IOWA HISTORY PROJECT |
NORTHWESTERN
IOWA
ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION
VOLUME III
1804-1926
BIO'S M
Though a native of the old Bay state, the interests of John A. Magoun, president of the Sioux National Bank of Sioux City, former treasurer of Woodbury county, a former member of the common council of Sioux City, president of the Missouri River Bridge Company and identified in an administrative capacity with numerous commercial and industrial enterprises here, for many years one of the most active and influential personal factors in the development of the varied interests of his home town, have centered here since the days of his childhood and he thus regards himself as much an Iowan as though indeed native and "to the manner born." Mr. Magoun was born in Somerville, an important suburb of the city of Boston, in Middlesex county, Massachusetts, August 21, 1861, and is a son of John A. and Ella C. (Woodbury) Magoun, both of whom were born at Meford, Massachusetts, and were members of old New England families, both the Magouns and the Woodburys having been represented in Massachusetts since colonial days. John A. Magroun, Sr., came west in 1863 and after looking over the then rapidly developing section of northwestern Iowa established a dairy business in Sioux City. Three years later, in 1866, he moved his family here, established his home in Sioux City and became a prominent factor in the development of the dairy industry throughout this section of the country.
John A. Magoun, Jr., was but five years of age when in 1866 he came to Iowa with his parents and he has since been a resident of Sioux City, "growing up" with the place, an active promoter of its interests since the days of his youth as one of the real leaders in the general social, civic, commercial and industrial life of the city. In 1878, when in his seventeenth year, Mr. Magoun was graduated from the Sioux City high school. For a year thereafter he was employed as a clerk in the office of D. H. Talbot, a local broker in land warrents, and then transferred his services to the local offices of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, where he remained for eighteen months, during which time he was advanced to the position of cashier in the railroad office. It was in 1881 that Mr. Magoun had his initial experience in banking, a line that for a period of forty-five years has engrossed the greater part of his time and attention. He left the railroad office to become a clerk in the local bank that through various reorganizations has come to be the Sioux National Bank, of which he is the executive head. For ten years and more, that important formative period of his life when he was in his "twenties," Mr. Magoun continued this clerical connection with the bank, meanwhile taking an intelligent and enthusiastic interest in general local affairs and becoming recognized as one of the leaders n the junior ranks of the republican party in Woodbury county. In 1892 he was elected treasurer of that county, being then but thirty-one years of age. So satisfactorily did he administer the affairs of this office that by successive reelections he was retained in that position of high trust and responsibility for ten years.
On his retirement as treasurer, Mr. Magoun was elected cashier of the Northwestern National Bank of Sioux City and in 1908 was elected president. When in 1920 a reorganization was effected in this old banking institution and the name changed to the Sioux National Bank he was continued as president and is still serving in that executive capacity, one of the real veterans in the banking business in northwestern Iowa. The Sioux National Bank has paid up capital of four hundred thousand dollars, resources aggregating six million dollars, a statement which ranks it with the most substantial banking institutions in the northwest. In addition to banking Mr. Magoun has other substantial interests in and about Sioux City, indicated by his position as president of the Missouri River Bridge Company, treasurer of the Terminal Grain Corporation, treasurer of the Artificial Ice Company and treasurer of the National Wood Works of Sioux City. He also is a member of the directorates of various other corporations of a commercial and industrial character, and is a prudent, conservative financier whose labors in behalf of the development of the varied interests of his home town will be better estimated in the next generation. For one term (1892-93) he rendered further public service as the representative from his ward in the city council and during the time of this country's participation in the World war he served as a member of the exemption board in the operations of the selective service board in Woodbury county. He has ever taken an interested and helpful part in the general social and cultural activities of his home town and is a member of several of the leading clubs in Sioux City, including that interesting organization, The Junior Pioneers. Mr. Magoun is a Mason of many years standing and of the highest attainable degree, his many services n behalf of the extension of the interests of this ancient order having been recognized by that body when in 1922 he was honored by election to the supreme council (thirty-third degree) of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of the southern Masonic jurisdiction. His basic connection with Freemasonry is through Landmark Lodge, No. 103, at Sioux City and he also is a member of the local Royal Arch Chapter and Columbian Commandary, No. 18, Knights Templar. His Scottish Rite connection is through the consistory at Sioux City and he also is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, affiliated with Abu-Bekr Temple. He also is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
In 1887 John A. Magoun was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth A. Moore of Sioux City and of the five children born to this union four survive, namely: Dr. Charles E. Magoun, a physician of Sioux City; Carlton M., cashier of the Sioux National Bank; Helen M., wife of B. S. Michael of Sioux City; and George, engaged in the practice of law at Sioux City.
Although over ten years have elapsed since the death of Philip Mann, his memory is still fresh in the hearts of the citizens of Holstein, for he was a man of honor, loyal to the ties of home and friendship and faithful to every duty and obligation in life. He was born June 5, 1850, in Jones county, Iowa, and his parents, Henry and Katherine Mann, were pioneers of that district, in which the father was engaged in farming for many years. In their family were six children, two of whom are now living.
Philip Mann was reared in his native county and his education was acquired in the common schools. He remained with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-two years, aiding his father in the work of plowing, planting and harvesting, and then started out for himself. For ten years he operated a farm in Jones county and then moved to Ida county, purchasing a tract of land in Logan township. His standards of farming were high and his intelligently directed labors were rewarded by bounteous harvests. From time to time he added modern improvements to the place, on which he spent twelve years, and after selling the property moved to Holstein, where he passed away in 1915, when sixty-five years of age. He was laid to rest in the local cemetery, beside the body of his son, and his standing in the community was indicated by the deep and widespread regret occasioned by his demise. He was genial, kindhearted and sympathetic, quick to recognize and appreciate the good in others, and to know him was to be his friend.
On March 31, 1874, Mr. Mann was married in Dubuque, Iowa, to Miss Laura A. Rice, daughter of Joseph and Anna (Stitchler) Rice, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Michigan. They were married at Dubuque in 1848 and later moved to a farm in Ida county, in which they spent the remainder of their lives. They had twelve children, nine of whom are still living, and their daughter Laura is the eldest of the family. To Mr. and Mrs. Mann were born two children: Cora Alice, who is a widow and makes her home in Galva, Iowa; and Joseph W whose life was cut short at the age of seventeen years. Mrs. Mann resides in the family home at Holstein and is highly esteemed in the community and county. She is well preserved and her life is busy and useful one. She is a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church and devotes much time to religious and philanthropic work.
Constant Roberts Marks is one of the most distinguished and venerable citizens of Sioux City, where he has been an active representative of the legal profession for nearly six decades and where during the past twenty years he has been associated in law practice with his son, Russell A. Marks, under the firm style of Marks & Marks. His birth occurred at Durham, Greene county, New York, on the 11th of April, 1841, his parents being Almeron and Mary (Phelps) Marks, both of whom were natives of Burlington, Connecticut, the former born October 13, 1804, and the latter May 10, 1806. His paternal ancestors migrated from London, England, to Derby, Connecticut, about 1720 and their descendants intermarried with earlier immigrants. One of these, Governor Robert Treat, hid the Connecticut charter in the Charter Oak. Mrs. Mary (Phelps) Marks, the mother of Constant Robert Marks, was descended from William Phelps and William Gaylord, who emigrated from Tewksbury, England, and settled at Windsor, Connecticut, about 1630. Aaron Gaylord, grandfather of Mrs. Mary (Phelps) Marks, was in the Revolutionary army at Boston, Massachusetts, immediately after Bunker Hill and was killed by Indians at the massacre of Wyoming in 1775.
Constant R. Marks, whose name introduces this review, acquired his early education in the common schools of New York and Connecticut. He prepared for college at the Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield and in the Hudson River Institute of Claverack, New York, while in 1863 he entered Yale University as a member of the class of 1867. Illness, however, prevented his graduation. He was a member of the college fraternity Alpha Delta Phi. His professional training was received as a student in the Albany Law School and he was admitted to the bar in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, in the fall of 1867.
