"L" Biographies
LADD, CLARENCE
Clarence Ladd, a well known and popular citizen of Inwood, Lyon county, was born in Lafayette county, Wisconsin, November 12, 1871, and when he was ten years old was brought by his parent to Lyon county, where he was reared on a farm. When he was twenty-one he left the farm, and found employment in a butcher shop for about a year. After this in company with his brother William, he rented his father''s farm, then comprising some two hundred acres, the two working together for one year, and then subject worked it alone for two years more, when Clarence retired from the farm with $800 to the good. His next move was to enter the business college at Des Moines, where he fitted himself for a situation on the Omaha Railroad, where he was employed for a year and a half as abstract clerk. He came home on account of sickness, and purchased the restaurant of his brother, in January, 1901, which establishment he is still running with success.Mr. Ladd belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge, No. 521, of Inwood, in which he has passed through all the chairs. He is a charter member of the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America, and belongs to the initiatory team of that body. In politics he is a Democrat with independent proclivities. He was married March 13, 1891, to Miss Caroline Bullock, a daughter of John and Lavinia (Skewis) Bullock. The parents were of English birth.
LADD, GEORGE R.
George R. Ladd came to Lyon county, Iowa, in the spring of 1881, and for a time was engaged in farming rented land, and this largely for the purpose of testing the soil and climate. Finding both to his satisfaction he presently bought 200 acres some five miles from Inwood, and there he made his home for seventeen years. During this long time his crops never failed, and from his profits he built a dwelling house, a large barn, granary, hob house, and everything else needed for the careful and profitable handling of his grain, stock and machinery. In 1896 he sold out this fine farm of 200 acres, and retired to a home in Inwood, where he is now enjoying the fruits of an honorable and useful career.The career of Mr. Ladd in Lyon county is an interesting illustration of the possibilities the northwest has opened before the eyes of the man of industry and integrity. When he came into Lyon county he had but little or nothing beside a small stock of household goods, a few head of cattle and but $20 in money to keep himself and his family from starvation until he could raise a crop. The ways and means to which the farmers of those days had to resort would discourage a man now, but grit and energy pushed through to success. Thousands of men have trod the great northwest with not enough on hand to stay the pangs of hunger for a week, but they have held on, and in the end have become well-to-do and comfortable, if not wealthy. Never has there been a story like the settlement of the prairies of the west.
After his coming to the village, for the sake of having something to do, and keeping his mind occupied, Mr. Ladd started a restaurant, which he sold to his son, Clarence, after having conducted it very successfully for three years. Since that time he has dealt quite extensively as well as successfully in farm property, buying and selling farms, and at the present time owns over 500 acres of improved land in Minnesota, which he rents, holding it at $50 an acre.
Mr. Ladd was born in Lafayette county, Wisconsin, July 23, 1850, on a farm, where he was reared to manhood, and where he continued to farm until his appearance in Lyon county, as noted above. His marriage with Miss Mary Ellen Skewis, occurred in 1871, and to this marriage were born three girls and four boys; Clarence, whose biography appears on another; Carrie, a teacher, at home; Will, a barber in Inwood, he is married and has one child, Harold; Allie, a teacher; Jennie is married and has one child, Lewis; Ben, the proprietor of a dray line in Inwood; and Earl, a student in the home school.
Mr. Ladd is the son of Azel P. Ladd, a physician, who was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. After graduating from a medical school he came to the west, and after practicing for a time in Chicago, drove through to Shullsburg, Wisconsin, in 1846. Success attended him, and he was chosen state superintendent, but he died of cholera in 1849. Our subject can trace his family back to the Mayflower.
George R. Ladd is a Democrat, and has been school director for six years, and was assessor the same time. He and his family belong to the Presbyterian church.
LAMKIN, BENJAMIN B. .
