IOWA HISTORY PROJECT |
NORTHWESTERN
IOWA
ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION
VOLUME III
1804-1926
BIO'S S
Ira H. Sargent was long an important factor in the agricultural life of this state, was more than ordinarily successful in his operations, and is now retired from active business pursuits, spending the evening of life in his comfortable home in Spencer. He was born in Sydney, Canada, on the 5th of November, 1845, and is a son of E. H. and Louise Sargent, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of New York. They were married in Canada and lived in that country until 1855, when they came to Iowa, locating in Clayton county, where the father engaged in farming, and there their deaths occurred. They became the parents of nine children, six of whom are now living.
Ira H. Sargent secured his education in an old log schoolhouse in Clayton county, Iowa, where he lived until 1864, when, at the age of nineteen years, he enlisted for service in the Civil war, becoming a member of Company D, Fourth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served faithfully until the close of the war, being mustered out at Davenport, Iowa. He then returned to Clayton county and went to work on a farm. He spent practically his entire active life in agricultural pursuits up to the time of his retirement, and is now enjoying the fruits of his years of earnest effort.
Mr. Sargent was married in 1867 to Miss Martha Stroud, who was born and reared at Decorah, Iowa, and whose death occurred in 1868. In 1873 he married Miss E. Persons, who also was a native of Iowa, and to this union were born eleven children, of whom seven are living namely: Cora B., the wife of William Bartlett; Ernest V., William A. and Lawrence E.; Rosa, the wife of William Puritan; Irna H.; and Clarence W. The mother passed away in 1918, and in 1921 Mr. Sargent was married to Mrs. Mary Woodward, who is a native of Indiana, and who has two sons by a former marriage, Frank and George. Mr. Sargent is a member of Annett Post, No. 124, Grand Army of the Republic, at Spencer, and of the Modern Woodmen of America. In all the relations of life he has been true to every trust and his career has been characterized by the attributes that constitute good citizenship in days of peace, as well as in that momentous period when he was numbered among the "boys in blue."
W. C. Saul is one of the leading and successful members of the legal profession in Carroll, where he has practiced for a third of a century. With a reputation in one of the most exacting professions that has won him a name for distinguished service second to none of his contemporaries, he has been equally distinguished in the sphere of private citizenship, having at all times taken an active and effective interest in everything relating to the welfare and progress of his city and county, and no resident of his community stands higher in public confidence and regard.
Mr. Saul was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, December 21, 1862, and is a son of James and Maria (Charles) Saul, who were natives of Ireland, whence they came to the United Stares in young manhood and womanhood. They met here and were married in Camden, New Jersey, in 1851. About 1858 they came to Iowa, locating in Cedar Rapids, where the father, although a shoemaker by trade, turned his attention to farming, buying a tract of land just over the line in Iowa county. In 1879 he moved to Crawford county, this state, where he continued his farming operations several years, and then retired, living in Denison, that county, until his death, which occurred in 1916, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. The mother died March 19, 1918, at the age of eighty-four years.
W. C. Saul was reared on the home farm, attended the district schools and then took an academic course at Carroll College, in Mt. Vernon, Linn county, where he was graduated in 1883. Going to Chadron, Nebraska, he engaged in railroad work for two years, and during the ensuing four years engaged in teaching school. In 1891, he secured a position in the railway mail service, with which he remained for twelve years. In 1893 he entered the law office of F. M. Powers, in the same room where he has practiced law for the past thirty-three years, and here he spent two years in the study of law. In 1895 he was admitted to the bar and has been engaged in the active practice of his profession here continuously since. In his law work he has embodied all that pertains to the best ideals of the profession - uprightness of conduct, absolute integrity in the management of all cases, courtesy to opponents, firmness in presenting the facts for every client. He is tenacious of every opinion which he believes to be valid, and presents it with an acuteness of intellect, a power of logic and a lucidity of expression excelled by none of his brethren. He has no superior in his splendid powers of discriminating analysis and has been notably successful in general practice.
In 1885 Mr. Saul was united in marriage to Miss Elida J. Thomas, of Dow City, Iowa, and they are the parents of three living children: W. Irving, who is his father's associate in the practice of law; Major Leslie T., who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1916, and is now stationed at Vancouver Barracks, Washington; and Jean Elizabeth, who is a sophomore in Cornell College, Iowa. Mr. Saul is a member of Signet Lodge, No. 264, A. F. & A. M.; Capstone Chapter, No. 78, R. A. M.; Cryptic Council, No. 38, R. & S.M., and Azgad Commandery, No. 63, K. T., of which he was the first eminent commander. He is also a member of the Carroll Citizens' Club and the Carroll Country Club. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is chairman of the official board. He has always consistently stood for all that is best in the life of the community and has been a potent factor in advancing the civic and moral welfare of the people.
W. Irving Saul was born in Denison, Crawford county, Iowa, on the 25th of January, 1887, and secured his preliminary education in the Carroll public schools, graduating from high school in 1904. During the following three years he attended Iowa State College, at Ames, and for about four years he worked as an electrician, being employed in various cities. In 1911 he accepted the position of editor of the Carroll Herald, serving one year, and then bought the Breda News, at Breda, Iowa, which he published for a year and a half, when he sold it to J. J. Smid, who is still operating the plant. In 1912 Mr. Saul entered his father's law office and devoted his attention to the reading of Blackstone and Kent until 1915, when he was admitted to the bar, since which time he has devoted himself closely to the practice of his profession, being in partnership with his father. He has shown marked ability, having been identified as counsel with many important cases in the courts of this county, while as an advisor he is regarded as exceedingly sound and safe. He was county attorney in 1920-21.
In 1907 Mr. Saul was united in marriage to Miss Leola D. Williams, of Ames, Iowa, and to them have been born two children, one of whom survives, Helen Anita, who is a freshman in Grinnell College. Mr. Saul is a member of the same Masonic bodies as his father and was the second eminent commander of the commandery. He and his wife are members of Signet Chapter No. 1, Order of the Eastern Star, and they are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Saul belongs to the Carroll Country Club and is deservedly popular among his associates, being friendly and affable in all relations.
Among the men of enterprise, determination and keen discernment who have profited by the countless opportunities of the west is numbered William Schramm, a retired farmer of Ida county and one of the valued citizens of Arthur. A native of Germany, he was born February 10, 1868, and his parents, August and Katherine (Trede) Schramm, were also born in that country, in which the mother died. The father crossed the Atlantic in 1888 and settled on a farm in Sac county, Iowa, where his demise occurred in 1920. He was twice married and by his first wife had four children, of whom our subject is the third in order of birth. By the second union there were eight children and six are now living.
William Schramm was educated in the schools of the fatherland and in 1886, when a youth of eighteen, responded to the call of the new world. He worked for three years in Sac county, Iowa, and after his marriage moved to Ida county. He purchased a farm and increased his holdings from time to time, eventually accumulating a tract of five hundred and sixty acres in the county. Through progressive methods and good management he transformed the place into a productive farm, supplied with all modern improvements, and he still owns the property but resides in a substantial home in the village of Arthur, having earned a sum ample for all of the necessities and many of the luxuries of life.
In 1889 Mr. Schramm married Miss Margaret Dalt, also a native of Germany, and they had five sons, namely: Charles, who is operating his father's farm in Ida county; and Henry L., John A., George and Fred, all of whom are agruiculturists. The sons George and Fred went to France with the American Expeditionary Forces, remaining in the service for two years, and the former received a wound in the right arm.
Mr. and Mrs. Schramm are members of the Lutheran church and earnest workers in its behalf. Mr. Schramm casts his ballot for the candidates of the democratic party, and he has contributed his quota toward civic advancement as a member of the school board. His success is the reward of honest labor, and public opinion bears testimony to his worth.
William G. Schroer is president, treasurer and general manager of the Sioux Candy Company, a concern which was established in 1919, has enjoyed a remarkable growth and is now one of the most prosperous manufacturing enterprises in Sioux City, its success being in a very large measure due to the energetic methods and progressive ideas of the man who has directed its operation. Mr. Schroer was born in Victor, Iowa, July 16, 1877, and is a son of Charles and Margaret (Buser) Schroer, both of whom were natives of Germany. They came to the United States in youth, and met and were married here. They had located in New York city and soon after their marriage went to Cleveland, Ohio, where they lived about five years, during which period the father was identified with the baking industry. From Cleveland they moved to Victor, Iowa, where he established a bakery business, which he conducted for about twenty years. They then moved to Ponca, Nebraska, where also Mr. Schroer opened another bakery, which he conducted until his death, in 1907, at the age of seventy years. He was survived a number of years by his widow, who passed away in 1915, at the age of seventy-nine years.
William G. Schroer was educated in the public schools of Ponca, graduating from high school in 1895, and in the Long Island Business College, at Brooklyn, New York, to which city he had gone in 1897, there spending four years in office work. In 1901 he came to Sioux City and was in the employ of the National Biscuit Company for three years, when the plant was closed. He then entered the Security National Bank as bookkeeper, which position he filled for two or three years, and in 1907 he became one of the organizers of the Johnson Biscuit Company, of which he was made secretary-treasurer. He continued in that official capacity for about twelve years, when he withdrew and organized the Sioux Candy Company, of which he was made treasurer and general manager. On the death of George W. Decker, the president, Mr. Schroer was elected his successor, being also continued in his former offices, so that he is now president, treasurer and general manager. He has given his best efforts to the business, in which he has been notably successful and the company is now in a very prosperous condition.
In 1905 Mr. Schroer was married to Miss Mathie Soresen, of Sioux City, and to them have been born five children, three sons and two daughters: Charles J., who graduated from the Sioux City high school in 1925; Harold A., who is in high school; Janice L., William G., Jr., and Mary E. Mr. Schroer and his family are members of the McClintock Community Presbyterian church. He is a member of Landmark Lodge, No. 103, A. F. & A. M.; Sioux City Chapter, No. 26, R. A. M.; Columbian Commandery, No. 18, K. T.; and Abu-Bekr Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Sioux City Kiwanis Club, the Sioux City Boat Club and the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce. Candid and straightforward in all of his relations with his fellowmen, Mr. Schroer has gained an enviable place in public confidence and esteem and has a large circle of loyal friends.
Dr. John W. Schwartz is one of the recent additions to the medical fraternity in Sioux City and possesses all of the qualifications which make for success in the profession. He was born October 21, 1898, in Emerson, Nebraska, and his father, John Schwartz, was a native of Wisconsin. He was one of the trusted employes of the Chicago, St. Paul & Minneapolis Railroad Company, serving for twenty-five years as superintendent of buildings and bridges, and his demise occurred in 1905. His widow, Lucy E. (Evans) Schwartz, was born in Nebraska and still resides in Emerson.
Dr. Schwartz attended the public schools of his native town and his higher education was received at the University of Nebraska, from which he won the M. D. degree in June, 1922. He was connected with Emanuel Hospital at Omaha, Nebraska, for a year and for a similar period was house physician at Mercy Hospital of Sioux City, Iowa, thus gaining valuable experience. In June, 1923, he opened an office in this city and in the intervening period has gained a secure foothold in his profession. He is well versed in the fundamental principles of medicine and surgery and correctly applies his knowledge to the needs of his patients. He is a member of the staffs of the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, the Lutheran General Hospital, and the Methodist Hospital. In 1918, when twenty years of age, he enlisted in the United States Medical Corps and was stationed at Omaha, Nebraska, until the close of the World war, receiving his honorable discharge in December, 1918.
On April 19, 1924, Dr. Schwartz married Miss Elizabeth Whiting, and they now have a daughter, Elizabeth Suzanne, born January 19, 1925. Dr. Schwartz is affiliated with the Congregational church and casts his ballot for the candidates of the republican party. He is a Mason, belonging to Tyrian Lodge, No. 103, F. & A. M., and Sioux City Consistory, A. A. S. R., and is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Highlanders. He belongs to the Elks Club, the Sioux City Country Club and the American Business Club. He is identified with the Delta Chi and Nu Sigma Nu college fraternities and is a charter member of Ryan-McEntaffer Post of the American Legion. His professional relations are with the Woodbury County and Inter-Stare Medical Societies, the American Medical Association and the Post Graduate Assembly of America. Dr. Schwartz is deeply interested in his work and through close study and unceasing effort is constantly broadening his scientific knowledge.
William J. Scott, clerk of the district court of Ida County, has devoted much of his life to public service, and the reputation that results from the faithful performance of duty is his just reward. For forty-eight years he has been a resident of Ida Grove and his record is a matter of pride to its citizens. He was born September 16, 1855, in Chester, Pennsylvania, and his parents, John T. and Martha J. (Campbell) Scott, were both members of Scotch families. They were reared and married in the north of Ireland and in their youth came to the United States, settling in Pennsylvania.
