DAVID H. KERBY
David
H. Kerby is a native of Iowa, in which state he was born in
Appanoose county, May 28, 1855, and is a son of Samuel and
Mary F. (Pearcy) Kerby.
The father was born in Randolph county, Missouri, in
1827, and was a son of David Kerby, of Kentucky, who was of
English descent. At
the time when the family was established in the United States
four Kerby brothers came from the motherland to Virginia in
colonial days and from these four Kerby brothers all of the
members of the American Kerby family are descended. The grandfather of
our subject, David Kerby, came from Kentucky to Missouri in
the early history of that state, about 1824. He was a true type
of a pioneer and a versatile man, practiced and accomplished
in various professions and trades. For seventeen years he was active as a
hunter and wagon maker and his services as such were in great
demand in the pioneer districts in which he resided; but he
was also a man of learning and combined with his pursuits the
practice of medicine, while at times when there was no
minister to spread the gospel he would tend to the
ministration of souls as a preacher. He was married three times and became
the father of a large family, members of which are found today
in many states of the Union.
There were born to him twenty-six children, nine
daughters and seventeen sons, all of whom grew up to be useful
citizens in the sections in which they resided, the youngest
son dying shortly after he had reached his majority. David Kerby was a
man not only accomplished and well read but of extraordinary
physique, his strength and good health remaining with him
until he attained an advanced age. He often took pleasure in recounting an
incident from his youthful days illustrating his physical
power, when he used to climb the trees to suspend from their
branches the deer killed on the hunt to save it from attacks
of the wolves, carrying the body in his teeth.
Ewing
Kerby, an uncle of our subject, was the first white man to
build a cabin in Appanoose county, Iowa, and his daughter was
the first white child born in this county. Another cousin of
our subject, Elizabeth Daily Stephens, was the second white
child born in Appanoose county.
Samuel Kerby, the father of our subject, followed
agricultural pursuits during his life and came to Iowa before
the Civil war. In
this great conflict he served for twelve months with the state
militia and after being discharged returned to Missouri, where
he subsequently followed farming for the rest of his life and
passed away in Schuyler county, that state, on the 10th
of March, 1908. Although
he had hardly enjoyed any school privileges, he educated
himself by profound and wide reading and as he was a great
student not only of books but also of conditions as they
existed and people as they were, he became a great judge of
human nature. He
was familiar with the books of the best thinkers the world has
produced and took delights in studying such profound men as
Demosthenes, Ingersoll, Talmage and many others. Naturally his
judgment was often referred to by his fellowmen, who greatly
esteemed him for his profound knowledge, and depended upon his
decisions as final in such controversies as would arise from
time to time. His
religion was that of the Methodist church and his political
views inclined towards the republican party, in the ranks of
which he was active, although he never sought office as a
reward for party fealty.
He brought to all public matters that high-minded
interest which is the privilege and duty of every citizen to
take who is concerned in the welfare and future of this great
nation.
The
mother of our subject, Mrs. Mary F. (Pearcy) Kerby, was a
daughter of Henry and Millie (Collier) Pearcy, of Kentucky. The parents removed
from the Blue Grass state to Missouri during the pioneer times
of 1830 and made settlement in Carter county. Later they removed
to Jasper county, where Mr. Pearcy settled upon a squatter’s
claim which today constitutes a part of the thriving city of
Carthage, Missouri. Later
he removed to the northern part of Missouri, where he lived
until his demise. In
1849, when the gold finds of California attracted the
attention of the world, he made his way to that far-off
country, where he remained in search of the precious metal,
and again in 1859 we find him in the Pike’s Peak country,
where he prospected in search of a fortune. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel
Kerby were the parents of eleven children, two of whom died in
infancy. The
others are: Millie
A., who married C. B. Webb, a resident of Colorado, and has
seven children, one of whom is deceased; Martha E., who is the
wife of Butler Porter, resides in Missouri and has six
children; David H., of this review; Mary S., who married R.
