Biographies
For
Muscatine County Iowa
1889



Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 312

SIMON G. STEIN, President of the First National Bank, and Director of the Hershey Lumber Company, of Muscatine, was born in East Hanover, Lenanon Co., Pa., March 17, 1817, and is a son of Abraham and Anna Barbara ( Gerberich ) Stein. The family is of German origin several generations remote. The ancestors of Mr. Stein first settled in America in Colonial times, and were among the pioneers of Lebanon County, Pa. Our subject learned the miller's trade, and in 1836, when nineteen years of age, went to Ohio, where he spent three years, after which he returned to his home in Pennsylvania and remained one year, and then made a tour through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and again returned to Pennsylvania. In May, 1841, he led to the marriage altar Miss Anna Catherine Berntheisel, a daughter of Matthias Berntheisel,Esq., of Lebanon Co, Pa. Soon after marriage Mr. Stein with his young bride came West, to Moline, Ill., where he engaged in milling, doing both a flour and saw-maill business until 1849, when he removed to Muscatine and engaged in the lumber trade. In 1851 he was engaged in the manufacture of sash and doors, in company with S. G. Hill, afterward Col. Hill, under the firm name of Stein & Hill, continuing until 1865, when Col. Hill was killed at the battle of Nashville, Tenn. In 1854 he engaged in the manufacture and sale of furniture with P. Stein, S. G. & P. Stein, which partnership still continues. In 1856, in company with George P. Vesey, he began the manufacture of bedsteads, the firm being known as Stein & Vesey. This connection lasted about five years.

In May, 1856, our subject helped to organize the Merchant's Exchange Bank, of Muscatine, and was elected its Vice President. On the 15th of September following the bank was chartered as the Merchant's Exchange National Bank, and in 1866, Mr. Stein was elected its President, and has been re-elected each succeeding election up to the time of this writing, in 1888. In September 1885, when the charter was extended, the name of the bank was changed to that of the First National Bank. He is also connected with the Muscatine Savings Bank as stockholder and Trustee.

In 1875 Mr. Stein joined Benjamin Hershey and others in the incorporation of he Hershey Lumber Company, and was elected Vice President, which position he held for about nine years. That company is one of the most extensive lumber concerns on the Middle Mississippi. They have two large mills at Muscatine, besides their planing-mills and dry kilns, and have a third mill at Stillwater, Minn. The daily capacity of the three mills is 500,000 feet of lumber, while 100,000 shingles and 100,000 lath are turned out by the two Muscatine Mills daily. The total number of men employed is 830, and the annual business amounts to upward of $1,000,000. Our subject has always been closely identified with the leading public institutions of the city as one of the original projectors, and as an officer. He was one of the first to subscribe to the stock of Muscatine Water Works Company, and is one of its Directors. He was one of the founders of the Muscatine Fair Grounds and Park Association, of which he is Vice President, and a member of its Board of Directors. He was also one of the founders of the Muscatine Gas Works. Our subject was President of the Muscatine, Tipton & Anamosa Railroad when it was being graded, and was President of the Muscatine Westward Railroad during its construction. He has instrumental in organizing and starting various enterprises that have furnished employment for large numbers of people; among these may be mentioned S. G. & P. Stein Furniture Company, The Muscatine Spice Mills Company, of which he is President, and the Muscatine Oatmeal Company, in which he holds the same office. He at one tme was half-owner and President of the Muscatine Ferry Company, and was one of the proprietors of the Des Moines Marble Company, of Des Moines, Iowa. He is identified as a leading stockholder in various corporations located elsewhere than at Muscatine, namely: The Great Western Building Company, of Kansas City, Mo., of which he is President; is a Director of the extensive type foundry at Chicago of Barnhart Bros. & Spindler, which is said to be the second largest institution of its kind in the United States; is also a Director and stockholder of the Minnesota Type Foundry, of St. Paul, Minn., and is interested in the Great Western Type Foundry, of Kansas City, Mo., which last-named institution has two branch houses or stores, one at St. Louis and one at Omaha, and was President of the Eclipse Mining Company, of Monarch, Colo., until they sold out their interest.

Our subject and wife are the parents of two children : Angie S, was born at Moline, Ill., and is now the wife of A. M. Barnhart, of Barnhart Bros. & Spindler, type manufacturers of Chicago, Ill.; the other child, Simon G. Jr., is a medical student, now attending the Northwestern Madical College of Chicago.

In early life our subject was a Whig in political sentiment, but since the organization of the Republican party he has zealously supported its principles and policy. While in no sense desirous of public office he has served the city of Muscatine twice as member of the Council, and twice as Mayor. He was in the Council in 1860 and 1861, and was chosen Mayor in in 1870 and 1871. At both the elections he received the nomination from both Republican and Democratic parties, and was the unanimous choice of the people. He was appointed a member of the Capitol Committee, on the erection of the present State House at Des Moines, amd faithfully performed the duties of the position. The people of Muscatine need no printed eulogy of our subject and his achievements to herald his praises to the present generation. Fully four-fifths of his business career of half a century in the West has been conducted at Muscatine, and his words speak for themselves, but when this generation shall have passed away, and the history of the people who, by their enterprise and public spirit, improved and developed the natural resources of this county, is to be read by posterity, it will only be proper that the records should show that the subject of this sketch was always foremost in encouraging and sustaining all public improvements calculated to benefit the city or community at large. That he was active and influential in organizing various manufacturing companies, that furnished employment to all classes of labor, and which in their operation added wealth and importance to the city; that he was just and honorable in all his relations to society, both public and private, and that the general good and welfare of the community were considered as well as the prospect of personal gain. Mr. Stein attends the Presbyterian Church, and has been a member of the I. O. O. F. since 1845. He has been a member of the Muscatine Lodge No. 5 since its infancy, and was one of the first members of Encampment No.4, of Muscatine, and also helped to organize Rock Island Encampment No. 12, on the 11th of October, 1848.


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