When William J. Scott was a child of five his father died, and at the age of nine years he entered Girard College in Philadelphia. After his graduation from that noted institution he returned to Chester and served a four years' apprenticeship to the drug trade. On the expiration of that period he journeyed to the west and for a year was clerk in a drug store at Glidden, Iowa. He came to Ida Grove in the spring of 1878 and has since made his home in this community, which numbers him among its honored pioneers.
Mr. Scott is a stanch republican in his political views and in 1907 was appointed postmaster of Ida Grove, acting in that capacity until 1915. He was city recorder for more than eighteen years and county recorder for fourteen years. He was a member of the twenty-eighth assembly of Iowa and gave his earnest support to all measures which he believed would prove of benefit to the commonwealth. In the fall of 1914 he was elected clerk of the district court of Ida county and has since been the incumbent of this position, discharging his duties with characteristic thoroughness and efficiency. He has never used public office as an avenue to personal aggrandizement, regarding it rather as a trust given to him by the people, and his honor and integrity have ever been above question. Along fraternal lines he is connected with the Ida Grove camp of the Modern Woodmen of America and Lodge No. 259 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a prominent Mason, belonging to Kane Lodge, No. 377, F. & A. M., of which he has been secretary for forty-one years; Tyrea Chapter, No. 105, R. A. M.; Maple Valley Council, No. 25, R. & S. M.; Commandery No. 41, K. T.; Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, A. A. S. R.; and Abu-Bekr Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., also of Sioux City. He is a worthy exemplar of the craft and his influence upon the life of his community has been of the highest order.
Mr. Scott was married February 23, 1880, at Glidden, Iowa, to Miss Lillian Bruner, a daughter of Elias D. and Caroline (Baird) Bruner, and the children of this union are Katherine and Edith.
Melvin Langworthy Sears, deceased, was long numbered among Sioux City's foremost corporation attorneys. He was fifty-two years of age when he departed this life on the 30th of October, 1918, his birth having occurred in September, 1866, in a pioneer log cabin near Onawa, Iowa. His parents were Stillman Foote and Margaret Augusta (Searle) SEars, natives of New York and Illinois, respectively.
Stillman F. Sears was a descendant of Richard Sears, who emigrated from England to the United States in 1632 and was the progenitor of the family on American soil. He came overland to Iowa with his parents in a covered wagon, in 1854, when he was a lad of eleven or twelve years, while the lady who afterward became his wife accompanied her parents to this state in 1856, the journey being also made in a prairie schooner. The Sears family stopped for about two years in Council Bluffs, where the paternal grandfather of Melvin L. Sears, who was Richard Sears, conducted a hotel. At the end of that time, however, they took up their abode on a farm within a mile and a half of Onawa, where Richard Sears devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits. The Searle family made their way direct to Onawa and likewise located on a farm in the vicinity of the town.
Stillman F. Sears and Margaret Augusta Searle were married in 1864, took up a farm and erected thereon the log cabin in which their son Melvin was born. When their children reached school age they moved into Onawa in order to provide them with better educational facilities, and Stillman F. Sears there embarked in merchandising. He was one of the first to outfit and to drive through to the Black Hills at the time of the gold discovery there. Mr. Sears was a typical pioneer and frontiersman. When Monona county had become a well settled and populated community, he sold his lands there and migrated to western Nebraska, buying a large ranch near Long Pine. After he had developed this into a valuable cattle ranch he sold the property and took up his abode in Long Pine, where his declining years were spent and where he died in November, 1921. He and his wife celebrated their golden wedding at Long Pine, Nebraska, in October, 1914. His remains were brought back to Onawa, Iowa, for interment in the family plot.
Melvin L. Sears attended the public schools of Onawa to the time of his graduation from the high school there as a member of the class of 1887. His more advanced intellectual training was received in the State University of Iowa at Iowa City, from which he was graduated in 1891 with the degree Bachelor of Philosophy. He next entered the law department of that institution, in which he studied for a year, but a lack of financial resources made it necessary that he go to work, and he removed to Omaha, where he was employed as clerk in a law office at a salary of twenty-five dollars per month, out of which he paid for his board and clothes. He had sleeping quarters in the law office. His labors gave him practical experience and all of his leisure moments were devoted to further law study, so that in 1892 he had become sufficiently well acquainted with the principles of jurisprudence to pass the required examination that secured him admission to the bar in Omaha. Shortly thereafter he entered into partnership with Edson Rich, in whose office he had been employed. The firm became Rich & Sears, and this copartnership continued until 1898, when Mr. Rich was made general attorney for the Union Pacific Railway, while Mr. Sears accepted the position of general counsel with the Cudahy Packing Company, with headquarters in Omaha. Through the succeeding four years he was the legal representative of that corporation and then, retiring, removed to Sioux City in 1902. In 1905 he formed a copartnership with Hon. J. S. Lawrence, under the firm style of Lawrence & Sears, which association was maintained until the death of senior member. Thereafter he took into partnership Harry F. Snyder, forming the firm of Sears & Snyder, and thus he practiced throughout the remainder of his life. While he was still an active factor in the world's work a contemporary biographer said of him: "An excellent presence, an earnest manner, marked strength of character, a thorough grasp of the law and the ability to accurately apply its principles make him an effective and successful advocate and a wise counselor."
In October, 1901, at Omaha, Nebraska, Mr. Sears was united in marriage to Miss Frances Belle Tibbitts, her parents being John W. and louise (Schillinger) Tibbitts, the former a native of Louisville, Kentucky, while the latter was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. John W. Tibbitts was an expert accountant. Mr. and Mrs. Sears became the parents of a son and a daughter, namely: John Stilman, who is a law student in the State University of Iowa; and Alice Louise, at home.
In politics Mr. Sears was a republican. He manifested an active and helpful interest in Sioux City's civic life and rendered effective service to the cause of education as a member of the school board for a number of years. As a member of the Commercial Club he cooperated in all the movements of the organization having to do with the benefit and upbuilding of his city. A worthy exemplar of the teachings and purposes of the Masonic fraternity, he held all the high offices in the blue lodge and was a Knight Templar Mason who had also attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and had crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He was likewise affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while his religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Congregational church, to which his widow also belongs. Mr. Sears belonged to the Sioux City Boat Club and was one of the organizers and one of the first presidents of the Sioux City Country Club. His life was an upright and honorable one in every relation and he enjoyed high standing in professional, civic and social circles of his adopted city.
George Shoop has spent much of his life in the west and for many years has been a resident of Arthur, enjoying a high place in the esteem of his fellow townsmen. He was born April 2, 1844, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and his parents, Samuel and Mary Ann Shoop, were also natives of the Keystone state, in which the mother passed away. The father came to Ida Grove, Iowa, in 1885 and spent his last years at Arthur. There were seven children in the family, namely: Sarah, who is deceased; George; Samuel and Catherine, who have passed away; and three who died in infancy. When a youth of sixteen Mr. Shoop began earning his own livelihood and for nine years was employed as a farm hand. At the outbreak of the Civil war he joined the emergency corps. of which he was a member for ninety days, and then enlisted in teh Union army, serving for a period of one hundred days.
Mr. Shoop married Miss Elizabeth Chubb, who was a daughter of Edward and Sarah (Pike) Chubb and was born November 15, 1839, at Bay Roberts, Newfoundland. Of the children born to their union four are now living.
Mr. Shoop belongs to the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic and is a republican in his political views. He had no advantages at the outset of his career and all that he now possesses has been gained by hard work, self-denial and good management. He has reached the venerable age of eighty-two years and enjoys the contentment and tranquility of mind which follow a well spent life.
Ben E. Short, president and manager of the Short Construction Company, enjoys the distinction of being the oldest building contractor in Sioux City in point of years of service and is also the largest contractor in relation to volume of business. His record since engaging in this business is one of which he has reason to be proud, and today no citizen of Sioux City stands higher in public esteem than he. Born in Washington county, Indiana, on the 1st day of September, 1873, he is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Ciphers) Short, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of Germany. They were brought to this country in childhood by their respective parents, who located on farms about two and a half miles apart in Washington county, Indiana. There the young couple were married and in 1880 moved to Nebraska, where Mr. Short continued his farming operations until 1890, when he came to Sioux City and lived retired to the time of his death, which occurred in 1898. The mother had passed away in 1880, soon after removal to Nebraska.
Ben E. Short was educated in the public schools of Nebraska and Sioux City, supplementing this by special study in a night school in the latter city. He left home at the early age of thirteen and began an apprenticeship at the carpenter trade, lasting three years. During the first two years he received a wage of fifty cents per day and paid his own board, while during the third year he received a dollar a day. In 1897, at the age of twenty-four years, he began his career as a building contractor, in which line of business he has continued uninterruptedly to the present time. During these years, which have been momentous ones in the history of Sioux City, he has contributed his full share to the improvement of the city, not only through the medium of his building operations, but also by his personal efforts in other directions, cooperating in every possible way in advancing the commercial prosperity of the community. Among the many important buildings erected by the Short Construction Company are the Moore-Shaukeberg wholesale grocery buildings, the Howard hotel, the Brown & Bolton block, the Interstate Brewery buildings, the T. S. Martin Company department store building, the Sioux City Journal building, the Hansen Glass and Paint Company building, St. Vincent hospital, the Stock Yards National Bank building, the Newspaper Union building, the Methodist Episcopal hospital, the city municipal buildings, and also many school buildings in northwestern Iowa, the Palmer wholesale houses, the Armour office and branch office in Sioux City, and the big concrete hog yards in the Sioux City stock yards. He is a man of sterling integrity and has rigidly executed every contract to the last letter, so that he has long commanded the confidence of the public in business affairs.
On November 24, 1896, Mr. Short was united in marriage to Miss Amanda Peterson, of Sioux City, who died December 24, 1921, leaving two children: Maybell, who is the wife of Milton Follis, of East Sioux City; and Hazel, who is the wife of E. J. Davis, of East Sioux City, and had a daughter, Betty Babe. Mr. Short is a member of Sioux City Lodge, No 112, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a gentleman of straightforward manner, conscientious in his performance of the duties of citizenship and generous in his support of all worthy objects, so that he has long been regarded as one of Sioux City's foremost residents.
In the largest and best sense of the term, Deloss Carlton Shull is distinctively one of the notable men of his day and as such his life record is entitled to a conspicuous place in the annals of his state. As a citizen he is public spirited and enterprising to an unwanted degree; as a friend and neighbor, he combines the qualities of head and heart that have won confidence and commanded respect; as an attorney, who has a comprehensive grasp upon the philosophy of jurisprudence and has brought honor and dignity to the profession which he has practiced with such distinguished success, he is easily the peer of any of his professional brethren of the Iowa bar, and as a servant in high places of honor he has had no superiors.
Mr. Shull was born in Pella, Iowa, on the 28th of March, 1858, and is a son of Jacob Henry and Martha (Cutler) Shull. He received his elementary education in the public schools and then attended Des Moines University, here he was graduated in 1881, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered the law school of Drake University, where he was granted the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1882. In that same year he engaged in the practice of his profession at Vermillion, South Dakota, remaining there until 1887, when he moved to Sioux City, where he has been identified with the practice of law continuously since, a period of nearly forty years. In 1888 he formed a partnership with L. S. Fawcett, under the firm name of Fawcett & Shull, which relationship existed two years, after which he was for two years alone in practice. In 1892 he became associated with Orville J. Taylor and William H. Farnsworth, under the style of Taylor, Shull & Farnsworth, which existed until 1896, when Mr. Taylor retired and the firm name was Shull & Farnsworth until 1907, when J. M. Sammis joined the firm, which thus became Shull, Farnsworth & Sammis. Three years later C. M. Stillwill was admitted to partnership under the style of Shull, Farnsworth, Sammis & Stillwill. Two years later Farnsworth retired and until 1914 the firm was known as Shull, Sammis & Stillwill. When FRank E. Gill entered the firm in 1915 it became Shull, Gill, Sammis & Stillwill, which title was retained until 1921, when Messrs. Gill and Sammis retired and Mr. Shull's two sons, Deloss P. and Henry C., came into the firm, which became Shull, Stillwill & Shull. In 1922, Sylvester F. Wadden was admitted to the firm, which has since borne the title of Shull, Stillwill, Shull & Wadden. Mr. Shull is a director and general counsel for for the First National Bank of Sioux City and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, as well as many other important corporations. He is president and a director of the Great Western Land Company, president of the Shull Realty Company, attorney for the Manhattan Realty Company, and the Massachusetts Realty Company, of Boston, a holding company, and of the Colonial Land Company.
