa, Mr. Harrington was married to Miss Maria O'Leary, daughter of Patrick O'Leary.  They are parents of the following children:  Anna, who is the wife of E. J. Culligan, of St. Paul Minnesota; Mary, who is a graduate of the University of California and who is now in the service of the Continental Mortgage Company of Sioux City; Vincent, a graduate of Notre Dame College, who was a member of the 1924 Notre Dame football team and who is now teaching and coaching in Columbia University of Portland, Oregon; Thomas F., Jr., who is identified with the Leeds Bank of Sioux City; Gerald, a graduate of the Sioux City high school; and Zeta.

Politically Mr. Harrington is a democrat and he belongs to the Knights of Columbus.  He is also a member of the Sioux City Golf and Country Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Columbia Luncheon Club.  Unassuming in manner, but genial and friendly in his social relations, he is widely acquainted and is deservedly popular in all the circles in which he moves.

G. A. Hartley

Dr. George Alexander Hartley has for the past eighteen years been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of medicine at Battle Creek, where he specializes in surgery and conducts a hospital.  His birth occurred near Ida Grove, Ida county, Iowa, on the 12th of November, 1882, his parents being Alexander F. and Frances Ellen (Glenn) Hartley, the former born at West Galway, Saratoga county, New York, October 1, 1845, and the latter at Glenville, Montgomery county, New York, May 12, 1841.  The Hartley family is of English lineage, while the Glenn family comes of Scotch, English and Dutch descent and was represented in the Revolutionary war.  Alexander F. Hartley, the father of Doctor Hartley of this review, was a son of Isaac and Sarah (Barlow) Hartley, a grandson of Robert and Martha (Smithson) Hartley, and a great-grandson of Henry Hartley.  David Hartley, M. P., was plenipotentiary in the treaty with America.  James Smithson was a famous philanthropist and the founder of the Smithsonian institution.

George A. Hartley acquired his early education in the rural school of his native county, subsequently pursued a high school course at Ida Grove and continued his studies in Coe College at Cedar Rapids.  His professional training was received in the State University of Iowa, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in June, 1908.  He had spent the period of his minority on the farm in Ida county on which he was born and had taken up his abode at Ida Grove in 1903.  Following his graduation from the State University of Iowa he began the practice of his chosen profession at Battle Creek, where he has remained continuously to the present time and has gained a degree of success commensurate with his skill and ability.  As above stated, he devotes particular attention to surgery and conducts a well equipped hospital.  He keeps thoroughly informed concerning the latest discoveries of the medical science through his membership in the Ida County Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the American Association of Railroad Surgeons.

On the 19th of June, 1912, at Odebolt, Iowa, Doctor Hartley was united in marriage to Miss Flora E. Buehler, who was there born on the 3d of September, 1883.  They are the parents of four children - Frances Elise, Eugene Robert, Miriam Constance and George Norman, all of whom are still at home.  Doctor Hartley is a Scottish Rite Mason and a worthy exemplar of the teachings and purposes of the craft.  He subordinates all other interests to the demands of his profession, of which he is an able exponent, and he fills an essential place in his community, in which he is highly esteemed.