Benjamin B. Lamkin, who owns a fine farm consisting of one hundred and sixty acres in section 36, Lyon township, on which he located in 1899, thought he came to the county in 1892, was born in Genesee county, New York, February 19, 1871, a son of Benjamin B. and Polly A. (Chaffee) Lamkin, natives of New York and Vermont. The father was always a farmer, and served during the Civil war in the Eighth New York Heavy Artillery, under command of Colonel Porter. He was detailed to the Ordnance Department, and had charge of a magazine. He was with the regiment on Maryland Heights for twenty-one days and during three days of that time had nothing to eat. The regiment went into the battle of Cold Harbor, fifteen hundred strong, but came out with only six hundred. He died January 5, 1872, at the age of forty-seven years; his wife, who died November 15, 1872, was forty-five years old. They had a family of seven children: Herman R., a farmer in Lyon township; John, a farmer in New York; Charles B., now in the grain business in Inwood, Iowa; Mary L., wife of William Holmes, a farmer in Wyoming county, New York; Benjamin B., and two children who died in infancy.Mr. Lamkin secured his education in the public schools, finishing with a high school course in Michigan, after which he found employment for a time at farm work. After the death of his father, he went with an uncle to Michigan, where he was engaged in farming for some four years, and then for two and a half years was engaged in the services of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. In 1892, as already noted, he came to Lyon county, Iowa, and rented a farm, seven years later buying his present place, which he has already greatly improved.
Mr. Lamkin was married in 1893 to Miss Lottie C. Round, a resident of Michigan, and a daughter of Henry and Calista (Colvin) Round, both of whom were born and reared in Vermont. The father was a stone mason in early life, but later became a farmer. When he died in 1897, he had reached the age of fifty-nine years; his wife living to be forty-three. They had a family of ten children, eight of whom are now living, Mrs. Lamkin being next to the youngest in order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Lamkin are the parents of the following children: Lottie B., Rollins B., Mary A., Oldin H., and Jennie S., all of whom are living, and at home.
Mr. Lamkin is a man of considerable importance in the community where he is living, and has been trustee of the town for two years. He is a member of the Inwood camp of the Modern Woodmen of America. His family history is very interesting, running back as it does on both sides to Revolutionary veterans, his mother being also a direct descendant of that John Olden, who came over in the ""Mayflower.""
In 1904 our subject rented his farm and now lives in Inwood where he is engaged in the grain business with his brother, C. B. Lamkin.
LAMKIN, CHARLES B.
Charles B. Lamkin, the owner of one of the large elevators for grain in Inwood, with a capacity of nearly fifteen thousand bushels of grain a day, has been engaged in its operation since 1902. He purchased it that year, when it was known as the ""Skewis Moen Elevator Company,"" and in connection with its management has also bought hogs and cattle. A portrait of Mr. Lamkin will be found on another page of this volume.Mr. Lamkin occupies a large and commodious house of eleven rooms as his home, and has it located on a lot 100 by 150 feet, making it one of the most desirable residences in Inwood. He was born in New York December 6, 1861, and when he reached the age of thirteen years came into Iowa, and made his home on a farm in Winneshiek county. When he was seventeen he accompanied an uncle into Lyon county, for whom he worked until he was twenty-one. For a few years after this he was employed by the neighboring farmers, when he bought a quarter section of land for himself, on which he made his home for the ensuing ten years. Twice he suffered from crop failures more or less complete, but from his records he computes that the farm netted him yearly over eight hundred dollars. His oat field yielded him an average of ninety-one bushels to the acre; his barley gave him as high as fifty-five bushels to the acre, and his corn over sixty bushels.
When Mr. Lamkin bought land in 1875 he paid forty dollars per acre for it, being the first man in the county to pay so high a price for plain farm land. Every one thought it a poor purchase and criticized his lack of judgment at the time. The land, however, has since reached seventy-five dollars, which is indeed the common price at the present time for Lyon county farm land, and even higher prices are proposed for the near future. Mr. Lamkin still owns a quarter section within a half mile of Inwood.
In 1887 occurred the wedding ceremony of Mr. Lamkin and Miss Etta Lake. They adopted two children: Bessie V., and Charles L., who they adopted when the children were each three years old. Mr. Lamkin and his family are associated with the Presbyterian church, in which he has officiated as an elder for ten years or more. In the erection of the new temple of worship for that denomination he was very active. In politics he is a Republican, and has served as town trustee for three terms, assessor, two terms, and at present is county supervisor and a member of the village board of Inwood. He has received the Republican nomination for representative in the state legislature for the district composed of Lyon and Osceola counties.