Constant R. Marks spent the first ten years of his life at the place of his nativity and after his father's death lived with his grandfather in the ancestral home of the family at Burlington, Connecticut, there residing until 1859 save for the period of his absence at school. In the year mentioned his widowed mother removed with the family to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which was the legal residence of Constant R. Marks until the spring of 1868. He was away at school, however, and during a part of the time served in the army, and he also followed the profession of teaching. Coming west in the spring of 1868, he practiced law in Chicago for a brief period and in April of that year arrived in Sioux City, Iowa, where he took up his permanent abode and has remained an active representative of the legal profession to the present time. He practiced independently until 1874, when he became senior member of the first of Marks & Hubbard, his associate subsequently serving as a member of congress for three terms. In 1879 he became senior partner in the firm of Marks & Blood, which was maintained for four years, while in 1884 he formed an association with David Mould under the name of Marks & Mould. David Mould afterward became district judge. During the past two decades, as above stated, Mr. Marks has practiced in partnership with his son, Russell A. Marks, under the firm name of Marks & Marks. He has devoted his attention principally to general law practice but in more recent years has specialized in probate work and real estate law. Mr. Marks was also identified with financial affairs for a time. During a vacancy he served as president of the National Bank of Sioux City, which was organized in 1890 with a capital of one million dollars, and was attorney for this bank and a director in other financial institutions.
Mr. Marks was one of the founders of the Sioux City Library, at first a corporation, and then taken over by the city of Sioux City, and a fine building was erected under statute as an educational corporation with a city library tax, which eventually bought the property. Mr. Marks prepared the combined plan. We quote from his autobiography: "In 1884 Sioux City wanted waterworks, but was in debt to the limit. I prepared a plan by which a private company got a city franchise with an agreement that city levy a water tax for fire protection, and had right to buy the works at cost, and in a few years got it without a dollar of profit to anyone. It is worth millions now."
The military record of Mr. Marks includes service during the Civil war. On the 18th of April, 1861, he enlisted in the Allen Guard, Company K, Eighth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and the same day started for Washington, his being the second regiment to depart for the national capital at the outbreak of hostilities between the north and the south. The Sixth Massachusetts Regiment was fired into by a mob in Baltimore on the 19th of April, 1861, and the Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, under General B. F. Butler, went by way of Annapolis, reaching there on the 20th of April and thence going through to Washington. Part of the company to which Mr. Marks belonged was guard on the Constitution, "Old Ironsides," the naval school ship at Annapolis, for a few days, and was sent to help garrison Fort McHenry, Baltimore, for two weeks. The soldiers rejoined their regiment when General Butler opened up Baltimore. Mr. Marks contracted typhoid fever at Fort McHenry and was ill for some time, after which he returned home with his regiment. He participated in no battles. He has membership in the Grand Army of the Republic and proudly wears the little bronze button which proclaims him a veteran of the great civil strife.
A stanch republican, Mr. Marks in his prime attended all political caucuses and conventions and did everything in his power to promote the success of the principles and candidates of the party but never sought public preferment for himself. In 1869, without his knowledge, he was nominated as candidate for representative in the Iowa legislature, in which he served for one term, declining another nomination. It was also without his knowledge that he was chosen a member of the Sioux City school board, on which he served in all for nine years, during three years of which period he filled the office of president. Since 1869 he has been a member of Sioux City Lodge, No. 164, I. O. O. F., in which he held all the offices years ago. Mr. Marks was one of the organizers of the Sioux City Academy of Science and Letters in 1884, served as its president for many years and is now honorary president. The Sioux City Academy of Science and Letters maintains an excellent museum in the Public Library building. It has published several annual volumes and maintains a weekly public lecture course during the winter months. Mr. Marks also belongs to the Riverside Boat Club, of which he served as president for eighteen years. He attends the services of St. Thomas Episcopal church in Sioux City. His paternal ancestors were active in the Episcopal church in Connecticut from the beginning.
On the 27th of June, 1871, at Great Barrington,Massachusetts, Mr. Marks was united in marriage to Harriet Josephine Kilbourne, who was born at that place on the 25th of June, 1854, her parents being Russell and Harriett (Seeley) Kilbourne, the former born at Great Barrington, Massachusetts, May 5, 1802, while the latter was descended from an old Massachusetts and Connecticut family. Mrs. Harriet Josephine (Kilbourne) Marks is descended from Thomas Kilbourne, who migrated from England to Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1634, and from his great-grandson, Hezekiah, who graduated from Yale College in 1720, and from his grandson, Robert Kilbourne, who with five brothers served in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Marks has membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution and has been an active member of the Shakespeare Club for forty years.
Constant Roberts and Harriet Josephine (Kilbourne) Marks are the parents of two sons and a daughter, recorded below.
(1) Russell Almeron Marks, whose birth occurred at Sioux City, March 2, 1874, was graduated from Yale University in 1895 and is now associated in law practice with his father. He wedded Marie Shelly and has three children, namely: Kilbourne Payne Marks, a freshman at Yale University; and Marion and Margery Marks, both of whom are high school students at Sioux City, Iowa.
(2) Constant Roberts Marks, Jr., who was born September 29, 1876, resides at Montrose, Colorado. He married Bertha Prescott and has two children: Constant Roberts Marks (III), a junior at Boulder College in Colorado; and Marilla Marks, who is eight years old.
(3) Josephine L., whose natal day was December 8, 1887, is the wife of David H. Bartlett and the mother of a daughter, Susan, who is five years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett are residents of St. Paul Minnesota.
Mr. Marks has for many years taken considerable interest in the history of this region. He has written special articles for newspapers and in commemoration of local occasions. He was associate editor of "Past and Present of Sioux City and Woodbury County, Iowa," published by the S. J. Clarke Publishing Company in 1904. He also furnished for publication in annals of Iowa, and in a volume of the Sioux City Academy of Science, an article on Monona County (Iowa) Mormons, a Mormon colony that flourished there from about 1850 to 1862. In 1908 he published in "Historical Collections of South Dakota," Volume IV, an article on the French pioneers of Sioux City and South Dakota, and in the same publication edited the autobiography of Louis D. Letellier, an early French trader in South Dakota, who prepared the manuscript at the request of Mr. Marks. In 1924, in association with Albert M. Holman, an early settler in Woodbury county, Iowa, Mr. Marks published a book entitled "Pioneering in the Northwest," in which Mr. Holman gives an account of personal experiences in 1865 in building a wagon road by the Sawyer expedition from here to Virginia City - sixty-four wagons, about three hundred oxen and one hundred miles - which met great difficulties and was surrounded by Indians and several killed. Mr. Marks' contribution to this work consists of a record of the life of Sergeant Charles Floyd, who died on the Lewis and Clark expedition and was buried in Sioux City and a monument to whose memory was erected in 1904. Mr. Marks was one of the Iowa commissioners in charge of the state appropriation to aid in building the monument. Charles Floyd's relationship to the expedition and to the Floyd family is traced in this book. In the same volume appears the story of the life of War Eagle, local Indian chief, and his son-in-law, Theophile Bruguier, who was the second settler in this region and was a man of marked ability and historical importance. There is also a sketch of William B. Thompson, the first actual settler, and an account of his murder of an Indian trader at a dance attended by half-breeds in 1852.
The scientific care of the eyes is one of the most useful and important professions to which a man can devote his efforts, for of the bodily senses that of sight is of the greatest value in life's activities. Carroll is fortunate in having among its corps of professional men an able and competent optometrist in Dr. Earl W. Martin, who has built up a large practice here and has won a wide reputation for able and satisfactory service. Doctor Martin was born in Belford, Iowa, on the 5th of October, 1886, and is a son of Charles B. and Anna S. (Gilbert) Martin. The father is a native of Ohio and the mother was born and reared near Bedford, where their marriage occurred in 1885. He had been brought to Iowa as a boy of eleven years by his parents, and was there reared and educated. On reaching the years of manhood he engaged in farming, which vocation he followed for many years in Union county, while during the past five years he has lived in Tennessee. The mother is deceased.
