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EVERETT W. FANNON, superintendent of schools at Centerville,
is an educator of superior attainments and his influence has been a very
constructive one and he is regarded as an indispensable asset to the cultural
activities of his home community.
Mr. Fannon was born at Eldora, Iowa, May 7, 1889, son of Augustus E. and
Sarah E. (Brown) Fannon. His father was of French and Irish ancestry,
though the family has been in America for generations. One of the
connections of the Fannon family is Hon. Chase S. Osborn, former governor
of the State of Michigan and a noted scientist and writer. Sarah E.
(Brown) Fannon was a descendant of Charles Pym, a parliamentary leader whose
activities made him one of the foremost characters in English history at
the time of Oliver Cromwell.
Everett W. Fannon grew up in Eldora, Iowa, graduated from high school there
in 1908, then taught school for a year in Hardin County and in 1913 was graduated
from Drake University in the liberal arts course. Mr. Fannon is endowed
with several interesting gifts and talents, conspicuous among them being
that of music. While at Drake University he had a thorough musical
education, taking special vocal culture, and at the conclusion of his university
career became a member of the male quartette known as the "Meister Singers,"
an organization that traveled widely and enjoyed a tremendous popularity
on the concert state. Mr. Fannon for three years was with the Redpath
Bureau in Chautauqua and Lyceum work, and later headed his own company, known
as the Fannon Concert Company, which filled engagements in all parts of the
United States.
Mr. Fannon resumed his work in the educa-Club, and has twice held the city
championship of schools at Liscomb, Iowa, and in 1918, accepted the call
to Centerville as principal of schools, and five years later was promoted
to superintendent. Mr. Fannon has shown a rare degree of enthusiasm
in educational work, and his versatile talents have made him a splendid influence
in the schools and the community at Centerville. He possesses a high
degree of literary and musical culture and in 1922 was awarded the Master
of Arts degree by the University of Iowa.
He married at Des Moines in 1914 Miss Bessie May Tatham, of Jewell, Iowa,
who graduated in 1913 from the fine arts department of Drake University,
and for several years taught in the Lutheran College at Jewell. Her
father, Martin Van Buren Tatham, was an early settler of Hamilton County.
Mr. and Mrs. Fannon have three children: Roger, who died in infancy;
Muriel, attending the Centerville High School; and James Chase.
Mrs. Fannon shares many of the special tastes and interests of Mr. Fannon,
and both have been very prominent in the social, religious and education
circles of Centerville. Mrs. Fannon is president of the Outlook Study
Club and is a member of the Delphian Club. Mr. Fannon is university
belonged to the Alpha Tau Omega social fraternity, is a member of the
Phi Delta Kappa educational society, the Masonic fraternity and the Kiwanis
Club and Chamber of Commerce. He and his family are active Presbyterians
and for several years he has been elder in the church and director of the
church music.
For all his devotion to music and literature, Mr. Fannon is a thorough outdoor
man, and is found of wholesome athletics and has done much to promote good
athletic standards in school. He is a past president of the Centerville
Country Club, and has twice held the city championship in golf and in 1929
won the championship in Southern Iowa. He has also been a formidable
tennis player in his section of the state.
ROBERT L. FEIGHTNER, M. D. A beneficent medical institution
located at Fort Madison, Iowa, and conducted as the Santa Fe Railroad Hospital,
is widely know through this section of the state and adjoining ones because
of the excellence of its management, the skill and ability of its physicians
and surgeons and the scientific treatment accorded to every patient.
Thoroughly qualified and experienced, Dr. Robert L. Feightner came
to the Santa Fe Hospital as assistant surgeon in charge, and continued there
until October 1, 1929, when he engaged in private practice, specializing
in surgery and radiology. Early in the World war he offered his serviced
to the Government for active duty at the front, but he was not called into
the military department because of his usefulness at home. However,
his patriotism was recognized and in November, 1918, he received a commission
as an officer in the United States Medical Reserve Corps. Doctor Feightner
is a member of the Lee County Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society
and the American Medical Association, and he also belongs to the Railway
Surgeons Association and formerly was president of the Southeastern Iowa
Medical Association.
Doctor Feightner was born at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1894, a son
of Robert J. Feightner, a native of Pennsylvania. After he had completed
the work in the common schools Robert J. Feightner decided upon a business
career, and after some experience along different lines, settled down to
his present undertaking, that of the manufacture of brass valves at Greensburg,
in which he has continued for over thirty years, and built up wide and valuable
connections which have resulted in his becoming a man of means and prominence.
He married Miss Annie Ulery, a native of Pennsylvania. Two children
have been born to them, namely: Doctor Feightner, who is the elder;
and Curtiss U., who is a resident of Greensburg, where the parents also reside.
Doctor Feightner attended the common schools of Greensburg, and later high
school, and was graduated from the latter in 1913. Not only was he
on the rifle team, but he had the honor of being on the class day program.
While in high school he worked, during the first two years as stenographer
for the Kelly & Jones Brass Works, and in this way helped to pay
his way through school. From earliest boyhood he had cherished the ambition
of becoming a doctor, and, therefore, after graduation from high school he
entered the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery, from which he was graduated
in 1917, after completing his four-year course, with the degree of Doctor
of Medicine. While in college he served as night clerk and performed
other similar duties in the Chicago Lying-In Hospital and Dispensary. He
made Phi Chi, and was presiding senior on that fraternity, and was one of
the most popular men of his class. In 1917 he came to the Santa Fe
Hospital. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight
Templar, and Shriner and an Elk. The Presbyterian Church holds his
membership.
Doctor Feightner married Miss Fern F. Kern, of Fort Madison, June 10, 1919.
They have two children: Jack Beverly, who was born August 29,
1922; and Dorothy Lorraine, who was born March 14, 1920. An earnest,
conscientious and highly-skilled practitioner, Doctor Feightner is finding
in his present connection ample opportunity for work of a high character,
and at the same time he does not neglect his duties as a citizen, but gives
his support to all worthwhile movements, particularly those dealing with
educational matters.
EARL R. FERGUSON. Prominent among the members of the Page County
bar is found Earl R. Ferguson, who since 1900 has been engaged in the general
practice of his profession at Shenandoah, where through natural and acquired
ability and great industry he has worked himself to a leading position.
During his long practice Mr. Ferguson has been identified with much
of the important litigation that has come before the courts of the state,
and in his many controversies has won success with honor and without animosity.
Mr. Ferguson was born at Shenandoah, Iowa, April 30, 1876, and is a son of
William P. and Julia D. (Burnet) Ferguson. His paternal grandfather,
James Ferguson, was born in Scotland, and upon his immigration to the United
States became one of the pioneer residents of Nebraska City, Nebraska, where
he spent the remainder of his life. William P. Ferguson was born in
the City of Glasgow, Scotland, and was a child when brought by his parents
to the United States, his early education being acquired in the public schools
of Nebraska. During the war between the states he served in the Union
army, taking part in a number of engagements, in one of which he was wounded,
and when released from military duty entered Miami College, Ohio, from which
he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1868. He began
practice in that year at Hamburg, Iowa, and in 1870 bought the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy Railroad right-of-way from Hamburg to Red Oak and
located Shenandoah on the line. In the same year he built a small frame
shack for his office at Shenandoah and continued to be engaged in practice
here until his death in 1911. He became one of the leaders of the bar,
a man who had held in the highest esteem, and a citizen of public spirit.
He established the Presbyterian Church at Shenandoah and was a generous
supporter and devout member thereof all of his life. A Republican in
politics, he served as county attorney and judge of the Superior Court, and
in every way was an exemplary citizen. Mr. Ferguson married at Shenandoah
Miss Julia D. Burnet, who was born at Memphis, Tennessee, of an old and
distinguished family, the founders of the City of Cincinnati. The
great-great-grandfather of Mr. Ferguson, Statts Burnet, served during the
Revolutionary war as a soldier under General Washington, and one of the Burnet
family was a member of the United States Senate from Texas during the days
of Sam Houston. Isaac Burnet, the maternal grandfather of Earl R. Ferguson,
was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, and in his younger years operated a line of
flat-boats on the Ohio River. Following the war between the states
he came to Iowa, and here passed the remainder of his life in agricultural
pursuits. To Judge and Mrs. Ferguson there were born the following
children: Earl, of this review; Crystal, the wife of E. F. Gauss,
a druggist and former postmaster of Shenandoah; Olive, the wife of G. L.
Hall, engaged in the shipping business at Seattle, Washington; Abbie, the
wife of Fred M. Schneider, cashier of the Shenandoah National Bank; Burnet,
an insurance broker of Shenandoah; and Paul, of whom more later. Judge
Ferguson was a member of the Benevolent and protective Order of Elks.