Benjamin Lamkin, the father of Charles B., was born in New York where he died at the age of forty-seven years, his death being the result of disease contracted in the Civil war. He was a member of Company H, Eighth New York Heavy Artillery, for nearly three years. His birth occurred in 1825, and his death in 1872. Isaac Lamkin, the grandfather of Charles B., served in the Continental army, and was captured by the British during the war of the Revolution. As a Methodist preacher, he was gifted in song, and at one time when a prisoner he escaped in his stocking feet from his captors. It was in the depth of winter, and his feet were severely injured by the time he had reached a place of refuge. The Lamkin family descended from Bedlakes, and John Alden of the ""Mayflower."" It is said of Bedlakes, that on one occasion, while engaged in splitting a log he was surprised by six Indians. Four of them he bantered into trying to hold the log open with their hands. Suddenly knocking out the wedge he had them fast. The other two escaped, but the four he quickly sent into the happy hunting ground. Polly Chaffee, the mother of Charles B. Lamkin, was a member of an old Puritan family, long settled in Vermont.
LAMKIN, H.R.
H.R. Lamkin, a prominent and wealthy citizen of Inwood, Lyon County, was born in Geneseo, New York, June 21, 1852, where he was reared and educated. When he had reached the age of twenty years, he left his childhood home, and coming into Iowa rented a farm that he cultivated for two years. After this he went on to his own land, and brought into cultivation a fine farm, which became so valuable that when he had secured a clear title, he was able to sell it at a figure that gave him a very handsome competency. As he has never married, he is now making his home at the hotel, where he enjoys the fruit of his close attention to business. There he is a
well spent life behind him, and today he is a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church of Inwood, and one of its most active workers as well. Enough of the seamy side of life has been seen by him to teach him charity and patience.
On the charter of Lodge, No. 521, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, appears his name, and here he is also known as a faithful and reliable member, living up to the best spirit of the order. Politically, he is a Republican.
Benjamin Lamkin, his father, was born in Livingston County, New York, and was a member of the Eighth New York Heavy Artillery during the Civil War. This regiment was under the command of Col. C.A. Porter, and Mr. Lamkin was on detail duty during the most of his term of service as acting sergeant, in the ordnance department, mostly in Baltimore. His father, Isaac Lamkin, was a carpenter and joiner, and lived to be over ninety-nine years old. The first of the Lamkin family in this country came from England long before the Revolution. For several generations there were noted Indian fighters in the family, and the father of Isaac Lamkin was a minister who took part in the Revolution and was captured and imprisoned. He had the gift of song, and so won the confidence of the guard that he was able to break jail one cold winter night, going out into the depth of winter with 'nothing but his stockings on his feet.'
He escaped, but his feet were frightfully frozen.
Jonathan and Polly Chaffee, grandparents of H.R. Lamkin, were noted pioneers of their day, and it is said that on more than one occasion, the wife molded the bullets while the husband fought the Indains away. Many and interesting are the stories that were told of this dauntless pioneer and gallant Indian fighter.
Lydia Bidlock married Isaac Lamkin. Her father came over in the Mayflower, with another member of the family, Benjamin Alden, whose name is known to fame.
LANE, EDWARD F.
Edward F. Lane, who has attained an enviable standing alike as a farmer and a citizen in Richland township, Lyon county, and enjoys much influence by reason of his manifest character and marked ability, was born in Wisconsin, June 21, 1858. The Lane family has long been known in the east, and is one of the survivals of days before the Revolution. Edward Lane, the father of Edward F., was a farmer in Wisconsin, where he died November 10, 1898.
Edward F. Lane grew up in his Wisconsin home, where he received the benefits of the public schools until he reached the age of twelve years, when he struck out for himself, and for a number of years was employed as a farm hand. In 1882, having been both prudent and industrious, he had accumulated enough money to warrant him in undertaking farming for himself. He did so, and continued farming until 1890. That year he came into Lyon county, and was so pleased with the country, and impressed by its business opportunities, that he bought a farm, having in mind a life-long location in this garden of the state. His expectations have not been disappointed, and he is prosperous and successful.
Mr. Lane married July 30, 1885, to Miss Anna Brown, a native of Wisconsin, where she was born October 23, 1868. Mr. and Mrs. Lane have a family of three children; Elsie and Hazel, both born in Wisconsin, and Elmore, a native of Lyon county.
In politics Mr. Lane holds to Republican principles, and has been closely identified with the history of that party. He has, however, devoted himself very closely to his own business, and the quarter section, which he owns, has become under his management one of the choice farms of the state. Here he has a good set of farm buildings, and a well-kept and attractive grove. He is respected for his industrious habits, neighborly spirit and upright character.