On the 2d of October, 1883, Mr. Shull was married at Maple Grove, Iowa, to Nettie Merrill Perkins, who was born in Madison county, Iowa, September 13, 1858. She died June 8, 1887, in Vermillion, South Dakota, leaving a son, D. P. Shull, born May 20, 1887. On October 24, 1889, at Sioux City, Mr. Shull was united in marriage to Miss Fannie Edith Mitzell, and to them were born three children, namely: Deloss P. and Henry C., who are associated with their father in the practice of law, and Laurens C., who was vice president of the Farmers State Bank of Woodward, Iowa, enlisted for service in the World war, becoming a lieutenant in the regular army, and was killed in the battle of Chateau Thierry, France. Mr. Shull is a member of the Sioux City Bar Association, the Iowa State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He belongs to the Professional Men's Club of Sioux City, to Shull Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the United States Reserve Officers of the Seventh Corps area, the Sioux City Golf and Country Club, the Hamilton Club of Chicago, and the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the board of trustees of the University of Chicago and of Des Moines University. He is a stanch supporter of the republican party, while his religious connection is with the Baptist church. He was president of the Northern Baptist convention of 1919-20, has been chairman of the finance committee of that body for fourteen years and a member of the executive committee for sixteen years. Mr. Shull has been much more than ordinarily successful in his legal career, being a master of his profession, a leader among men distinguished for the high order of their legal ability, and his eminent attainments and ripe judgment have made him an authority on all matters involving a profound knowledge of jurisprudence and vexed and intricate questions of law and equity. Personally Mr. Shull is a man of kindly and courteous manner, is generous in his support of all worthy causes, public spirited in his attitude towards all movements or measures for the advancement of the general welfare and consistent in his advocacy of all those things which are really worth while in life.
"To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die." Lieutenant Laurens Corning Shull made the supreme sacrifice for his country when fatally wounded in the famous Chateau Thierry drive, at Soissons, France, but he will live on in the hearts of the many who knew and loved him. Born in Sioux City, Iowa, on the 17th of January, 1894, he had reached the age of twenty-four years when he gave his life for democracy.
Deloss C. Shull, the father of Lieutenant Shull, may without invidious distinction be termed the foremost lawyer of Sioux City, if not of Iowa. The son attended the grad schools in his native city and entered the high school there in February, 1909, completing the four-year course in three years and a half. During his high school course he was prominent in all activities in the school and especially in athletics. He won his letters in basketball, football and baseball each year he was in school, and in his senior year he was captain of both the football and basketball teams. In October, 1912, "Spike," as he was affectionately known, entered the University of Chicago, being graduated from that institution in June, 1916. In the course of his university career he was elected to most of the leading student organizations and held offices in his classes and positions on committees. He was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, the Three Quarters Club, the Skull and Crescent, the Order of the Iron Mask, the Owl and Serpent and in his last year was selected a University marshal. He was president of the Young Men's Christian Association during his junior year and attended the Y. M. C. A. conference of student leaders at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. His chief fame at that time, particularly in the outside world, was gained through his athletic reputation, and his gigantic figure became a familiar one on the baseball, basketball and football teams of each of his last three college years. His play at whatever game he attempted was marked by a conscientiousness that set an example for every college athlete of his time, and his skill, aided by the extraordinary strength of his great stature, was excelled by few of his fellows. He was best known as a football player. His sophomore year he played on the 1913 University of Chicago championship team of the Western Conference. He was chosen by most critics at the close of that season "All-Western" tackle, and was unanimously selected by all critics as "All-Western" tackle in 1914 and 1915. In 1914 he was favorably commented upon by Walter Camp and other critics for "All-American" elevens. He was captain of the baseball team his last year in the university. During his course he won eight athletic "C's," three in football, three in baseball and two in basketball, having dropped basketball his senior year.
Upon graduation from college Laurens C. Shull became associated with the Messrs. Charles and Clyde Brenton, bankers in Des Moines, Iowa, who were warm friends of his family. He was sent to one of their banks, the Farmers' Bank of Woodward, Iowa, where, beginning at the bottom, he was rapidly promoted within a year's time to the position of vice president. During his stay in Woodward, a town of one thousand population, he coached the high school football team, and began refereeing football and basketball games throughout the state of Iowa for various colleges. While at Woodward he became affiliated with the following fraternal organizations: Woodward Lodge No. 460, I. O. O. F.; Peaceful Lodge No. 454, A. F. & A. M.; and B. P. O. E. Lodge No. 407, which was at Perry, Iowa, a short distance from Woodward.
On May 15, 1917, he resigned his position in the bank and entered the First Officers' Training Camp, which opened on that date at Fort Snelling, Near Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the end of the training he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry Reserve Corps, and because of his unusual ability as a soldier and a commander of men, was selected for immediate duty in France. After a two weeks' furlough at home he reported on the 26th of August, at Hoboken, New Jersey, for assignment to a transport. Sailing on the 7th of September, his ship landed at Liverpool, England, whence he was dispatched to France for training in a british Army School. Completing his course, he was assigned to the Twenty-sixth Infantry, Company F, First Division, in December, when that division was occupying a portion of the line in the Toul sector. Company F was in the battalion commanded by Major Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. He was later transferred to Company G, of the same regiment, which company he was commanding when he was fatally wounded on July 19, 1918, at Soissons, in the famous Chateau Thierry drive. For his action in leading his men against a German machine-gun nest on that day he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by his commanding officer.
The following intimate review of the life and character of Lieutenant Shull appeared in a memorial booklet: "Of the many who gave their lives in the World war there was one whose sacrifice was complete. With everything before him that youth, health, seriousness of purpose and the love of literally hundreds of friends could offer, he laid down his life willingly for his country's sake. It was with mingled emotions that Laurens Corning Shull answered the call to war in the spring of 1917. But because his feelings were mixed should he be considered the more valorous soldier and should his memory be richer. His was a nature which abhorred war, shunning instinctively not only war's barbaric practices but the stiffness and ceremony of things military. He deplored dissension. Disagreement of any kind, regardless of whether he was involved, always depressed him. He rebelled moreover at an exacting discipline which implied both punctiliousness and subserviency, and knowing army discipline, neither the pride of soldiership nor any thought of the rewards of victory heartened him as he enlisted. But he did enlist and at the first opportunity, because deep in his nature was an immediate response to duty. Never in his life inspired with the spirit of adventure, this conflict between duty and dislike of the job to be done had been continuously in the back of his mind from the time when the possibility of America's entrance into hostilities first became apparent. When the day for action came, however, his decision was instantly made; and at once he left for camp.
"In a time of war's aftermath, when encomiums and stories of heroism are common, the phrase 'a sense of duty' loses force by repetition. But those who knew 'Spike' can utter the phrase in connection with him only with a consciousness of its fullest meaning. This was once said of him: 'Spike never failed to square up with his duty as he saw it, even in things like football. He never liked the game, but he thought he ought to play it, and he always went in with all his tremendous might.' Instantaneous response to duty was a tenet of his philosophy and in the crisis it immediately fought down his dislike of war. His battle with himself, however, though decided instantly, was no mere contest with a doubt, but the smothering of a profound instinct. And for this reason he deserves added tribute.
"The coming of war found 'Spike' vice president of the Farmers' Bank of Woodward, Iowa. To Woodward he had gone from college, chiefly for experience, as his plans were still vague. By sheer application, hard work after hours, he had earned promotion to the position of a vice president in the bank. Of no petty aid, it must be remembered, to his rapid promotion was his genial, lovable manner with everybody he met. After seriousness of purpose this lovableness was the most outstanding of his obvious characteristics, and his command of the affections, the sentimental affections, of the men around him was constantly the wonder of his friends.
"He was supremely happy in his work at Woodward. Writing on July 5, 1918, from France, to Clyde E. Brenton, of Des Moines, he said: 'Two years ago today I went to Woodward to gain my banking career. I remember well how Mrs. Brenton drove us over and just how I felt in landing in that town of seven hundred people. Determined to stick it out and learn something, I went to work on that bloody adding machine. I was off some twenty thousand dollars when I finished, and Dick thought it a good joke. Honestly, my back almost broke over that machine. But I'll never forget that ten months, especially that mortgaged property which so gallantly stands unmoved, and those two ball games on the Fourth two years ago - the last I have played.'
"Though when he went there he knew nobody in town, he soon made friends, and, besides, he ploughed into the mass of work before him with all the tremendous earnestness that typifled him. His soul was essentially a peaceful soul; his dreams were dreams of peace, and he found much of content in the simple life of the town. His easy smile at once won him an enviable position in the hearts of his new friends. His great stature (he was six feet four inches tall) had earned him the sobriquet of 'Spike' as early as his high school days; and at Woodward, too, he at once became 'Spike,' rather than 'Laurens,' to the townspeople.
"When war was declared the following spring, 'Spike' entered the First Officers' Training Camp at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, electing to serve in the infantry. Without fondness for the work, he nevertheless, as a matter of course, threw all his consciousness into the grind, and in August was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry Reserve Corps. His diligence was rewarded, moreover, by selection as one of sixty from the camp of twenty-five hundred for immediate overseas duty. A two weeks' furlough was allowed this special detachment of officers for a visit home; then they reported for duty in the early part of September at the port of embarkation, Hoboken, New Jersey, sailing for France on September 7, 1917. The convoy landed at Liverpool and the detachment was dispatched to France. 'After a very short stop in England,' says one of his letters, 'I found myself in France one crisp September morning, and I traveled for the first time on a French railway (two miles per hour), the trip lasting several days, but finally reaching our destination, the Third British Army School.' Here the men for a month were rushed through a course of training at the hands of British instructors, comprising chiefly raiding, bayoneting and the latest phases of the technique of trench warfare. 'Finishing my training there,' he adds, 'I spent several more days on a French local, at last joining the First Division, American Expeditionary Forces, Company F, Twenty-sixth Infantry.' This was on November 12th, when the Twenty-sixth Infantry was billeted in the little village of Giveroval in the Gondrecourt area, a training area later to become familiar to many other American divisions.
"In this dreary spot 'Spike' first felt the pangs of the hunger for letters from home; letters, of course, written but interminably delayed in those first days of unorganization. He writes: 'Letters mean a great deal to one so far away, especially when one is unfortunate enough not to be able to parley French. I never, as a result, have a chance to elevate myself by talking to a woman; it is always to some private or brother officer. I know my parents will start educating me all over again when I return home.'
"At the time of 'Spike's' joining his division, the Twenty-sixth Infantry had just returned from its first occupation of the trenches. Though the Twenty-sixth was in what was offically dubbed a 'rest' period, army men know well that a unit was usually relieved at the front so that it might take up even more strenuous activities behind the lines. So with this regiment, though the weather at that season was fearfully cold an damp, the men 'rested' by beginning a series of maneuvers over the training area which often kept the troops out for several days and nights without cover.
"After two weeks of training at Giveroval, 'Spike' was granted his first leave, which allowed him a week-end in Paris. On his return to camp he became quite ill with a persistent case of grippe and was left behind on two maneuvers that lasted the greater part of a month. * * * The long training period finally ended the last week of February, 1918, and the organization broke camp, preparing to move up to the lines. At four o'clock on the morning of March 3d the troops moved out from Giveroval and were transported to the Toul sector, that portion of the Allied line particularly identified with the American effort. The Twenty-sixth Infantry relieved part of the First Infantry Brigade of the same division, which had held the line since the latter part of January.
"While encamped here, 'Spike' wrote to his father one of his most charming letters. 'I am writing this letter,' he says, 'on a cigar box by candle light. The paper belongs to the company clerk and the pencil to the first sergeant. The cigar box contains about forty American cigars which the Y. M. C. A. man brought to this forsaken village. As I told the Major tonight, the only satisfaction in life around here was this box of cigars. He helped himself and that's why I have only forty. My room is only half mine, as the company commander sleeps with me, or rather I sleep with him. We have a bed just five and one-half feet long and four feet wide. He is a big ox like myself, so you can imagine how comfortably we rest. His being in bed is probably the cause of this letter, as I was kept up tonight figuring how I was going to get in. The reason we are so selfish about this darned bed is that it is the first one we have seen since March 1st. I almost wrote you for a picture of a bed, but now that we have one of the precious things it will not be necessary.
"How we got to this town is quite a story. One fine cold rainy day (as usual) we packed up and set out. We finally landed in a ditch or series of ditches resembling Perry Creek more than anything I have seen since the good old days back in the Bancroft school. Inasmuch as I have reached the doddering age of twenty-four I can assure you I did not enjoy the mud holes as much as when I was ten. I can imagine my delight fourteen years ago if only such a place had been at my disposal. But the real beauty of the place was the big hill directly in front of us. This was known as Mt. _____. I might as well as not tell you the name of the mountain, as I saw it printed in the Sioux City Tribune, but as all good officers say to their men, Obey the Censor's rules. Well, it was a great place. Every night we put up sandbags and revetments in the endeavor to cut off the view from that demned mountain, only to have them blown down in the daytime. As the company front was so wide, it was necessary to establish a system of outposts, and as second in command of the company I had to visit these places every night. Between the German planes and occasional shells, plus the fire of my own company, I managed to have several very interesting times going from position to another.