Dr. Martin was reared on his father's farm and secured his education in the district schools and the high school at Afton, Iowa, where he was graduated in 1908, in which year he was the only graduate. While attending high school he was employed as a clerk in a jewelry store in Afton, serving an apprenticeship at the watchmaker's trade, and at the same time gave serious study to the science of optometry. On leaving high school he took a special course in watchmaking in the Bradley Polytechnic School at Peoria, Illinois, after which he was for a short time employed at the watchmaking trade in Bloomington, Illinois. He then enlisted in the United States Marines, serving four years, during which period he visited most of the important ports of the world. He was classed as a musician and played in the band during practically the entire period of his enlistment. While in the service his command was sent to Nicaragua during one of the periodical uprisings there and was under fire for three days. After his discharge from the service he returned to Iowa, and with the savings he had accumulated, he bought a jewelry store in New Market, Iowa. He conducted that business four years, when, on the entry of the United States into the World war, he sold out and enlisted. He entered the officers' training at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on August 27, 1917, and was given a lieutenant's commission on November 27th. On January 11, 1918, he sailed from New York for France. At San Antonio, Texas, he had been transferred from the infantry to the air service and he went overseas with that division. He landed at Brest, France, January 24, 1918, and was sent to St. Maxiant, where his command was stationed for two months. He was then sent to the Third Aviation Instruction Center at Issurdun, where he remained until July 4th, when he was transferred to the First Supply Depot in Paris. Thirty days later a call came for a supply officer to go to the front and Mr. Martin was detailed for that duty, which was with the Ninety-third Air Squadron. This command arrived on the front behind the lines in the Toul sector on August 2d and on his arrival he was transferred from the supply office to the operations office, of which he was in charge until the close of the war, during which period it was his duty to send out the planes on their different missions. On February 21st and was honorably discharged at Camp Dix, New Jersey, February 23d.
On leaving the army Mr. Martin returned to New Market, where he found that the buyer of his jewelry store had failed to make the payments, and he was compelled to take the store back. He soon closed out the stock and then went to Chicago and took a special course in the Northern Illinois College of Ophthalmology, from which he was graduated on June 14, 1919. He then located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he was engaged in the practice for about five months, after which he came to Carroll on April 27th and established offices in the Walz building. Two years later he moved to his present commodious offices in the Masonic temple, where he has built up a large and representative practice, his business showing a steady and substantial increase each year. Promptness, courtesy and efficiency have been the watchwords that have controlled his practice, qualities which have been appreciated by those who have employed his services, and he has gained the confidence and respect of the community.
On November 10, 1914, Doctor Martin was united in marriage to Miss Lenna Harris, of New Market, Iowa, and to them have been born three children, John Earl, Margaret Ruth and Dorthy Lou. The Doctor is a member of the Signet Lodge No. 264, A. F. & A. M.; Capstone Chapter, No. 78, R. A. M., and Cryptic Council, No. 38, R. & S. M. He belongs to the Carroll Rotary Club, the Carroll Country Club and the Commercial Club. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and stands for uprightness in all the relations of life. Since coming to Carroll he has shown a fine public spirit, cooperating with his fellowmen in all measures for the advancement of the community. Courteous and friendly in manner, he has made a host of warm friends and commands the respect of all who know him.
Thomas Samuel Martin, deceased, long figured prominently in business circles of Sioux City as president of the T. S. Martin Company, conducting one of the largest department stores here. He was sixty-three years of age when called to his final rest on the 11th of August, 1915, his birth having occurred in Galena, Illinois, June 27, 1852. His parents, James and Margaret (Leary) Martin, came to Iowa in 1868, settling in Sioux City. The father, who was a native of the north of Ireland, died in 1884, after having followed agricultural pursuits throughout his entire business career. The mother, who was born in Illinois, passed away in 1880.
In his early boyhood Thomas S. Martin attended the public schools of Galena, but never had the opportunity of resuming his education after he reached the age of fourteen. The following most interesting review of his career is copied from the Sioux City Journal of March 18, 1919: "The opening of the new T. S. Martin store yesterday marked the accomplishment of the aim set for that business by its late founder, T. S. Martin, when as a youthful grocery clerk he conceived the plan of going into business for himself. The development of the new store is the outgrowth of a great business dream had by the late Mr. Martin when as a clerk he began saving his earnings to enter business for himself. In 1868, when the founder of the business was fifteen years old, he came to Sioux City from his home in Galena, Illinois, and obtained employment in the grocery store operated by George W. Felt near Pearl and Fourth streets. In those days clerks worked from 6:30 A. M. until 10:00 P. M. For five years Mr. Martin worked there, being practically in charge of the place, despite his youth, during the last two years in that establishment. During all of that time the idea of going into business for himself was growing. He visualized a greater city and an enormously enriched trade territory, and from the basis of the dreams of a boy he worked at the consistent program of accomplishment that in later years was attained. Eventually, as a clerk, the opening opportunity came to him. He had saved up four hundred and fifty dollars and with Harry Dorsey he formed a business partnership, going to Akron, Iowa, where the store of Kennedy & Reed was purchased. Mr. Kennedy was the father of Judge J. L. Kennedy, of Sioux City.
"At the time he started into business, Mr. Martin said he wanted his father to loan him one thousand dollars to help in the project. His father felt that the son was too young and inexperienced to make a success in the business venture, and the loan was not forthcoming. The young man, however, made up his mind that he would 'show father.' The business was a success and the partnership enjoyed prosperity until the grasshoppers came. Things became discouraging. Farmers were departing from the territory; the legislature was compelled to make appropriations for seed in order to start new crops and business fell off. It was then that Mr. Martin sold his interest in the Akron store and came to Sioux City, where for four years he was in the employ of H. D. Booge & Company, wholesale grocers, first as shipping clerk and then as traveling salesman.
"The year after the gold strike in the Black Hills, Mr. Martin went to Deadwood, where he entered the grocery business. There the T. S. Martin Company, as such, was born, and when the business was a year and a half old the founder came back to Sioux City to open the dry goods store which later developed into the present business. Mr. Martin came back to Sioux City in 1879 and six months after his arrival he engaged in a free lance commission business, buying and selling produce. Then, learning that D. T. Gilman had a storeroom for rent on Fourth street, between Pearl and Douglas, a lease was obtained, later a partnership was formed with Mr. Bullock, and the lesson in the dry goods business was learned. Later J. P. Martin became a partner in the firm and remained in the business until a few years ago, when he sold out his interests to the founder. The store early moved from its location between Pearl and Douglas to Fourth and Douglas; later to Fourth, between Pierce and Nebraska streets; and its final location at Fourth and Nebraska streets accomplished yesterday, March 17.
"From this early history of the founding of the business it will be seen that its development started with the early thrift of the founder, growing from clerk's savings of four hundred and fifty dollars to the new store's present magnitude. The T. S. Martin Company came under the management of the sons of the founder on August 11, 1915, when the pioneer merchant passed away with pneumonia. In preparation for their business responsibilities, which were early thrust on them, the three sons - J. Earle Martin, Jules T. Martin and Howard V. Martin, had been schooled not only in their father's store but also under severe taskmasters in business in which the father was in no way associated. On the theory that boys can best learn business by being 'thrown on their own,' Mr. Martin early placed his sons in position to acquire this unbiased training. It will be of interest in connection with the opening of the new store to recite some facts concerning the early training of the T. S. Martin Company's present management. All three of the owners served at various times down in the ranks of the Martin store, as messenger boys, stock boys, assistants to department heads and later as department managers. Having received this fundamental training in the ways of merchandising, all three later had opportunity to develop their talents in divers ways.
"J. Earle Martin, the president of the company, went to New York and after applying at several stores go a position as floor walker in one of the New York department stores. He was engaged at a salary of fifteen dollars a week and on this income lived in New York for a period of upwards of a year. During that time he advanced to the position of assistant manager in the ready-to-wear department and when that position was obtained came back to the home store to take over the management of the same department here.