Earl R, Ferguson, after his graduation from the Shenandoah High School, entered
Western Normal College and then took up the study of law, being admitted
to the bar in 1900. He immediately commenced the practice of his profession
at Shenandoah, where he has since built up a large and lucrative practice
in general civil and criminal law, and has reached a position of high standing
in his calling. He is a member of the Page County Bar Association,
the Iowa Association, is a Scottish Rite Mason and member of Za-Ga-Zig Temple,
A. A. O. N. M. S., at Des Moines, and of the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks, and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian Church. He
is a Republican in politics, and while he has asked no favors of his party
was delegate to the national convention at Chicago that nominated William
Howard Taft for the presidency.
In 1901 Mr. Ferguson was united in marriage with Miss Lulu Bull, who was
born at College Springs, Iowa, and educated at Saint Mary's Seminary, Knoxville,
Illinois. To this union there was born one child: Sterling, who
died at the age of eighteen years.
Paul Ferguson, another of the leading members of the Shenandoah bar, was
born at Shenandoah, September 15, 1890, being a brother of Earl R. Ferguson
and a son of William P. and Julia (Burnet) Ferguson. After completing
his preliminary education in the Shenandoah public schools he entered the
University of Washington, and subsequently attended the Iowa State University,
Creighton University and the University of Iowa, from the last named of which
he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1913. For a
time he did special work, and in 1916 entered the firm of Ferguson, Barnes
& Ferguson, with which he was identified until enlisting in the army
for service during the World war. He trained at Camp Pike, but was
not called upon for active service, and upon receiving his honorable discharge
resumed practice, in which he has continued to be engaged with much success.
He is a member of the Page County Bar Association, the Iowa State Bar
Association and the American Bar Association, and stands high in the confidence
of a large practice and in the esteem of his fellow-practitioners.
He belongs to the Country Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Blue Lodge
of Masonry and the Phi Delta Theta and Phi Delta Pi fraternities. He
is a Republican in politics, but devotes his entire time to his constantly
growing practice.
In 1916 Mr. Ferguson was united in marriage with Miss Lina Coxedge, who was
born at Washington, Kansas, and was educated at the University of Kansas
and the University of Chicago. While at college she was a member of
the Pi Omega sorority. Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson are the parents of one
daughter; Julia, aged eighteen months. They are consistent members
of the Presbyterian Church.
JAMES C. FERGUSON is a native Iowan, was educated for the law and
practiced that profession for a time. His professional career was
interrupted when he went to the Mexican border and later overseas as a member
of the famous Rainbow Division, and since the war he has given his time and
energies chiefly to the building up of a real estate organization at
Des Moines, one of the outstanding enterprises of its kind in that city.
Mr. Ferguson was born near Tipton, Cedar County, Iowa, August 26, 1889, son
of James D. and Mary (Little) Ferguson. His father was also a native
of Cedar County, Iowa, while his mother was born near Monmouth, Illinois.
The grandfather, John Ferguson, was a native of Scotland and was a
territorial pioneer of Iowa, settling on this side of the Mississippi River
in 1842. He owned the first grist mill built west of Davenport. The
maternal grandfather, Joseph Little, was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania,
and came to an Iowa farm from Illinois in 1865. James D. Ferguson spent
all his life as a farmer, and died in 1897. His widow now resides at
Tipton. He was a Republican and both were active in the Presbyterian
Church. The three children are James C.; Jeannette, wife of Frank Weisbard,
of Cedar Falls; and William J., a fruit grower at Porterville, California.
James C. Ferguson attended the Tipton High School, had part of his literary
education in the University of Colorado, and was graduated from the law
department of the University of Iowa in 1915. He practiced ten months
at Creston before answering the call for military duty.
While at Creston he helped organized Company C of the Third Iowa, and accompanied
the regiment to the Mexican border. The regiment was on the border
until February, 1917. Shortly after his return to Creston Mr. Ferguson
was elected mayor of the city, in March, 1917. In the following April
he was called upon to help recruit the Third Iowa Regiment to full strength
as required by the Federal Army, and in July he was mustered in, at which
time this regiment became a part of the Forty-second or Rainbow Division.
He and his regiment mobilized at the Fair Grounds at Des Moines, went
to Camp Mills, New York, where they spent over a month, and then overseas.
Mr. Ferguson shared in the splendid record of his regiment with the
Rainbow Division. He was twice gassed. He was on duty in the
Lorraine Sector and in the Saint Michael and Argonne drives.
He was mustered out February 5, 1919, and then for a short time resumed his
law practice at Creston. In March, 1920, he removed to Des Moines and
organized the J. C. Ferguson Realty Company, Incorporated. This company
has continued its service exclusively to residential property, and it is
an organization offering a complete service in the building and financing
of homes. It has developed and put on the market four or five of the
choice subdivisions around Des Moines. Mr. Ferguson started the business
on a small scale and has built up a splendid company, now employing about
fifty people. He is an active member of the Des Moines Real Estate
Board, having served as local and State president, is a member of the Chamber
of Commerce, is a Phi Beta Phi and belongs to the Cooperative Club.
He married, March 27, 1919, Miss Johanna Vanderwaal, who was born in Monroe,
Iowa, and was educated there and in Des Moines. Her father, William
Vanderwaal, was an Iowa farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson have two children,
Christine, born May 9, 1923, and Clare, born February 6, 1927.
MRS. EMMA A. FERRINGTON is a Des Moines business woman. At the
death of her husband she took over the business he had founded, known as
the Reliable Rug & Cleaning Company, and with a woman's good judgment,
energy, and with the experience given her by successive years she made this
a large and prosperous business and still gives it her time and management.
Mrs. Ferrington's first husband was John J. Owens, a native of New York city.
Mr. Owens and Miss Emma A. Seiler were married at Des Moines April
23, 1875. John J. Owens was a painter and paper hanger by trade, and
died in 1885. After his death Mrs. Owens married Warren E. Ferrington,
who died in 1890. Mr. Ferrington was a rug manufacturer and cleaner.
Mrs. Ferrington is a daughter of John and Sarah (Tussie) Seiler. Her
parents were born at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and at an early day moved
across the country in covered wagons, and just west of the Mississippi River
located at Bloomington, now the City of Muscatine. They put up the
second house in the town. Her father was a shoemaker in Pennsylvania
and for forty-five years served as sexton at Muscatine. There were
eleven children in the Seiler family. The two now living are: Mary
Fouts, a widow of an old Union soldier who recently died, and Mrs. Ferrington.
Charles Seiler, of Marysville, Missouri, died January 14, 1930. Mrs.
Ferrington's father was a Presbyterian, member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, and a Republican in politics. Two of his sons, John and
Daniel, were soldiers in the Union army.
Mrs. Ferrington was educated in common schools at Muscatine. She was
a housewife and mother, and had no special training for the business which
she took over on the death of Mr. Ferrington. The capital invested
in the business at the time was only about a thousand dollars. Since
then Mrs. Ferrington has been constantly adding to the service and the facilities
of the establishment, and now has a plant covering half a block of ground
and owns other real estate as well. All of this represents her success
as a business woman.
Mrs. Ferrington resides with her only daughter, Edith, wife of George Ginn,
who is manager of the Reliable Rug & Cleaning Company. Mr. and
Mrs. Ginn have two daughters, Rugh and Mercedes. Ruth is the wife of
Frank Cunningham, and has a daughter, Barbara Elizabeth, born in 1923.
Mercedes married Wallace E. Sears, and they have two sons, Owen and
Leonard. Mrs. Ferrington is a member of the Central Methodist Episcopal
Church.
ROBERT SPENCER FINKBINE was a pioneer of Iowa, a building contractor,
and his name deserves the grateful memory of citizens of the present time
for his masterpiece of work in supervising the construction of the state
capitol building at Des Moines.
He was born at Oxford, Butler County, Ohio, July 9, 1828, and died July 8,
1901, at the age of seventy-three. He was a son of Francis and Jane
Finkbine. He grew up in Ohio, was educated in public schools, learned
the trade of carpenter, and in 1850, at the age of twenty-two, came west
to Iowa and located in Iowa City. After getting himself established
in business he went back to Ohio and claimed his bride, Rebecca Finch, who
was also born at Oxford. In returning to Iowa they made the trip by
boat to Cairo, Illinois, up the Mississippi to Muscatine and thence by stage
across the country to Iowa City. Robert Spencer Finkbine possessed
much more than the individual skill of a good carpenter. His knowledge
was extended to all branches of building construction, and he soon had a
reputation far beyond the immediate trade radius of Iowa City as a contractor.
Much of his contract work was done for the state, at the Iowa State
University, the college for the blind at Vinton and included many other public
buildings elsewhere.
One of his earliest friends in Iowa was the famous Governor Kirkwood. He
attended as a delegate from Johnson County a convention called in 1856 and
which organized the Republican party of the state. It was at his personal
call that Samuel J. Kirkwood delivered a speech at that convention. That
was Kirkwood's introduction to public life in the state. In 1864 Mr.