L. H. Henry

Among the leaders in financial circles in Sioux City is Lemuel H. Henry, vice president and chairman of the board of directors of the First National Bank, and a man who has staunchly supported every enterprise or movement for the upbuilding of Sioux City.  He was born at Vernon, Van Buren county, Iowa, on the 9th of May, 1871, and is a son of Thomas P. And Jennie M. (Bennett) Henry.  The former was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, and was there reared and received a public school education.  At the opening of the Civil war, he responded to the president's call for troops, enlisting from Van Buren county, on May 27, 1861, and was mustered into service at Keokuk, Iowa, as a private in Company F, Second Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, under Captain J. M. Tuttle, to serve three years or during the war.  The regiment was assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division, Sixteenth Corps, Army of the Tennessee.  He participated in the battle of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, February 14-16, 1862, Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862, and Corinth, Mississippi, October 3-4, 1862, there sustaining a shell would.  He also received a gunshot would at the battle of Fort Donelson.  He was honorably discharged at Pulaski, Tennessee, December 31, 1863, but re-enlisted on January 1, 1864, as a private and veteran in the same company and regiment.  He took part in teh siege of Atlanta, Georgia, and in Sherman's march to the sea.  He was promoted to sergeant in December, 1864, at Savannah, Georgia, and was again honorably discharged at Louisville, Kentucky, July 1, 1865, at the close of the war.  At the time of his death he was a member of Elias M. Wore Post, No, 516, Grand Army of the Republic, but had previously been a charter member of Shriver Post, No. 177, at Vernon, Iowa, which he had served as commander.  On February 16, 1870, he was married to Miss Jennie M. Bennett, who also was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, and whose parents, Samuel M. And Sarah M. (Whitson) Bennett, were early settlers of this state, her father coming from Ohio and her mother from Pennsylvania.  They were both of Quaker descent.  Mrs. Henry's oldest brother, Lemuel W. Bennett, was killed at the age of seventeen years in the Civil war, while serving with the Eight Regiment Iowa Cavalry, and her youngest brother, Corwin N. Bennett, died at the close of the Spanish-American war, after serving in the Fiftieth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry.  The death of Thomas P. Henry occurred in 1900, and his widow then made her home with her son, Lemuel H., until her death, which occurred February 2, 1925.

Lemuel H. Henry secured his education in the public schools of his native county and in a business college at Burlington, Iowa.  During vacations and after leaving school he followed farming until eighteen years of age, when he decided to start on a business career.  His first job was as timekeeper for the Phillips Fuel Company, of Ottumwa, Iowa, at their mines near that city, where he remained three months.  He then accepted a position as messenger in the Ottumwa National Bank, remaining there two years.  He then went to Burlington, Iowa, where he became associated with a fire insurance company, first as bookkeeper, and later as treasurer.  In January, 1899, the company removed to Sioux City, and in 1901 Mr. Henry entered the Iowa State National Bank, which institution later absorbed the First National Bank, using the latter name.  Mr. Henry was made cashier of this bank in 1906, holding that position until 1915, when he was elected vice president, and in 1924 was made chairman of the board of directors, which positions he still retains.

Politically, Mr. Henry is an ardent supporter of the republican party and takes a deep interest in public affairs but has never sought office of any nature.  He is a member of Tryian Lodge, No. 508, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; Abu-Bekr Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Sioux City Lodge, No. 112, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  He is a member of the Association of Reserve City Bankers, the Sioux City Country Club and the Kiwanis Club.  He is actively interested in civic affairs and throughout the range of his acquaintance is held in the highest measure of confidence and esteem.

H. H. Hoberg

Among the highly respected and influential citizens of Clay county who, after years of earnest and well directed labor, are now retired from active business pursuits, stands H. H. Hoberg, of Spencer, and no man enjoys public confidence and esteem to a greater degree.  He was born in LaSalle county, Illinois, December 2, 1857, and is a son of H. H. and Frederica (Schlingman) Hoberg, both of whom were natives of Germany.  They came to the United States early in the '50s and located in LaSalle county, where they lived until 1868, when they moved to Livingston county, Illinois, and bought a farm.  There the mother died in 1879, leaving two sons.  The father was again married in 1889 and in 1896 came to Spencer, Iowa, where he lived until his death, which occurred August 31, 1900o.

H. H. Hoberg was reared on the farm in Livingston county, Illinois, and secured his education in the public schools.  When he attained his majority he started out on his own account, working about a year as a farm hand, and then for seven years he farmed rented land in Illinois.  In 1889 he came to Clay county, Iowa, and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, on which he located and to the improvement and cultivation of which he devoted himself with such success that he was enabled to buy more land, until today he is the owner of six hundred and forty acres of well improved and highly cultivated land in this locality.  In 1906 Mr. Hoberg retired and moved to Spencer, where he owns an attractive home and is now enjoying a well earned leisure, though still maintaining a general supervision over his properties.