"Jules T. Martin, the vice president of the company, was engaged variously over a two-year period. For a time he worked in the Sioux City packing house, leaving his home at 5:30 in the morning in order to reach the packing-house district in time to go to work. He was employed there as a packer. Later he went with the Moore-Shenberg Company, being detailed to packing and loading work, later being promoted to the 'rush squad,' the duties of which were to 'mop up all delays in packing and loading outgoing freight.' After this extensive experience Mr. Martin came back into his father's business, working gradually up to the direction of the department devoted to children.
"Howard V. Martin, the secretary and treasurer of the company, was schooled in business at Wanamakers, where he started work on the munificent salary of seven dollars per week. He was engaged first in the adjustment and later in the accounting arm of the business. After this experience he attended the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, which is an adjunct of the University of Pennsylvania. He returned to Sioux City to take up his share of the operation of the business at the time of his father's death and has since been associated with the company except during that period when as a private and later as a student in the school for commissioned officers he was in the service of his country.
"The three sons immediately after the death of the father began the organization of the business along the lines outlined by the father in contemplation of the development of the larger store. Architects were engaged early to prepare plans, and it was determined to occupy the site purchased for the new business building by the founder of the business. The first bids were on the steel building, and as these bids were taken at the time the World war was well under way, they had to be rejected. Later the new plan was evolved and a second series of bids taken, all contracts being let but a few weeks before this country entered the world conflict. The excavation work and the development of the building were all practically carried on during the war times. The occupancy of this structure in a business way marks the accomplishment of the aims and purposes of a youthful grocery clerk who from an accumulated savings of four hundred and fifty dollars set out to establish a great business of his own. To memorialize the accomplishment and to pay due meed of honor to the founder, there was erected in the new store shortly after its opening a bronze memorial, presented by the employes and sons of the founder of the business. The participation of the employes in this memorial results from Mr. Martin's continued fatherly interest in all of the employes he gathered about him. It is a notable business fact that scores of employes early connected with the Martin organization are now successfully engaged in business of their own, and all attribute what success has come to them to the fatherly interest of the founder of the T. S. Martin Company. To many of his younger associates he gave opportunity to enter the business in a tangible stock-owning way, financing them in the purchase of their stock and guiding them through financial shoals to success. It is a keen regret of the sons and of the early employes of the T. S. Martin Company that the sturdy founder of the store could not live to see his dreams accomplished in this great modern store structure."
On the 11th of January, 1883, in Sioux City, was celebrated the marriage of T. S. Martin and Miss Agnes A. Murphy, of Davenport, and to them were three sons: J. Earle, Jules T. and Howard V. The family are Catholics in religious faith. Mr. Martin held membership with various faternal and social organizations, including the Elks, the Commercial Club, the Sioux City Boat Club, the Country Club, the Crucible Club, and the Speedway Club. In addition to being president of the T. S. Martin Company of Sioux City he was a director of the Martin Dry Goods Company of Cedar Rapids. He was a man of fine personal appearance. Determination showed in his eye and his presence indicated forcefulness and resourcefulness. Cordiality of manner was with him a matter of make-up and not an "assumed virtue." He was ever appreciative of the good qualities of others and it was a well known fact that he held friendship inviolable. The secret of his prosperity lay in the fact that he early adopted rules of life which make for character building and with the development of a well rounded character the rest was assured.
Lewis Henry Mayne, the present able and efficient postmaster of Emmetsburg, is a native of St. Larence county, New York, where his birth occurred on the 2d day of September, 1858. He is a son of Thomas and Jane (McBroom) Mayne, both of whom were natives of the north of Ireland. His paternal grandfather, John Mayne, was a man of much prominence and influence in that country, having been at the head of the Orangemen's lodge and master of his Masonic lodge. Thomas Mayne and Jane McBroom were brought to the United States by their respective parents, the Mayne family coming in 1828 and the McBroom family about five years later. Both families settled in the same locality in St. Lawrence county, New York, and the young couple were married about 1842. There they settled on a farm, which remained the family home until 1864. The mother passed away in 1863 and in the following year the father, with his family, moved to Mendota, Illinois. In 1876 he went to Adair county, Iowa, where he remained until his death in 1893.
Lewis Henry Mayne was educated in the public schools, the Northern Indiana University, and Eureka College, at Eureka, Illinois. He engaged in teaching school for about six years in order to earn money with which to pay the expenses of his college education, which he pursued after he was twenty-one years old, and the following ten years he devoted to educational work and study. In 1889 Mr. Mayne entered the railway mail service, in which he was engaged until 1892, when he resigned and went to Algona, Iowa, where he bought a half interest in the Algona Republican, his partner being postmaster of that town. Mr. Mayne edited and managed the paper until March, 1894, when he sold his interest in the paper and, coming to Emmetsburg, bought a half interest in the Palo Alto Reporter. He edited the paper until April, 1898, when he enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war, becoming a member of Company K, Fifty-second Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered out of the service on October 30th of that year and on his return to Emmetsburg he bought his partner's interest in the Palo Alto Reporter, thus becoming sole owner. In 1920 his son Clifford succeeded him as editor and manager of the paper. In the fall of 1918, and again in 1920, Mr. Mayne was elected to represent his county in the Iowa state legislature, serving in the thirty-eight and thirty-ninth general assemblies. Mr. Mayne was appointed postmaster of Emmetsburg under President McKinley and served eight years, and he is again serving in that position, although he served some months as acting postmaster before being commissioned. He is giving to the administration of the office the same careful and painstaking attention that he would to private business affairs, and the service rendered under his direction has been eminently satisfactory to the patrons of the office.
On September 2, 1891, Mr. Mayne was married to Miss Isabelle Vandervort, of Tiskilwa, Iowa, and to them have been born four children, as follows: Clifford, who is the editor of the Palo Alto Reporter; Hortense, who is teaching Latin in the high school at Minot, North Dakota; Isabelle V., who is principal of the consolidated school at Earlville, Iowa; and Winifred, who is a teacher in the high school at Emmetsburg. The daughters are all graduates of Cornell College, while the son is graduate of Iowa State University, of the class of 1915. For his second wife Mr. Mayne chose Miss Florence Mabel Davis, to whom he was married on July 26, 1907.
Mr. Mayne has been deeply interested in all local public affairs and rendered effective service as a member of the city council several years. Fraternally he is a member of Earnest Chapter, No. 108, R. A. M.; Holy Grail Commandary, No. 70, K. T.; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Palo Alto Lodge, No 252, K. P. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, is a member of the official board and a local preacher. Her served as pastor of the church at Livermore for two years, and for two years at Woden, Iowa, besides which he has at various times filled other pulpits. He is a forceful and effective speaker and his sermons are always interesting and instructive. In every avenue of life's activities in which he has engaged he has been true and loyal and throughout the county in which he lives he enjoys a well deserved popularity.
Among the valuable citizens of Battle Creek none occupies a higher place in public regard than does Allan A. Mickelsen, who is filling the office of postmaster. He was born March 7, 1899, in Woodbury county, Iowa, and his parents, August and Maren (Hummelgaard) Mickelsen, were natives of Denmark. They came to the United States in 1890 and settled in Ida county, where the father followed the occupation of farming until his demise, which occurred in 1904. Five children were born to them, namely: Lloyd, a resident of Ida county; Laura, the wife of Ray Goodenew, of Battle Creek; Allan A. and AGnes, twins, the latter of whom is engaged in teaching; and John, who lives in Battle Creek.
After his graduation from high school Allan A. Mickelsen completed a course in banking and bookkeeping in the Cedar Rapids Business College and then went to Iowa City, where he studied chemical engineering for four months. From 1919 until 1922 he engaged in farming in the vicinity of Battle Creek and then entered the employ of the government, becoming a rural mail carrier. Merit won him promotion to the position of postmaster in 1923, and his work has met with uniform approval, being inspired by high ideals of public service.
On June 11, 1920, Mr. Mickelsen married Miss Frankie Fouts, and they now have one child, Joyce Glencoe. Mr. Mickelsen entered the service of his country during the World war and is connected with the American Legion. He votes the republican ticket and is a Presbyterian in religious faith. He is a young man of pleasing personality and his genuine worth has won for him the unqualified esteem of all with whom he has been associated.