LEE, T.D.
T. D. Lee is the name of an enterprising tradesman, who has made a place for himself in the business circles of Rock Rapids, as well as all over Lyon County. He is noted alike for the goods he sells, the fair treatment his customers receive, and the large outfit he carries. Mr. Lee goes on the principle that if a man buys what he needs at a fair price and finds it entirely as represented, he will come again; but if he is cheated and deceived, his trade is lost. It is a common saying; "If you go to Lee's, you know what you are getting."
Mr. Lee was born in Virginia, near Richmond, and when only two years old was taken by his parents to a point near Dubuque, Iowa, where he was reared to manhood and given his education in the city schools. As a young man his first employment was found with the wholesale boot and shoe house of Peikenbrock & Deuss, a leading firm of Dubuque, Iowa, where he was employed as a bookkeeper. In 1878 he became manager of the clothing store of G. Beker in Dubuque. Later on when this firm opened a large retail store in Minneapolis, Mr. Lee was put in charge, and his management was so successful that he was put in charge of a large retail store in Fargo, North Dakota, where he remained for some six years. After he returned to his native city to take the position of general manager of the stores of Keenan & Crofty. In 1897 he came to Rock Rapids and opened an extensive establishment for himself, the main lines of his large stock being clothing, hats, caps and gentlemen's furnishing goods. His long business experience and natural ability as a salesman helped him to the front, and his was quickly recognized as the leading clothing store of the city.
Mr. Lee was married in 1897 to Miss Katie, daughter of P.J. O'Neill, for many years a prominent grain dealer of Dubuque. He died at the great age of ninety-seven, beloved and esteemed by all who knew him. The father of T.D. Lee was of Irish parentage, and his people have long been settled around Richmond, Virginia. T.D. Lee is a Democrat, and is now serving the city of Rock Rapids as a member of the common council.
LEHMAN, H. L.
H. L. Lehman is a name familiar to all users of horses in George and vicinity, as he is a dealer in harness at prices and quality that command their attention. As a good workman, thoroughly trained to his business, he would not be willing to put on the market any poorly made goods. And as an honest and reliable dealer, he keeps his every agreement, and what he says goes without a bond.
Mr. Lehman was born in Germany in 1858, where he was educated, and where he served a three years' apprenticeship at the harness making trade. There he worked as a journeyman harness maker, and then became convinced that he could do far better at his trade in the United States. He came to the United States in 1882, and worked at his trade for some three years in Eldora, Iowa. Here he saved up money to meet a loan which he had made in Germany, to cover his expenses to the New World. After this he set himself to saving money for the purpose of setting up a shop of his own. At the end of three years he had a cash capital of two hundred dollars, and with it he went to Steamboat Rock, Iowa, where he started in a modest way for himself, and gradually increased his trade. In 1899 he felt able to enter a larger field, and accordingly disposed of his establishment in Steamboat Rock, where he had been in business for nearly fifteen years, he came to George, Lyon county. Here he purchased a stock of harness goods, and the following year bought a store in the center of the business district of the town. Today he has a stock valued at $2,000, the largest in the place, and has gradually increased his trade, so that it leads all competition. His store is so arranged that his stock is displayed in a peculiarly interesting and attractive fashion.
Mr. Lehman has bought a home in George, where he lives with his family. He was married in 1886 to Miss Augusta Strawsburg, by whom he has had four children: William F., Harry A., Emelia, and Carl Otto. The family attend the German Baptist church. He is a Republican, and is serving on the school board, to which he was first appointed in the filling of a vacancy, and later has been regularly elected.
LEICHLITER, C.H.
C.H. Leichliter, long prominent in the editorial field of Lyon County, and especially in Rock Rapids, where he is well known as a man of brains, character and sterling worth, was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, February 16, 1876, where he attended the local high school, finishing his school days with a course at the Baptist College in Des Moines, Iowa. When he was sixteen he was engaged in teaching, which he did successfully for two years, when he became attached to the World-Herald, a paper of which William Jennings Bryan was editor in chief. It was a semi-weekly publication at the time of his first nomination for the presidency. Here Mr. Leichliter began as office boy when thirteen years old, but quit it to continue school. When he again became associated with it, it was as a business manager, a position he held for two years. He acted as reporter for a year and a half, when he was called upon to run a county newspaper at Peterson, Clay County. For four years he was editor of the Republican and Leader, of Larchwood, Lyon County. His next position was editor and business manager of the Rock Rapids Review. Later he entered the serivce of the Chicago Chronicle.