Finkbine was elected a member of the State Legislature from Johnson County
and was reelected to the Eleventh General Assembly. He was chairman
of the committee of ways and means. In 1873 he was chosen by the
Legislature one of the state capitol commissioners, was made superintendent
of construction, and served in that capacity until the splendid building
was completed thirteen years later. More than $2,500,000 were expended
under his supervision, and the enduring character of the building and the
economy with which it was constructed stand as a great monument to his business
ability and personal integrity.
Mr. Finkbine moved his home to Des Moines in 1880. While at Iowa City
from 1853 for many years he was associated with C. F. Lovelace in the contracting
firm of Finkbine & Lovelace. Mr. Finkbine in 1890 was appointed
a member of the Board of Public Works, serving until 1894. He was one
of the leaders of the Iowa Republican party from the time of its organization.
He was also a faithful member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and a member of the Congregational Church.
Robert Spencer Finkbine and Miss Rebecca Finch were married April 27, 1852.
She was a daughter of Orlando Finch, an Ohio farmer. Mrs. Robert
S. Finkbine died April 26, 1904. They were the parents of six children,
three of whom are now living: E. C. Finkbine, president of the Green
Bay Lumber Company of Des Moines; William O. Finkbine, vice president of
the Green Bay Lumber Company; and H. M. Finkbine, a resident of Atlantic,
Iowa.
Charles A. Finkbine, who was the eldest of the children, died July 8, 1920.
He was born at Iowa City, was educated in the University of Iowa, was
a lawyer by profession and practiced at Council Bluffs four years.
Afterwards he turned his attention to the lumber industry, organizing
the Wisconsin Lumber Company, and served as its president until his death.
He was a member of the Congregational Church and a Republican. He
married Miss Mills, daughter of F. M. Mills, a pioneer Iowan. She was
born November 23, 1855, and died August 30, 1922. Charles A. Finkbine
and wife had three children: Anna; Frank, connected with the Wisconsin
Lumber Company at Storm Lake, Iowa; and Roger F., who is vice president of
the Wisconsin Lumber Company at Des Moines.
p. 73
HON. FRANZ S. FINLEY, educator, traveler, lawyer
and statesman, for many years has been one of the substantial citizens and
prominent men of Iowa, a man of scholarship, a leader of the Mount Pleasant bar,
an honest and able political representative and a civic worker of efficiency and
usefulness. Mr. Finley is known very widely over the state, having formerly
served four years as a member of the Iowa State Legislature, and has been
interested in many important measures and enterprises helpful to the
general public. He came to Mount Pleasant in the latter part of 1894, and this
city has been his home ever since, and he is able to look backward over a busy
interval of thirty-five years of worthy achievement. Since 1902 he has been a
member of the Mount Pleasant Free Public Library board, a civic enterprise in
which his interest has been deep and constant and in 1929 appreciation was shown
for his devotion in his election to the presidency of the Library Association.
Franz S. Finley was born at Duncan Falls, Ohio, August 12,
1866, a son of Capt. H.S. and Anna (Trimble) Finley. Captain Finley was born at
Duncan Falls, Ohio, February 6, 1826, and grew up a farmer. When war was
declared between the states he enlisted, and was made captain of Company I, One
Hundred and Sixtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served in the Union army until
he was wounded in 1863, during a skirmish in the Shanandoah Valley of Virginia.
His injuries were of so serious a nature as to necessitate his being invalided
home. After his recovery he resumed his farming. The mother was born at
Ruraldale, Ohio, and the parents were married in 1860. They had twelve children
born to them, eight of whom are still living.
Mr. Finley attended the district schools and in 1885 received
a teachers' certificate through a successful passing of the necessary
examinations. For three years thereafter he taught school in the rural regions
and then entered Muskingum College, New Concord, Ohio, worked his way through,
and was graduated in 1893. In the meanwhile he traveled over the United States,
Canada and European countries as a commercial salesman, in this way earning
money to pay his expenses. After graduating from Muskingum College he had a year
in the Ohio State University and in the latter part of 1894 came to Mount
Pleasant, Iowa. The following year he was admitted to the bar of Iowa, and
immediately thereafter entered upon a private practice. His grasp of the law,
his broadened culture and his personal popularity brought him into prominence
and in 1902 he was elected county attorney, which office he held for two years
at that time and again from 1912 to 1914. At the close of each term he refused
to allow his name to be used for reelection. In 1915 he was elected to represent
Henry County in the Iowa State Legislature, and was reelected to succeed himself
but refused further nomination. He is one of the leaders of the Republican
party. The Iowa State Bar Association and the Henry County Bar Association both
hold his membership. Since his youth he has been an earnest member of the
Presbyterian Church.
As has been already mentioned, Mr. Finley is a man of culture
and broad vision, and it was not long after he arrived at Mount Pleasant that he
recognized the need for an adequate public library, but it was some years before
he was able to see his hopes bear fruit. As member and later president of the
present library he is rendering what he feels is his best service, and this
library under his capable direction compares very favorably with those in cities
many times larger than Mount Pleasant.
On June 20, 1900, Mr. Finley was married to Katherine
Jeffrey, of Washington, Iowa, and they have one child, Jean, who was born at
Mount Pleasant, April 17, 1901. She is a graduate of Vassar College, and is now
a resident of New York City.
FRANK C. FISH. At a time and in a country when and where
specialization along all lines seems to have become the custom. It
is not unnatural that the artistic sense should be manifested in various
ways. Every line of industry, all of the professions, even the religious
organizations, have their specialists, and it would be strange if those animated
by an artistic spirit did not seek and find their own special field. At
any rate, such has been the case with Frank C. Fish, of Waterloo, who has
made sign painting both a business and an art, elevating it far above the
standards and planes of the itinerant sign-painter of the olden days, who
trudged hither and thither down the dusty roads and lanes, with his brushes
and paints, hung across his shoulders and encased in a paint-besmeared box
of tin.
Frank C. Fish was born at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a son of Harry G. Fish, who
was a native of Newark, New Jersey. The latter's father was a prominent
physician and surgeon of Newark, where it is thought that he spent his entire
life in the successful practice of his profession. Harry G. Fish was
reared at Newark, where he received his educational training, and in young
manhood moved to Illinois, where, soon after the start of the war he enlisted
in an Illinois volunteer infantry regiment. He served with his command
in its various battles until he was made a prisoner by the enemy and had
the misfortune to be sent to the notorious Andersonville Prison Camp. This
Confederate States military prison was noted for its unhealthfulness and
for barbarity of discipline. Between February 15, 1864, and April,
1865, 49,485 prisoners were received, of whom 12,926 died in that time of
various diseases. Henry Wirz, the superintendent, was later tried for
injuring the health and destroying the lives of the soldiers confined here,
was found guilty, and hanged, November 10,1865. The long trenches where
the soldiers were buried have since been laid out as a cemetery. Mr.
Fish was forced to suffer the same hardships and cruelties as those of his
companions, but was possessed of a rugged constitution which withstood the
frightful experience, and eventually managed his exchange. He then
rejoined his regiment and served until the close of the war, when he received
his honorable discharge. After recuperating he engaged for a time in
railroad work, and about 1870 came to Iowa and settled at Cedar Rapids, where
he continued in the same line. From that city he came to Waterloo,
where he joined Buffalo Bill's "Wild West Show," which was then in its infancy.
Eventually he resigned his position and settled at Waterloo, where
he established himself in business as a sign painter and house decorator,
but several years thereafter move to La Porte, Texas, where he died at the
age of seventy-six years, one of the highly esteemed men of his community.
Mr. Fish married Louise C. Womelsdorf, who was born in Germany and
came to the United States with her parents. She died at the age of
forty-nine years, having been the mother of two sons: Frank C., of
this review; and Harry, a resident of Houston, Texas. Three daughters
were also born, but none are now living.
Frank C. Fish attended the public schools of East Waterloo, and commenced
his career of usefulness at the age of fourteen years. For a time he
was variously employed, and traveled extensively, but he had learned the
rudiments of sign painting from his father, and, being possessed of talent
as an artist, decided to develop along these lines. He was not possessed
of sufficient means to secure a regular training, but perhaps this has done
him no harm, for it led him into original fields and has served to give an
unique touch to his productions that has added considerably to their value
either from an artistic or commercial standpoint.
With the advent of the automobile he quickly sensed the progressive demand
for highway painted advertising, and today his beautiful displays may be
seen in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. He has also helped develop the
new Neon Gaseous Tube sign, many of which may be seen in Waterloo territory.
He is now carrying on a large and profitable business, maintaining a down-town
sales and service office, at 522 Lafayette Street, and owning and operating
a large studio and plant at Park Road and Fairview Avenue, where some twenty-five
people are employed the year round.
