Scott Co, Iowa - IAGenWeb Project

BIOGRAPHIES

William S. Chenoweth

From "Vol. 2 History of Davenport and Scott County" by Harry E. Downer - S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1910 Chicago

For a period of over forty-one years William S. Chenoweth has been a resident of Davenport and through intelligently directd activity in his chosen field of labor, came to be recognized as one of the most prominent representatives of the Aetna Fire Insurance Company of Connecticut. He is today one of the oldest insurance men in the state, but is now living retired, his success in former years enabling him to enjoy many of the comforts of life without recourse to further labor. He has passed his eighty-fourth milestone on life's journey. During twenty-eight years and a half he averaged twenty-five thousand miles a year on the road for the Aetna Insurance Company.

His birth occured in New Castle, Pennsylvania, September 26, 1825, his parents being Arthur and Rebecca (Reynolds) Chenoweth. His father was one of the early settlers of Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, and named this county before his death, which occurred over eighty-two years ago, and the family has long been respresented in that state. He had previously lived near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, when he removed to Pennsylvania.

William S. Chenoweth was educated in the schools of his native city, and in the year 1844 sought the opportunities of the middle west, first establishing his home near La Harpe, Illinois. He afterward lived at different points in that state and was associated with different lines of business until eventually he turned his attention to insurance. He is today one of the oldest insurance men in the state of Iowa and one of the best known in the western and southern states. The rebellion destroyed the large insurance business of the Aetna Fire Insurance Company in southern states and nearly forty years ago he was sent by the Aetna Insurance Company to open up the insurance business for this company in the different southern states. It was a hard place to travel then, as the railroads were put in bad condition by the war. He entered this field in a humble way, but gradually advanced as he proved his usefulness and worth in this field. He thoroughly familiarized himself with every phase of the insurance business and with firm belief in its value, to the insured as well as the members of the company promoting insurance, he was enabled to build up an extensive clientage and sucure a business, the volume of which brought him, in the course of years, to a prominent position among the insurance men of the state, securing for him at the same time a substantial financial reward for his labors.

On the 17th of April, 1851, Mr. Chenoweth was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Webster Painter. Her father, like Mr. Chenoweth's, had come to the middle west in the hope of bettering his fortune. Mr. and Mrs. Chenoweth can both remember spending the day together at her home over seventy-four years ago, when she was five and he was ten years of age. By this marriage there were born four children: Alice, the oldest, is living at home. Mary P. became the wife of J. B. Johnson, who for twenty-eight years was an attorney of Des Moines and is now living in Oklahoma City. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have three children: Arthur, who is married and has one son, William H.; and Ernest C., at home. Louise, the third member of the family, died in childhood. Henrietta B., the youngest of the family, is the wife of Oren Bradshaw Waite, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and they have two daughters, Marguerite and Dorothy.

Sixty-three years ago Mr. Chenoweth joined the ranks of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has since maintained active membership in that fraternity, heartily endorsing the beneficent principles which constitute its basic elements. He has always been a generous contributor to the churches and his influence has ever been on the side of justice, truth and right. His political allegiance was given to the whig party in early manhood, and in 1844 he heard Henry Clay make a speech from the steps of the old Planters House in St. Louis. He joined the republican party on its organization and has since been one of its stalwart advocates.

He has lived in the Mississippi valley for fifty-three years, and his life record covers almost eighty-five years, so that he has been a witness of many events which to the great majority are matters of history. He can remember the building of the early railroads in this section of the country and of being in Chicago the day the books were opened to sell stock in the first Chicago railroad (the Chicago & Galena Railroad) and the day when the emigrants to the west traveled in the old moving wagons. Chicago then had fourteen thousand inhabitants. Many of the homes in this section of the country were log cabins and sod houses and there were vast tracts of land yet unclaimed and uncultivated.