Mr. Leichliter was married April 25, 1900, to Miss Lorena, a daughter of E.H. Partch, a successful dealer in livestock and grain, who came to Lyon County some twenty years ago, and is now leading a retired life. Mr. and Mrs. Leichliter have one child, Anna Lorena, who was born May 26, 1901. He belongs to the blue lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity.
F.A. Leichliter, the father of C.H., was born in Pennsylvania in 1822, and for many years has been an active clergyman of the Congregational Church, and notwithstanding his advanced years, is still a popular and interesting minister. His father, Jacob, the grandfather of our subject, was also born in Pennsylvania, near Brandywine. The Leichliter family history in the new world begins with the story of three brothers who left Germany in the seventeenth century, and made settlement in the colonies, one in New England, one in Virginia, and one in Pennsylvania, from whom the Rock Rapids editor descends.
Christina Grimes, the mother of C.H. Leichliter, is a daughter of Henry Grimes, who was a farmer and a native of Pennsylvania. He is still living in Missouri, where he owns a fruit farm, and is now retired. He was a soldier and was wounded several times. The Grimes are of German extraction.
LEWIS, ABRAH T.
Mr. Lewis and his excellent wife have won more than a local reputation in the field of photographic art, and are widely known both for their artistic work and rare business gifts. They came to Rock Rapids, April 25, 1901, and had leased for their work a fine and convenient structure, which they have since occupied under the name of the Lewis Art Studio. Mrs. Lewis who is an accomplished photographer and portrait artist, devotes herself to the work of the studio, while her husband gives his personal attention to scenic views, and has his time well occupied with out-door work. They have negatives of all the public buildings of this part of the country as well as many of the fine residences of Rock Rapids and vicinity. In their line of work they are easily ahead of all competitors, and may be well satisfied with their supremacy in a difficult field.
Mr. Lewis was born in Oneida county, New York, September 3, 1853, and when only two and a half years old was taken by his parents into Canada, where his home remained until 1873. That year he settled in Michigan, and entered upon the work of clearing a farm in the forest with enthusiasm. After he had put forty acres of land into shape for cultivation a great misfortune befell him in the destruction of his home by forest fire, September 5, 1881, in which his wife's grandmother perished, and her mother almost died. Appalled at this sad calamity, the Lewises sold out their Michigan property, and removed to the west. After spending a brief time in Canada, in 1885, he settled in Dakota, where he engaged as a photographer in Sioux Falls. This he conducted very successfully for some three years, and then disposing of it, removed to Madison, South Dakota, where he started a gallery, which was mainly operated by Mrs. Lewis, while he gave his attention to branch galleries at Brookings, Elkton and Arlington, South Dakota. For some five years they had their home at Madison, then resided in Huron two years, and in Clark two years.
Following this Mr. and Mrs. Lewis devoted some time to traveling in Iowa, visiting the larger towns and doing much work in their line.
Abram T. Lewis was married to Miss Sarah J. daughter of George and Amanda (Sybley) Norcott, August 25, 1873. Her father, George R. Norcott, who was born in New York, was a successful farmer and mechanic, and died at the advanced age of eighty-three. He was a son of William Norcott, also born in New York, and a grandson of Robert Northcote, a native of England.
This remote English ancestor became a sailor and commanded his own ship. He engaged in mercantile traffic between this country and the East Indies. During this time his men called him "Cap. Norcotte," which hung to him and family and on to the present generation.
He married and settled in America. The history and original name was left with his family and handed down to the present. Caught in a tremendous storm, the ship went down with all on board excepting one sailor who lived to tell the story of their death. Capt. Robert Northcote left a wife, two daughters and three sons. One daughter, Mrs. Skillenger, established her family on Staten Island with a royal land grant in the sixteenth century.