Mr. Fish is a public-spirited citizen and has borne a fair share of the
responsibilities of public service. He is a member and director of the local
Chamber of Commerce and for four years served on the city council.
Fraternally he is a past exalted ruler of Waterloo Lodge No. 290,
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and a member of Helment Lodge No.
89, K. of P. He is greatly found of all outdoor sports and a member
of the board of directors of the Waterloo baseball club.
On November 16, 1903, Mr. Fish was united in marriage with Miss Bessie Stewart,
at Wall Lake, Iowa, daughter of John Fremont and Sadie Stewart, and to this
union there have been born three children: Mildred, who is the wife
of George Hagerman; and Virginia Louise and Franklin, who reside with their
parents. Mr. and Mrs. Fish are Universalists in their religious faith.
EARL C. FISHBAUGH is an Iowa banker, president of the Security Trust
& Savings Bank of Shenandoah. This bank, locally known as the Fishbaugh
Bank, is one of the strongest financial institutions of Southwestern Iowa.
Its able and conservative management enabled it to pass through the
difficulties of the deflation period following the World war without any
substantial impairment of its resources of the integrity it represents as
an institution for the service of the community.
Earl C. Fishbaugh was two years of age when his parents came to Page County,
Iowa. He was born at Tiffin, Ohio, March 7, 1880, son of C. W. and
Malinda (Angene) Fishbaugh. His parents were born in Crawford County,
Ohio, and his grandfather Fishbaugh was a native of the sam state. His
maternal grandparents were Adam and Barbara (Sherer) Angene, who came from
Bavaria, Germany, and were of French ancestry. C. W. Fishbaugh was
in teh manufacturing business at Tiffin, Ohio, and after coming to Southwestern
Iowa acquired extensive farming interests and later engaged in banking at
Shenandoah. He died in 1913. The widowed mother is now eighty
years of age. There were two sons, Warren P. and Earl C., both of
Shenandoah. The parents were active members of the Congregational Church
and the father was a Republican in politics.
Earl C. Fishbaugh attended public school at Shenandoah, the Western Normal
College there, and was on the farm until twenty-two. For a quarter
of a century his time and energies have been taken up with a banking experience.
For four years he was associated with the Commercial Savings Bank,
which his father helped organize. For two years he was with the First
National Bank of Shenandoah. In 1909, he and his father organized the
Security Trust & Savings Bank, his father becoming president and Earl
Fishbaugh, cashier. After the death of his father in 1913 Mr. Fishbaugh
succeeded to the position of president. The Security Trust & Savings
Bank has a capital of $60,000, surplus of $20,000, and average deposits of
about one million dollars.
Mr. Earl Fishbaugh married, December 15, 1908, Miss Irene Fender, who was
born in Mills County, Iowa, and was educated in the public schools of Shenandoah
and the Western Normal College. They have two sons: Earl C.,
Jr., born in 1910, a law student at the University of Nebraska; and Robert
F., born in 1914, in high school at Shenandoah. Mr. Fishbaugh and family
are members of the Presbyterian Church and his is on the official board.
His fraternal affiliations are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the B. P. O. Elks. He is a charter member of the Kiwanis Club,
a Republican in politics, has been treasurer of the Shenandoah School Board
for twenty years and was president of the Page County Bankers Association.
In 1929 he was appointed by Gov. John Hammill a member of the State
Banking Board.
H. L. FITCH is an Iowa man whose career since early manhood has been
identified with grain milling. In several scores he could be pronounced
a master miller, a man who understands the fundamentals and the technique
of his business, is a capable executive, a commercial organizer and salesman,
and in every way well fitted for his responsibilities as secretary, treasurer
and general manager of the Doud Milling Company of Denison.
Mr. Fitch was born, September 16, 1879, at Colesburg in Delaware County,
Iowa. Both of his grandfathers were born in America, of Irish parentage.
His father, R. A. Fitch, was also a native of Iowa, and spent his life
as a farmer in Delaware and Story counties. He died in 1923, at the
age of seventy. His wife, Sarah McNamee, was a native of Missouri,
but grew up in Iowa. She was eighty-four when she died in 1925. Both
parents were Methodists. They had a family of seven children, those
besides H. L. Fitch being: E. H. and V. C. Fitch, both law graduates,
E. H. being associated with the Iowa State Auto Insurance Company of Des
Moines, and V. C. with the Wood Bros. Company at Des Moines, manufacturers
of thrashing machines. G. L. Fitch is an auctioneer at Lake Crystal,
Minnesota, Mrs. M. C. Malvin and Mrs. L. H. Moon also live at Lake Crystal,
and Mrs. H. E. Mitchell is a resident of Seattle, Washington.
H. L. Fitch acquired his early education at Colesburg and at Zearing, and
from the time he left school his thought and energies have been fully taken
up with the milling industry. He learned it by practical work in mills,
and since 1900 has been associated with the Doud Milling Company. In
that year he became head miller of Manning, which was then the main office
of the company. In 1911 the Doud Milling Company bought the Denison
mill, which had been built in 1898, by the George Menagh Company. Mr.
Fitch was transferred as manager to Dension and since 1915 Denison has been
made the headquarters of the business.
On acquiring the Denison mill the plant was thoroughly remodeled, new and
modern machinery being installed, and in 1913 the old elevators were replaced
by a new forty thousand bushel iron clad elevator. For over thirty
years Iowa housewives have been familiar with the standard product of the
Doud Milling Company, the Fidelity and White Rose flours. The plant
at Denison has a daily capacity of 125 barrels of flour, 50,000 pounds of
poultry feed, 10,000 packages of Fidelity pancake flour and it also does
custom grinding and oat hauling.
The company has been thoroughly progressive, and largely due to Mr. Fitch's
enterprise it entered into the field of cereal manufacture, in 1925 putting
on the market a new product known as the Fidelity Whole Wheat Self-Rising
Pancake Flour. This product was made from a formula originated by Mr.
Fitch, who spent years of study before perfecting the process. The
flour is made from whole wheat, milled expressly for the purpose. The
process retains all the merits of whole wheat flour, which physicians and
dietetic experts have so long recommended, including all the precious minerals
and vitamins. It is this whole wheat flour that comprises the basis
of the Fidelity Self-Rising Pancake Flour, which is a distinctive triumph
in itself, the pancakes possessing not only nutritive qualities of a high
degree, but also the flavor and the color which make them attractive when
served. It was in 1925 that the company put on the market this product,
and about a year later the company made a special drive of publicity over
the radio. At their first announcement over the air they agreed to
furnish this pancake flour free to any church society wishing to put on a
pancake supper. In less than thirty minutes after the announcement
was made requests began coming in by telephone and wire and later by mail,
until, when totalled, it required half a carload of flour to fill the orders
from six different states. For several years the company has also
cooperated with the radio station at Shenandoah in a threeday jubilee, their
contribution to the event being the serving of free pancakes.
In 1926 the Doud Milling Company again remodeled the plant, installing new
machinery throughout. Because of the tremendous popularity of the pancake
flour a complete new addition to the mill was built and modern machinery
installed in 1928, devoted exclusively to the manufacture of this product.
Mr. Fitch is a Republican and served two years on the city council of Denison.
He is a Methodist and is active in the work of the Masonic Lodge and
a member of the Royal Arch Chapter. He married Laura McMurray, a native
of Marengo, Iowa County. They have two children. Herbert Wayne,
born August 14, 1908, graduated from Denison High School in 1926 and is now
associated with his father in the milling business. James Lockhard,
born November 9, 1915, is in the class of 1933 at Denison High School.
DAVID W. FLETCHER, D. D., LL.B. One of the best known men of
Iowa, if not of the West, is Dr. David W. Fletcher, former minister of the
Baptist denomination, but now one of th every able attorneys practicing at
the bar of Des Moines. He has lectured in Wales and America, and is
a brilliant speaker, not only entertaining, but giving food for thought,
and in this work has been a National Security, League Chautauqua and Lycru,
lecturer, and also royal lecturer for the Columbian Woodmen, and through
his platform work is an international figure.
Doctor Fletcher was born in Wales, July 2, 1870, a son of David and Mary
(Watkins) Fletcher, both of whom were born in Wales, and are now deceased.
By trade he was a roller in the steel mills, and continued in this
work all his life. Of the two children born to him and his wife Doctor
Fletcher is the only survivor. Both parents were active members of
the Baptist Church, and he belonged to the Ivorits. His father, Charles
Fletcher, was born in Wales, but came to the United States, and was
superintendent of a steel mill in Pennsylvania, being an expert steel worker.
After some years spent in this country he returned to Wales and died
there. The maternal grandfather of Doctor Fletcher was William Watkins,
who owned and operated a sawmill in Wales.
