Iowa Old Press
Ottumwa Tri-Weekly Courier, June 14, 1904
HON. A. W. BUCHANAN
Representative from Wapello County in the Iowa Legislature, Died Saturday Morning after a Lingering Illness.
IS CALLED BY DEATH
A. W. Buchanan, One of Ottumwa’s Most Prominent Citizens, Passes Away.
RESULTS FROM CANCER.
Was a Successful Business Man, Member of the State Legislature and a Member of Council Four Years—Funeral Services Tuesday.
From Saturday’s Daily.
Hon. Alexander W. Buchanan, one of the most prominent, useful and highly honored citizens of Ottumwa, died this morning at 4 o’clock at his home, corner of Park avenue and Castle street, after an illness of several weeks from cancer of the stomach and liver. The funeral services will be conducted from the residence Tuesday morning at 10 o’clock.
Mr. Buchanan was 56 years of age and of the thirty-four years he had been a resident of the county, he had for the past twenty-five years been continuously engaged in business in this city.
He was successful in business, a leader in the councils of his party, prominent in church work and was in the forefront of every worthy movement to build up this community. He was a member of the city council from 1891 to 1895, and the voters of Wapello county have three times elected him to the legislature, in 1899, 1901 and 1903. As a member of the legislature, he at once took a prominent position and at the recent session was elected chairman of the committee on municipal corporations and was a member of other important committees of that body.
Alexander W. Buchanan enjoyed the confidence and respect of his fellow men to a very unusual degree. Quiet and modest in character, his uncomprising integrity of purpose and his superb judgment upon all questions of a public nature were so clearly manifest that he became a leader among men in whom, not only those who were intimately associated with him, but the entire public reposed the utmost confidence. The death of this truly grand and good man is an irreparable loss to this community where he has lived all his adult years and where he is universally honored and respected, and by those who knew him intimately regarded with a sincere affection. As a member of the state legislature, his counsel and advice were sought upon every important measure and his untimely death is a distinct loss to the commonwealth of Iowa.
SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.
Alexander W. Buchanan was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Buchanan and was born in Rahway, New Jersey, Feb. 4, 1848. His father was of Scottish descent and followed the occupation of a farmer until the civil war when he enlisted in the union army and lost his life a few years later in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain.
Mr. Buchanan spent the most of his early life in Illinois where his parents moved in 1850, locating near Princeville in Peoria county. He took an academic course at Princeville and pursued it until within a short time of the graduating period.
LOCATES IN HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP.
Mr. Buchanan was united in marriage with Martha Albertson in Illinois. In 1870 he came to Wapello county and located on a farm in Highland township. He continued in agricultural pursuits until 1878, when he came to Ottumwa and formed a partnership with W. E. Jones, embarking in the wholesale flour, feed and grain business and continued in partnership with Mr. Jones until his death.
ACTIVE IN PUBLIC LIFE.
Mr. Buchanan was an earnest supporter of the principals advocated by the republican party. From 1891 to 1895 he represented the fourth ward in the city council. In 1899 he was elected representative from Wapello county to the state legislature, was re-elected in 1901 and again in 1903. He made an enviable record while a member of the state legislature, was the author of several important bills and was on a number of the leading committees. His straightforwardness in dealing with all men and the careful attention he gave to all public matters won for him the confidence and esteem of all who knew him.
Mr. Buchanan was also an active member of the First Presbyterian church of this city and for the past fifteen years was chairman of the board of trustees of that organization. He took an active interest in the affairs of the church. Fraternally Mr. Buchanan was a member of the Sons of Veterans and has several times represented that organization.
DEATH CAUSES SURPRISE.
Mr. Buchanan has been ill for about five weeks and for the past week his condition has been very critical. Only a few of his intimate friends knew that he was seriously ill and the announcement of his death this morning was heard with surprise and deepest regret. He is survived by his wife, three sisters, Mrs. E. P. Scott of Hedrick, Mrs. E. M. Bowlin of Highland Center, Mrs. H. A. Thompson of Highland Center, and one brother, Robert Buchanan of Batavia. Other relatives who are in the city today are Mrs. J. C. Albertson, a daughter-in-law of Mrs. Buchanan, J. W. Young, brother of Mrs. Buchanan, and wife and daughter, Miss Pearl Young, Mrs. M. E. Russell, Miss Bertha Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Young.
FUNERAL SERVICES TUESDAY.
The funeral services will be conducted from the residence Tuesday morning at 10 o’clock, Dr. F. F. Stoltz, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, officiating. Following are the names of pallbearers selected: C. E. Boude, A. W. Lee, D. A. Emery, H. L. Waterman, Frank Spry and W. R. Lamme. Interment will be made in the Ottumwa cemetery.
[transcribed by L.Z., Nov 2020]