On April 13, 1882, Mr. Hoberg was united in marriage to Miss Anna E. Vollmer, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of August and Dorothy Vollmer, both of whom were natives of Germany, and both are now deceased.  To Mr. and Mrs. Hoberg have been born two children, as follows:  Minnie H. is the widow of Ray E. King and the mother of three children, David H., born July 31, 1915, Margaret L., born March 19, 1917, and Mary L., born January 25, 1920.  Carl, born April, 14, 1885, lives on his father's farm.  He is married and has five children, three sons and two daughters.  Politically, Mr. Hoberg maintains an independent attitude, voting according to the dictates of his judgment, and has been active in affairs relating to the welfare of the community, having served as commissioner of highways in his native state and as a member of the Clay county board of supervisors.  Fraternally he is a member of Spencer Lodge, No. 312, A. F. and A. M., in which he has passed all the chairs, and Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, A. A. S. R.  Mr. and Mrs. Hoberg are also members of Evening Shade Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star in which Mrs. Hoberg served as worthy matron for three years.  He and his wife are members and liberal supporters of the Congregational church.  He is a genial and companionable gentleman, has a wide acquaintance throughout this county, and commands the respect and good will of all who know him.

S. B. Hoskins

Dr. Samuel Bennett Hoskins, one of the foremost representatives of the medical profession in northwestern Iowa, has been a practicing physician and surgeon of Sioux City for nearly three decades.  He is numbered among Sioux City's worthy native sons, his birth having here occurred on the 4th of April, 1871.  The following interesting review of the life of his father, John C. C. Hoskins, is copied from a history of Iowa which was published in 1915:

John C. C. Hoskins came to an honorable old age; in fact was almost a nonagenarian when called to the home beyond.  As a Pioneer of Sioux City his name should be engraved upon the pages of Iowa's History, but he was not only a resident, he was also one of the active business men of Woodbury county and a supporter of all those projects which tend to promote public progress, upbuilding and advancement.  He was born in Lyman, Grafton county, New Hampshire, January 18, 1820.  His father, Samuel Hoskins, engaged in the practice of medicine.  He married Harriet Byron, daughter of Caleb Cushing, of Orange, New Hampshire, who late in life removed to Chelsea, Massachusetts, where he passed away in 1873.  In tracing the ancestral line of J. C. C. Hoskins it is found that he was descended from early Massachusetts families, represented in America since an early period in the colonization of the new world.  The Hoskins family was represented at Scituate, Massachusetts, in 1834, while the Cushings lived at Hingham in 1635, as did the Hawke and Lincoln families, all of whom were ancestors of Mr. Hoskins.  The Reeds were in Weymouth in 1835; the Cobbs on Cape Cod before 1640; and John Drake came over with Winthrop, while his cousin, Thomas Drake, settled in Weymouth in 1853.   Mr. Hoskins also traced his ancestry back to the Cottons of Boston, the Sawyers of Lancaster and Newburyport, and the Wainwrights and Ambroses of Essex county.  In fact there seems no one of his progenitors who came to this country after 1700, save his great-grandfather, John Church, a Presbyterian elder from the north of Ireland, who arrived in 1872, and the Huguenot, Jacques Pineaux, the father of Dolly Pineaux, his great-great-grandmother, famous to this day among her descendants for her personal beauty and he magnificent golden hair.