Mr. Chenoweth has lived to witness the remarkable changes which have occurred and has always maintained a deep interest in the work of progress that has brought Illinois and Iowa to their present advanced position. It is these places that the greater part of his life has been passed in and he has always felt that he came to this section of the country, rich in its natural resources and affording boundless opportunities to the early settlers as well as to the later day residents. While his able managed individual interests have brought to him success, he has always contributed in no small degree toward promoting general progress through the course of years.

Transcribed by Debbie Gerischer

Ernest S. Carl

From "Vol. 2 History of Davenport and Scott County" by Harry E. Downer - S. J. Carke Publishing Co. 1910 Chicago

From a long line of German architects and builders there came to Davenport a man, who was to be a builder of sound institutions and of enduring business confidence. For more than forty years and particularly during the quarter century that he acted as cashier of the Citizens National Bank, E. S. Carl was acknowledged one of the leading representatives of that fine integrity which was preparing the city for a permanent greatness.

Ernest S. Carl was born January 4, 1842, in Coburg, Germany, where he received a thorough, practical education. At the age of sixteen, in 1858, after the death of his mother, he sailed for New York, remaining there only a few months before he came straight to Davenport. In 1860, after some months' employment in the general store of his brother-in-law, August Steffen, he started for California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, but on the steamer met John E. Lovejoy, United States consul to Callao, Peru, with whom he engaged as assistant secretary. A few months later he became assistant to Dr. Charles F. Winslow, of Boston, the American counsul to Paita, Peru, where he remained two years till Dr. Winslow's resignation. These years in South America, during which Mr. Carl not only learned Spanish, but completely mastered the English language so that ever after he seemed as much an American as any of his fellow citizens, were a broadening influence in his whole life.

In 1863 Mr. Carl returned to Davenport, erected a warehouse at 224 West Front street and entered the grain business. In 1868 he accepted the position of teller in the Davenport National Bank, where he demonstrated his true talent for banking. In 1870 he became assistant cashier of the First National Bank, and finally, in 1875, at the age of thirty-three, he was appointed cashier of the Citizens National Bank. It was in this last position, which he held till failing health compelled him to retire in 1899, that Mr. Carl became known not only as one of hte ablest bankers in the state but as a helpful public servant, whose kindly aid was bestowed without reserve upon all who sought. His administrative qualities won the bank fame for its sound and rapid progress, and his broad human qualities brought a varied and enthusiastic patronage. He inaugurated the system of currency distrbution by which Davenport has become a financial center for the smaller country banks that formerly looked to Chicago; and, during his term of office, the Citizens National Bank became the leading banking institution in Iowa.

In 1861 Mr. Carl married Miss Sarah Marckley, who had removed in 1851 with her parents, William H. and Harriet (Allison) Marckley, from their home in Alexandria, Virginia, to Davenport. Mr. Marckley was a contractor and builder, whose work became a substantial improvement to the city in the early days. Mrs. Carl, like her husband, was a person of generous instincts and an agreeable, social nature. Her incessant charities, quietly performed, made her known to rich and poor alike; and her unbounded hospitality, together with Mr. Carl's, in the beautiful residence at Sixth and Perry streets, has left happy memories throughout the city.

After a year spent in Colorado seeking health, Mr. Carl returned to Davenport for a short visit, and on October 15, 1900, was stricken dead in the very bank where he had spent the best years of his life. Five months later, on the 24th of March, 1901, Mrs. Carl answered the same call. There are left only the daughter, Mrs. Rosa Oberholtzer, and her son, Ernest Carl Oberholtzer.

Mr. Carl's activities were by no means confined to banking. He was a public-spirited citizen, believing in Davenport and its people and supporting all measures for its best progress. He was one of the founders of the Phoenix Milling Company and of many other successful enterprises, an ardent and effective promoter of the Hennepin canal, a friend of the Davenport Academy of Sciences, a director of the Oakdale cemetery, and though a member of no church yet a supporter of many. He was a Turner, an Odd Fellow, a Mason and a member of several intimately social clubs. Next to his home and friends, which were his chief delight throughout life, his greatest pleasure was music, of which he was always a lover and patron. Mr. Carl, in brief, was not only one of the most trusted but one of the most beloved men in Davenport.

