of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, pages 295-298
MUSCATINERS WHO HAVE GAINED STATE AND NATIONAL DISTINCTION. Muscatine has had many people of distinction. These distinctions have been noted in many lines, among them art, music, literature, politics, education, diplomacy, the army and navy, law, medicine, the church and in business.
ARTISTS. In art the most distinguished Muscatiner has been George Grey Barnard, the sculptor of international fame. It is sometimes disputed that Barnard was a Muscatine man. He is, however, a Muscatiner out and out. He came here in 1875, when twelve years of age and at that time I. B. Richman, the writer, was attending the Third Ward School. In 1876 both of them entered the high school and while there Barnard became interested in drawing and this led to interest in other forms of art, including modeling in clay. His talent was encouraged and stimulated by G. W. Van Horne, who urged that he go to Europe for study. Thus it may be seen that his inspiration came wholly from this locality. Besides Barnard, Muscatine is represented in art in other cities by Miss Jessie Washburn, of Los Angeles, California, and Miss Stella Richardson, of New York.
IN MUSIC. Among those whom Muscatine has contributed to the musical world are Mrs. Sarah Hershey Marsh, who now resides near Paris, France; Miss Esther Butler, a vocalist of Los Angeles, California; Miss Anna Millar, who for a time managed the Thomas Orchestra, of Chicago, and Mrs. May Morgridge, of Philadelphia.
WITH THE WRITERS. In literature Mark Twain is associated with Muscatine. As a Mississippi pilot he saw much of the locality which he describes in his Life on the Mississippi. In the book he says: "I remember Muscatine for its serene sunsets. I have never seen any on either side of the ocean which equaled them. It is the true sunset land. The sunrises are also exceedingly fine."
F. M. Witter is known for his contributions on the mussel shells of the Mississippi river, to the scientific journals.
D. C. Cloud, a Muscatine man, in 1873 wrote "Monopolies and the People," a book which at the time was laughed at, but since, tributes of high respect have been paid to it by such educators as Professor Richard Ely, of the University of Wisconsin, who says that he divined his inspiration from it.
In the Whichers, George, Sr., and George, Jr., Muscatine has two poets of distinction. Muscatine, however, is not sufficiently acquainted with the poetical works of George, Sr., which have appeared from time to time in the leading publications of this country.
Ellis Parker Butler is too well known to make it necessary to say anything about him.
In education Muscatine is known by G. M. Whicher of the Girls' Normal College of New York City; by Fred Lambert, of Tuft's College, Massachusetts, and Miss Clara Lillibridge, of the Los Angeles high school.
POLITICIANS. Muscatine has so far produced no governors and but one congressman; that is, S. C. Hastings, who went to congress in 1848, was at that time a Muscatiner. Two governors are associated with Muscatine--Robert Lucas, who at the end of his term in 1841 came here to reside, and Ralph P. Lowe, who came to Muscatine in 1840 and was made governor in 1857. In the state department at Washington, D. C., Muscatine had a representative in Henry O'Connor, who held the position of solicitor of the department.
DIPLOMACY. Diplomacy is a field in which Muscatine has had many representatives. In 1861 G. W. Van Horne was appointed as consul at Marseilles, France, and in 1890 Alexander Clark was sent as minister to Liberia. Samuel McNutt was American representative at Maracaibo, Venezuela, and in 1893 Frank Mahin, an old time Muscatiner, was dispatched to Reichenberg, Austria. Of these men, Samuel McNutt was the most talked about.
IN THE SERVICE. In the regular army Muscatine sent Colonel E. Hatch, Colonel Charles Compton, Lieutenant Rollo Hill, Lieutenant Charles O'Connor, Major Joseph Davidson, Captain A. A. King, and Lieutenant J. C. King. In the navy, local representatives have been William Reeder, C. S. Richman, John F. Dayton and Lyal Davidson. In law and medicine the distinguished Muscatiners are too numerous to mention.
IN THE CHURCH. In the church Muscatine is known by Bishop Vail, who was consecrated here as the bishop of Kansas; by P. Laurent, who was once connected with the Church of the Madeline at Paris; by A. B. Robbins, of the Iowa band; and Fred Smith, one of the present international secretaries of the Y. M. C. A.
In business Muscatine has had many representatives of more than statewide reputation. Among them are numbered William C. Brewster and William Ziegler, of New York; F. L. Underwood and W. R. Greene, international promoters; and Miss Mira Hershey, now of Los Angeles. Those who have gained prominence in the interest of lumber, sash and doors, and buttons, require no mention.