William Hoskins, an ancestor in the paternal line, was at Scituate in 1634, was a freeman of Plymouth colony in 1638, an esquire in 1642, and bore the reputation of being a well-to-do man of religious character.  His son William, together with William Reed and Thomas Drake,  was a member of the colony that purchased Bristol county from the Indians and settled at Taunton, whence his numerous descendants have gone out far and wide into the northern and middle states.  William Hoskins came from Norfolkshire, England, and was a wheelwright by trade.  A contemporary biographer continues with the ancestral history of Mr. Hoskins:  "His descendants down to the grandfather of J. C. C. Hoskins have been mechanics or farmers of the middle class.  Few of them have been needy, fewer have been rich, few of them ignorant, but not many of them college bred, very few merchants or lawyers and fewer clergymen or physicians, much disposed to have their own way, tolerably ready to hear argument and be led by reason, but quick to oppose any show of assumed authority; in every conflict for individual freedom, since the days of Henry VIII at least, they have fought against prerogative and oppression.  None of the family have held important public offices, but many of them were respectable and influential in their neighborhoods.  His maternal ancestor, in the eighth degree, Matthew Cushing, with a numerous family, some of whom were already adults, came also from Norfolkshire.  He settled at Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1634.  The Cushing family was old and wealthy in Norfolk, and had large landed possessions there.  Their history is well known back into the fifteenth century, and there (as in this country since) they were men of education and influence and wealth.  The descendants of Matthew Cushing had, previous to the year 1800, furnished more than thirty graduates to Harvard College, and a more considerable number of very eminent clergy and lawyers and judges, than any other New England family.  Among them history especially commemorates Thomas and John Cushing, who took very prominent parts in bringing on and prosecuting the war of independence, and William Cushing, who, already associate justice of the United States court, declined the chief justiceship when tendered to him by President Washington.  Nor has the Cushing family lacked men of distinction in the present century - Witness Caleb Cushing, of Newburyport, Judge Cushing of Boston, and the late chief justice of the state of New Hampshire.

"His parents reared a family of eight - five sons and three daughters - all of whom exemplified the character of their paternal ancestry by a respectable mediocrity of ability, so far as the accumulation of wealth and extended influence go, and their maternal ancestry by a considerable fondness for reading and literature, which doubtless led to the college education of the subject of this sketch.  Three of the sons - all that were physically able - also proved that the family hatred of oppression retained its ancient strength, by enlisting at the very outset of the war against slavery, and fighting for freedom until all were free.  So in the Revolutionary war his grandfather Hoskins and four brothers fought from the beginning to the end.

"His father led a hard life in a hard country among the granite outliers of the White mountains, but he was always honored and respected by all that knew him, and when he died, in 1873, at Chelsea, Massachusetts, where he went to live in his old age, he was much mourned through the whole circle of his acquaintances.  Not less  beloved nor less widely mourned was his wife, who, after her husband's death, came to Sioux City, where she had a home with her son, J. D. Hoskins, until she died in August, 1882."

During the boyhood of J. C. C. Hoskins his father engaged in the practice of medicine in a rural community, where his patients usually paid in farm produce.  The boy had comparatively few advantages, yet was eager for a college education.  His desire for this was never quenched, yet in the beginning it seemed impossible of fulfillment.  However, by working at farm labor in the summer and teaching school in the winter, he eventually saved enough to meet the expenses of a college course and at the age of twenty-one was graduated from Dartmouth with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.  He later received the degree of Master of Arts from the same institution.  He gave a note to his father for six hundred dollars payable on demand.  He possessed but one suit of clothing and little else of this world's goods when he applied for the position of principal of the academy at Lebanon, New Hampshire, which had recently been taken over by the Universalist church and was called The Lebanon Liberal Institute.  he was engaged at a salary of four hundred dollars per year and entered upon his duties in September, 1841.  Subsequently his salary was increased to five hundred dollars and many men who afterward won distinction in professional life or political circles were among his students.  His earnings as a teacher enabled him to discharge his financial obligations to his father, but in 1846 his health failed and he was obliged to abandon teaching.