Reared in Wales, Doctor Fletcher attended the common schools of his native
community, and then took advanced work in London, England, and became a minister
of the Baptist Church. Coming to the United States, he was pastor of
the First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh for three years; for four years he
held a Baptist pastorate at Kningston, Pennsylvania, and for four years more
continued his ministerial work at Mahoning City, Pennsylvania. It was
at the termination of his pastorate at the latter place that he entered upon
his work as a lecturer on the Lyceum and Chautauqua platform.
Coming west in the early part of 1917, he volunteered his services to the
administration, but while they were not accepted for the army, he was placed
in the National Security Bureau, and was kept busy for the duration of the
war helping cement ties of good fellowship. In the meanwhile, in 1912,
he had begun to read law in Pennsylvania, and when he entered upon a permanent
residence at Des Moines he formed connections with the office of Zeuch &
Warren, and after four years was admitted to the bar in 1922, since which
time he has been engaged in a general practice.
In 1888 Doctor Fletcher married Miss Eliza Ann Jayne, a native of Wales,
and eight children have been born to them, seven of whom are living, namely:
William Arthur, who is an electrical engineer of Los Angeles, California;
Nellie May, who is deceased; Joseph W., who is married and lives at Los Angeles,
California, a printer and has three children; Ethel, who married Herman
Roth, and has two children, Robert and Charlotte Roth, resides at Los Angeles,
where her husband is manager of a cafe; Beatrice G., who married Ray Wickstrom,
manager of an automobile company of Dallas, Texas; Frances Rebecca, who married
Harry Anderson, a salesman of Dallas, Texas; Lilliam Doris, who married
William Swan, an employe of the city hall of Los Angeles; and L. J. Stanley,
manager of a cafe at Los Angeles. After the death of his first wife
Doctor Fletcher married Miss Margaret E. McCabe in 1922. She was born
at Rock Island, Illinois, and educated at Des Moines, to which city she was
brought at the age of eight years. After she was graduated from high
school she entered Drake University, and was graduated therefrom after taking
the full course in the academic department. For a time she was a teacher
of Spanish, and later she was librarian of the Des Moines Public Library.
She is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Doctor Fletcher belongs
to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and has been chaplain of his lodge
for several years. He is a member of the Polk County Bar Association,
the Iowa State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. All
his life he has been a staunch Republican, and for several years was one
of the most popular stump speakers of the state. In 1914 he assisted
in electing Doctor Brumbaugh and Senator Penrose, both of whom were opposed
by Colonel Roosevelt. In 1924 and 1928 Doctor Fletch ran for the office
of manuicipal judge, and in 1926 for state senator, but, although he made
a creditable campaign in each case, he was defeated.
Some idea of the great work Doctor Fletcher has accomplished, and is still
doing, may be gleaned from the following extracts taken from the high official
recognition accorded him during the war period, and also a few quotations
from his speeches.
"Allow me to thank you fro the valuable work you are doing as a lecturer
in cementing the unity and promoting harmony between the United States and
Great Britain." Signed by Rovert M. Glen, secretary of the British
Embassy, Washington, and bearing the date of October 28, 1918.
"I am desired by the prime minister, D. Lloyd George, to thank you for your
services." Signed by T. L. Stevenson, secretary to the prime minister,
and dated 10 Downing Street, London, England, November 27, 1918.
"The President deeply acknowledges and appreciates your very generous and
patriotic proffer of your services, and he wishes in his informal way to
express his grateful thanks for your loyalty and support." Signed by
J. H. Tumulty, secretary to the President, and dated Washington, March 5,
1917.
"I beg to acknowledge yours of the 2nd instant offering your services as
chaplain in case of war. I shall file your communication for future
reference." Signed by Senator Cummins of Iowa, and dated Washington,
March 6, 1917.
"I am in receipt of your favor in which you tender your services to the country
in the event that we become involved in the war. I want to commend
the patriotism that inspires your action in making this proffer." Singed
Commonwealth of Iowa, W. L. Harding, governor, and dated March 7, 1917."
In addition to the above Doctor Fletcher has several testimonials from the
mayor of Des Moines, adjutant general of Iowa, department of justice, and
from city and town committees throughout the thirteen states in which he
lectured during the period of the World war.
The following, known as "Fletcherisms," are interesting as well as illuminative
of the man's high idealism, as well as of his sound practicality.
"The ministries of America in the larger associations of the world will keep
the Nation active and beautiful. Such ministries are the perpetual
melodies of humanity.
"They glorify the present by the light they cast backward, and make the future
bright with the beams they send forward.
"Service in our country's cause tends to emancipate us from the slavery of
self. It elevates the aspirations - expands the capacities of life
- and stimulates our mental energies.
"If people took more time to examine themselves, the courts would need less
time to cross examine them.
"Many of our modern idealists are as absolutely worthless as a mummy of Rameses
II.
"There are men among us today who would have us follow them as our leaders
who are of no more service to our country than a boy's toy pistol is in modern
warfare.
"The great wonder to me is that the food speculator and others who are making
their thousands out of human suffering do not get incurable lockjaw when
they call themselves Americans.
"If I were a man of military age and had not offered America my services
- providing I had no justifiable reason for asking exemption - I would find
the highest bridge that spans the deepest river and would tumble over the
bridge into the water below, saying, 'Here goes nothing.'
"Anyone who loves another country more than America is worse than the deepest
devil in hell if he tries to betray America into the hands of our enemies
with a kiss.
"America has given everyone of us a living, therefore the greatest insult
we can offer our country is to offer it less than our lives.
"I would like to have the names of all persons in this town who have died
from doing more than they ought to do for America, as I keep a record of
such in a leafless journal. "There are some rulers in Europe who are
unworthy to live - unfit to die - and it would be an insult to the worms
to expect them to devour their rotten bodies.
"Many of our dandiest street paraders are the most vicious fiends outside
of Dante's Inferno.
"There is one inscription written the same over the portals of heaven and
perdition: 'Slackers Prohibited.'
"Any hand that may hold the scepter of the world will not retain it long
if the heart is diseased. Such are the hearts of the despotic autocrats
of Europe.
"If there is one that I despise more than another of the American parasites,
it is a sort of hybrid creature, something between a man and a woman - but
minus the herculean qualities and heroic passion of a man, and the queenly
graces of woman; lacking the dignity of both; with no sense of honor or justice,
and is totally callous and indurate to the claims of beast, man and God.
Such escaped fiends usually wear a silly, insipid simper on their faces,
and carry less serviceable mater in their heads than does a common housefly
of destructive germs on its feet.
"The next generation of American citizens will be strong physically and mentally,
providing the present generation will create pure habits of mind and maintain
perfect standards of home life.
"God has entrusted the American Nation with the unique privilege of establishing
a universal democracy; it is left to us to prove ourselves worthy of the
infinite confidence reposed in us, as the worthy successors of immortal sires."
JOHN FLETCHER COLLEGE is an educational institution offering not only
the standard curriculum of a college but special advantages and opportunities.
The college is located at University Park in Mahaska County, near
Oskaloosa, the charter being dated December 28, 1906. It has an endowment
of half a million dollars. The situation of the college is a beautiful
tract of land two miles east of Oskaloosa and the location itself combines
with some of the other special features of the school. The college
offers a four-year liberal arts course ending with the A. B. degree. It
has one of the strongest departments of music of any school in the state.
All the courses are standard and are accepted for credit by the University
of Iowa. The student body numbers 325.
It is an inter-denominational and coeducational school, and has become noted
as a training ground for missionary workers. One in every four of the
students of the college has entered the mission field or the active ministry.
Today there are sixty-nine missionaries in foreign fields from the
John Fletcher College.
This college also is a successful type of the college where may of the students
earn their way and secure training both practical as well as theoretical.
The college owns and operates four distinct industries, a printing
plant, a weaving plant, a laundry and a general store. Through these
four industries employment is furnished for many pupils, and at the present
time there are 175 students getting a liberal education and at the same time
participating in the "student self-help" side of the college life. The
college has a well-balanced library of 12,000 volumes.
BRUCE J. FLICK. The legal fraternity has no more able representative
at Des Moines than Bruce J. Flick, who has risen in his profession
through hard work and honorable methods, and has today a fair share of the
important cases of the state. He was born at Bedford, Iowa, July 16,
1879, a son of James P. and Amanda (King) Flick, he born at Bakerstown,
Pennsylvania, and she in Lee County, Iowa. In 1852 James P. Flick came
to Iowa, settling at Bedford, where he still resides, and Mrs. Flick died
there in 1881. The following children were born to them: Florence,
who married Orville Wilday, a contractor of Long Beach, California; Cora,
who married Charles Beall, and is a widow and librarian of the public library
of Bedford, Iowa; Maude, who married R. V. Lucas, editor of the
Oelwein (Iowa) Register; Nelle, who is unmarried and resides
at Oelwein, and she was secretary to Frank Lucas, secretary of state in Wyoming;
Bruce J., whose name heads this review; and one who is deceased. The
parents early united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he still belongs
to it, and both were active in its good work during their earlier years.