" ' One night, especially, I was ordered to patrol all the wire in front of our section, which was a distance of one and one-half kilometers. I picked three men and started out. We found plenty of wire and old trenches, all of which helps to give a man the shakes on a rainy night such as it was. I finally reached a position where I had agreed to meet a gallant officer of our company, but I found him missing. I walked along the parapet of the abandoned trenches searching for him and after some hesitation I started to examine the wire. As there were several belts, it necessitated my going through wire for some distance in front of the position where we had agreed to meet. After examining each belt I crawled under and stepped over the wire until I arrived back at the position, but still no officer. My pet sergeant and I walked along the parapet of the old trench wondering where he could possibly be. All of a sudden, "Halt, who's there?" rang through the air. It was one of those Tennessee Halts which is Bang-Halt! I doubt if you could have put a dime between the side of my head and that bullet. I dropped in a shell hole between the wire and the parapet and found my sergeant had beaten me to it. How we both got in that little shell hole is more of a mystery than this bed proposition which now confronts me. After firing twelve rounds of pistol ammunition at us at a range of about fifteen yards, they notified a close-by automatic gun post to open up on us, which was done. Being close to the old trench I managed to crawl out of our shell hole during a short lull in the proceedings and make myself known to an officer who was just getting ready to throw a hand grenade into the shell hole. He had his orderly with him and was having him wind up, too. This was the officer I was suppose to meet and he had either forgotten about my being out there or he was mistaken about the time of my arrival. Anyway, he took me for a German in spite of my frequent call, "It's Lieutenant Shull." I told the Major it was safer in front of the German trenches than in front of ours. Little things like that are bound to occur, especially since the Americans aren't acquainted with the appearance of the German soldier and particularly because they're all too damned anxious to shoot the enemy.
" ' One dark night after we were thoroughly fed up with the place some good old Irishmen from New England relieved us. Long hikes in artillery formation and other long hikes in location formation, a trip in motor buses, a twenty-four hours' ride in French box cars and two days' more hiking put us in this little abandoned village. We all know what we are here for. The British are having a fight for their position, and we are with the French army and hope to hit them soon. This will be my last letter for some time. Don't worry, as I am feeling fine, and with fire in my eye. I am good for ten Germans if the artillery misses me. Of course, this might be bragging a bit - but, Dad, I'll try hard to get all I can.
" 'This bed begins to look better each minute and my captain sprawls out a little more each ten minutes and if I hesitate much longer I'll never be able to get in. Send me socks, candy, tobacco and the Sioux City papers.'
"On the night of April 1st 'Spike's' brigade was unexpectedly relieved by the Twenty-sixth Division. Withdrawing several kilometers the tired troops rested for a few days and then entrained for the Gissor training section. Here they maneuvered for two weeks preparing for what portended to be the greatest of all attacks. The First Division, together with an English and a French Chasseur division, formed the infantry in the maneuvers, and, according to the plan, they, supported by the tanks and artillery and cavalry, were to make the first real counter attack at Albert. At this time, the German offensive was at its height, and as soon as it lost its momentum the counter attack was to be launched.
"During the spring of this year both the troops and officers of the Allied armies were concerned over the plans of the coming German offensive, which everybody knew would be launched as soon as the bad weather lifted and the roads dried. It was consequently the first mission of the infantry holding the lines at that time to capture prisoners for cross-examination. Company G, to which 'Spike' had been transferred, received orders almost nightly for prisoners, and the men and officers of the company patrolled constantly. 'Spike,' oblivious to danger, did a great deal of patrolling - in fact, practically all of the patrolling for his company - and supervised all such work for his battalion, of which he was raiding officer. This work, some of the most hazardous and nerve-trying of modern warfare, gave him his first real opportunity, and his devotion to his duty and his skill earned him the trust and admiration of his commanding officers and his men. And it was as much the loyalty of those serving under him as the confidence of his superiors that won him a cherished reward, a recommendation for promotion. Though he never lived to pin on his silver bars, Major McCloud's testimonial swelled his heart with pride, particularly the frank admission of his inability to appoint 'Spike' to company commander when he was ranked by three brother officers. Major McCloud's recommending letter follows:
'Headquarters 2nd Bn., 26th Infantry.
'France, June 18, 1918.
'From: The Commanding Officer, 2nd Bn., 26th Infantry.
'To: The Commanding Officer, 26th Infantry.
'Subject: Promotion of Officer
'1. It is recommended and requested that 2nd Lieut. Laurens C. Shull, U. S. A., 26th Infantry, be promoted to the grade of First Lieutenant.
'2. This officer has been in France for nine months, six months having been spent under my command, and I have found him to be an excellent man, a born leader. His services in the trenches have been performed in the most efficient manner.
'3. It is my intention to make Lieutenant Shull a company commander when his present company commander leaves for the U. S. as an instructor on or about July 6, 1918, but as he is only a Second Lieutenant and is ranked by three Lieutenants in his Company this is hardly practical.
'4. I consider that this officer is the best in my battalion under the rank of Captain.
'5. Prompt action is therefore requested.
'J. M. McCloud
'Major U. S. R. A. 26th Infantry.'
"In the meantime a sudden change in the orders directed the First Division to Montdidier, and the division entered the lines on the outskirts of that village, then held by the enemy and merely a mass of ruins from artillery fire.
" 'This was real war,' reads Lieutenant Small's diary. 'We had no trenches and were forced to organize shell holes as best we could. The enemy fire was terrific and we were gassed almost nightly. The nights were terrible sessions, since we had to remain quiet lest our locations be revealed and we be bombarded with gas shells. During this period we made the first real American attack, capturing the village of Cantigny, giving us the advantage of a great observation point and straightening out our line. We partrolled and raided continuously and 'Spike' did his share and more. On one evening when Spike and I were on a raiding party we took up our position at 7:45 P. M., but did not attack until 11:45 P. M. During this time Spike and I sat in a shell hole looking up at the sky, talking over old times and wondering if those selfsame stars overhead were the ones we had seen on peaceful nights at home. The time passed wonderfully fast and we were so surprised when the attack started that we both forgot our guns, which were beside us with bayonets fixed. The party was, however, a success and it just happened that our guns were not needed.'
"The division was withdrawn from the Cantigny sector on July 10th and after a few days' rest received reenforcements to replace the hundreds of casualties sustained in teh now celebrated Cantigny engagement, the first action on a major scale carried out by American forces. A forced march immediately followed and on July 18th the First Division made the famous counter south of Soissons. On the second day of this attack Lieutenant Banyon, of the Twenty-sixth Infantry, lay wounded in a shell hole when 'Spike' came by in command of his half company. He stopped on seeing Banyon, gave him a cigar, lit it for him and then continued on his way to the front, less than a thousand yards away. Moving into position in the line, Company G joined in the attack. Through two separate advances on that day 'Spike' led his men with exceptional courage and skill, but in a third attack, while charging a German machine gun nest, which had blocked the advance of his men, he was hit in the abdomen by a machine gun bullet. The bullet passed through the liver, striking the hip bone and then lodging in the leg. He was transported to American Red Cross Hospital No. 1 at Neuilly, a suburb of Paris, where for some days his condition showed gradual improvement. Infection had set in in his leg, but with the fine care given him by his nurses and doctors it was thought he might recover. Nowhere did his popularity show itself more than during his sickness. His men, as well as his brother officers, made most frequent visits to him, and the radiance of his personality gained the love of those attendant upon him. The medical officer in charge of his case, Dr. Clarence Wilton Way, said he was the nerviest and bravest man he had ever known. On August 5, 1918, he died, the poison from the bullet having spread through his system. The words of his hospital chaplain, Rolfe P. Crum, testify to his love of his God:
'My dear Mrs. Shull:
'I know how grief-stricken you are at this time when you have just received the news of your son's death in this French hospital. I wish to extend to you in this way my sincere sympathy. I attended your boy up to the last day and had prayers with him on that day. He was quite conscious and wanted me to write to you and his father for him, telling you he was getting along all right.
'It must be a comfort to you to know in his last hours he thought of you at home and of his Father in Heaven. He died bravely, like the true soldier he has always been. I do not think he suffered nearly as much as many I have attended. It was rather a gradual weakening.
'How proud you ought to be of that boy! In college, a well known athlete (all the men know him by reputation) and one who in life played the game well and stood for honor and fair play in the world. The gift of his life to his country and beyond that to the cause of liberty and righteousness in the world, which is God's cause, partakes of the nature of the sacrifice on Calvary. Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. To this end he was born and for this purpose he came forth in the world.' "
Lieutenant Shull was buried in the American cemetery at Suresnes, on a lovely hillside overlooking Paris. Upon receipt of the news of his death, letters, telegrams and all manner of testimonials poured into the home of his parents. The few that follow typify the hundreds that were received, indicating in particular the wide range of his friendship.
"My dear Mr. Shull:
"Words cannot express my appreciation of that beautiful picture. It is now being framed together with the letter and will always hang in the most prominent part of my library.
"I am witnessing a sight from my office window that I shall never forget and that have never seen the like of though I have lived in Chicago fourteen years.
"The stores have all closed, 3:30 P. M. The streets are packed full. The city is ablaze with flags. They are throwing confetti out of the office windows till the streets look like a big snow storm.
"The noise is so great I can hardly hear my typewriter click. What will it be tonight? This is what dear 'Spike' and his noble brothers have accomplished, and there is not sentiment enough in the world to express our love and admiration for them. * * * I wept over 'Spike's' picture. We all did. And I cannot keep back the tears when I go into the street and see this celebration, thinking of him.
"Most sincerely yours,
"Schuyler C. Brandt."
"My dear Mr. and Mrs. Shull:
"I appreciate more than I can tell your sending me the photograph of 'Spike.' I have been at the point several times of writing you but I could not gather heart to do it. Words on such occasions are meaningless unless you know the soul which utters them, and I have hesitated to break in upon your holy grief.
"The news of 'Spike's' passing came to me most unexpectedly because I had not known that he was on the fighting line, and like hundreds of his other friends, I was greatly shocked. I have thought of him and of his supreme sacrifice it seems almost every day, since the news of his death came. 'Spike' had made a host of friends in Chicago and he is being frequently spoken of.
"The last time I saw him was when the big handsome boy appeared in my office and asked for a recommendation to an Officers Training Camp. He told me that he wanted to get into the Fort Sheridan Camp where so many of his friends would be, and in his droll way (referring the draft) said, 'Mr. Stagg, they'd get me the first thing, I'm so big. So I'm going to fool them and enlist.'
"From his talk I gathered that 'Spike' did not look upon his enlistment in the boyish spirit of adventure but as a duty. He gave me the impression that he felt that there was no sufficient reason why he should not go and he was going to offer his services freely.
"During the three years I was his coach in football, I got a good insight into his nature and character and I grew to appreciate and to admire and to love him. 'Spike' had an unusually true and honest soul with a serious-mindedness to duty which does not come to many people until well along in middle life. I remember the serious manner in which he came to me privately on two occasions and told me that I was mistaken in my criticism at a certain time that afternoon so far as he was concerned. I assured him that what he said was true and that he should have been excepted from my comments, but that in making criticisms, for the sake of emphasis I sometimes generalized and made them inclusive to produce an effect on the men as a whole. This frank straightforward protest seemed to me to be simply the expression of his splendidly true and conscientious nature and I respected him the more for it.
" 'Spike's' life at the University was clean, sincere, manly and brave. He was universally respected and loved by many. Speaking of him as I knew him, I have said several times that I did not know any young man more fit to appear before his Maker. His life has been beautifully true and his death has been supremely noble.
"I shall frame his photograph and place it in our Honor Gallery among the athletic trophies which 'Spike' fought so hard and loyally to bring to his University.
"With deepest sympathy, I am,
"Sincerely,
"A. A., Stagg."
C. P. Summerall, major general in command of the First Division of the United States army, wrote in part as follows: "I know of no officer in the records of this division whose service has been more gallant and whose character as a man has impressed itself more lastingly upon the division. The fact that he was beloved by his men gives proof of the fact of his genuineness of character and straightforward manliness which appeals to a soldier. May I express to you my sympathy in your loss and my pride as his division commander in his record as a soldier?"
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt wrote: "Indeed I do remember Lieutenant Shull. He was a very good fellow. He died of wounds, as I recall, which were received at Soissons. I always noticed in him devotion to duty, fearlessness and real capacity for leadership. In the final analysis a man's command are those who form the best estimate of him. A good leader invariably has the devotion and confidence of his soldiers. Lieutenant Shull had this to a marked degree. He was a fine type of American, one of whom we may all be proud."
The concluding pages of the memorial booklet previously mentioned are herein quoted: "The test of worth by which the gold in a character is assayed is the persistency of a memory to abide and the freedom with which homage is offered. Judged by this, 'Spike's' was a nugget of rare value, for some of the expressions that followed the news of his death and the services held in his honor revealed a feeling among hundreds that amounted to a virtual idolatry. The preceding letters are eloquent testimony of the affection he unconsciously created for himself in the hearts of whomsoever he met. They were, moreover, a spontaneous tribute, and they were followed by a succession of memorial services from the summer of his death to the winter of 1921 - surely proof that his memory is engraved beyond erasure in the minds of the host that loved him. The first of these services was held at Woodward, Iowa, where 'Spike' so promisingly began his business career. It was apropos that this town should first do honor to him, for the people there were the last to come into the warm radiance of his personality. They really loved him. The news of his passing was like a bombshell to them, and the farmers of the adjacent country, who all knew him through their transactions with him at the bank, bought Liberty bonds like men suddenly possessed with the imminence of danger to their land. Liberty loan sales mounted and mounted, as the result of the taking of this loved friend, and placards appeared bearing his photograph and the inscription: "Will You Buy Bonds For Him?"