The Northcottes in England are a very old and aristocratic family, very wealthy and hold a high place in the old nobility. Col. Kneeland Norcott, uncle to Mrs. Lewis, was at the siege of Sebastopol, and there led his regiment to storm the Alma heights, which they took. His horse was shot beneath him, and his groom, but he pressed on, and was the first to plant the British flag on the enemy's outposts. In 1854 the Colonel was supposed to be killed in the East Indian war, as that was the last ever heard from him. John Sybley, the father of Amanda, noted above, was the second passenger on record who sailed around the world. He was one of the very early Australian pioneers of English descent.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have had two children born to bless their union, Lillian, now married, and traveling through the United States with her husband; and George N., who is a photographer.
Mr. Lewis belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 9, at Sioux Falls, and has taken also the Encampment and Canton degrees in this order, with the reputation of being the best drilled swordsman of his camp. Mr. Lewis is also a member of Mystic Castle, No. 40. K.P., of Madison, South Dakota.
Nathan Lewis, father of Abram T., was born in New York, and lived to be seventy-seven years old. His father was also born in New York, and was the son of an Englishman, who settled in this country many years ago. Caroline (Stephens) Lewis, the mother of Abram T., and the daughter of Alexander Stephens, was born in Pennsylvania, and her ancestors came from both Holland and Germany.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are meeting with much success in their work in Rock Rapids, and their many friends will be glad to read of their honorable and useful career.
LEWIS, D.W. M.D..
Dr. Lewis, who has achieved an enviable reputation as healer of the sick, and a man who honors his work, is well known in and around Inwood as a physician who brings to the practice of medicine all the resources of his calling, fortified by the strength of a trained mind and the enthusiasm of a close student of human nature.Dr. Lewis was born on a farm near Elkader, Clayton county, Iowa, February 20, 1859, and received his education at the high school of the neighboring village. For several years he was engaged in school teaching, and while engaged in pedagogic work began the preliminary studies required for a medical career. These studies were continued in the Iowa University, from which he was graduated in 1884, after which for a time he was engaged in practice in South Dakota. He was in the meantime not satisfied with the completeness of his training, and went back to the University for a two years'' post graduate course and became assistant physician at the hospital, where he secured familiarity with many kinds of diseases, and gained an insight into their treatment far beyond the experience of a country physician. In 1892 he located at Mapleton, Iowa, at the request of the resident physicians, and spent a year there in practice, after which he came to Inwood, where he has since remained, easily taking a leading position in his work. His practice steadily increases, and he keeps pace with the progress of the times, especially in the remedies and instruments devised for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases. He has an X-ray machine and an atomizer of very valuable construction. His library is large and complete, and the Doctor belongs to various medical associations, such as the county, the Sioux Valley and the State Medial Associations, which keep him in touch with the best minds of his calling.
In political matters Dr. Lewis has been a life long Republican, and is very active in party affairs. On more than one occasion he has had the strong backing of his county in the presentation of his name for important official position, particularly in the endeavor to send him as representative to the state legislature at Des Moines. The Doctor is known as a lover of a good horse, and those he drives are noticeably well bred and carefully trained. Dr. Lewis and Miss Laura Hansen, a native of Wisconsin, were married in 1888, and to this very happy union have come three children, Vera L., Stanley M., and Gail M.
LEWIS, W. S. M.D.
The nation's greatest pride is in her men. High minded, true hearted, God-fearing men, men who have come from obscurity and risen to the highest places, men whose lives bestow a sweet fragrance of helpfulness upon their fellows, --in such men lies the strength and glory of the Republic. High upon the roll of truly great men stands the name of Dr. Wilson Seely Lewis, A.M., D.D. Born forty-seven years ago, of Holland and Welsh stock, on a New York farm, the source of support of a large family, he learned early in life the secret of true living-hard and honest work. Through his own efforts he received an academic education, and at the age of seventeen entered St. Lawrence University. His college education was completed and his degree received at Cornell, after coming west in 1881.
The success of Dr. Lewis in all his educational work has been phenomenal, but it is chiefly in his work as president of Morningside College that he has won his great reputation. After serving as principal of schools at Center Point and Belle Plaine, he became principal of Epworth Seminary, and the influence of his nine years spent there will always be a blessing to that institution. In 1897 Dr. Lewis became president of Morningside College, then a weak struggling school, deeply in debt and having no assured future. Seven years later finds that school in a healthy, flourishing condition, with two college buildings, a large faculty of some of the most scholarly educators in the country, accommodating nearly six hundred loyal students every year, drawing support from the richest and most progressive section of the Mississippi Valley, and ranking high among the colleges of the west. To Dr. Lewis untiring zeal and strong personality, perhaps more than to any other influence, this great change is to be attributed.