A Mason, the father has been advanced to the Commandery, and is a Knight
Templar. One of the leading Republicans of his district, he was his
party's successful candidate for Congress, and served in that body for two
terms, being reelected. By profession a lawyer, he has been in active
practice at Bedford for half a century, and is a most distinguished member
of the bar. His father, John Flick, was born in Pennsylvania, but migrated
to Iowa at an early day and was engaged in farming in both states. The
maternal grandfather of Bruce J. Flick was John King, and he was born in
Indiana, but became a pioneer of Iowa.
Reared at Bedford, Bruce J. Flick was graduated from its high school, the
Iowa State University and the law school of Drake University, and began the
practice of law with his father at Bedford. For eighteen years this
strong partnership was maintained, and then, in December, 1920, the son came
to Des Moines to serve as assistant attorney general of the State of Iowa.
After one term, in which he made a fine record, he became associated
with a firm at Des Moines representing the C. R. I. & P. Railroad, but
after eighteen months formed a partnership with Messrs. Havner and Powers,
under the name of Havner, Flick & Powers, with offices in the Insurance
Exchange Building, and these gentlemen are receiving the recognition to which
their abilities entitle them.
Mr. Flick married, in 1907, Miss Alice Dunning, born at Bedford, Iowa, and
educated in that city and in Goucher College, Baltimore, Maryland. She
is a daughter of Frank Dunning, a banker at Bedford. Mr. and Mrs. Flick
have three children, namely: Margaret, who is a senior in Westhampton
College, Richmond Virginia; Robert Bruce, who is a junior at Amherst College;
and Frances Josephine, who is a student of the Junior High School of the
Roosevelt district, Des Moines. The family all belong to Grace Methodist
Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Flick was formerly a steward, and he also
served as member of the building committee that had in charge the erection
of the new church edifice. Mr. Flick is a Consistory Mason; belongs
to Delta Theta Phi law fraternity, honorary, and is well known in civic affairs.
While he votes the Republican ticket, he has never gone into politics,
but devotes himself to his large and constantly augmenting practice.
JOHN J. FOARDE, one of the successful and popular younger members
of the bar of Blackhawk County, is established in the practice of his profession
in the City of Waterloo, the county seat, with office in the First National
Bank Building, on East Fourth Street.
Mr. Foarde, who represented his native state in World war service, was born
at Anamosa, Jones County, Iowa, August 23, 1893, and is one of the ten children
born to Thomas and Margaret M. (Foley) Foarde. The father died March
5, 1930, he having there established his residence in Anamosa when he was
a youth of twenty years and having been successfully established in business
as a blacksmith during the course of many years. The mother still lives
at Anamosa, at the age of seventy-eight. Thomas Foarde was born at
Rathbride, County Kildare, Ireland, and was one of a large family of children,
his parents, James and Margaret (Behan) Foarde, having passed their entire
lives in Ireland and four of their sons, James, Thomas, Joseph and Patrick,
having become citizens of the United States. In his native land Thomas
Foarde learned the trade of blacksmith, he having served his apprenticeship
at a British army post. He was twenty years of age when he came to
the United States and established his residence at Anamosa, where he maintained
his home during the long intervening years and where he was a substantial
and highly esteemed citizen, both he and his wife being devout communicants
of the Catholic Church. Mrs. Foarde was born in Piqua, Ohio, February
6, 1853, and is a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Kelley) Foley, who were natives
of Ireland and who came from Ohio and numbered themselves among the pioneer
settlers of Jones County, Iowa, where they passed the remainder of their
lives on the old home farm that they developed from the virgin prairie.
John J. Foarde was graduated in the high school at Anamosa and then entered
the University of Iowa, where he continued his studies in the college of
liberal arts until shortly before the normal time of his graduation, there
having come to him a higher duty when the nation entered the World war and
he having made prompt response to the call of patriotism. On the 14th
of May, 1917, he enlisted in the United States army, and while he was stationed
at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, the University of Iowa conferred upon him his
degree of Bachelor of Arts. He first won commission as second lieutenant
and in July, 1918, he was advanced to the rank of first lieutenant. He
was stationed at Camp Dodge, Des Moines, Iowa, when the armistice brought
the war to a close, and he received his honorable discharge in December,
1918. Thereafter he continued his studies in the law department of the University
of Iowa until he received therefrom, in 1920, the degree of Bachelor of Laws,
with virtually concomitant admission to the bar of his native state. He
has since been engaged in the practice of his profession in Waterloo, and
the passing years have brought to him cumulative success and prestige, that
success having been resultant upon his professional ability and his inviolable
hold upon popular confidence and esteem. He has membership in the Blackhawk
County Bar Association and the Iowa State Bar Association, is a Republican
in political alignment, he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic
Church of the Scared Heart, and in his native City of Anamosa he still retains
affiliation with Waterloo Council No. 791 of the Knights of Columbus. He
is also a member of the Lions Club.
On the 30th of August, 1922, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Foarde to
Miss Eve H. Mackin, who was born on the parental home farm near Aurora, Buchanan
County, and who is a daughter of James E. and Mary (Cavanaugh) Mackin, who
were natives of Iowa and whose parents were pioneer settlers of Buchanan
County, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Foarde have two children, John J., Jr.,
born February 18, 1924, and Patricia Ann, born October 28, 1925.
LOWELL L. FORBES, a World war veteran, is a successful member of the
Mason City bar, where he has practiced law and looked after an increasing
volume of professional and civic interests since the close of the war.
He was born on a farm four miles northwest of Jefferson, in Greene County,
Iowa, January 17, 1894, son of John B. and Alice M. (Black) Forbes, the former
of whom passed away November 13, 1929. The Forbes family came from
Aberdeen, Scotland, to American in 1734. The family first lived in
Connecticut, then moved west to Ohio, to Indiana, to Illinois and finally
to Iowa. Mr. Forbes' uncle, Cassius Forbes, drove a covered wagon from
the old home in Indiana to McLean County, Illinois, and in 1882 he and the
grandfather of Lowell L. Forbes homesteaded in Madison County, Iowa, later
moving to Greene County. This family had representatives in the War
of the Revolution, and Lowell L. Forbes by virtue of these ancestors is member
of the Sons of the American Revolution. There were also a member of the Sons
of the American Revolution. There were also representatives of the
Black family in the war for independence. John B. Forbes and wife had
three children, Lowell L., Muriel, wife of H. B. Framton, and Gretchen.
Lowell L. Forbes was educated in the Jefferson High School, graduating in
1911, and continued his education in the Northwestern University at Chicago,
University of Michigan, the Iowa State College, and completed his law course
at the University of Iowa in June, 1917, being admitted to the bar the same
month.
He was one of the first men from the University of Iowa to apply for entrance
to the Officers Training Camp at Fort Snelling. However, his application
was refused. Later he was drafted and called to the colors September
5, 1917, and at Camp Dodge was assigned to Company D, Three Hundred and Fiftieth
Infantry, being made a corporal in October, sergeant in November, first sergeant
in April, 1918, and the following month was sent to the Officers Training
School at Camp Dodge. From Camp Upton, New York, he went overseas and
was on duty on several front line sectors and later on the line of communications
to the Army of Occupation on the Rhine. He was given the Croix de Guerre
with sliver star and citation by Field Marshal Petain of the French army.
On September 27, 1918, he was commissioned a second lieutenant. Mr.
Forbes embarked for the United States May 20, 1919, and received his honorable
discharge at Camp Dodge June 5, 1919.
He has kept in touch with military organizations since the war, and from
1923 to 1929 was captain of Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-third Infantry,
Iowa National Guard. Captain Forbes is a charter member of the American
Legion Post at Mason City, was its commander in 1924 and was first vice commander
in 1922-23.
He was honored with the office of vice president of the Cerro Gordo County
Bar Association for 1928, and is also a member of the State and American
Bar Associations. Captain Forbes in Mason City and was police judge from
1927 to 1930. He is a Republican in politics. He was president of the
Community Park Golf Club in 1927-28, having been one of the organizers of
the club. He is also a member of the Country Club, is an Elk, member
of the Phi Kappa Sigma and Phi Alpha Delta fraternities and the Congregational
Church.
He married, August 11, 1919, Miss Mildred Miller, of Preston, Iowa, daughter
of Dr. C. W. and Mrs. Miller, both of whom reside at Preston. Captain
and Mrs. Forbes have three children: Enid, born November 3, 1920; Shirley,
born June 25, 1922; and Marilyn, born June 2, 1924.
LELAND STANDFORD FORREST, an attorney of marked ability and a citizen
of the highest standing, has advanced steadily and through his own efforts
to his present position, and no man more honestly deserves his present success
than he. Mr. Forrest was born at North Platte, Nebraska, August 28,
1894, a son of Raymond Franklin and Anna (Stolle) Forrest, he born at
Littlestown, Adams County, Pennsylvania, and she at Mount Joy, Lancaster
County, Pennsylvania. He died March 12, 1927, but she survives and
resides at Siloam Springs, Arkansas, where for thirty-five years the father
was engaged in the practice of law. During the last four years of his
life he served as research assistant in the Iowa State Law Library. Of
the seven children born to the parents Leland Stanford Forrest was the oldest.