"The service took place on the 25th of August, 1918, as soon after the receipt of the word of his death as a gathering could be arranged. A friend, present during the ceremonies, describes the setting: 'There is a beautiful grove located in the south part of Woodward, and here had been constructed a platform which was decorated with flowers and flags, and over which was suspended the flag later to be unfurled, carrying one hundred and four service stars, representing those who had entered the service from that community. A little above the center of the flag, surrounded by the other stars, was one golden star, symbolizing the completed career of Laurens. North from the platform were constructed seats to accommodate a large audience, on three sides of the grove there was a large circle of closely parked automobiles facing the platform, and back of these was another tier of automobiles, all of which were filled with people. It was difficult to estimate the number of people present, but I should say at least two thousand were there.'
"The ceremony comprised addresses by men in public life in that part of the state, among whom was Charles R. Brenton, of Des Moines, and singing by soldiers from Camp Dodge, Iowa.
"The next service occurred a few days later, on September 1st, in the First Baptist church at Sioux City, 'Spike's' home church, and where his mother for so many years was organist. The series of addresses considered him from infancy through the chief phases of his life. G. Y. Skeels spoke of him as 'One of Our Boys,' William Mckercher talked of 'The Boy in High School,' C. W. Britton considered him as 'The Man in College,' E. E. Lewis spoke of 'The Spirit of the Soldier,' and the Rev. E. H. Stevens, pastor of the church, closed with 'The Supreme Sacrifice.'
"Another service was held on March 20, 1921, in the Hyde Park Baptist church, Chicago, Illinois, the pastorate of the Rev. Charles W. Gilkey, 'Spike's' close friend and advisor during his college years, and who united him with the church. This service was, in addition, the occasion of the dedication of the Soldier's Memorial Window, installed to commemorate those of the church membership who had lost their lives during the war. Letters were read about these men, and among them one written by A. A. Stagg, athletic director of the University of Chicago, appearing on another page.
"On stone columns near the Memorial Window are set bronze tablets; that for 'Spike' reads:
In Memory of
LAURENS CORNING SHULL, D. S. C.
Second Lieutenant, Company G
Twenty-sixth Infantry, First Division, U. S. A.
Born January 17, 1894
Died August 5, 1918
In France
Of Wounds Received in Action
In the Service of His Country
"A most enduring honor is the dedication to him of one of the memorial columns of the new University of Illinois Memorial Stadium at Urbana, Illinois. These columns, commemorative of war heroism and sacrifice, were designed to consecrate the memories of those of the University who served. As a mark of regard for other college men in the service of their country, the board of trustees decreed that, symbolic of their respect for these men, reverence should be paid them, and the name of Laurens Corning Shull was selected for one of the columns. This selection was significant in its representation of an institution which was Illinois' keenest athletic rival, and indicative of a generous esteem for a young warrior who fought his hardest against Illinois' teams.
"Probably the most impressive ceremony was the funeral at Sioux City on December 11, 1921. The body, after resting three years in the American military cemetery outside of Paris, was returned and laid to rest on that day in the family vault in the mausoleum in Graceland Park cemetery after a whole city and hosts of friends from different parts of the middle west had paid their tribute. The morning before there appeared in the Sioux City Tribune a characterization by a close friend, Lieutenant Fred W. Pierce, describing with intimate touch the place 'Spike' occupied in his homeland: 'The home - Iowa - was the shrine of the boyhood of this great son. He found joy in the study of its natural grandeur. To know, and to know how to live, Iowa was a privilege this man held dear. The meadows, the hills and the forests thrilled him. He loved to walk with his chums out into the countryside * * * where his spirits were bathed in the cheer of the blossoms. Often the setting sun looked back to meet the admiring gaze of the boys-Laurens and his chums sitting on a grassy crest in the hills that border the Sioux, watching the colors that played in the skies. * * * Tomorrow the setting sun will bid peace to the homeland that las laid to rest a defender-a prince of the land of Iowa.'
"The church services were held under the auspices of the Edward H. Monahan Post of the American Legion and the Laurens C. Shull Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and were attended by hundreds of the townspeople, friends and relatives, and the Laurens C. Shull Post of the American Legion of Woodward, Iowa. The funeral address was delivered by Charles W. Gilkey. Mr. Gilkey, in telling the story of 'Spike's' uniting with the church, revealed in vivid words the more fundamental significances of his character: 'In the perspective of the three years and more since Spike gave up his life for his country and the greater cause which she had made her own, w have come to see more clearly some things to which, in the shock and sorrow of that first terrible news, our eyes were blinded with tears. Plainest among these is the real secret of his enduring memory and influence among us. It was natural, and perhaps inevitable, that not only the newspaper pictures but our own thoughts of him that were most frequent then, should be those that recall him in his football helmet, his baseball suit or his military uniform: the worthy representative of young American manhood at its best, whom we all remember as an all-around athlete on many a hard-fought field, as a college leader dominating the campus, as a handsome young officer off for France. But now, after this interval, we can begin to see that what distinguished him among many notable athletes and campus leaders in the rapid succession of college generations, what underlay both his athletic achievement and his magnificent record as a soldier, was something deeper and more characteristic than his uniform, his superb physique, or even his lovable personality-it was the stuff of which his character was made. * * * His conscientiousness was no gloomy hairsplitting; it was the driving force that made his achievement so honorable, and his character so triumphant. And it was most of all characteristic of the religion about which he talked little, but felt very deeply-in and by which he lived and died. I shall never forget the night he knocked on my door in Hitchcock Hall, and opened the conversation with characteristic directness: "Mr. Gilkey, I want to join the church." When I asked him what lay back of his apparently sudden decision, he went on: "My father is the finest man I know; and I've been realizing lately that if I don't put up my flag as a Christian and keep it up, I'll never get to be the kind of man my father is." '
"Following the church service, the funeral cortege consisting of scores of automobiles, more than five hundred ex-service men in uniform, and led by the American Legion band, proceeded to the cemetery. In the Mausoleum the full funeral ritual of the Veterans of Foreign Wars was performed by the Laurens C. Shull Post of that organization. The title of Past Post Commander was awarded and the badge of the Cross of Malta placed upon the casket. Three volleys were fired and Taps, the ultimate tribute and the final farewell, was sounded."
G. C. Rippetoe, captain of infantry in the United States army, wrote D. C. Skull, under date of October 27, 1924, as follows: "I met your son in September, 1917, at the Third British Army Infantry School and was later joined the Second Battalion, Twenty-sixth Infantry. We became very good friends and were much together up to the time he was fatally wounded. I was within seventy-five yards of your son when he was hit and saw him fall. I knew by the way he fell he was very badly wounded and sent a first aid man to him. Hard as it may seem, we have not the time and would be severely dealt with if we stopped to help our friends who fall. In this attack we were pushing forward many of the officers of the Second Battalion had already fallen. Your son was then commanding the remnants of G Company. I had the company on his left. We were advancing across an open flat field. 'Spike,' as we called him, was leading his attack with his pistol in his hand when I saw him suddenly go down. I was sorry I could not go to him, as we had been very good friends, but it was necessary I carry on the attack. Your son was one of the most popular officers in the Second Battalion, Twenty-sixth Infantry, with both officers and enlisted men. I have seen two or three of the men who served under him, since the war, and they mentioned little things he had done for them."
Dr. Samuel E. Sibley, now engaged in the practice of medicine in Sioux City, is a native of Iowa. He was born on a farm in Story county, December 1, 1869. His parents, Lyman W. and Mary A. (Hammond) Sibley, were both natives of the Empire state and came to Iowa in 1864. The Doctor's paternal ancestors came from England and settled in Massachusetts in the year 1628, and his mother's people, also English, took up their abode i Pennsylvania nearly sixty years later.
When Dr. Sibley was still a small boy his parents moved to a farm near LeMars, and to the public schools of Plymouth county he is indebted for his early educational opportunities. After graduating from the high school at LeMars and a year or more spent in college work, he matriculated as a medical student at the University of Iowa, from which he received his degree in 1893.
On leaving the university Dr. Sibley opened an office in Moville, where for several years he was associated in practice with Dr. W. H. Dewey. Leaving Moville Dr. Sibley in 1904 entered into partnership with Dr. R. E. Conniff in Sioux City-a relationship that lasted several years-and limited his practice to surgery and consultation. He is a member of the Woodbury County Medical Society, Iowa State Medical Society, American Medical Association and others.
On the 31st of March, 1897, in Moville, Dr. Sibley wedded Miss Martha B. Heathcote, a daughter of the late Mathew Heathcote, and to them has been born a son, Edward Heathcote, whose birth occurred on the 17th of April, 1910.
Dr. and Mrs. Sibley attend the Congregational church and he is a Mason, a Shriner, an Odd Fellow and an Elk. He is a republican with no aspirations for public office. A booster for Sioux City, as shown by his membership in such organizations as the Chamber of Commerce, the Country Club and Sioux City Boat Club, he enjoys an excellent practice in his chosen field and has many friends.
Alfred C. Slawson was long identified with the work of tilling the soil, taking his place with the enterprising agriculturists of Cherokee county, and is now reaping the reward of a life of industry and thrift. He was born January 6, 1847, in New York, and his parents, William and Lucinda (Campfield) Slawson, were also natives of the Empire state. In 1860 they journeyed to the middle west, settling on a farm in Wisconsin, and subsequently moved to Michigan, in which they lived until summoned by death. To their union were born four children and two are now living.
Mr. Slawson attended the public schools of the east and finished his education in Wisconsin. In 1863, when sixteen years of age, he enlisted in the Union army and was assigned to duty with the Fifth Regiment of Wisconsin Light Artillery. He marched with Sherman to the sea and participated in the battles of Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Rome and Peach Tree Creek, but was never injured. He was mustered out June 6, 1865, at Madison, Wisconsin, and returned to the homestead. In 1884 he came to Iowa, securing a tract of land in Cherokee county, and live don that pace for twenty years, transforming it into a productive farm, equipped with modern conveniences to lessen the labor and expedite the work. In 1904 he sold the property and erected a substantial home in Cherokee, where he has since resided.
On October 24, 1869, Mr. Slawson married Miss Harriet F. Dodge, a native of the state of New York and a daughter of Dr. John Dodge, who migrated to Wisconsin in 1858. Having no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Slawson reared and educated an adopted daughter who is now the wife of Charles Sergeant and lives in Alberta, Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Slawson are affiliated with the Baptist church and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. He served on the school board and has never been remiss in the duties of citizenship. He belongs to Custer Post, No. 25, of the Grand Army of the Republic and with his old comrades relives the scenes of the Civil war. Mr. Slawson has never deviated from the course dictated by conscience and honor and enjoys to the full the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens.
In the front rank of the medical profession in Dickinson county stands Dr. Arthur Francis Smith, of Milford, who has won a large and remunerative medical and surgical practice and has gained an enviable reputation as one of the progressive and public-spirited citizens of the community. Dr. Smith was born at Alton, Iowa, on the 7th of September, 1891, and is a son of Dr. Ferdinand J. Endres and Anna M. (Hodgetts) Smith, who are referred to at length on another page of this work. He attended the public schools, graduating from the West Des Moines high school, after which he attended Drake University, at Des Moines. He later entered the University of Minnesota, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1916, and then matriculated in the medical school of that university, where he received the degrees of Bachelor of Science in 1916, and then matriculated in the medical school of that university, where he received the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine in 1919 and Doctor of Medicine in 1920. He served three years as undergraduate interne in St. Mary's Hospital, Minneapolis, and one year as post-graduate interne in the same institution. In 1920 Doctor Smith came to Milford and engaged in the practice of his profession in partnership with Dr. Q. C. Fuller, which association was dissolved a year later, however, and since then he has practiced alone. He has built up a large practice among the representative people of this community and has established himself firmly in the confidence and esteem of all who have required his services.
Doctor Smith is a member of Estherville, Lodge No. 528, B. P. O. E., and Milford Council, No. 1759, Knights of Columbus, as well as the Phi Beta Pi, a medical fraternity, while he maintains professional affiliation with the Dickinson County Medical Society, the Upper Des Moines Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Genial and friendly, he has gained a host of warm friends since coming here and is regarded as one of the leading physicians of this section of the county.