IRVING B. RICHMAN. Irving B. Richman should be noted among men of letters. Some time since the Brown University honored him with the title of L.L. D. He has been vice president of the Iowa Literary Association, has written historical articles for the Atlantic Monthly, Political Science Quarterly and the Harvard Law Review. He is the author of "John Brown Among the Quakers," "Appenzell, A Swiss Study," "Rhode Island, Its Making and History," and has just sent to the printer for publication "A History of California."
Mr. Richman is fifty years of age and is a native born son of Muscatine. He was educated in the public schools of this city and the State University of Iowa and is one of the county's distinguished alumni of that institution. In 1908 the State Historical Society honored him as a guest and tendered him a banquet, which was attended by many of the notables of the state.
THE CLEMENS HOME. The little black house to the east of the entrance to the high bridge was the home of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), his widowed mother and his two brothers, Orrin and Henry, during their residence in this city. Mrs. Clemens, with the two other boys, came to the city first and Samuel came later. Residents of Muscatine who lived in the vicinity of the Clemens home tell interesting stories of the family. At that time there was no such thing as the high bridge and from the steps in front of the house no doubt Samuel often watched the river and had long thoughts. His description of the summer sunsets at Muscatine, of which he speaks in his book, "Life on the Mississippi," shows that he often pondered on the beauty of the natural scenery in this vicinity.
To the back of the house there is a little grape arbor and a latticed porch. There his mother performed many daily tasks. She had the true southern hospitality and one citizen who was but a child when the family moved to this city, remembers distinctly the many acts of kindness with which the mother of Mark Twain was imbued.
During the residence of the family in this city Henry clerked in Mr. Burnett's book store and Samuel worked for a while on the Journal, as did Orrin, the elder brother. Later Henry worked on a steamboat on the Mississippi, where he was injured in an explosion, the effects of which cost him his life.
Mark had had trouble with the pilot of the boat Pennsylvania and was on the board the Lacey. When the Lacey reached Greenville, Mississippi, the passengers received word that the Pennsylvania had been blown up at Ship Island and one hundred and fifty lives were lost. At Napoleon, Arkansas, an extra issued by a Memphis paper was obtained and among the names of the injured appeared the name of Henry Clemens. The unfortunate ones were taken by steamer to Memphis, where a public hall was converted into a hospital and the wounded received treatment. There Mark watched by his brother's side until he passed away on the evening of the sixth day after the accident. One touching thing connected with this part of the noted humorist's life was the conversation which took place between the two young brothers a few nights previous to the steamboat explosion while they were on the same boat. They were talking of disasters on the water and were pondering over the best method of action in the face of danger. Both agreed that whatever happened the best plan would be to stick to the boat. A few days later Henry was injured.
ONLY SON OF SATAN. Years after, as dark was visiting the different points on the river he noted the changes that had taken place in his former home, Hannibal, Missouri, and also in Muscatine. In his book to which reference is made above, he has the following to say of Muscatine: "I lived in Muscatine a while, but the place now has a rather unfamiliar look; so I suppose it has clear outgrown the town I used to know. In fact, I know it has, for I remember it as a small place--which it isn't now. But I remember it best for a lunatic who caught me out in the fields one Sunday, and extracting a butcher knife from his boot proposed to carve me with it unless I acknowledged him to be the only son of the devil. I tried to compromise on an acknowledgment that he was the only member of the family I had met, but that did not satisfy him. He wouldn't have any half measures. I must say he was the sole and only son of the devil and he whetted his knife on his boot. It did not seem worth while to make trouble about a little thing like that; so I swung around to his view of the matter and saved my skin whole. Shortly after he went to visit his father and he has not turned up since. I trust he is there yet."
A MUSCATINE SUNSET. The above unpleasant remembrance of the distinguished writer is offset by the following beautiful description of the summer sunsets as Clemens remembers them:
"And I remember Muscatine--still more pleasantly--for its summer sunsets. I have never seen any on either side of the ocean that equalled them. They used the broad smooth river as a canvas, and painted on it every imaginable dream of color, from the mottled daintiness and delicacies of the opal, all the way up, through cumulative intensities to blinding purple and crimson conflagrations which were enchanting to the eye but sharply tried it as the same time. All the Upper Mississippi region has these extraordinary sunsets as a familiar spectacle. It is the true sunset land. I am sure no other country can show so good a right to the name. The sunrises are also said to be exceedingly fine. I do not know."
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