Transcribed by Debbie Gerischer

Otto Clausen

From "Vol. 2 History of Davenport and Scott county" by Harry E. Downer - S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1910 Chicago

Davenport has always acknowledged her indebtedness to her German-American citizens for much of her progress in the fields of commerce and industry, and promient among those who have been leaders in manufacturing circles was numbered Otto Clausen, for many years general manager of the H. F. Brammer Manufacturing Company. He was born June 14, 1850, in Schonhorst, Kirchspiel Brugga, near Kiel, a son of Claus and Johanna (Carstens) Clausen. His father was the oldest son of Claus Clausen, teacher in Oxboll on the island Alsen. The mother of Otto Clausen was a daughter of Johann, Carstens, teacher at Michaelis Donn, north Ditmarsch.

Mr. Clausen's childhood was spent in Dollerup, Kirchspiel, Grundshoff, Angeln, Boel Angeln, and at Atzeballig, near Augustenburg, he being confirmed at the latter place. On the 1st of May, 1869, when nineteen years of age, he sailed for America, landing at Montreal. He arrived in Davenport on the 1st of June, his choice of a location being influenced by the fact that he had a distant relative, Emil Geisler, living here. After spending some time here he went to St. Louis by steamboat and later journeyed to Memphis, Tennessee. There he accepted a position as bookkeeper in a private hospital (St. Joseph's Infirmary), working during the day and attending the commercail college at night in order that he might learn the English language and become qualified for active work in commercial and industrial circles, for in the schools of his native country he had acquired a good education in his mother tongue. Later he became clerk in the Central Hotel at Memphis, there remaining for seven years. When he had saved enough of his earnings he returned to Europe in 1872 and brought his parents, sisters and one brother to the new world with him, the family settling in Memphis. The following year yellow fever broke out in that city and Mr. Clausen volunteered as a nurse, taking care of many who were afflicted by that dread disease - a heroic act for which he deserved high praise. In 1876 he started his own grocery business, which he conducted with success until 1885.

On the 20th of January, 1880, Mr. Clausen was married to Adele Geisler, who was a daughter of Emil and Sophia (Halkins) Geisler and who died July 4, 1886. There were two children by that marriage, one of whom died in infancy, while the other, Adele, is now the wife of H. W. Hubers of Davenport and has one child, Marjorie Del. Mr. Clausen continued in business in Memphis until 1886, when he came to this city and purchased the present home of the family. On the 11th of August, 1887, he married Eveline steinberg, a daughter of Louis W. and Anna Wilhelmina (Hagen) Steinberg. By this union there was born a son, who died in infancy. In 1888 Mr. Clausen accepted the position of bookkeeper and treasurer of the H. F. Brammer Manufacturing Company, and in 1895 became the general manger. He remained the executive head of the enterprise until 1901, when he retired from the active control of the business and throughout his remaining days enjoyed the fruits of his former toil in well earned retirement.

Mr. Clausen was a member of the Turner Society and had a very extensive acquaintance among the German-American residents of this city. He won a creditable position in business circles, was ever charitable, brave and fearless in the face of danger, trustworthy in the performance of duty and diligent in the accomplishment of every task which he undertook. These qualities gained him a firm hold on the affections of his fellow townsmen, so that his memory is cherished by all who knew him. He loved his home and was a most kind and loving father and husband. His death occurred on the 30th of April, 1905, at his southern home, Ottonia Park, Santa Rosa county, Florida. His remains were brought to Davenport for interment.