The newspaper profession in northwestern Iowa has an able and worthy representative in Oren E. Smith, editor and publisher of the Spirit Lake Beacon, one of the most progressive and influential papers of this section of the state. His success since locating here, as well as his persistent and effectual stand for all that is best in community life, has won for him a high place among his contemporaries and the respect and admiration of his fellowmen, and today he is numbered among the leading residents of Spirit Lake. Mr. Smith was born in Benton county, Iowa, on the 31st of August, 1879, and is a son of Harry A. and Catherine (Hoke) Smith, the former a native of Benton county and the latter of the state of Pennsylvania. His grandfather on the paternal side was one of the earliest settlers of Benton county, where he took up a homestead, and his son, Harry A. Smith, became a prominent and influential citizen of that locality. He was for many years engaged in the hardware business at Belle Plaine, Benton county, and his death occurred in Marshaltown, Iowa, in 1913, his last years being spent there in the home of a married daughter.
Oren E. Smith acquired a good, practical public school education, graduating from the Belle Plaine high school in 1890. During the later years of his high school course he began his education in the newspaper business, serving an apprenticeship in the office of the Belle Plaine Union, with which paper he was associated for five years. During the following two years he was employed in a job office in Clinton, Iowa followed by two years in a Chicago printing plant. On his return to Iowa he took charge of the mechanical department of the Iowa Falls Citizen, and later, in association with I. A. Nichols, of Iowa Falls, he bought the Union Star, which he edited and managed for five years. He then sold his interest in that paper and bought the Grundy Center Republican, which he published for three years, at the end of which time he returned to Iowa Falls and bought back a half interest in the Iowa Citizen. A year later he sold his interest there and in 1910 came to Spirit Lake and bought the Spirit Lake Beacon, which he has since published. He has devoted his time closely to the interests of this journal and has long been recognized as a potent factory in the welfare and progress of the community, giving his stanch support at all times to those measures which have advanced the public good, and he has been just as strongly opposed to everything detrimental to the people's best interests. His public-spirited attitude has been recognized and appreciated by his fellowmen and the Beacon has enjoyed a constant and steady increase in circulation and popular favor.
In 1907 Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Minnie L. Hollister, of Freeport, Illinois, and to them have been born three children, namely: Hollister S., who graduated form the Shattuck Military Academy, at Faribault, Minnesota, and is now attending Grinnell College; Pamela May, who is in the grade schools; and Barbara Anita. Mr. Smith has taken an active part in local public affairs and has rendered effective service as a member of the town council, during which time the sanitary sewer system was constructed. He is a member of Grundy Center Lodge, A. F. and A. M.; Spirit Lake Chapter, No. 132, R. A. M.; Esdraelon Commandery, K. T.; Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, A. A. S. R.; Abu-Bekr Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.; Twilight Chapter, No. 59, O. E. S., of which Mrs. Smith is a past worthy matron; and Calvary Shrine, No. 18, Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, of which Mrs. Smith was the founder and is a past worthy priestess. Mr. Smith belongs to the Spirit Lake Commercial Club, which he served one year as president. Personally, he is a man of broad views and well-defined opinions, is a fluent and graceful writer, his paper comparing favorably in a literary way with any of its contemporaries, and he possesses to a marked degree the qualities which commend a man to the good favor of his fellowmen.
Bruce M. Snell, a young and talented attorney, is practicing in Ida Grove, his native town, and worthily bears a name that has long been an honored one in this locality. He was born March 4, 1895, a son of Thaddeus Stevens and Dora (Morey) Snell, the latter a native of Illinois. The father was a scion of an old family of New York stare and settled in Ida county when this was a frontier district, contributing materially toward its development and progress.
Bruce M. Snell supplemented his public school course by attendance at the state University of Iowa, from which he was graduated in 1917 with the degree of LL.B. He was master signal electrician in the United Stares army during the World war and after receiving his honorable discharge returned to Ida Grove, where he has since followed his profession with ever increasing success. He has established a liberal clientele and during 1922-23 was city attorney. His cases are prepared with thoroughness, precision and skill and the ability with which he presents his cause has won for him many favorable verdicts.
On September 3, 1919, Mr. Snell was married, in Arthur, Iowa, to Miss Donna Marie Potter, who was born August 19, 1896, at Burr Oak, this stare, and is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. P. O. Potter of Ida Grove. Mr. and Mrs. Snell have become the parents of two children: Dorthy Jean, who was born December 8, 1920; and Virginia, born May 13, 1923, both natives of Ida Grove.
Mr. Snell is a Mason in high standing, belonging to Kane Lodge, No. 377, F. & A. M.; the York Rite bodies at Ida Grove; and the Scottish Rite bodies of Sioux City. He is a member of Leo P. McNamara Post of the American Legion and the Local Kiwanis and Commercial Clubs and has been secretary of these organizations. He votes the republican ticket and is a Methodist in religious faith. Mr. Snell is a citizen of roth and a young man of keen intellect who fully meets the requirements of a most exacting profession. Mrs. Snell is a member of the Women's Club and the Delphian Society and her tact, charm and culture have made her popular in social circles of Ida Grove.
Thaddeus Stevens Snell, Jr., a highly esteemed member of the legal fraternity of Ida Grove, enjoys the reputation of being an able advocate and a counselor whose judgment can be relied upon. He was born December 12, 1884, and represents one of the old and honored families of this community, in which his life has been spent. His parents were T. S. and Dora (Morey) Snell, both members of families that were numbered among the old settlers of New York stare, in which the father was born September 27, 1847. The mother's birth occurred in Illinois, November 14, 1856. Thaddeus S. Snell, Sr., located in Ida Grove seven years before the advent of the railroad in this district and bore a leading part in events of Ida county during the pioneer epoch in its history.
His son, T. S. Snell, Jr., completed a course in the local high school in 1902 and later entered Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois, from which he was graduated in 1907 with the B. S. degree. He was elected clerk of the district court in 1910 and filled that position until 1914, discharging his duties with fidelity and thoroughness. For twelve years he has engaged in the practice of law, and the court records bear proof of his power as an attorney, indicating that he has been intrusted with much important litigation.
On June 27, 1917, Mr. Snell was married, in Ida Grove, to Miss Catharine Noble, who was born November 22, 1893, and is also a native of the town. She is a daughter of B. S. and Mary Ellen (Stuart) Noble, formerly of Indianola, Iowa, and now residing in Ida Grove. Mr. and Mrs. Snell have two children: Thaddeus Stevens (III) and Barbara.
Mr. Snell takes a deep interest in politics and from 1914 until 1918 was chairman of the county executive committee of the republican party. He is affiliated with the Methodist church and shapes his conduct by its teachings. He is connected with the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias and is also a Mason of high standing, being a member of the York and Scottish Rite bodies and belonging to the commandery at Ida Grove and the consistory at Sioux City, as well as the Mystic Shrine of that city. He is a member of the Kiwanis and Commericial Clubs of Ida Grove and is an earnest worker for the good of his community, in which he has many sincere friends.
There is no earthly station higher than the ministry of the Gospel, and no life can be more uplifting than that which is devoted to the betterment of the human race. It is not possible to adequately measure the height, depth and breadth of such a career, for its influence continues to permeate the lives of others through succeeding generations. Among the able and popular preachers of northwestern Iowa is numbered Rev. Charles E. Snyder, pastor of the First Unitarian church of Sioux City, who has not only filled a large place in the civic and moral affairs of his own community, but is also influential in affairs of national importance.
Mr. Snyder was born at Hollowville, Columbia county, New York, on the 13th of October, 1877, and is a son of Marshall and Maria P. (Jones) Snyder. In 1884 he moved with his parents to a farm near Martindale, columbia county, where he attended the rural schools. He graduated from the high school at Chatham, New York, in 1895, received a certificate for college work from the University of the State of New York in 1900, and graduated from the State Normal College, at Oneonta, New York, in 1901. He then prepared for the ministry at the Meadville Theological School, Meadville, Pennsylvania. He began teaching in the district schools at Garfield, New York, in 1895, remaining there two years; was at Hollowville, New York, in 1896-98; Copake Falls, New York, 1898-99; was principal of the Uniondale School, Hempstead, Long Island, 1901-03, and was senior master of the Lakewood Boys' School Lakewood, New Jersey, 1903-08. His first ministerial work was as pastor of the First Unitarian church at Franklin, Pennsylvania, which he served from 1908 to 1911, and then, from 1911 to 1917, was pastor of the North Side Unitarian church of Pittsburgh, since which time he has been pastor of the First Unitarian church at Sioux City. He is a preacher of marked ability, is an earnest and forceful speaker and always commands a large hearing. He has been secretary of the Iowa Unitarian Association since 1918; was a director of the Western Unitarian Conference from 1918 to 1925; is a member of the executive committee of the National Federation of Religious Liberals, and was a member of the fellowship committee of the General Conference of Unitarian Churches from 1921 to 1924.
Mr. Snyder has taken an active interest in benevolent and social work, having served as chairman of the executive committee of the Iowa State Housing Association, 1918-21; chairman of the housing committee of the Iowa State Tuberculosis Association, 1922-23; chairman of the committee on delinquent children, Iowa State Conference of Social Work, 1924-25, and vice-president of that organization in 1926-27; director of the Family Welfare Bureau of Sioux City; director of the Sioux City Day Nursery; member of the Council of the Boy Scouts and that of the Girl Scouts, and a member of the council of the Bureau of Social Agencies, Sioux City, as well as president of the Parent-Teachers' Association of the Central High School, 1923-24.
In 1904, Mr. Snyder was united in marriage to Miss Sara M. Reeder, of Big Flats, New York,m and they are the parents of three children, namely: Robert Gordon, born in 1905, who is a student at Morningside College; Betty Beach, born in 1908, also a student at Morningside College; and Barbara Ives, born in 1912. Fraternally Mr. Snyder is a member of Landmark Lodge, No. 103, A. F. & A. M.; Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, A. A. S. R.; Rose Croix Chapter, No. 400, O. E. S., of which he was worthy patron in 1921; Sioux City Lodge, B. P. O. E., of which he was chaplain in 1925-26; and the Royal Arcanum, of which he was grand regent of the Iowa Grand Council in 1922-24, and has been a member of the Supreme Council since 1924. He served as grand chaplain of the Iowa Grand Lodge of Masons in 1922-23. He has been secretary of the Sioux City Academy of Science and Letters since 1918. He has been active in Kiwanis circles, having been a charter member of the Sioux City organization; a district trustee, 1920-23; a director in 1924; chairman of the public affairs committee, 1920-24, and president in 1925. He is a charter member of the Sioux City Professional Men's Club, which he served as vice-president in 1924 and as a director in 1925 and 1926. He was president of the Inter-Club Council of Sioux City in 1925-26. He is a member of the War Eagle Monument Association of Sioux City and was chairman of the committee which had in charge the erection of the monument. He also belongs to the Sioux City Boar Club, the Sons of the American Revolution, having been chaplain of the Iowa Society in 1926-27, and president of the Woodbury County Chapter in 1926; the Society of the War of 1812, the Iowa Academy of Science and the Mississippi Valley Historical Association. It is thus seen that Mr. Snyder has filled a large place in the life of the city in which he resides, standing at all times for the best things in the community and for all that tends to make life better and brighter for everyone. A man of forceful individuality, cordial and friendly in manner and intensely optimistic in his outlook on life, he is a welcome member of any circle which he enters. Because of his influence, his accomplishments and his fine public spirit, he is entitled to specific recognition in the history of this section of the state.
In one of the most exacting of all callings, Miss Marie Sorum has attained distinction, being recognized as one of the ablest and most successful educators in northwestern Iowa. She is a well educated, symmetrically developed woman, her work as an educator having brought her prominently to the notice of the public. Of scholarly tastes and studious habits, she keeps abreast of the times in advanced educational methods and her achievements as superintendent of schools of Emmet county have given her an enviable reputation in educational circles. Miss Sorum was born on a farm about four miles from Albert Lea, Minnesota, and is a daughter of Hans M. and Ingred (Herem) Sorum. Both of her parents were natives of Norway, where they were reared and married, and then came to the United States on their honeymoon. They located on a farm in Freeborn county, Minnesota, buying the place from the original settler, and the farm is still in the possession of the family, though both parents are now deceased.
Marie Sorum received her elementary education in the public schools of Albert Lea, and then entered the University of Minnesota, at Minneapolis. She is now taking work from Chicago University toward her Master's degree. Her father died when she was thirteen years of age and when seventeen years old she began teaching school. Her first school was at Rake, Iowa, where she remained two years, followed by a year at Huntington, after which she taught in the public school of Esterville for seven years. In 1918 Miss Sorum was elected county superintendent of schools, and so efficient and satisfactory was her administration of the office that she has been twice reelected, being the present incumbent of the position. She has given able and intelligent direction to the educational affairs of the county, the standard of the schools of Emmet county now being second to nine in the state.