Mr. Hoskins then turned his attention to civil engineering and was first employed on the construction of the Cochituate water works at Boston, Massachusetts, beginning the preliminary survey in June, 1846, and remaining until the completion of the works in the fall of 1848.  He had charge of the Newton and Brookline tunnels until they were well under way and was then deputed to make a survey for what is now the Brookline old reservoir.  When the survey was approved he took charge of the construction work and so continued until its completion.  In 1849 he was connected with Thomas S. Williams, who had been appointed superintendent of the Sullivan Railroad in New Hampshire.  Not long after Mr. Williams was made superintendent of the Boston & Maine Railroad and left Mr. Hoskins in charge of the Sullivan Railroad for some months.  Later the latter joined the former in Boston and was engaged on the construction of the Boston & Maine Railroad until June, 1850, when an engineer of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad engaged him for the excavation and construction of its tunnels.  On the 15the of June, 1850, he found himself near the western end of the railroad on the Monongahela river.  He was then engaged to relocate a portion of the western division with the instruction to lay as good a line as possible and to get as near the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania as he could without touching that state.  That task successfully accomplished, he was then given charge of the tunnel division and when the work was well under way was transferred to the preliminary survey of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad, which is now the main line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, crossing the Ohio river at Parkersburg, West Virginia.  At that time there had been no work so difficult undertaken in the United States.  In one hundred miles there were twenty-two tunnels and a ruling grade of eighty feet per mile.  For nearly six months Mr. Hoskins directed the efforts of a corps of sixteen men, covering a broad extend of rugged country.  He located sixty-five miles of the road and superintended the construction of thirty-seven miles, including the central and most difficult portion.  The work was begun in the summer of 1852 and a train made the initial trip to the Ohio river on Christmas day of 1856.  Mr. Hoskins left his position in January, 1857, and, declining an advantageous offer from the Texas Railroad Company, started for the far west.  He had become interested in the shaping of events in Kansas and, accompanied by his wife, started for that state April 7, 1857, going from Parkersburg, Virginia, to St. Louis by steamer, the trip covering eight days.

Leaving his wife with relatives in St. Louis, Mr. Hoskins then proceeded by rail to Jefferson City and thence to Lexington, on to Kansas City, and to Leavenworth, Weston, St. Joseph, Omaha and Council Bluffs, arriving in Sioux City, May 5, 1857,.  Fellow passengers informed him that Kansas had settled her difficulties and would doubtless be a free state and he intended to settle there, but his cousin, John C. Flint, urged him to go to Sioux City before making a permanent location.  Mr. Hoskins recognized the advantages and opportunities here offered, purchased lots and a house on Nebraska street and there resided for many years.  Sioux City was then a frontier village, having no communication excepting by river trip to St. Louis, occupying fourteen days.  There was no railroad within three hundred miles and across the river was Indian territory, while to the east there was no settlement of any kind for more than a hundred miles, nor none to the north until Pembina was reached.  Sioux City was a town of log cabins, board shanties and tents, yet people believed in its future and were eagerly buying lots.

Mr. Hoskins had been married July 10, 1856, to Miss Clarissa Virginia Bennett, of Weston, Lewis county, Virginia, the second daughter of Hon. James Bennett, an influential lawyer who had often represented his district both in the lower and upper houses of the Virginia legislature.  Mrs. Hoskins remained in St. Louis while her husband went on the prospecting trip and when Sioux City had been determined upon as their future home he returned and brought his wife to northern Iowa, where they arrived on the 5th of June, 1857.  He also bought some supplies, a few floor boards, a window and a door and in a little cabin sixteen feet square, on Nebraska street, they set up housekeeping until a small frame house was built, there continuing to reside until the spring of 1864, when the property was sold.  Two of their eight children were born in that primitive home.

The last work which Mr. Hoskins did as a civil engineer was when he made the preliminary survey for the Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad in the autumn of 1866.  He became the first president, as well as chief engineer, of that road and was very prominent and influential in public affairs.  In 1858 he was chosen township assessor and city engineer and continued in office until 1871.  He made profiles and advised street grades which were adopted in 1858 and revised and readopted in 1871.  At different times he was called to public office, being appointed to fill vacancies in the position of county sheriff and also of mayor.  He was for three terms a member of the school board and for one year was county superintendent of schools and never caused to feel the deepest interest in the cause of education.  He was also postmaster of Sioux City for nearly sixteen years, retiring from the office in the spring of 1878.  He aided in founding the first two national banks of Sioux City and was a director of one of these for several years.  He was also founder and one of the directors of the First Savings Bank; was president of the Sioux City Building Fund Association for many years; and in 1864 aided in organizing the J. M. Pinckney Book & Stationery Company.  He was one of the founders of the Unitarian church of Sioux City and one of the founders and honorary president of the Sioux City Scientific Association, now the Sioux City Academy of Science and Letters.  He became a member of the Odd Fellows lodge in the early '50s and remained a member until his death.  In fact, there were few important business or public interests of Sioux City with which he was not connected from the earliest period of its development, and he aided in laying broad and deep the foundation upon which its present prosperity has been built.