Dr. Lewis has traveled abroad extensively and has taken courses of study at Oxford, England. He has added to his thorough education by diligent private study, and has a keen understanding of the world's great issues. He is a man whose sympathies are broad and whose experience with the world is great.
He is a fatherly friend to every Morningside student-a man busy with large affairs, but never too busy to aid the distressed. A large man physically, mentally and morally; a man of integrity, of character and unyielding stability of purpose, a man whose distinction lies in his far-reaching service to humanity-this is Dr. Wilson Seely Lewis.
LEWIS, EDWARD W.
Edward W. Lewis, who is now deceased, was in his life time one of the prominent farmers of Centennial township, Lyon County, and took that leading part in town and county affairs which his ability warranted and his public spirit justified. A portrait of this gentleman is presented on the opposite page.
Edward W. Lewis
Mr. Lewis was born in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, February 23, 1834, a son of William J. Lewis, a miller, and a descendant of an old German family. He was reared to manhood in his Pennsylvania home where he attended the local schools and secured a very good education. In 1869 he came to Lyon County, Iowa and bought a farm, which under his capable management became very productive, and when he died he left an estate of nine hundred and forty acres.
Mr. Lewis was married October 28, 1869, to Miss Mary E. Hutchinson who was born in Pennsylvania April 3, 1853. To this union were born a family of fifteen children, as follows: William H. dead; Laura E., dead; Harry F.; May L.; Frank G.; Edward W. (2d), dead; Benjamin H.; Jennie T.; George W.; and the baby, dead. Seven of the above children as noted, died in two weeks from diphtheria, and were all born in Lyon county.
Mr. Lewis affiliated with the Republican party and served on the town board for twenty-five years. His career illustrated well the virtue there is in hard work and close attention to business. He built up a very considerable estate from the most insignificant beginning, and left his wife a fine property, well improved and up to date in every respect. His death occurred September, 19, 1903. Mrs. Lewis is still living, and is the center of a wide circle of friendship and esteem. She is one of the oldest settlers of Lyon county, and is widely known for his good deeds and kindly spirit. Mr. Lewis enlisted during the Civil War, August 4, 1862, in Company D. One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Pennsylvania. He was discharged May 15, 1863, and re-enlisted June 17, 1863, serving until August 1st, same year, in Company I, Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania.
LOCKER, CHRISTIAN J.
Christian J Locker, the proprietor of the "Sunnyside Farm," is well known as a farmer and business man in the southeastern corner of Lyon County. His fortune has been invested in land, and the main part of his wealth consists of improved lands in Lyon County. He has not spared expense in making these various tracts attractive farms and a credit to the county by erecting substantial improvements and needed out buildings.Mr. Locker was born in Bureau county, Illinois, Sept. 30, 1858, being the second member of a family of six children born to Christian and Hannah (Ulitch) Locker, both of whom are now living in Livingston county, Illinois, where the family established a home in 1864. There the subject of this article grew to manhood under the parental roof, receiving at the hands of his father a thoroughly practical farm training. In 1883, Mr. Locker came to Lyon County to look after his father's farm interests, making his home with William Sauer. When he returned to his Illinois home in the fall of that year he went vastly in love with the country. He gladly accepted his father's proposition of a farm in Lyon County, on condition that he made this county his home, and in the spring of 1884 began the improvement of the land. He broke prairie as rapidly as possible, and soon had six hundred and forty acres under cultivation and his labor met with its just reward. All surplus from his farming enterprises was put into the land and in 1888 he began the erection of three sets of buildings for renters, into whose hands he put the most of his land. His investments were made with care, and not until after he was well acquainted with the vicinity.
Today he owns three thousand acres of as choice farm land as is to be found in the state of Iowa. Not confining himself alone to investments in Iowa, he bought land in Sough Dakota in 1900, and the following year he became a partner in the Hunter Land and Cattle Company, of which concern he is at the present time the sole owner. This company controls thirteen thousand acres of land in Hamill county, South Dakota, and it is stocked with choice beef cattle. Since 1895 Mr. Locker has given up active farming, seeing that his outside business and the overseeing of his estate have demanded the most of his time. On section 32, in Wheeler township, he is planning the erection of a set of modern buildings strictly up to modern ideas, to take the place of the older structures. He find much pleasure in fruit growing, and has one of the finest orchards in the county. He is an enthusiastic Republican in politics, and his wide circle of acquaintances give him considerable influence.
