For
Muscatine County Iowa
1879
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1879 | |
Here is what the abbreviations in the bios stand for: far: farm; Co.: company or county; dir: dealer; IVA: Iowa Volunteer Artillery; IVC: Iowa Volunteer Cavalry; IVI: Iowa Volunteer Infantry; P.O.: Post Office; S. or Sec.: section; and st.: street.
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Biographical Section, 1879, page 595
ALLEN BROOMHALL, attorney and counselor at law, Muscatine; is a native of Belmont Co., Ohio; born May 26, 1824. His father settled in Ohio with his parents, in 1808, where he married Rebecca Bond, and died in 1857, leaving four orphan children. Allen attended the common schools and afterwards took a course in the Classical Institute at Barnesville, Belmont Co., Ohio. He removed to Iowa in 1856, and settled in West Liberty, where he purchased and improved several farms; in 1857, he removed to Atalissa and engaged in the lumber business and other enterprises; he was also agent of the Rock Island & Pacific Railroad for five years. He commenced the study of law, pursued his studies under the direction of Hon. J. Karskadden, of Muscatine, and was admitted to the bar in 1861; he afterward attended the Cincinnati Law School, and graduated there in the spring of 1866 with the honorary degree of LL. B. He was associated with Hon. D.C. Cloud in the practice of law for nine years. In 1875, he formed a law partnership with Hon. J. Scott Richman, which continued until February, 1877. Mr. Broomhall has always been an earnest advocate of popular education, with better school facilities and a higher standard of scholarship. He had for several years agitated the question of the erection of a new high school building in Muscatine, and upon this issue he was elected President of the Board of Education in 1873, a position he has since retained. Few men are as deeply interested in educational matters, and he is among the best and most popular school officers in the State. He is a member of the Masonic Order, was Worshipful Master of a Blue Lodge for five years; is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter; a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and was the first presiding officer of Muscatine Lodge, No. 99, of this Order. He is a Director and Secretary of the Hershey Lumber Manufacturing Co. He married Miss Harriet Fowler, of Barnesville, Ohio, June 27, 1857. She died September 17, 1876, leaving three daughters---Ella, Elizabeth and Mary Rebecca; the eldest is a graduate of the high school, and is preparing to complete her education at the Iowa State University; the second daughter is attending the high school, and the other preparing to enter it.
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