Mr. Hoskins was survived by his wife and the following children:  Dr. S. B. Hoskins and Mrs. Mary H. Wakfield, both living in Sioux City; Dr. J. B. Hoskins, of Allen, Nebraska; Mrs. Helen E. Johnson, of Los Angeles, California; and Mrs. Lucy M. Ayres, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  Mrs. Clarissa Virginia (Bennett) Hoskins, the mother of the above named, departed this life in December, 1916.  Mr. Hoskins passed away in Sioux City, August 13, 1909.  For a number of years prior to his death he had lived retired, enjoying a rest which he had truly earned and richly deserved.  All who knew him recognized his worth, appreciated his splendid qualities and respected him for his upright life and what he accomplished.  His history, indeed, forms an integral chapter in the annals of Sioux City and of the development of the northwest.

Samuel Bennett Hoskins, whose name introduces this review, completed a high school course in Sioux City by graduation in 1888 and then entered the University of South Dakota, from which institution he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1892.  His professional training was acquired in the State University of Iowa, which conferred upon him the degree of M. D. in 1896.  The following year he was offered and accepted the position of house physician in the Homeopathic Hospital of the State University of Iowa.  It was in the summer of 1897 that he began the private practice of medicine in Sioux City, where he has remained continuously to the present time and has long been recognized as one of the leading representatives of the healing art.  He has membership in the Sioux City Homeopathic Society, the Iowa State Homeopathic Society, the American Institute of Homeopathy and the Medical Society of the Missouri Valley.

In 1902 Doctor Hoskins was united in marriage to Miss Anna Loefstrom, of Omaha, Nebraska.  They are the parents of two daughters, namely:  Clarissa H., who is superintendent of the branch libraries of the Sioux City Public Library; and M. Charlotte, assistant librarian in the Los Angeles Public Library.  Fraternally Doctor Hoskins is affiliated with Landmark Lodge No. 103, A. F. & A. M., and with Sioux City Lodge, No. 164, I. O. O. F., and he enjoys high standing in social as well as professional circles of his native city.

C. W. Hoxie

Among the worthy retired farmers and veterans of the Civil war now living in Clay county, is Charles W. Hoxie, who is also numbered among those who have contributed to the development and progress of this section of the state.  Mr. Hoxie was born in Branch county, Michigan, on the 7th of July, 1849, and is a son if Orton and Hannah M. (Van Patten) Hoxie.  His parents were born, reared and married in New York state, whence they went to Michigan in 1812, locating on a farm, where they spent the remainder of their lives.   The father was engaged in railroad construction work and laid the first T rail on the Rock Island railroad into Joliet, Illinois.  They were the parents of six children, three of whom are still living.

Charles W. Hoxie was reared on his father's farm in Michigan and received his education in the public schools of that locality.  In 1864, when fifteen years of age, he enlisted, at Jackson, Michigan, in Company I, Thirteenth Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry, with which he served to the end of the war.  He took part in a number of the big closing battles of that war and marched with Sherman from Atlanta to the sea.  He came through with but one slight wound and was mustered out of the service at Louisville, Kentucky.  He then returned home and remained on the farm with his father until he had attained his majority.  He was then married and in 1871 he started west, locating in Cherokee county, Iowa,  from which point he soon afterwards went to O'Brien county, Iowa, where he took up a homestead in Grant township.  He lived on that place until 1878, when he rented the farm and moved to Spencer.  For awhile he was engaged in grading work on the railroad, but later he sold his O'Brien county farm and bought one hundred and forty-four acres of land in Clay county, to the improvement and cultivation of which he devoted his efforts, making of it one of the best farms in this section of the state.  He is now retired from active business affairs and is living in a comfortable and attractive home in Spencer.