Dr. Giles Cooke Moorehead, a lifelong resident of Ida Grove, where he has been actively engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery during the past forty-seven years, enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the leading representatives of his profession in northwestern Iowa. His birth occurred at Ida Grove, on the 2d of November, 1856, his parents being John H. and Martha Catherine Forrest (Good) Moorehead, who were of Scotch-Irish and English descent, respectively. The father was born at Zanesville, Ohio, September 21, 1808, while the mother first opened her eyes to the light of day near Charlestown, West Virginia, July 6, 1814.
Giles C. Moorehead attended the Iowa City Academy for one year and the University of Iowa for two years prior to entering the medical department of the latter institution, from which he was graduated, after three years' study, on the 5th of March, 1879. He at once took up the work of his chosen profession at Ida Grove, where he has remained continuously to the present time and has been accorded a practice commensurate with his skill and ability as a physician and surgeon. His professional duties have been discharged so ably and with such a sense of conscientious obligation that his patronage has steadily increased and has long since reached extensive and gratifying proportions. Dr. Moorehead served as examining physician for Ida county during the period of the World war, examining every man sent from the county for military service.
On the 24th of June, 1886, at Keokuk, Iowa, Dr. Moorehead was united in marriage to Anna Adelia Chapman, who was there born September 9, 1861, a daughter of James Madison and Hettie G. (Glover) Chapman. Her father, who was born at Lynchburg, Ohio, December 29, 1820, passed away at Ida Grove, Iowa, May 5, 1890. Her mother, whose birth occurred at Winchester, Virginia, January 3, 1825, departed this life at Ida Grove, Iowa, December 11, 1898. Dr. and Mrs. Moorehead are the parents of a daughter and a son, namely: Helen Louise, who is the wife of Harry C. Paine, of Sioux City, Iowa; and Forrest G. Moorehead, who is also a resident of Sioux City. Mrs. Anna Adelia (Chapman) Moorehead is a charter member of the P. E. O. member of the Woman's Club and Methodist societies. She was county chairman of food conservation during the war and first county chairman of the republican women's party. Dr. Moorehead is a worthy exemplar of the teachings and purposes of the Masonic fraternity, to which he belongs. He has recently passed the Psalmist's allotted span of three score and is numbered among Ida Grove's most valued citizens.
John H. Moorehead and family were the first permanent settlers at Ida Grove. He was born September 21, 1808, at Zanesville, Ohio, and died August 18, 1882, aged seventy-four years. His father was Thomas Moorehead, of Sharpsburg, Maryland, who was born August 5, 1779, and died August 25, 1863, when eighty-four years of age. Joseph Moorehead, the paternal grandfather of John H. Moorehead, was born in Dublin, Ireland, August 15, 1746, of Scotch ancestry. John H. Moorehead married Martha Catherine Forrest Good, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, October 15, 1844. She was born July 6, 1814, near Charlestown, West Virginia, and died at Ida Grove, December 15, 1894, aged eighty years. Her mother, Mary Ann Forrest Good, came to Ida Grove with her daughter. Mrs. Good was born in 1783 and died February 28, 1873, at Ida Grove, aged ninety years.
The ancestry of both families goes back to Isaac Chaplin, who was born in England in 1584. He was an ensign in the royal navy and came to America in the "Star" in 1610, as kings council under Lord Delaware, landing at Jamestown. John H. Moorehead was of the eighth generation from Isaac Chaplin. Each generation moved a little farther west. John H. Moorehead was reared in Zanesville, Ohio, receiving an ordinary town school education. When a young man he was employed by Zanesville millers to dispose of their flour. This was loaded on flatboats and floated down the Muskingum river to the Ohio and down the Mississippi river to New Orleans, where flour and boats were sold for gold which was carried back to Zanesville on horseback. No robberies ever occurred on these trips. In 1851 he moved to a farm near Iowa City which is now the airplane landing field. In 1856 the family came to Ida county, arriving on the 20th of June. That summer a comfortable log house was built where the Moorehead home now stands. There was but one other permanent settler in Ida county. Chance travelers coming through to Sioux City and the Dakotas and wanting refuge for themselves and teams, encouraged him to build a large two-story log house and a commodious barn. The upper rooms of the house were provided with portholes to better guard against an Indian attack. He soon was appointed postmaster and the home was designated as Ida post office. He organized the county government, was elected county judge, was duputy provost marshal during the Civil war, laid out the village of Ida and was active in every development of the county.
He was a typical early settler; was of medium height, with a large body, and wore a full beard; he was of a nervous temperament and as a young man had red hair. He cared nothing for hunting or horsemanship. He loved the great open prairies and found his real pleasure in meeting people and developing a new country. He employed many workmen and enjoyed keeping them occupied; kept a large drove of cattle; built a flour and sawmill that was destroyed by floods; raised many hogs which were killed and sold to the travelers; and supplied the large western trade coming through the hay, corn and meat, finding a market at his door. Later he opened a general store. He was a good story teller. A reply he frequently made to people has been told by these travelers many years later. There was no settlement within twenty-five miles and they would say to him that he was a long way from market. His reply was that he was nearer a market now than when he lived in Ohio and had nothing to sell. These trite sayings were often told and he became widely known, and Ida Grove and Judge Morehead were synonymous.
In dealing with Indians he was tactful and fearless and was never molested. He was an ardent Unionist and hoisted a large flag whenever a battle was won. The home was unusual and never failed to create interest and cause comment. Mrs. Moorehead was of medium height, spare and rather frail. She was a real Virginian of the F. F. V.'s, intellectual, refined and religious; a fine conversationalist with dignity and poise. Her great ambition was to give to the early settlement a religious atmosphere and unity of interest and aspirations. A school teacher was employed, using her front room until a schoolhouse could be built on an adjoining hillside. A Sunday school was started and preaching services held by chance ministers. Tender and patient service to the sick of the settlement, and an infrequent burial with the rites of the Episcopal church, added the culture and refinement of the south to the spirit of the west.
The home was supplied with a dozen pieces of beautiful mahogany furniture brought from Mrs. Moorehead's home in Martinsburg, West Virginia, together with a piano, some fine old oil paintings and historic steel engravings, a bit of silverware and fine old English china. Books were not forgotten. One room was called the library, the shelves containing probably seventy-five volumes of histories, poetry and classics. A large wall map always attracted attention, as also a large astronomical atlas showing the constellations and outlining the figures such as Ursa Major, Taurus, Aries, Leo, Pisces, Gemni, etc. A table held a monthly magazine, copies of the New York Tribune and the Chicago Journal; a good chess board and a register where the travelers all signed their names and addresses. The men's room permitted smoking and was furnished with chairs and benches with buffalo robes to lie down upon. A large cupboard in this room contained firearms and was well supplied with rifles, shotguns and revolvers, cans of powder, bars of lead, and moulds for making bullets, bags of shot, gun caps, paper wads for loading guns, strips of cloth for cleaning guns, bullet extractor and extra ramrods. This gave to the room a rather formidable appearance, and was shown to Indians who chanced in. A small wire attached to a bell ran from the front room to the barn and was so arranged that it would ring if the barn door were opened. From the back of the house two wires ran down the hill to a spring some twenty rods distant. These wires supported a small car having four deeply grooved wheels and carried a large tin bucket hung beneath it. A heavy cord would to a wheel and attached to the car permitted one to let the car run down to the spring, where the bucket filled itself and could be drawn up in a very short time. There was a medicine closet stocked with quinine, calomel, blue mass, asafoetida, whiskey, paregoric, laudanum, blue vitriol and a number of herbs. These were dispensed to anyone who needed them with that open-handedness that characterized the early settler.