Mr. Locker was married in 1899 to Miss Anna Rushman, and is the father of two daughters, Hannah and one unnamed at the writing of this sketch. He is a man of generous disposition, and ever been alert to grasp a business opportunity, and is highly esteemed by all who know him.
LOUDENBECK, MRS. MARY
Mrs. Mary Loudenbeck, under whose capable management the Windsor Hotel at George, Lyon county, maintains the high standing to which her late husband lifted it, is a woman of much force of character, business ability of a high order, and a natural fitness for the exacting duties that attend the successful operation of a hotel like this of which we speak.
The Windsor Hotel was purchased by the late John Loudenbeck in 1897, and until his death was under his personal care. It was close to his heart, as it has since been to the widow, that here should be operated a hotel ample to its patronage, clean and faultless, and kept at a price that would be fair and right to all parties. On the first floor it has large offices, dining room, parlors and a kitchen, while upon the second floor are the bedrooms, each with an outside window. There are twenty-four of these rooms all well furnished, and the management can entertain the traveling public in a way that should give the people of George a just pride in their landlady.
Mr. Loudenbeck was born in New York, near Albany, August 1, 1836, of a German and English parentage, and when he became a man took up the calling of a railroad engineer. His wife, Mary, was a daughter of John Clemons, who came of an Irish lineage. The grandparents of Mrs.Loudenbeck came to Canada in early life, and the grandfather was killed while John Clemons was still a child, by the falling of a tree. The grandmother could not rally from the shock, and she followed him to the grave within a year. John Clemons was left among strangers, but he never forgot his mother's teachings to be honest and true. This was his building star through life. When grown to manhood he married a French lady, who bore him twelve children, eight of whom still survive. The father only is now living, and he makes his home with his daughter, Mrs. Loudenbeck.
Mrs. Looudenbeck is the mother of five children: Charles H., married, and is a farmer; his home is in North Dakota; Albert W., who remains with his mother; Ada F., is married, and lives at Morehead, Iowa; Mabel S., a member of the graduating class of 1898 from Highland Park College, now married and lives in George; and Leota, who is still at home.
Mrs. Loudenbeck owns beside the Hotel Windsor, a fine farm two and a half miles from town, and also some very desirable land in North Dakota. Her husband, while he was living, was associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.
LYNCH, JOHN M.
John M. Lynch, whose name would take a prominent place in any list of notable farmers and citizens of Lyon county, was born in Chicago, June 2, 1854, and by indomitable thrift and industry has won for himself a very commendable standing as a man, a farmer and a citizen. His father, Daniel Lynch, was born in Ireland in 1815, and coming to this country in 1848, located in Chicago. Later on, he removed to LaSalle county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming, and where he died in 1867.
The subject of this narrative was continued in the common schools until he reached the age of fourteen years, when his father's death threw upon his young shoulders the maintenance of his mother and sisters, a responsibility he did not hesitate to meet with manly courage and fortitude. In 1882 he entered Iowa, and for one year was engaged in farming in Iowa county, then seven years in Cherokee county. He came to Lyon county in 1889, and here he bought a farm on which he has since resided and grown prosperous.
Mr. Lynch was married April 9, 1877, to Miss Louisa C. Lyons. She was born at Cleveland, Ohio, February 1, 1855. Her father, Daniel Lyons, was born in Ireland, in December, 1829, and came to this country in 1847. Later on he removed to Illinois to engage in farming, and there he is still living at an advanced age. Five children were born to this marriage, as follows: Katie A.; Clara; Mary L.; Daniel D.; and John M. Katie and Clara were natives of Illinois; the others were born in Iowa.
Mr. Lynch has long been regarded as a leading spirit in the Democratic party, and was a candidate for supervisor, but was defeated. He has been justice of the peace, assessor, and has filled several other local offices. His choice and well improved farm comprises one hundred and sixty acres of good farming land on which he has erected a very complete set of buildings, which are ample to every need of the place. A fine grove adorns the home.
Webization by Kermit Kittleson - Aug. 2006