In 1871 Mr. Hoxie was united in marriage to Miss Cornelia Bishop, daughter of Levi and Susan Bishop, both of whom are deceased.  To Mr. and Mrs. Hoxie have been born five children, namely:  Alice, who is the wife of J. C. Taber; Nina M., the wife of R. W. Dean; Frank O., who lived on his father's farm;  R. W.; and one that died in infancy.  Mr. Hoxie is a member of Annett Post, No. 124, Grand Army of the Republic, and in political affairs gives his support to the republican party.  Mr. Hoxie is a poet of more than ordinary ability and has a large collection of his writings in book form.  Many of the poems have been published and have received very flattering comment.  Mr. Hoxie is a man of sterling character, has always given his support to those movements which have had for their object the betterment of the community, and has ever been regarded as a reliable and dependable citizen.

J. W. Hubbard

Jesse W. Hubbard, a successful attorney, has continuously followed his profession in Sioux City for thirty-two years and worthily bears a name which has long been synonymous with the highest ideals in Iowa's citizenship.  He was born in 1871 and his life has been spent in this city, in which he is esteemed and respected.  His father, Asahel Wheeler Hubbard, was born January 18, 1819, in Haddam, Middlesex county, Connecticut, and was a son of Simeon and Esther (Wheeler) Hubbard, both of Puritan stock.  At the age of nineteen he went to Indiana and for a time sold books in Rushville, where he afterward taught school.  He devoted his leisure hours to the study of law and in January, 1841, was licensed to practice in the district court of Rush county.  For sixteen years he was connected with litigated interests of that locality and in 1857 started for the west, establishing his home in Sioux City, Iowa.  While in Indiana he represented Rush county in the state senate for three years, from 1847 until 1850, refusing to become a candidate for reelection, and a year after his arrival in Iowa was called to the office of judge of the fourth judicial circuit, which at that time embraced about thirty counties in the northwestern portion of the state.  He served for four years and his rulings indicated strong mentality, careful analysis, a comprehensive knowledge of the law and an unbiased judgment.  His record won him election to congress in 1862 and for six years he was one of the  able, conscientious members of the national legislative body.  He was a Whig until the party ceased to exist and then became a republican.  Judge Hubbard was equally successful as a business man and financier and aided in organizing the First National Bank of Sioux City, of which he was president for a number of years.  During his wise administration the institution enjoyed a steady growth and he was also prominently identified with the railroad business.  He reached the age of sixty years, passing away September 22, 1879, in Sioux City, and his grave in Floyd cemetery is marked by a massive column of granite, bearing upon it this inscription:  "Erected by his fellow-citizens, in memory of a faithful public servant, a self-sacrificing citizen, a true man."

The public schools of his native city afforded Jesse W. Hubbard his early educational opportunities and his legal studies were pursued in Yale University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1893.  He returned to Sioux City and became associated with the law firm of Wright, Call & Hubbard, with which he was connected for five years.  Since 1898 he has practiced under his own name and each year has chronicled a marked increase in his clientele, which now ranks with the largest and most remunerative in the city.  He has devoted much time to the study of real estate and probate law and is recognized as an expert in the examination of titles.  He is well versed in all branches of jurisprudence and in the preparation of his cases is most thorough and painstaking.

Mr. Hubbard is married and has three children:  Edward, a boy of fourteen, who is now attending school in Washington, D. C.; and John and Katherine, aged respectively thirteen and seven years.  Mr. Hubbard is a member of the Sioux City Bar Association and the Professional Men's Club.  Along fraternal lines he is connected with the Masonic order, belonging to Tyrian Lodge, No. 508, F. & A. M., and exemplifies in his life the beneficent teachings of the craft.