The dining room was of much interest, with its long table seating sixteen, presided over by its host and hostess at either end, occupied by the guests, family and hired men. Many times the fare was plain, but elk, deer and fowl were plentiful. Lye hominy helped out when meal was gone, and parched wheat and corn pieced out the coffee. A fireplace added cheer on cold days as travelers related their experiences, and told of war rumors and Indian depredations. The "parlor" boasted a bright colored three-ply carpet laid on a generous sprinkling of straw, a set of haircloth chairs and sofa, and an old mahogany writing desk with tin boxes for sand to dry the ink instead of blotting paper; sheet music on the piano of "Marching Through Georgia" and "Tramp, Tramp, the Boys Are Marching." This was the setting seen by thousands of travelers as they came in from crossing the prairie for thirty miles without a house or tree in sight, and left an indelible impression. The home nestled in the woods and was the refuge for young adventurers, the sick and frozen, the travel-worn mother and babies, army officers, officials and ministers.
To Mr. and Mrs. Moorehead were born five children: Anna Loisa, who was born at Zanesville, Ohio, July 27, 1845, and died February 22, 1921; William Chaplin, who was born at Zanesville, Ohio, March 4, 1849, and died April 15, 1923; Hammond A., who was born at Iowa City, Iowa, January 14, 1852, and resides at Ida Grove; Frank R., who was born at Iowa City, Iowa, April 22, 1854, an died December 15, 1920; and Giles Cooke, who was born at Ida Grove, November 2, 1856, and resides in his native city.
Edson C. Morain, sheriff of Green county, has by his faithful and fearless discharge of duty gained a wide reputation, and his efforts in opposition to criminals and lawbreakers have been extraordinarily successful. In the performance of the ordinary duties of his office he has shown himself competent and conscientious, and his record has been one that has gained for him the respect and confidence of his fellowmen to a marked degree.
Mr. Morain was born in Barton county, Missouri, on the 15th of April, 1873, and is a son of Allen and Martha (Winstead) Morain. Both parents were natives of Illinois, the father being of French extraction and the mother of German ancestry. They were married in Illinois and their first child was born there. When only seventeen years of age Allen Morain was made a dupty sheriff of Piatt county, Illinois, under an uncle, Samuel Morain, who was sheriff of that county, and distinguished himself as a man hunter. Subsequently Mr. Morain went to Barton county, Missouri, where he engaged in farming. This was immediately following the Civil war and criminals, particularly horse thieves, were active. The sheriff of Barton county called on the citizens for help and Mr. Morain responded and did much effective work in the pursuit and apprehension of the thieves. After remaining in Barton county about five years, he came to Greene county, Iowa, in 1877, locating in Greenbrier township, where he resided up to the time of his death. At different times he was in the local secret service and helped to round up cattle thieves which were so troublesome to the settlers. He was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in which he had attained the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite. To him and his wife were born thirteen children, one of whom died in infancy, while the other twelve, nine sons and three daughters, are still living. The mother died in 1914 and the father in 1918.
Edson C. Morain received a public school education and was early coached by his father in secret service and detective work, receiving the benefit of the latter's extensive experience along that line. These lessons took deep root in the young man's mind, so that in later years he profited greatly by them. Coming to Greene county with his father, he has always remained here, and on attaining mature years he turned his attention to farming, in which he was successful. He continued in that vocation until January 1, 1919, when he was appointed deputy sheriff of Greene county. So efficiently did he discharge the duties of that office that in November, 1924, he was elected sheriff and was reelected two years later, being the present incumbent. He has had a noteworthy record in the apprehension of criminals, one of his most notable feats being the rounding up of a gang of four bank robbers, one of the most noted in the middle west, following which he broke up three other notorious gangs. Federal officers state that the arrest of the bank robbers was one of the most important accomplishments in the record of the state. Mr. Morain caught the fourth and last member of the gang at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in May, 1926, after a chase of fifteen months, in which he showed detective skill of the highest order.
In 1894 Mr. Morain was united in marriage to Miss Annie Baux, of Guthrie county, Iowa, and they are the parents of four children, namely: Allen C., who is a commercial salesman in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Florence M., who is the wife of Ralph Phillips, a farmer of Greene county; Harold I., who is attending Iowa State College, and was captain of the football team which for two years won practically every game; and Kenneth E., who is in high school. Mr. Morain is a member of Sunbeam Lodge, No. 476, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Green Lodge, No. 315, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife are earnest members of the Christian church. Though of unassuming manner, he possesses a forceful individuality that makes and impression on all who come into contact with him. He is genial in his social relations and is deservedly popular throughout Greene county.
Iowa has always been distinguished for the high rank of her bench and bar, many of her attorneys being men of national fame. In the largest and best sense of the term, Judge Edgar A. Morling is distinctively one of the notable men of his state, and as such his life record is entitled to a conspicuous place in its annuals. Prominent in legal circles and in public matters affecting the general welfare, with a reputation in one of the most exacting of professions that has won for him a name for distinguished service second to none of his contemporaries, there is today no more prominent or influential man in the district which he has long honored by his citizenship. Edgar A.; Morling, justice of the Iowa supreme court, and a resident of Emmetsburg, was born at Boonville, New York, on the 21st of April, 1864, and is a son of Alfred and Eliza (Hines) Morling, both of whom were natives of Cambridgeshire, England, where they were reared and married. Sometime in the late '50s they came to the United States, locating in central New York. Their first home was at Gloversville, after which they made one or two changes of location, eventually settling in Boonville. From there the father enlisted and served in the Civil war as a non-commissioned officer. He was a carpenter and builder by trade and for a number of years he served as a justice of the peace at Boonville. He spent the remaining years of his life there, dying February 4, 1903, in his seventieth year, his birth having occurred August 11, 1833. His widow survived him several years, dying in 1911, in her eighty-fourth year, at Emmetsburg, Iowa, whither she had moved after the death of her husband.
Egar A. Morling attended the public schools of Boonville, New York, and then entered the Albany Law School, at Albany, New York, where he was graduated, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in 1886. He first engaged in practice at Boonville, but in 1887 went to St. Paul, Minnesota, and joined the West Publishing Company, publishers of law books. He remained a member of the editorial staff of that house for two years and in 1889 came to Emmetsburg, where he really began his law practice. During the subsequent years he won a large and representative clientele, and a well merited reputation as an able and successful lawyer, standing in the forefront of the eminent practitioners of northwestern Iowa. His high standing and his eminent ability were given distinct recognition when, on October 1, 1925, he was appointed to the bench of the Iowa supreme court, in which position he is now serving.
On April 25, 1888, Judge Morling was united in marriage to Miss Flora B. Tripp, of Cherokee, Iowa, and to them were born the following children: William E., who was engaged in the loan and abstract business in Emmetsburg and who died October 29, 1926; Ruth M., who is the wife of R. A. Shover, who is engaged in the real estate and loan business at Emmetsburg; Max M., who is in the insurance, loan and abstract business at Emmetsburg; and Maynard A., at home. The mother of these children passed away October 6, 1920. Judge Morling is a member of Earnest Lodge, A. F. and A. M., of which he is a past master; Earnest Chapter, R. A. M.; Holy Grail Commandery, K. T.; the Order of the Eastern Star, of which Mrs. Morling also was a member; also Medium Lodge and McPherson Canton of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has always taken a deep interest in local public affairs and in earlier years served as a member of the town council and as county attorney. He has long been an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, belonging to the official board, and has been honored by being made a member of three general conferences of the church and of the Northwest Iowa Conference board of trustees and board of education. He is a trustee of Morningside College and is a member of the Wesley Foundation of Iowa. Achieving an enviable success in the practice of law such as has given him distinction as one of the leading members of the Iowa bar and wearing the judicial ermine with becoming dignity, bringing to every case submitted to him a clearness of perception and a ready power of analysis characteristic of the learned jurist, the value of his work has gained him recognition as one of the leading citizens of his state. Of cordial and friendly manner, he is extremely popular and no citizen of his home county, where he is best known, has a larger following of warm and loyal friends.
A solid and substantial citizen of Greene county who after a long and successful career as a farmer is now retired from active affairs and is spending his later years in his pleasant home in Scranton is James Edward Moss, one of the most highly respected residents of this county. Mr. Moss was born in Kendall county, New York, on the 21st of October, 1843, and is a son of James and Sarah (Moore) Moss, both of whom also were natives of the old Empire state. The father, who was a farmer by vocation, reached the advanced age of ninety-seven years, five months and five days. He was a soldier of the War of 1812 and was a man of prominence and influence in his community. Of the seven children born to him and his wife, of whom James E. is the eldest, four are yet living, including D. M., who also is a resident of Greene county.