Early in life the parents united with the Lutheran Church, but later
on she united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which she still belongs,
and she reared her children in its faith. He belonged to the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, and he was a strong Republican
and active in politics. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Forrest of
this review was Upton Forrest, a native of Littlestown, Pennsylvania, born
June 26, 1835, and he moved from there to Mount Pleasant Township, Adams
County Pennsylvania, and lived on a farm for ten years. He had eight
children. The maternal grandfather, Albin Stolle, came to the United
States from the northern part of Austria when he was nineteen years old,
and he settled in Pennsylvania, but afterwards moved to Nebraska.
Reared at Siloam Springs, Leland Stanford Forrest attended its public schools,
and was graduated from its high school in 1911. Entering the University
of Arkansas, he was graduated therefrom in 1915, with the degree of Bachelor
of Arts; and from the University of Michigan, in 1918, with the degree of
Juris Doctor. During the World war he was at Camp Shelby, Mississippi,
and Camp McArthur, Texas, and was at the latter when the armistice was declared,
and he was honorably discharged and returned to civilian life. For
a year thereafter he was engaged in practice at Fayetteville, Arkansas. He
then came to Des Moines, where he was assistant professor of law at Drake
University for two years, full professor of law for three years, and dean
of the Law School for three years. Securing a leave of absence of a
year, he was professor of law in the University of North Carolina, School
of Law, and upon his return to Des Moines, entered upon a partnership with
Judge Hubert Utterback, under the name of Utterback & Forrest, and still
maintains this connection. The firm is a very strong combination of
legal talent, and a very large patronage is enjoyed. Mr. Forrest is
unmarried. He attended the Methodist Church. In fraternal matters
he belongs to the Consistory and Shrine in Masonry, and while in college
made Sigma Alpha Epsilon and the law fraternity Phi Alpha Delta. He
is a member of the Frontier Club of Des Moines, and of the Polk County Bar
Association, the Iowa State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
Since September 1, 1929, Mr. Forrest has been assistant county attorney
for Polk County, Iowa.
SAMUEL T. FOSTER, M. D., who has been engaged in the general practice
of his profession at Adel, county of Dallas County, since 1920, was born
at Bellville, Province of Ontario, Canada, March 28, 1873, and is a son of
Thomas and Margaret (Wark) Foster, the former of whom likewise was born in
that province and Ireland. Thomas Foster became a manufacturer of axes
and other edged tools, and was a resident of Pembroke, Ontario, at the
time of his death, in April, 1897, his widow having there passed away in
1903.
After completing his studies in the high school at Pembroke, Ontario, the
subject of this sketch, from the age of fourteen to seventeen entered his
father's factory and learned the tool manufacturing trade. He then
entered McMaster University, in the City of Toronto, and in that institution
he was graduated as a member of the class 1896. He received at that
time the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and from the same university he received
in 1900 the degree of Bachelor of Theology. From the latter year until
1905 he was a successful teacher in the public schools of North Dakota, and
then went to the City of Chicago and took a course in electrical engineering,
at the Armour Institute of Technology. From 1907 until 1913 he was
retained in the employ of the Chicago Telephone Company, as a skilled
electrician, and in that city he then entered the medical department of
Northwestern University. In that great institution he was graduated
in June, 1918, and after thus receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine
he initiated his service as an interne in St. Luke's Hospital, one of the
largest and most important in that city. In 1919 he became a diplomat
of the National Board of Medical examiners, following this he served as chief
interne in that hospital, and January 1, 1920, he came to Adel, Iowa, and
succeeded to the well established practice of Dr. D. G. Barklow. Here
he since continued his able and loyal professional activities, and the scope
and character of his practice mark him as one of the representative physicians
and surgeons of Dallas County. The doctor has membership in the American
Medical Association, the Iowa State Medical Society, as has he also in the
Des Moines Academy of Medicine. Since 1920 he has been county physician
of Dallas County in charge of medical service at the county Home and in the
Township of Adel. He is a Mason, also has membership in the Order of
the Eastern Star, of which his wife is a Past Worthy Matron. He
has membership in the local Rotary and Hobby Clubs of Adel, the University
Club of Des Moines and he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church.
He is a member of the Adel Public Library Board.
August 7, 1907, marked the marriage of Doctor Foster to Miss Maude L. Throop,
of Brockville, Ontario, Canada, where she was born, she having been graduated
in Moulton Ladies College, Toronto, as a member of the Class of 1901 and
having there taken advance studies in music. Hope E., only child of
Doctor and Mrs. Foster, was born in the city of Chicago, September 25, 1910.
She attended public schools of Ontario, Canada, and Adel, Iowa, and
graduated from the Adel High School as a member of the class of 1927, having
thereafter been a student one year in her father's academic alma mater, McMaster
University, Toronto, and attended the college of liberal arts at the University
of Des Moines, where she majored in dramatic art and public speaking, and
graduated from the Capital City Commercial College in 1930.
MONTGOMERY E. FREELAND. The vital and attractive little City
of Mount Ayr, judicial center of Ringgold County, claims as one of its veteran
business men and honored and influential citizens the representative merchant
whose name initiates this paragraph and who has here been engaged in the
mercantile business more than forty years.
Mr. Freeland, who has been a resident of the Hawkeye State since he was a
child of about three years, was born in Edgar County, Illinois, in the year
1861, and is a son of Francis A. and Eliza (Kirby) Freeland, both of whom
were born in the State of Indiana and both of whom were honored pioneer citizens
of Iowa at the time of their death, the father having here developed a pioneer
farm and his entire active life having been one of close association with
agricultural and live stock industry. The ancestral line of the Freeland
family touches both Scotch and English stock of sterling order.
Montgomery E. Freeland, as before stated, was about three years old when,
in 1864, his parents came to Iowa, the family home having been established
on a pioneer farm near Corydon, Wayne County. On that farm he passed
the period of his boyhood and early youth and in the meanwhile he profited
by the advantages of the common schools of the locality. His early
experience in connection with the activities of the home farm fortified him
excellently when he engaged in independent farm enterprise, as a progressive
exponent of agricultural and live stock industry in Wayne County. In 1886
he married, and in the following year he and his wife established their residence
at Mount Ayr, in which fine little community he initiated in 1891 his independent
activities in the general merchandise business, of which he has here continued
a successful and representative exponent during the long intervening years,
his substantial business having as its foundation fair and honorable policies
and effective service.
Mr. Freeland has proved one of the liberal and progressive citizens of Mount
Ayr, where he has served not only as a member of the municipal council but
also as city treasurer, besides being called to other positions of community
trust. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, and
he is a delegate to its state convention, at Cedar Rapids, when Hon. Albert
B. Cummins was made its nominee for governor of Iowa. Mr. Freeland
is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and the religious affiliation
of the family is with the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1886 Mr. Freeland was united in marriage to Miss Kittie McVeay, daughter
of John and Bettie (Hardy) McVeay. The death of Mrs. Freeland occurred
in the year 1909, she having been survived by no children. In 1911
was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Freeland to Miss Marjorie Dowling, of
Mount Ayr, and their one child is a son, John, who is, in 1930, a student
in the high school of his home city. Mr. and Mrs. Freeland took into
their home and reared with parental solicitude two little girls, Edna Freeland
and Edna Dowling the former being now the wife of Domino Roberts, with residence
at Champain, Nebraska, and the latter being a student in one of the leading
Iowa training schools for nurses. Later she married in Chicago and is now
living in California.
ALFRED D. FRENCH, retired banker of Glenwood, is a surviving veteran
of the Civil war and a citizen with many interesting connections an associations
with the State of Iowa.
Mr. French was born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, January 13, 1842,
son of Alanson and Catherine (Rice) French. Both the French and Rice
families came from England and settled in Massachusetts about 1680. Mr.
French's paternal grandfather was Christopher French, Jr., who lived all
his life in Massachusetts, where he was a farmer and cooper. Mr.
French had three great-grandfathers who were soldiers in the Revolutionary
war, including Christopher French, Sr., and his maternal grandfather, Luther
Rice, was also a soldier in the war for Independence. Luther Rice was
a Massachusetts farmer. He took part in the battle of Bucker Hill.
Alanson French was a school teacher during thirty years of his life,
and the rest of his active career was given to farming. He moved out
to Illinois in 1858 and came to Iowa about twenty years later and spent his
last years at Emerson in this state. His wife died at Amboy, Illinois.
Of their four children two are now living, Alfred D. and Edwin C.