One of her outstanding achievements has been the establishment as a regular feature of the county educational system of the Boys and Girls Institute, which is the first organization of its kind in the United States and which has in every respect proven a distinctive success. The 1926 sessions of the institute were attended by from two thousand to three thousand people and is regarded as the most successful meeting yet held. The several distinctive features of the institute comprised addresses by noted educators, among whom was O. H. Benson, of Washington, D. C., the renowned Chautauqua lecturer and head of the Children's Foundation work in Washington. The exhibit of the best work done by the pupils of the various schools throughout the county was both interesting and of value as showing what is actually being accomplished in the schools. A music contest also proved a pleasing feature of the institute, as did the father and son and the mother and daughter meetings. Another interesting fact concerning the educational affairs of Emmet county is that this is the first county in the state of Iowa to include farm accounting in the regular course of study in the rural schools.
Miss Sorum has maintained an enthusiastic devotion to her work here and has not only gained the admiration and confidence of the people of this county but has also won an enviable reputation among the successful educators of the state. She has taken an active and effective interest in the general welfare of the county and is now council of the tenth district for the American Red Cross Society, to which she was elected at the state convention held in Des Moines, June 8, 1926. She is a member of the Women's Club of Estherville and is a popular member of the various circles in which she moves.
Lieutenant Edward Burson Spalding was of the tenth generation in order of descent from the emigrant ancestor to this country, Edward Spalding, who came over from England with Sir George Yeardley in 1619 or thereabout. He first established his home in the Virginia colony, where he remained until about 1623 or a little later, when he moved his family north into New England, settling in the Massachusetts colony. A brother, Edmund Spalding, who had come with him to this country,moved at the same time and joined the Maryland colony under Lord Baltimore.
Edward B. Spalding of this review was born near Byron, Illinois, February 2, 1840, and had therefore reached the venerable age of eighty years when he departed this life on the 4th of March, 1920. His parents were Asa Gore and Susan (Welding) Spalding, both natives of Pennsylvania in which state they were married in 1834. In the following year they moved to Illinois, settling at Byron, of which village Asa G. Spalding became the first postmaster. Subsequently he was successfully engaged in farming, milling and merchandising. In 1855 he took up his abode in Rockford, Illinois, with the business life of which town he was prominently identified for many years, retiring at the age of seventy-five, a decade prior to his death.
His son, Edward B. Spalding, acquired his education in the Bryron public schools and in the Rockford high school. He was a lad of fifteen years when his parents established the family home in Rockford. At the outbreak of the Civil war he was clerking in a bank in a village near Rockford, Illinois, and in September, 1861, he enlisted in Company E of the Fifty-second Illinois Infantry, of which company he was later made sergeant and with which command he participated in many battles. He was chief clerk with General Lew Wallace for a period of two months in the spring of 1862, returning to his regiment just before the battle of Pittsburg Landing on April 6, in which he sustained three wounds and was crippled for life in the left arm and hand. After his recovery he rejoined his regiment August 16, 1862, at Corinth, Mississippi, although at Chicago, Illinois, he was directed to report to surgeons for examination and discharge. He was promoted to first sergeant on the 1st of September, 1862, and on the 13th of September of the same year was commissioned second lieutenant by special order of his colonel, and the appointment was confirmed by Governor Yates of Illinois, who sent Lieutenant Spalding his commission indorsed across its face "promoted for meritorious services at Pittsburg Landing." On the 10th of March, 1863, he was advanced to the rank of first lieutenant. His regiment took an active part in the Atlanta campaign, throughout the duration of which he was in command of his company. When Atlanta was captured, Lieutenant Spalding was placed on detached service as acting assistant adjutant general on the staff of Brigadier General Rice, commanding the First Brigade, Fourth Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, and as such was with Sherman's army as it marched through Georgia until Savannah was captured, when he was mustered out, December 19, 1864. The medal of honor was bestowed on him by the secretary of war for conspicuous gallantry at Pittsburg Landing.
Mr. Spalding came to Sioux City, Iowa, with Captain Evans Blake in 1865 as chief clerk of the quartermaster's department of the army, serving on the plains in the Indian wars. A year later he resigned this position to identify himself with the general store of Hedges Brothers and during the period of his connection with this concern was in charge of the Yankton stage and express business. Subsequently he was elected clerk of the district and circuit court, serving in this capacity for about ten years. During this period he read law, and he was later associated in the practice of the profession at different times with E. H. Hubbard, H. J. Taylor and Eric A. Burgess.
Edward B. Spalding became a factor in the banking activities of Sioux City in 1890 and was vice president and director of the Merchants National Bank when the institution was consolidated with the First National Bank, after which he retired from the field of finance. He served as secretary of the company that constructed the waterworks of Sioux City and later turned it over to the municipality. Mr. Spalding was one of five citizens chosen by the city council to build the waterworks. He was also secretary of the company that erected the library building, which is now the city hall, at Sixth and Douglas streets, and likewise filled the position of secretary of the Sioux City Building Fund Association until its charter expired in 1889. He spent the last ten years of his life in honorable retirement, having been obliged to abandon law practice on account of failing eyesight. He was connected with the famous Haddock murder trial as prosecutor. At the time of his death Mr. Spalding was the oldest ranking Odd Fellow in Sioux City. He also belonged to the Connecticut Chapter of the Society of the Cincinnati and was in his own right a member of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion and the GRand Army of the Republic. His life was indeed an active, honorable and useful one, and in his passing Sioux City sustained the loss of one of its most highly esteemed and valued citizens.
Mr. Spalding was twice married. On the 8th of September, 1873, he wedded Miss Eliza A. Atwood, of Chester, Vermont. Two of their four children died in infancy, while the surviving members of the family are: Alice E., a resident of Sioux City; and Edward Burson, Jr., living at Hollywood, California. The wife and mother passed away July 1, 1887, and on the 28th of August, 1889, Mr. Spalding was again married, his second union being with Margaret T. Appleton, daughter of Amos R. and Hannah A. Appleton, who established their home in Sioux City in 1858. Mrs. Margaret T. (Appleton) Spalding had been a resident of Sioux City for sixty-four years when she departed this life on the 17th of July, 1922, at the age of seventy-three.
The following facts concerning the life of Mrs. Margaret Spalding are culled from newspaper reviews which appeared at the time of her death: "Mrs. Edward Burson Spalding, one of Sioux City's earliest and most widely known pioneers, died at her home, 1219 Nebraska street, following an illness of about ten days. Coming here in 1858, she attended school in the first school building erected in the city. Sioux City at that time had but two hundred inhabitants. There were but thirty-six children in the school. At sixteen years of age Mrs. Spalding was employed to teach in the schools at Sergeant's Bluff, which position she held for several years. The story of Sioux City as a settlement consisting of a few log huts isolated in the wilderness fifteen days' journey from 'civilization,' when Mrs. Spalding arrived in 1858, is told in an article written for The Journal by 'the woman who grew up with Sioux City.' She explained how her father went to Kansas in 1857 with a few thousand dollars worth of goods and some mules. The following year he put a thousand dollar note in his boot and left Kansas by mule. Reaching here, he sent for his wife and children, who traveled by steamboat, stage and wagon, in the company of fifteen other persons, making the trip from St. Louis in fifteen days. The Appletons first lived on the site where the Milwaukee depot now stands, occupying a wing of a structure which had been built as an elevator. A covering of white muslin and straw paper afforded the only protection from rain and storms. During the first season, the water had to be dipped out of the place every morning before a fire could be built. Cottonwood and hackberry afforded the only fuel. Wild turkey, honey and fruit were hunted for food. Most of the playing by the children was done on the Missouri river bottoms. The Appleton family next lived in the first house carpentered in Sioux City. Before that all houses had been built in parts in eastern cities and shipped here for erection. The family also was the first to buy and use a bedstead here. It was a high four poster with a deep valence. About 1864, threats from the Indians caused considerable excitement among the citizens, especially one night when the town was awakened by some Dakota refugees, hastily arrived, seeking safety from Indian ravages. Mrs. Spalding, remembered well these terrors. She was a member of the First Congregational church, was a lifelong church worker and taught a Sunday school class in the first church established in the city. She was a charter member of the Travelers Club, one of the oldest study clubs in the city, and a member of the Woman's Christian Association, the first relief organization formed here, which later built the Samaritan Hospital * * * Mrs. Spalding was born at Peru, Indiana, August 17, 1848, and was therefore a maiden of less than ten years when she came to Sioux City to brave and endure all the perils and hardships of pioneering."
Jacob E. Spotts, long numbered among the progressive farmers of Ida county, is now residing in Battle Creek, and his standing in the community is indicated by the fact that he has been called to the office of mayor, which he is now fulling. He was born January 26, 1859, near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and his parents, Abraham and Mary (Stouffer) Spotts, were also natives of the Keystone state. In 1880 the father came with his family to Iowa, settling near Battle Creek. He gradually added to his holdings until he became the owner of a large and valuable farm, ranking with the foremost agriculturists of the district. To Mr. and Mrs. Spotts were born eleven children: Elizabeth, John F., William, Sadie and Mary, all of whom are deceased; S. Laura, the widow of Danile Reeder, of New York City; Katie A., the widow of James Line, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Alice and Daniel T., who have passed away; Jacob E.; and Rettie, the wife of James Warnock.
Jacob E. Spotts was educated in teh public schools of Pennsylvania and aided his father until he reached the age of twenty-one years, becoming familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. For six years he operated the homestead and was then able to purchase a farm of his own, acquiring a tract of one hundred and sixty acres. From time to time he bought additional land until his place at length comprised three hundred and twenty acres. He worked diligently and methodically and brought to his occupation a true sense of agricultural economics, never allowing a foot of the land to be unproductive. He equipped the place with labor-saving devices and gradually transformed it into one of the most valuable farms of the county. Having accumulated a substantial competence, Mr. Spotts purchased an attractive home in Battle Creek, where he has since resided, devoting his energies to civic affairs.
On February 17, 1886, Mr. Spotts married Miss Jessie Crawford, a native of Scotland, and ten children were born to them, namely: Laura C., who is the wife of George Foster, of North Dakota; Jeannette S., now Mrs. Louis Hofmeister, of Los Angeles, California; Mary, who married H. M. Schmidt, of Battle Creek; Bertha, the wife of Julius Ikow, of Iowa; Edward A., James O., Daniel T., Alvin L. and Earl H., all of whom are residents of Battle Creek; and Edith A. who lives in Los Angeles, California.
Mr. Spotts has been for four years mayor of Battle Creek. The good of the community is his first concern and he has been strongly commended for his economical oversight of public expenditures as well as for the constructive work which he has accomplished. He is an earnest member of the Presbyterian church and a man of sterling worth, who has faithfully discharged every trust reposed in him, whether of a public or private nature.
The name of Dr. Theodore F. H. Spreng has long been a household word to the people of Sioux City, where for nearly forty years he has held a foremost place in the ranks of the medical profession. Proper intellectual discipline, thorough professional training and a love for his profession, as well as profound human sympathy, have contributed to the success which has crowned his life work and for many years he has stood among the able and scholarly physicians in a community long distinguished for the high order of its medical talent.
Dr. Spreng was born in Cleveland, Ohio, February 20, 1853, and is a son of Rev. George F. and Christina (Bentz) Spreng, the former a native of Alsace-Lorraine, then a part of Germany, while the latter was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, their marriage occurring in Ohio. The father was a minister of the Evangelical Association and was for forty years presiding elder of the general conference and at different times a delegate to the national conference of that association. He was active in church work for more than sixty years and died in 1905, at the age of eighty-two years. His wife passed away exactly one year previous to his death, at the age of eighty-one years. They reared thirteen children, of which number four sons and four daughters still survive.
Having attended the public schools of Cleveland, and Northwestern College, at Naperville, Illinois, Dr. Spreng then matriculated in Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago, where he was graduated in 1879, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He spent the following year as interne in the Hahnemann Hospital, and then began the practice of his profession in Chicago, where he remained five years, when he removed to Buchanan, Michigan, where he practiced five years. In 1889 he came to Sioux City, where he has been actively engaged in practice to the present, and during all of the years of his identification with this community there has never been a time when there was not distinct recognition of his ability and skill as a physician, while at the same time he has been uniformly regarded as a valued citizen, of lofty character, sturdy integrity and fine public spirit, the record of these years being one of tireless and unselfish devotion not only to his professional work but also to the general welfare. A man of rugged strength of character, of finest moral fiber, he has by his life honored the community in which he lives.
In 1887 Dr. Spreng was united in marriage to Miss Ida M. Pears, of Buchanan, Michigan, and they are the parents of a son, Theodore Pears Spreng, who now lives in Houston, Texas. The Doctor is a member of the Sioux City Homeopathic Medical Society, the Hahnemann Medical Society of Iowa, of which he was president in 1908, the American Institute of Homeopathy, the Professional Men's Club of Sioux City and the Sioux City Boat Club. Fraternally, he is a member of Buchanan (Mich.) Lodge, A. F. & A. M.; Columbian Commandery, No. 18, K. T., of Sioux City; and Abu-Bekr Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He and his wife are earnest members of the Congregational church. The Doctor is a close and critical reader, possessing a fine library of classical and current literature, while his collection of professional and scientific works is broad and comprehensive in its scope. Unassuming in manner, he nevertheless possesses a forceful personality that impresses all who come in contact with him. His cheerfulness, his kindly humor, his utter freedom from every form of affectation have endeared him personally to a large circle of devoted patients and loyal friends and his professional colleagues speak of him in the highest terms.