James E. Moss spent his early years in his native state and when about ten years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to Illinois, where he was reared to the life of a farmer. He remained at home and secured a good education in the public schools. On August 10, 1861, he enlisted for service in the Civil war, joining Company E, Thirty-sixth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served as private and corporal until November 25, 1863, when he was seriously wounded at Missionary Ridge, losing his left leg. He was confined to the Marine Hospital in Chicago until his recovery, and on September 29, 1864, was discharged on account of his disability. He then returned to his Illinois home and turned his attention again to farming. In 1875 he came to Greene county, Iowa, and bought three quarter sections of land in Kendrick township, after which he returned to Illinois, where he remained until 1879, when he bought his family to Green county, of which he has since been a continuous resident, covering a period of forty-eight years. The land he had bought here was raw and unimproved prairie land, none of which had ever been plowed. However, he erected a house and barn and at once preceeded to get the land broken and into cultivation, making his home in the southeast quarter of section 27. He found the soil very productive under his well directed efforts, and as he prospered he bought other tracts. He bought one hundred and sixty acres in section 28, Jackson township, and twelve acres of timber land in the same township. Later he bought two hundred acres more in Kendrick township and in 1918 bought another quarter section in that township. He also owns a half interest in two hundred and twelve acres of good land Kane county, Illinois. He is now the owner of three quarter sections of land in section 27, Kendrick township, and five hundred and twenty acres in section 34, the same township, comprising one thousand acres of splendid land in one body. All of this land is now rented, as Mt. Moss has retired from active operations and is spending his time in his modern home in Scranton. When he bought the place he installed gas lights and a water heating system, and is now surrounded by all the comforts and conveniences of an up-to-date home.
Mr. Moss has always been progressive and enterprising in his methods and has had the courage to embark in new enterprises when good judgment pointed the way. While engaged in active farming he gave considerable attention to the raising of full blooded shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs, and he was the first man to bring percheron stallions into Greene county, a move that has been of inestimable benefit to the improvement of the draft stock of the county. He was the principal factor in the organization of the telephone company that constructed the line into Scrantion, and which is still successfully operated as an independent line, under the name of the Scranton Telephone Company, and which has connections with all the surrounding towns. He was also one of the organizers of the company which brought electric light into Scranton, and which was later incorporated as the Scranton Electric Light Company. In these and many other ways he has shown a fine, publicspirited interest in the progress and upbuilding of his section of the county and has been a strong figure in its advancement and betterment.
Mr. Moss has been married twice - first, on October 25, 1867, in Pawpaw township, DeKalb county, Illinois, to Miss Susan A. Powers, who was born and reared in that county. To this union were born four children, of whom three are still living, namely: Frances, who is the wife of James Knight, of Woodbine, Iowa, now a resident of Cazenovia, New York; Jennie P., the wife of Clyde Fletcher, of Des Moines, Iowa; and Sadie Beth Marjorie, who is the wife of John Thomas, a farmer of Greene county. The mother of these children passed away in 1918, and in 1920 Mr. Moss was married to Mrs. G. R. Place, whose maiden name was Blanche Wheeler. She was born in DeKalb county, Illinois, a daughter of William Wheeler, who was a school teacher for some years, later becoming a traveling salesman. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having served in Company K, One Hundred and Fifth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
Mr. Moss is a member of N. H. Powers Post, No. 111, Grand Army of the Republic. He has had a business record of which he has just reason to be proud, for, starting in with a cash capital of only six hundred dollars, he has managed his affairs with a discretion and soundness of judgement that have brought him abundant returns, and the prosperity which came to him was well merited and honestly earned. He has won the hearty admiration of his fellowmen and earned a reputation as a progressive man of affairs and a broadminded, charitable and upright citizen. He has honored his community by his life and is today regarded as one of its representative citizens.
Dr. Frank E. Mossman, a prominent and successful educator of this part of northwestern Iowa, has served as president of Morningside College of Sioux City since 1918. His birth occurred at Urbana, Benton county, Iowa, on the 26th of August, 1873, his parents being David C. and Mary Elizabeth Mossman, the former of Scotch-Irish lineage and the latter of German descent. The American progenitor of the Mossman family was the great-grandfather of Dr. Mossman, who came to this country from Scotland.
Frank E. Mossman was reared on a farm and supplemented his public school education, acquired at the place of his nativity, by a course of study in the Tilford Collegiate Academy of Iowa, from which he graduated in 1893. Three years prior to that time he had removed to Larchwood, Lyon county, this state, where he resided until 1898 and where he followed the profession of school teaching for four years. During the years 1898 and 1899 he served as pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Hutchins, Iowa, preaching on a seven point circuit. In 1900 he entered Morningside College of Sioux City, which in 1903 conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He spent the succeeding year as field agent for that institution, after which he was a graduate student in the University of Chicago from 1904 until 1905. In the latter year he became president of Southwestern College at Winfield, Kansas, thus serving until 1918, when he assumed the presidency of Morningside College of Sioux City, of which institution he has since remained at the head.
On the 27th of March, 1895, at Larchwood, Iowa, President Mossman was married to Miss Zoa H. Foster, who was born at Martinsburg, Elliott county, Kentucky, September 15, 1875. Her parents were B. F. and Eliza E. (Flanery) Foster, the former born at Sandy Hook, Elliott county, Kentucky, June 16, 1848, and the latter at Martinsburg, Kentucky, November 23, 1847. B. F. Foster, a veteran of the Civil war, now resides at Little Rock, Arkansas, but his wife is deceased. president and Mrs. Mossman are the parents of four children, namely: Mereb E., who is a graduate student in Chicago University; N. Benita, a junior in Morningside College; Hobart F., a senior in the high school; and Homer F., who is completing a grade school course at Sioux City. All are still under the parental roof. Mrs. Zoa H. (Foster) Mossman has membership in the Sorosis Club, the Delphian Club, the Faculty Women's Club and the Woman's Club of Sioux City.
A republican in politics, President Mossman has always been a consistent worker in the ranks of that party. He belongs to the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce, the Sioux City Knife and Fork Club, the Rotary Club of Sioux city, the Iowa State Teachers Association, the Professional Men's Club and the Morningside Country Club. He was ordained elder in the Methodist Episcopal church and is director of the State Young Men's Christian Association of Iowa. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order, belonging to Morningside Lodge No. 615, A. F. & A. M., and to Sioux City Consistory No. 5. All who know him speak of him in terms of praise. In his life are the elements of greatness because of the use he has made of his talents and his opportunities, because his thoughts are not self-centered but are given to the mastery of life's problems and the fulfillment of his duty as a man in his relations to his fellowmen and as a citizen in his relations to his city, state and country.
For thirty-eight years Dr. Frank J. Murphy has been engaged in the practice of medicine in Sioux City, Iowa. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, on the 22d of April, 1865, is a son of John T. and Louise (Denamy) Murphy, and is descended from sterling old Irish stock on the paternal side, his grandfather, James Murphy, having been a native of Ireland. From that country he went to England, where he was married to Miss Eliza Sanderson and soon afterwards they came to America, locating in Brandford, Ontairo, Canada, where they reared a family. A son, John T. Murphy, came to the United States about 1858, locating in Detroit for a short time, and then went into the northern peninsula of Michigan, where he became identified with the copper industry. In 1871 he came to Iowa, locating at Sergeant Bluff, where he bought a farm, being one of the pioneer farmers of northwestern Iowa.
On that farm Doctor Murphy was reared, being but six years of age when the family came west. He attended the district school and later graduated from the Sergeant Bluff high school. He then attended the State Normal School at Cedar Falls, 188304, and was at Iowa State University in 1884-85. In preparation for his professional career he entered the medical school of Iowa University, completing his studies in Rush Medical College (now the medical school of the University of Chicago), where he was graduated in 1887, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately following he came to Sioux City and has been engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery continuously since, being one of the oldest physicians in point of years of service in this community.