Transcribed by Debbie Gerischer

James H. Clement

From "Vol 2 History of Davenport and Scott County" by Harry E. Downer - S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1910 Chicago

On the pages of history from the earliest ages have appeared the names of those renowned for personal bravery - men who have dared to face the implements of war in defense of principle or country. Among Davenport's citizens whose military record is such as elicits praise and honor is numbered James H. Clement, a veteran of the Mexican war and for a considerable period a representative of the United States navy. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1821, and spent his early life in the east, becoming connected with the navy, with which he did active duty for a number of years. When the country became involved in war with Mexico he stanchly defended the interests of the Federal government and enlisted from Pennsylvania. He was wounded while in the army but with the spirit of the true soldier again took his place on active duty as soon as his health permitted.

In 1871 Mr. Clement arrived in Davenport and for many years thereafter held a position on Government Island, although he retired some time before his demise.

In 1867, in Blackhawk county, Iowa, Mr. Clement was married to Miss Mary A. Dorlan, whose father, Robert Dorlan, was one of the pioneers of Iowa, coming to this state at an early day form Indiana. He was native of Pennsylvania but was closely identified with the development of the middle west, first in Indiana and afterward in Iowa, where his labors constituted an effective force in supplanting pioneer conditions with the evidences of a modern civilization. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Clement were born a daughter and son: Caroline, who is now Mrs. W. E. Scott; and William, who died in 1904. The mother has continued to make her home in Davenport since the death of her husband, which occurred on the 24th of September, 1897. He was a self-made man, charitable and public-spirited, and possessed a strong and impressive character. He held membership in the Methodist church and his life was in consistent harmony with his professions. He was devoted to his family and his home and while his chief interests in life centered there, he yet found opportunity to do good to his fellowmen, giving throughout his life many tangible evidences of a helpful, charitable and benevolent spirit.

Transcribed by Debbie Gerischer

Bio of Henry C. Cook

From "Vol 2 History of Davenport and Scott county" by Harry E. Downer - S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1910 Chicago

One of the well cultivated farms of Sheridan township is that of ninety acres belonging to Henry C. Cook, one of the sturdy sons of the fatherland who did so much toward developing the fertility of Scott county in the early years of its settlement. He was born in Holstein, Germany, September 17, 1840, a son of Hans and Kathryn Cook. The father was engaged in agricultural pursuits in the old country, but in the hope of bettering his own fortunes and of providing larger opportunities for his children, he with his family emigrated to the Untied States in 1847. They disembarked at New York, whence they came west to Chicago, completing their journey to Iowa by wagon. Upon reaching Scott county, Mr. Cook entered four hundred acres of prairie land, but he was not permitted to enjoy his new property, for he died thirteen days after arriving here, and his claim, made out in his name in Washington, D. C., was paid for by his friend, Nicholas Rusch, who later married his widow.

Mr. Rusch became a prominent factor in the public life of Scott county. He was born in Holstein, Germany, February 16th, 1822, and received a good education in the land of his birth, for after leaving the elementary school at Marne, he entered the gymnasium at Meldorf, later attended the Segeberg Seminary, and finally became a student in the University of Kiel, where he specialized in theology. He afterward taught as a private tutor in Holstein. He came to this country on the same ship with Mr. Cook, expecting to teach here. After Mr. Cook's death he assumed the management of the farm, making all the improvements and bringing it to a high state of fertility, and there he lived until after the inauguration of the Civil war. He was a successful farmer, and also possessed the personality that made him a man in whom the people placed the utmost confidence. He was an ardent republican in his political sympathies, and upon that party's ticket was elected to various township offices. In 1859 he was the choice of his district for state senator, and although he served only until 1860, he was concerned with some important legislation. In that year the republican party elected him lieutenant governor of Iowa, at the same time that Mr. Kirkwood was elected governor, and he held that position until 1862, when he resighned to accept the appointment as commissioner of immigration, which was made by Governor Kirkwood. Mr. Rusch had his headquarters in New York city for ten months, and then as immigration had fallen off on account of the war, he returned to Iowa and was appointed assistant quartermaster, with the rank of captain, for the troops of this state. During the course of the war he went to Vicksburg, Mississippi, was made chief quartermaster of the Iowa troops there and died there September 22, 1864, while in active service. He was a man of great force of character and left his impress upon the affairs of his time and locality, bequeathing to the generation who followed him a record for public service and patriotism which should be inspiring. Educational interests in Scott county were also furthered by him, for he donated the land for and helped build the first school in his neighborhood.