Edwin C. went to the Dakotas as a pioneer and is a resident of Piedmont
in South Dakota.
Alfred D. French attended a one room country school house in Massachusetts
during his boyhood. He was about fifteen years of age when the family
moved to Illinois, and there he lived on a farm until the outbreak of the
Civil war. He joined the Union army at the age of twenty in Company
A of the Eighty-ninth Illinois Infantry. He took part in the battle
of Stone River and at Chickamauga was wounded and disabled for further active
duty. He received his honorable discharge in May, 1865. After the war
he located at Hobart, Indiana, learned telegraphy and spent seven years in
the service of the Pennsylvania Railway Company. For several years
he was agent and operator, at Hamlet, Indiana. On leaving the Pennsylvania
system he went to work for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, in 1872,
at Emerson, Iowa, and was with the Burlington for five years. Mr. French
in the fall of 1877 was elected treasurer of Mills County, and filled that
office for ten years. He was also duputy county treasurer for two years.
Mr. French was one of the organizers of the State Bank at Hastings,
Iowa, served as its cashier, and later went with the Mills County National
Bank at Glenwood as assistant cashier and cashier, covering a period of fourteen
years. He finally retired from business on January 1, 1910. He
also assisted in organizing the Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank of Glenwood.
Mr. French on leaving home and beginning the battle of life worked
for some time at five dollars and a half a month. After he retired
from banking he spent a great deal of time traveling abroad, being in Europe
in 1910, in 1912 and again in 1914, and was in Switzerland when the World
war broke out.
He married, in 1867, Miss Anna P. Rundel, who was born in Lake County, Indiana.
Andrew Rundel, her father, was a surveyor and did a great deal of work
in running early boundary lines in Michigan and other states. Mrs.
French passed a way in May, 1907. Of her five children three are living.
Miss Catherine is at home with her father. Herbett A. was educated
at Glenwood, Iowa, and is an honor graduate of the law department of the
University of Nebraska and is now practicing with a prominent law firm at
Tulsa, Oklahoma. He married Besse Stedman, a native of Iowa.
They have a son, Stedman French. The other son, Raymond A. French,
was educated at Valparaiso University in Indiana, in the University of Iowa,
and is now a professor in the University of Dubuque, Iowa. He married
Minnie Omerod and has three children, Anna Mae, Raymond Dexter and Kathie.
Mr. French is a member of the Congregational Church, and for upwards of half
a century held the post of Sunday School superintendent. He is one
of the last surviving members of the Grand Army of the Republic, and in politics
has always been a staunch Republican. His son Raymond before going
to Dubuque University taught five or six years in Highland Park College at
Des Moines.
FRANK F. FULLER has gained place as one of the distinctly able and
representative members of the Iowa bar and has been established in the successful
practice of his profession at Mount Ayr, judicial center of Ringgold County,
during a period of more than forty years, so that he now ranks as one
of the veteran members of his profession in this section of the state.
Mr. Fuller claims the historic old Western Reserve of the Buckeye State as
the place of his nativity, for he was born at Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio,
January 7, 1859. He is a son of Leroy and Elizabeth (Mahany) Fuller,
both likewise natives of Ohio, where the respective families were established
in the pioneer days. Leroy Fuller was reared and educated in Ohio and
represented that state as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war,
his service having continued during virtually the entire period of that conflict
and later years having found him affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic.
He was a descendant of a family that was founded in New England in
the Colonial days and from Massachusetts went forth the original members
of the family in Ohio. Mr. Fuller gave the greater part of his life
to farm industry, came to Iowa about the year 1885, and here his death occurred
in 1919, his wife having passed away in 1905, and both having been earnest
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In the public schools of his native county Frank F. Fuller continued his
studies until his graduation in the Warren High School, and thereafter he
was a student in Kinsman Academy. He gave about seven years of effective
service as a teacher in the Ohio public schools, and was for some time
superintendent of the public schools in the City of Kinsman. He had
initiated the study of law prior to his coming to Iowa, and in 1883 he was
graduated in the law department of the University of Iowa, his reception
of the degree of Bachelor of Laws having been followed by his admission to
practice in the various courts of the state, including its Federal courts.
He was thereafter in his native stare of Ohio for a time, but in 1888
he returned to Iowa and engaged in the practice of his profession at Mount
Ary, which fine little city has continued the central stage of his successful
law practice during the long intervening years. His law business has
long been one of broad scope and representative order. He served ten
years as city attorney and six years as prosecuting attorney of the county,
he having refused further candidacy for office in order to give full attention
to his private law business.
Mr. Fuller has never deviated from the line of loyal allegiance to the Republican
parry and has been influential in its councils and campaigns in his home
county. In the World war period he served as Government appeal agent
for Ringgold County, besides giving staunch support to the various patriotic
activities of the county, including the drives for sale of Government war
bonds, etc. Mr. Fuller was one of the organizers and for twenty years
was vice president of the Iowa State Bank of Mount Ayr , and since its recent
merging with the Mount Ayr State Bank he has continued a stockholder of the
latter institution, besides which he is a stockholder of the Kellerton State
Bank, at Kellerton, this county. As boy and youth Mr. Fuller gained
thorough experience in connection with farm industry, and that he has not
lost interest in that basic enterprise is indicated in his ownership of about
400 acres of valuable farm land in Ringgold County. He is one of the
interested principals in the Ringgold County Abstract Company. He has
membership in the Ringgold County Bar Association and the Iowa State Bar
Association. He has passed the various official chairs in the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and in the Masonic, fraternity he is a Knight Templar
and a worthy patron of the local chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star.
He and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church
in their home city and in the same he is chairman of its board of trustees.
Mr. Fuller has always stood forward as a liberal and public-spirited
citizen, has loyally supported measures and enterprises that have been projected
for the general good of the community, and his wife has been a gracious factor
in church, social, club and civic circles at Mount Ayr for many years.
On the 3d of April, 1883, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Fuller to Miss
Hattie Ashley, daughter of Francis M. and Mary Jane (Fuller) Ashley, of Medina,
Ohio. Mrs. Fuller was born and reared in the old Buckeye State and
there received the advantages of Wooster University. To Mr. and Mrs.
Fuller were born four children, the first of who, Josephine, is deceased.
Francis M. was graduated in the University of Iowa with the degree
of Bachelor of Arts and later was graduated in its law department, with the
degree of Bachelor of Laws. He has gained the rank of captain in the
United States regular army, he having been graduated in the Technical Army
Officers School at Benning, Georgia, and having been in active service in
the World war period. On account of impaired health Captain Fuller
has been retired from active military service, and he and his wife, with
their daughter, Dorothy, are now residing in the old home city of Mount Ary,
where the Captain was born and reared. Harry F., the younger son, was
graduated in the College of Liberal Arts and lacked six months of graduating
from the law department of the University of Iowa, and at the time of his
death, in 1920, he held rank as colonel of the Cadet Corps at the university.
Clare, youngest of the children, died in infancy.
CHARLES JACOBS FULTON. Of the older alumni of Parsons College,
Charles J. Fulton is one who has kept most of his business associations and
activities centered around Fairfield, and has been prominently interested
in the old school.
Mr. Fulton was born in Jefferson County, Iowa, January 27, 1860, son of Joseph
Warren and Sarah E. (Minear) Fulton. His parents were born in Ohio,
and his father was brought out to Iowa as early as 1843. The Fultons
were among the earliest settlers in Jefferson County.
Charles J. Fulton was an Iowa farm boy, attended country schools, and in
1877, when he was seventeen years of age, entered Parsons College. He
remained there, completing the classical course in 1883, and had his first
connection with newspaper work as editor of the college paper. However,
after graduating he went back to his father's farm and had a practical
affiliation with the agricultural interests of the county until 1891. In
that year he bought an interest in the Louden Machinery Company, and was
secretary and treasurer of the corporation until 1920. He gave up his
active connections with this business on account of ill health. He
is now vice president of the Fairfield Ledger Company, publishing the leading
newspaper of Jefferson County.
Mr. Fulton was mayor of Fairfield from 1903 to 1907 and was again chosen
to that office in 1920. In 1908 he was elected a member of the State
Legislature, serving two terms, and for the past eight years has been a member
of the Iowa State Senate. He has served on both the city and county
school boards, and from 1892 until 1930 served as secretary of the Public
Library Board of Fairfield, of which he is now president. He is a trustee
and secretary of the board of Parsons College, and in many ways has been
able to promote the interests of his alma mater. During the World war
he was on the exemption board and was president of the Fairfield Chautauqua
Association from 1904 to 1917. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and B. P. O. Elks.
Mr. Fulton married, December 14, 1898, Miss Herminie H. Stichter, of Washington
County, Iowa. Their children are Charles C., who has charge of the
Government laboratories at Omaha; Mrs. Katherine Fulton Crail, of Los Angeles;
and Miss Susan E., of Fairfield. |