Doctor Murphy enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war and was commissioned lieutenant and assistant surgeon of the Fifty-second Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of that short but decisive conflict. Following its close, he joined the Iowa National Guard and was commissioned a captain in the medical corps. In 1914 the Doctor organized Iowa Ambulance Company No. 1, being the first ambulance company organized in the state. In June, 1916, he took his company to the Mexican border, being stationed at Brownsville, Texas, where he was commissioned major and attached as surgeon to the Fourth Iowa Infantry Regiment. He was mustered out with his regiment in March, 1917, and was then appointed on the medical advisory board in Sioux City, in which capacity he served until the close of the World war.
In April, 1900, Doctor Murphy was united in marriage to Miss Mable Storey, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and they have an only daughter, Marguerite.
The Doctor is a member of the Woodbury County Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society, the Missouri Valley Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is also a member of William A. Kirk Post, Spanish War Veterans, and of Sioux City Lodge, No. 112, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. For many years he has been a member of the Sioux City Rotary Club and was one of the six men who drafted the Rotary Code of Ethics, which was adopted by International Rotary, at the annual Rotary convention in San Francisco, in July, 1915. He has dignified and honored the medical profession by his self-abnegating services, attaining to distinction and success, and today no citizen of his home city enjoys to a greater measure than he the confidence and good will of the people generally.
Joseph A. Murphy, a member of one of the well known law firms of Ida Grove, is also a successful business man, at the head of a large corporation, and has likewise devoted much time to public affairs. He was born March 13, 1876, in Vernon township, Dubuque county, Iowa, and his parents, Daniel and Catherine (Roach) Murphy, were both of Irish ancestry. His father was born June 3, 1835, in Seneca county, New York, and the mother's birth occurred in 1845 in the city of Dubuque, Iowa.
Joseph A. Murphy was a pupil in the common schools of his native county until he reached the age of thirteen, when the family moved to Sioux City, Iowa, and there he attended the public high school and the Cathedral high school. He came to Ida Grove September 13, 1894, and for several years taught in country schools of this district, devoting his leisure hours to private study. On September 13, 1901, he was appointed deputy county recorder and in 1902 was elected to that office, which he filled for six terms, or until 1914, his long retention therein proving conclusively the quality of his service. In the meantime he had purchased the abstract and loan business of Koppenhaver & Fredendoll and in 1905 organized the Ida County Abstract Company. He controls the business and his executive force and broad experience have enabled him to develop one of the largest and most reliable corporations of the kind in this section of the state. He also mastered the principles of jurisprudence and in 1916 was admitted to the bar. He is now a member of the firm of Murphy & Murphy, specialists in title matters. They are regarded as experts in this branch of the law and enjoy an extensive and remunerative practice.
On September 28, 1909, Joseph A. Murphy was married, at Springfield, Missouri, to Miss Marie C. Emig, music supervisor of the Ida Grove public schools. She was born in 1885 at Westphalia, Iowa, and her parents were natives of Alsace-Lorraine. She belongs to the Ida Grove Golf and Country Club and is also a member of the Delphians and the local Bridge Club. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy have a family of four children: Kathleen, J. Emmett, Donald and Billy, aged respectively fourteen, thirteen, eleven and five years.
Mr. Murphy was a member of the Iowa National Guard from 1902 until 1910 and during the World war was government appeal agent. He is in thorough sympathy with every movement for civic growth and betterment and from 1912 until 1914 was a member of the school board. He has been a director of the Ida Grove Hotel Company, the Ida Grove Armory Company, the Golf and Country Club and the local Tennis Club, and has also served as secretary of all of these organizations. He is likewise a Kiwanian and a Knight of Columbus. He is affiliated with the Catholic church and casts his ballot for the candidates of the democratic party. He has a predilection for politics and for several years was chairman of the county executive committee. Mr. Murphy is a broad-gauged man who fills an important place in the life of his community, and his success is the merited reward of hard work, perseverance and the wise utilization of his innate powers and talents.
Among the able and successful attorneys of northwestern Iowa is James Raymond Murphy of Ida Grove, Ida county, where he has built up a large and remunerative practice, standing among the representative professional men of that community. Mr. Murphy was born in Dubuque, Iowa, on the 2d of May, 1887, and is a son of Daniel and Catherine (Roach) Murphy. The father was a native of Seneca county, New York, and the mother of Dubuque, Iowa.
James R. Murphy attended the public schools of Sioux City and Ida Grove, and then entered the law school of Iowa State University, where he was graduated, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in 1912. He then went to central Oregon, where he engaged in the practice of law for one year, at the end of which time he returned to Ida Grove and opened a law office. In 1917 he formed a law partnership with his brother, Joseph A. Murphy, under the firm style of Murphy & Murphy, and during the ensuing years this has become one of the strongest and most prominent law firms in Ida county.
Mr. Murphy served many years as a member of Iowa National Guard and was sent with the Iowa troops to the Mexican border during the troubles there. He served during the World war from the day war was declared, and was with the Thirty-fourth Division at Camp Cody, New Mexico, until August, 1918. He went overseas with the division in September, 1918, as captain of the One Hundred Thirty-third Infantry Machine Gun Company, and there was assigned to the One Hundred and Seventh Machine Gun Battalion of the Twenty-eight Division, with which he had just reached the front when the armistice was signed. He went with the Army of Occupation to the Metz sector, where he remained until May, 1919, when he returned home, and was honorably discharged at Camp Dix, New Jersey, the same month.
In 1917 Mr. Murphy was married to Miss Edith Northrop, of Ida Grove. Her father, Thomas Northrop, was one of the earliest of the pioneer settlers of Ida county and was for many years one of its best known farmers. To Mr. and Mrs. Murphy have been born two sons, James Raymond, Jr., and Charles Hanford. Politically Mr. Murphy gives his support to the democratic party. He served two terms as county attorney of Ida county and also served eighteen months as a member and chairman of the Iowa state board of parole, from which he resigned in order to give his full attention to his law practice. He is now serving as city attorney of Ida Grove. Mr. Murphy served as commander of the Iowa department, American Legion, in 1926. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, Brotherhood of American Yeomen, Royal Highlanders and Phi Delta Theta and Phi Delta Phi fraternities. He is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church.
Charles P. Myers, one of the venerable residents of Ida Grove, has lived in Iowa for fifty-five years, experiencing the various phases of pioneer life, and as a progressive agriculturist he has contributed his share toward the development and utilization of the natural resources of the state. He was born March 9, 1837, in Otsego county, New York, and his parents, Oliver P. and Phoebe (Carr) Myers, were also natives of the Empire state. The house in which the father was born was the birthplace of four generations of the family and the name is an old one in the history of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Myers had four children: Charles P.; Egbert, who has passed away; a daughter who died in infancy; and James C., also deceased.
Charles P. Myers was reared and educated in the east and in 1871, when a young man of thirty-four years, allied his interests with those of Iowa. He located in Clinton county and for eight years operated rented land. He then purchased two hundred and forty acres of land in Ida county, to which he moved in the following year, and later acquired eighty acres of railroad land. Subsequently he bought a forty acre tract, eventually becoming the owner of three hundred and sixty acres of fertile land, on which he made many improvements. In the operation of his place he brought to bear the most modern ideas along agricultural lines, and well deserved prosperity attended his efforts.
On February 2, 1856, Mr. Myers married Miss Louisa Eldred, who was also a native of New York, and their union was terminated by her death on April 23, 1898. She had become the mother of seven children: Phoebe Jane, who is the wife of Thomas McLeod, of Ida Grove; James E., Herbert L., Charles Everett and Jessie Louisa, all of whom are deceased; and Caroline Josephine and Frances Annabel, both at home.
Mr. Myers is an exemplary representative of the Masonic order, with which he has been identified for sixty-six years, and he votes the democratic ticket. He is conscientious and highly moral, though not a member of any church. He has reached the advanced age of eighty-nine years and has lived to witness remarkable changes as the work of civilization has been carried forward in the west. His conversation spans the past in interesting reminiscences, and no resident of Ida Grove enjoys in greater measure the respect and esteem of its citizens.