Mr. Rusch became the father of three children, namely: Emily, who is the wife of J. E. Meyers, of Davenport; Minnie, who was the wife of Joseph Keck, formerly of Washington, Iowa, but now like his wife deceased; and Gustav C., a prominent farmer of Sheridan township, this county. His wife, who had previously married Hans Cook, had six children by her first union, as follows: Louisa, who married Henry Berg, now deceased, but formerly a resident of Davenport; Augusta, who married Henry Landt, of Tama county, Iowa; Julia, who is the widow of Cornelius Axelson and lives in Mississippi; Henry C., whose name introduces this review; Eliza, the wife of Martin Banthen, of Durant, Iowa; and Agnes, who married Jens Lorenzen, of Davenport.

Henry C. Cook received his early education in Germany before his parents emigrated to this country, for he was about seven years of age when they started upon their journey, and after he came to Scott county he attended the district school near his home in Sheridan township, where he completed his training for the responsibilities of manhood. He was early initiated into the methods of cultivating the soil, and in the years that he has been a resident of this county has lived upon this same farm. He assisted his stepfather in operating it during the lifetime of the latter, and then, after his death he assumed the full charge of it. In the period, amounting now to almost half a century, that the place has been under his control, he has worked earnestly and diligently to make it one of the most productive tracts of land in his vicinity, and as enterprise and determination have been salient features in his success, he is well deserving of the comfortable income which his labors have brought him.

On the 6th of October, 1869, Mr. Cook was married to Miss Kathryn Emise, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. August Emise, who were among the early German settlers of Scott county. Both are now deceased. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cook have been born three children. Carl F., who is engaged in the telephone business in Eldridge, Iowa, wedded Miss Eliza Peterson and they had one child who died in infancy. Harry and Carrie are both at home, and the latter is a graduate of Brown's Business College, of Davenport.

Mr. Cook has served as trustee of Sheridan township and has filled other offices within the gift of the people, with the same carefulness and honor that has distinguished his private life, and the fact that many of his closest friends are those who have known him from boyhood is an evidence that his life has been directed in accordance with high principles of manhood and citizenship.

Transcribed by Debbie Gerischer

Bio of Edward Savage Crossett

From "Vol 2 History of Davenport and Scott County" by Harry E. Downer - S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1910 Chicago

The lumber industry occupies a most important relation to the development of the United States. One of the most interesting chapters in our national history is that recounting the origin of this far-reaching activity, the struggles of its pioneers, their privations and triumphs and the marvelous growth which the business has now attained in certain sections of our common country. Employing, as it does, literally an army of men; offering channels of investment for millions of dollars; this branch of trade takes easily front rank as one of the wealth producing agencies of America. One of the captains in this great industry is the subject of this sketch.

When one has spent the fifty most active years of his effective life in one section of the country and in the pursuit of a single enterprise which has issued in ultimately fortunate results to himself and those associated with him, he most certainly has contributed to the development of the industry and has won for himself a large and merited place in the history of that locality. Such a man is Edward Savage Crossett of Davenport, Iowa. For half a century he has played a conspicuous part in the lumber business of the entire Mississippi valley and is a masterful factor in council and conference wherever in that entire section men interested in yellow pine foregather.