Dr. Charles Stewart Stoakes, a physician of broad experience and pronounced ability practiced in Battle Creek for seventeen and one-half years before removing to Dysart, Iowa, winning the esteem of its residents. He was born August 22, 1877, in Traer, Iowa, and is a son of Mathias and Jane (Stewart) Stoakes, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Wisconsin. The father followed the occupation of farming for many years and subsequently lived retired at Traer. He had a family of six children: Ella, at home; Charles Stewart; William, who lives in Terril, Iowa; Edith, the wife of J. W. Fleming, of Waterloo, this state; and John R. and Frank R.m both residents of Traer.
After the completion of his high school course, Dr. Stoakes taught a rural school for two years and then entered the college at Cedar Falls, Iowa, which he attended for three years, graduating in 1902 with the degree of Master of Didactics. While at the Iowa State Teachers College he was business manager of the school paper and also played on the football team, of which he was captain in 1900. He was superintendent of the public schools of Randolph, Iowa, for a year and then enrolled as a student at the University of Nebraska, form which he won the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1905 and that of Doctor of Medicine in 1907. He was connected with the Douglas County Hospital at Omaha, Nebraska, for a year and in 1908 opened an office in Reinbeck, Iowa. He located at Battle creek in 1909 and gradually established a large practice. On August 1, 1926, he located at Dysart, Iowa, to be near his parents at Traer. His father died October 1, 1926, following a paralytic stroke on September 13th. The Doctor is exceptionally well equipped for his profession and has been very successful in his efforts to alleviate suffering and restore health.
On December 21, 1911, Dr. Stokes married Miss Margaret Wolfram, and they have three children: Anna Jane, James Stewart, and Charles Franklin. Dr. Stoakes belongs to the Phi Rho Sigma fraternity, which he joined while attending the University of Nebraska, and is also identified with the Masonic order. He is a consistent member of the Presbyterian church and casts his ballot for the candidates of the republican party. He is a progressive physician and throughout life has been a student, constantly striving to broaden his field of usefulness.
It is generally admitted without argument that no one agency has done as much for the progress of the world as the press, and an enterprising, well edited journal is a most important factor in promoting the welfare and progress of any community. Northwestern Iowa has been honored in the characters and careers of her newspaper men, in the very front rank of whom stands Samuel M. Stouffer, editor of The Sac Sun, one of the old and influential papers of this section of the state. Mr. Stouffer was born in Ogle county, Illinois, on the 1st day of November, 1865, and is a son of Andrew and Lucinda (Rhinehart) Stouffer, both of whom were natives of Washington county, Maryland, and of German extraction, their respective families having been established in this country in a very early day. In 1869 Andres Stouffer brought his family to Iowa, locating in Marshall county, where he bought a farm which had been partly broken and cultivated by the original settler.
Samuel M. Stouffer is the first born of the family of ten children. He secured his early education in the district school which was located at the cross roads upon which the home farm abutted, attending there during the winter months and devoting the remainder of his time to work in the fields. Later he attended Western College, at Toledo, Iowa (which was afterward absorbed by Coe College), where he was graduated in 1890. He then taught school for a short time and subsequently joined the staff of the Toledo Chronicle, with which paper he remained two years, gaining valuable experience and also a love for newspaper work. In 1893, with a brother, Frank E. Stouffer, he came to Sac City and took over The Sac Sun. On the first of November, 1923, he bought his brother's interest in the business and his son, Samuel A., eventually came into the firm as a partner. The venture was a financial success from the beginning and during the years the Sun has been regarded as the representative newspaper of Sac county. In 1925 Mr. Stouffer and his son bought the Sac County Bulletin, which they consolidated with the Sun, and in September, 1926, the business was incorporated as the Sac Sun Company, with Samuel M. Stouffer as president and editor; Mrs. Stouffer as vice-president; and Ben J. Pruess, lately publisher of the Ida Grove Record-Era, as secretary and treasurer. Mr. Stouffer is a forceful and effective writer, prints the news while it is news, and has shown splendid taste in the typographical make-up of the paper. He has consistently stood for the best things in community life, advocating those measures calculated to advance the public interests and opposing everything of a detrimental nature. His editorial influence has been a definite factor in the affairs of his city and county and has gained for him the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens.
On September 8, 1898, Mr. Stouffer was united in marriage to Miss Irene Holmes, of Charter Oak, Iowa, a daughter of George W. Holmes, who was a veteran of the Civil war and for many years a well known business man of Charter Oak. To Mr. and Mrs. Stouffer have been born two children. Samuel Andrew, the elder, after completing the public school course, entered Morningside College, where he was graduated in 1921, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered Harvard University, where he received his Master's degree in 1923, and is now at Chicago University, specializing in sociology for his Doctor's degree. William Holmes, the younger son, is now a senior in the Sac City high school.
Mr. and Mrs. Stouffer have for many years been active members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Stouffer served twenty years as superintendent of the Sunday school, and in 1916 was first reserve and acting lay delegate from the Northwest Iowa conference to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, held at Saratoga, New York. He has also served as secretary and president of the Northwest Iowa Laymen's Association. Personally, he is a gentleman of straightforward and unaffected manner, consistent in motive and action, and kindly and affable in his social relations. His life has been an active and useful one and he fully merits the enviable place which he has long held in public esteem.
Northwestern Iowa has been fortunate in the number and character of her newspapers, those indispensable aids to community development and the education of the people, for it is a well-recognized fact that the most powerful influence in shaping and controlling public life is the press. Carl C. Sturges is prominently connected with journalism in this state as editor and publisher of the Correctionville News. He was born in Vermillion, South Dakota, on the 13th of February, 1892, and is a son of Harry H. and Etta (Christy) Sturges. The former, born in Wisconsin, has been identified with the newspaper business all his life and is owner and editor of the Charter Oak (Iowa) Times, which he has published since 1902. The mother was born in Missouri Valley, Iowa, to which locality her father, Thomas A. Christy, was taken in his boyhood, his family being among the earliest setters in the community. Later he became foreman of the workmen who built the Northwestern railroad shops at that point. In August, 1872, he moved to Sioux City, where he became one of the organizers of the volunteer fire department. Subsequently he moved to Vermillion, South Dakota, where he resided for a number of years. He is now, at the age of eighty-five years, living in the National Soldiers Home at Hot Springs, South Dakota, where he is serving as corporal of the guard and is an active man for his age.
Carl C. Sturges secured a good public school education, graduating from the high school at Charter Oak, and immediately thereafter entered his father's printing office, where he learned the printing trade and the publishing business. Two years later he went to Dunlap, Iowa, and served as reporter and editor of the Dunlap Reporter for three years. From there he went to Atlantic, Iowa, where he acquired an interest in the Hawkeye Printing Company, with which he remained identified for seven years. On September 1, 1922, he came to Correctionville and bought the News, which he has since edited and published. It was founded as the Sioux Valley News by D. K. Freman in 1882, the first paper being issued on May 25th. It is a well edited and well printed paper, equal in both respects to any of its contemporaries, and it has had a large and steadily increasing circulation through the surrounding territory.
On September 15, 1914, Mr. Sturges was united in marriage to Miss Ruth French, of Charter Oak, Iowa, and to them have been born two children, Philip Carl and Herbert F. Mr. Sturges is a member of Correctionville Lodge, No, 474, A. F. & A. M.; Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, A. A. S. R.; and Sioux Valley Lodge, No. 470, I. O. O. F., of Correctionville. He has taken an active part in public affairs and is a member of the town council. His voice, pen and influence are given in earnest support of the best things in community life and he has won a high place in the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens.
Clarence W. Sumner, who made a splendid record in the capacity of librarian at the Sioux City public library from 1917 until 1926, has filled the position of city librarian at Youngstown, Ohio, since the 15th of October of the latter year. He was born at Noblesville, Indiana, on the 2d of May, 1885, and comes of English and French lineage. He completed a high school course in his native town by graduation with the class of 1904 and subsequently matriculated in the University of Missouri, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1909.
Clarence W. Sumner began library work when a youth of nineteen years as assistant in the Earlham College library at Richmond, Indiana, where he thus served from 1904 until 1907. During the succeeding four years he was assistant at the University of Missouri library in Columbia, Missouri, while from 1911 until 1917 he was librarian at the State University of North Dakota and Grand Forks. As above indicated, he next served as city librarian at the Sioux City public library of Sioux City, Iowa, for a period covering nine years, and since October 15, 1926, has been city librarian at Youngstown, Ohio.
On the 25th of December, 1916, in Toledo, Ohio, Mr. Sumner was united in marriage to Miss Florence Gillette, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. William J. Gillette, of that city. They are the parents of a son, Clarence W. Sumner, Jr., who is now nine years of age.
During the period of the World war Mr. Sumner rendered civilian service as camp librarian at Camp Cody, New Mexico. He was born of Quaker parents but since his marriage has attended the services of the Presbyterian church. His course has been an upright and honorable one in every relation and the circle of his friends is very wide.
In connection with commercial and industrial interests, the name of Albert F. Swanson has become widely and favorably known, and today, as president and manager of Auto Specialists, Inc., he is one of the prominent and successful business men of Sioux City. Mr. Swanson was born in Hartley, Iowa, September 26, 1891, and is a son of John F. and Augusta M. (Swanson) Swanson, both of whom were natives of Skara, Sweden. The father came to the United States in 1880, when a young man, and the following year sent back to the homeland for his sweetheart, to whom he was married at Paxton, Illinois. Directly thereafter they came to Iowa, locating in Spencer, where he entered the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. He remained with that company twenty-one years, during which time he was transferred to Hartley, Iowa, as road master. On resigning his position he located on a farm north of Hartley which he had bought for the purpose of rearing his family of nine children thereon. In 1919 he left the farm, which he still owns, however, and moved back to Hartley, where he now lives retired.
Albert F. Swanson attended the country schools and the Hartley high school and then entered Highland Park College, at Des Moines, where he was graduated. On leaving college he went to work for a sash and door factory in Des Moines, beginning at a salary of ten dollars a week, but so efficient and faithful was he in the performance of his duties that he was promoted from time to time and by the end of his first year was receiving one hundred and fifty dollars a month. He then resigned that position and organized the Glide Automobile Company, engaging in the repair and sale of automobiles, doing a wholesale and retail business. Mr. Swanson was president and manager of the company, which began business on June 1, 1913. In July, 1916, they sold the business for enough to pay their obligations, in addition to which Mr. Swanson recognized the fact that he had gained some very valuable experience. He then went to work at a salary for the Auto Salvage Company of Des Moines, and in December of that year the company sent him to Sioux City to establish a branch house. He opened a place at Third and Jackson streets and was very successful in building up a good business at this point. In May, 1917, he enlisted in the Iowa National Guard, and in 1918, the Auto Salvage Company, fearing that he would soon leave for the front, decided to sell the Sioux City business. Mr. Swanson and two others then bought the business, which they incorporated as the Auto Salvage & Exchange Company. In 1918 Mr. Swanson brought his brother here from Detroit to assist him in the operation of the business, and in 1919 he organized the Steam Tractor, Auto & Manufacturing Company, which was incorporated with a paid-up capital of one hundred thousand dollars. They engaged in the building of a high pressure steam tractor and also manufactured the Carbono piston rings. In 1922 the name of the company was changed to Auto Specialists, Inc., and at that time the manufacture of the tractor was discontinued. The company has enjoyed a steady growth in business, has gained a merited reputation for reliability and is today numbered among the prosperous concerns of this city.
On November 21, 1915, Mr. Swanson was married to Miss Velma Lenore Eckerman, of Des Moines, Iowa, and they are the parents of three children, Ruth Alberta, Barbara Jane and John Allen. In May, 1917, Mr. Swanson enlisted in Company D, Fourth Regiment, Iowa National Guard, and in December of that year was commissioned second lieutenant. On July 8, 1918, he was commissioned captain and ordered to recruit a company, which he did, but was never called into active service. He is a member of Landmark Lodge No. 103, A. F. & A. M.; Sioux City Chapter, No. 26, R. A. M.; Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, A. A. S. R.; Abu-Bekr Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.; and Rose Croix Chapter No. 400, O. E. S., of which Mrs. Swanson also is a member. He likewise belongs to Sioux City Lodge, No. 112, B. P. O. E., the Sioux City Boat Club, the Sioux City Gun Club, the Cosmopolitan Club of this city, and is a charter member of the Men's Club of Smithsville and vicinity, organized for the purpose of civic improvements. His religious connection is with the Mayflower Congregational church, of the official board of which he is a member. Mr. Swanson is a wide-awake, alert and enterprising man, sagacious and farsighted in his business affairs, and the success which has come to him is well merited.