NORTHWESTERN IOWA

ITS HISTORY AND TRADITIONS

VOLUME II

1804-1926

R

E. S. RANDALL

Edgar S. Randall, a loyal Iowan, is known publisher of Spencer and for more than twenty years his name has figured prominently in business circles of this locality.  He was born July 29, 1870, in Washington county, Iowa, and is of Irish lineage.  His parents, William S. and Mary C. (Boden) Randall, were both natives of Ohio.  The latter was born March 28, 1845, in Morgan county, and the father's birth occurred in Trumbull county on September 4, 1840.  He was an adherent of the republican party and loyally defended the Stars and Stripes during the Civil war, serving for four and a half years as a member of Company C. Eighth Iowa Infantry.

Mr. Randall was educated in Fairfield, Nebraska, to which the family moved when he was a child of three, and in 1896, when twenty-six years of age, he arrived in Sidney, Iowa.  He located at Spencer in 1904 and is now at the head of a prosperous publishing business.  He has a comprehensive understanding of everything pertaining  to this line of activity and his well equipped plant enables him to turn out high-grade work.

On October 19, 1904, Mr. Randall was married in Sidney, Iowa, to Miss Daisy Wilson, a daughter of N. C. and Elizabeth (Sproul) Wilson, the former a native of Ireland, while the latter was born in the state of Illinois.  Mr. and Mrs. Randall have a son, Kenneth R., who is a student at the Nebraska State University, situated in Lincoln.  Mrs. Randall was born July 7, 1873, in Scott county, Iowa, and is connected with the P. E. O.  Mr. Randall is a Knight Templar Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine.  He belongs to the Spencer Commercial Club and is also identified with the Clay County Fair Association.  He is allied with the republican party and his life is governed by the teachings of the Methodist church.  He has ever been actuated by a strong desire to serve his community and is highly esteemed by the citizens of Spencer.

J. C. RENNISON

Among the worthy citizens of Sioux City of a past generation, whose efforts contributed in a very definite measure to the general prosperity of his community, was the late James C. Rennison.  His life history did not hinge on any lucky stroke or particularly fortuitous circumstance, but was characterized by steady, thoughtful and intelligent effort along legitimate lines.  By a life of high ideals and consistent methods in business affairs he has left his impress on the community t an unusual degree and his death was regarded as a distinct loss to the locality which he had honored by his residence.  Mr. Rennison was born in the north of Ireland on the 4th of March, 1839, and in childhood was brought to the United States by his parents, who located in Newburg, New York, in the public schools of which city he secured his education.  On attaining manhood, he engaged in the nursery business at Newburg, which he carried on until the opening of the Civil war, when he offered his services to his adopted country. He raised and  became captain of a company of the Seventy-first Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry.  At the close of the war, Mr. Rennison came to Bloomington, Illinois, where he engaged in business as a florist until 1881, when he came to Sioux City.  He here became associated in the same line with George H. Wright at Seventh and Pierce streets, but two years later he bought sole control of the business, which he moved to Ninth and Pierce streets.  By careful management and sound judgment, he realized a splendid success and in 1892, being compelled to seek larger quarters, he built extensive greenhouses at Twenty-fifth and Jones streets.  In 1909, after his death, the business was incorporated as the J. C. Rennison Company, of which his daughter, Miss Fannie L. Rennison, became president, a position which she still holds.  The business continued to grow to such an extent that in 1920 the company built large, modern greenhouses on Smithland road, beyond Morningside, and here they are equipped to successfully handle the large orders which come to them.  They do a wholesale and retail nursery and florist business, covering Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota.

In 1866, in Alton, Illinois, Mr. Rennison was married to Miss Elizabeth Ann Shields, the daughter of Walter Shields, who was of Scotch descent and of an old family of Alton.  To this union were born two children, Walter, of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and Fannie L., who is now the active president of the J. C. Rennison Company.  Mr. Rennison was one of the pioneer florists of this section of Iowa.  He always took a keen interest in civic affairs, giving hearty support to movements for the upbuilding of the community or the betterment of the public welfare.  He was a republican in his political views, was a member of the Knights of Pythias, and his religious belief was that of the Church of Christ, Scientist.  Because of his consistent and useful life and his kindly and genial manner, he long commanded the highest measure of confidence and respect among his acquaintances.

W. E. ROSE

Among the sturdy pioneers to whom Cherokee county is indebted for the development of its agricultural resources none is better known or more highly esteemed than William E. Rose, whose residence is this district covers a period of fifty-six years.  He was born May 25, 1843, in Portville, New York, and his parents, Abel B. and Jeannette (Wood) Rose, were lifelong residents of that state.  In their family were two sons, Henry A. and William E.

Mr. Rose was reared and educated in the Empire state and in 1863 enlisted in the Union army, becoming a member of the Fifteenth New York Cavalry, with which he served until honorably discharged on June 15, 1865.  He then started for the west, spending a year at Black River Falls, Wisconsin, and afterward paid a short visit to his old home.  On May 16, 1869, Mr. Rose settled in Cherokee county, which at that time was largely a wilderness, and turned his attention to the cultivation of the soil.  Through arduous labor he cleared the land and as the years passed brought it to a high state of productivity, enhancing its fertility by the rotation of crops and the application of scientific principles to his agricultural operations.  He is now the owner of two hundred acres of valuable farm land in this township but since 1908 has lived retired in Marcus, spending his declining years in ease and comfort.  He built a substantial residence, supplied with all modern conveniences, and the family home has been the scene of many enjoyable social gatherings.

In November, 1870, Mr. Rose was united in marriage to Emma Glines.  He belongs to the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and is a Christian Scientist in religious faith.  He is an adherent of the democratic party and was formerly active in public affairs, serving as town clerk and as a member of the school board.  As a young man he taught school in Marcus for six months and has always been deeply interested in educational matters.  Mr. Rose has been temperate in all things and is well preserved, having an alert mind and a good constitution.  He has faithfully discharged life's duties and obligations and his reward is the respect and good will of his fellowmen.