Mr. Crossett was born in West Plattsburg, Clinton county, New York, February 4, 1828, near the scene of the battle of Plattsburg, historic in the war of 1812. His father, John Savage Crossett, participated actively in that war as a soldier in the American army. The subject of our sketch received his education in the public schools and in an academy. His first employment was in the printing office of Bardwell & Kneeland, at Troy, which work, however, he abandoned on account of failing health. His new position as clerk in a shoe store brought him the munificent salary of two dollars and fifty cents each month and board. In 1846, when eighteen years of age, he became clerk in the village store at Schroon Lake, New York, and two years later he and his brother purchased the establishment. It was here that he first became interested in the lumber business, handling pine and spruce lumber in small quantities.

At the age of twenty-two Mr. Crossett turned his business over to his brother and started west. From Cincinnati he journeyed to St. Louis by steamer, and in the spring of 1852 on to St. Paul, going soon to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he remained one year and six months. In the meantime business matters had not gone well in the east, his brother had sold the property at a loss and young Crossett was under the handicap of debts, if anything can handicap one so strong and courageous. With the restiveness of an honest nature smarting under the sense of unmet obligations, he assumed the entire burden and eventually paid the last dollar.

In the fall of 1853 Mr. Crossett went to Black River Falls, Wisconsin, where he took charge of a supply store for lumbermen. He was in entire command of this enterprise, from the making contract for supplies to the sale of the goods. His experience as a merchant in the Adirondacks served him well, and so satisfactory were the results that his employers united their four stores into one and gave him its management. From 1854 to 1856 he was postmaster of Black River Falls, and in the latter year he associated himself with W. T. Price in a supply store business of their own, returning, however, a year later to his former employers.

Then came a period of reverses in which Mr. Crossett suffered heavy losses. The freshet of the following year swept the company's logs down the river and out of reach; as a result the company was forced to suspend operations and go into bankruptcy. A portion of Mr. Crossett's capital and two years salary were sunk in the general collapse. In 1859 he started a supply store of his own, but shortly after was burned out with the complete loss of stock and building. Still undaunted and unafraid, Mr. Crossett gathered up the threads of his raveled business and attempted to again weave them together. Succeeding in obtaining the equivalent of some bills due him, in the shape of lumber and hewn timber, he rafted it down the river in 1861 and sold it where he could, but was obliged to take in payment "stump tail currency," which depreciated largely before he could dispose of it. Thus Mr. Crossett's first eight years in the west brought him little but valuable experience.

In this same year Mr. Crossett was employed to assist J. E. Lindsay, who was shortly thereafter joined in partnership by J. B. Phelps; and subsequently he was connected with other concerns until 1870. For several years he ran the yards of Isaac Spaulding in East St. Louis, spending his winters in picking up stock on Black river. From 1870 to 1875 he was engaged in scaling logs and estimating timber; purchasing for himself parcels of timber land whenever such were available and seemed valuable.

In 1873 Mr. Crossett was united in marriage to Miss Harmony E. Clark, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and from that auspicious day dates, as he declares, his real prosperity. The two made their home in Nielsville, Wisconsin, until February, 1875, when they removed to Davenport, Iowa, where Mr. Crossett became a member of the firm of Renwick, Shaw & Crossett. Their son, Edward Clark Crossett, was born at Davenport, August 7, 1882. The same year marks Mr. Crossett's first investment in yellow pine, as one of the organizers of the Lindsay Land & Lumber Company.

In 1884 Renwick, Shaw & Crossett bought a sawmill and some pine land at Cloquet, Minnesota. two years later Mr. Crossett sold his interest to Mr. Shaw, taking in payment ten thousand acres of Arkansas land covered with yellow pine. His friends were confident that he had made a serious mistake in acquiring Arkansas property, but the soundness of his judgment was speedily vindicated. Convinced by personal inspection of the great possibilities in yellow pine, he became extensively interested in other companies operating in the south. Already a heavy stockholder in the Eagle Lumber Company, of Eagle Mills, Arkansas, and in the Gates Lumber Company, of Wilmar, Arkansas, he, in company with C. W. Gates and Dr. J. W. Watzek, purchased in 1892 the Fordyce Lumber Company, of Fordyce, Arkansas.

In the principle of cooperation Mr. Crossett has always been interested. With William Morris, its modern apostle, he has believed that the profits accruing from any enterprise should in some equitable way be divided among those producing them. In 1899 the Crosett Lumber Company was organized on a cooperative basis, not as the result of any dreaming of a modern Utopia, but as a business proposition, and partly no doubt because of his own long bout with the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." In the cooperative organization Messrs. Crossett, Watzek and Gates held three-fourths of the stock and certain employes the other one-fourth. In recognition of Mr. Crossett's generosity, his fine sense of justice in this self-centered age, and of his wise council and cooperation always so freely given, his associates named the new town in his honor, and Crossett, Arkansas, came upon the map.

After eight years of actual operation, this town has come from the virgin forest to be one of the "show towns" of the entire south. Here dwell a prosperous people, numbering upward of two thousand, each in a home good enough for the best and at rents that return to the corporation only a very low interest rate on the investment. The town rejoices in a fine public school costing upward of fifteen thousand dollars, a well equipped hospital worth thirty-five thousand dollars, two good churches well supported and effective, and a clubhouse and swimming pool costing something like fifteen to twenty thousand dollars, these latter the personal gift of Mr. Crossett to the youth and manhood of the town. There is a five-mile liquor law and it is enforced; the finest type of labor gravitates here naturally, and it is to be doubted if any finer specimens of life and character can be found in any lumber town in the world than flourish and mature in this favored spot. While much credit for these conditions is surely due to the splendid men whom Mr. Crossett has associated with him, the fact still remains that it is due to his influence, his ideals and his character that the town is what it is.

More recently Mr. Crossett has extended his holdings and, as an influential member of the Jackson Lumber Company, of Lockhart, Alabama, has with his associated invested in one hundred and fifty thousand acres of virgin timber in Alabama and Florida. In cooperation with Messrs. Watzek and Gates, the two remaining members, a large sawmill plant was built at Lockhart, and the property otherwise developed and increased. In 1906 the Crossett Timber Company, of Davenport, Iowa, was organized for operation in the Pacific northwest, with holdings chiefly in Washington and Oregon. Mr. Crossett not only organized and projected this company but retains a controlling portion of the stock and direction in management through his son, Edward Clark Crossett, its president. Believing that a man should dispose of his property and provide for his family during his lifetime, while still in his early seventies Mr. Crosett organized the Crossett Land & Investment Company as a holding company for the greater part of his property and gave his wife and son equal shares with himself.

Religiously Mr. Crosett has always been known as a sincere and earnest worshiper of the God of the forests. Reared as a Methodist, and a member of the Baptist church from the age of twenty-five, his sympathies have always been with all genuine men of whatever name or creed. It would be expected that a man of such robust personality and breadth of vision would have fellowship with all good men, and hence his interests and beneficences have outrun all denominational bounds. He was a member of the building committee of St. John's Methodist Episcopal church, of Davenport, of which his wife and son are communicants, and his generosity and liberality, with that of one or two others, made that superb structure possible. His proposition to give fifty thousand dollars to a Young Men's Christian Association building in Davenport, providing the citizens would contribute an equal amount, was the means of securing for his home city one of the best equipped structures in the middle west, while his private benevolences, about which even his right hand knows not, are perpetual and broadcast.

Mr. Crossett is that type of manhood for which America is most famed and for which she may well be proud; yet only now and then in a century is she able to grow one of his superfine qualities. Born with little promise of what was to be, with little to assure him such a future as has been his, little save his rugged, stalwart character and his tireless determination, all graciously shot through with his changeless trust in God. Honest to the core, circumspect in life, genial in spirit, alert in mentality, helping everybody and hindering none, wronging no man that he might himself gain, but enriching all others by his own prosperity, he lives an honored and conspicuous type of that noblest of all men - an American gentleman

Transcribed by Debbie Gerischer