Alexander, since deceased, and is the mother of eight
children, making her home in Missouri; Sarah F., who married
James Graves, by whom she has ten children, five of whom are
engaged in school teaching, and who makes her home in Schuyler
county, Missouri; Benjamin L., who resides in Schuyler county,
Missouri, and has attained prosperity as a farmer and trader
there and has seven children; Emma B., who married Ed Porter,
by whom she has two children, and resides in Schuyler county
Missouri; Samuel L., who makes his home with his mother on the
old home place; and Laura M., the wife of Samuel B. Shumate,
by whom she has two children, a resident of Schuyler county,
Missouri. The
mother of Edward Porter, brother-in-law of our subject, is
still living and in good health at the age of ninety-five
years. She was
the first woman in the state of Ohio to draw a salary as a
school teacher. Mrs.
Samuel Kerby is still active and looks after her own work in
the household at the age of eighty-three. Her interest in
present day occurrences has not in the least abated and she
has the esteem and friendship of many who have had the honor
of her acquaintance.
David
H. Kerby was reared at home and during his youthful days made
himself useful upon his father’s farm. He received his
education in the common school of Missouri and Iowa and after
having completed his education taught school, reading law at
the same time. Out
of three years he taught thirty-three months, attended two
courses of one month each at a normal school and read law, so
he was able to complete his course in that time and was
admitted to the bar in 1883.
This extraordinary accomplishment stands as irrefutable
proof of his iron will and of his energy in attaining his
ambition and will always redound to his credit. In the spring of
1884 he began the practice of law in Seymour, Iowa, and has since been
engaged in the pursuit of his profession in that city, with
the exception of two years which he spent in Kansas and two in
which he practiced in Sioux City, Iowa. He is a man marked
by strength of character and in the course of his career has
won the high regard and confidence of character and in the
course of his career has won the high regard and confidence of
his clients and colleagues in the profession. He has won
favorable criticism for himself for the careful and systematic
methods which he follows in preparing his cases. He has a remarkable
power of concentration and application, and his retentive
memory has often excited the wonder of other lawyers. He stands high in
the discussion of legal matters before the court, where his
comprehensive knowledge of the law stands him in good stead,
and by the application of legal principles he demonstrates the
wide scope of his professional attainments. He occupies an
enviable position at the Wayne county bar and in the
presentation of his cases is so clear, forceful and concise
that he seldom fails to carry the verdict he desires. Naturally the
circle of his clients has expanded year by year as his
attainments have increased and as his reputation has grown,
and today he is recognized as one of the foremost men of the
bar in these parts of the state. He is entirely free from ostentation and
carries most of his cases to success by the simple weight of
his character and the clear demonstration of the legal points
in litigation, and he has been carried to the eminent position
which he now occupies in the life of the community by a
laudable ambition which has permeated his whole life’s course
and has carried him forward to success and prosperity.
In
April, 1883, David H. Kerby married Miss Anna Loomis, a
daughter of William and Mary (Klinkingbeard) Loomis, the
former a native of New York who became one of the early
settler of Iowa. Mr.
and Mrs. Kerby have one daughter, Mary E., who was born in
Seymour in 1884, and in 1909 married Dr. Edwin Burehett, a
resident of this city. Mr.
and Mrs. Kerby are both members of the Methodist Episcopal
church.
David
H. Kerby has, ever since he became a resident of Seymour, been
connected with the growth and welfare of the community. He has been not
only an interested witness of the changes that the times have
brought about, but he has been a helpful and cooperant factor
in the general advancement of this section. His activities in
many ways have been constructive in the development of the
locality and everything he has been called upon to do in the
interests of the general public he has done well. His political views
are those of the democratic party and he has always taken an
active interest in spreading the doctrines and principles of
this great organization, and his voice in its local councils
is often heeded and always respectfully listened to. In 1912 his fellow
citizens honored him with election to the highest office in
their gift—the mayor’s chair—and in a few months since he has
taken up the reins of the city government he has demonstrated
his energy and his term of administration promises to be one
of the greatest benefit to the healthful growth of the
community. His
fraternal relations are confined to the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, in the local lodge of which he has held all of
the chairs. David
H. Kerby is a successful man in the truest sense of the word,
a man unusually broad-minded and intelligent, tolerant and
with wide experience. Never
mercenary or grasping and always believing in something
greater than mere material wealth, he has in the course of his
life, which he has spent simply and unostentatiously, become a
actor for good in his community in almost every phase of
endeavor. Quick
to discriminate between the essential and non-essential not
only in matters of law, but also in public affairs, his varied
activities redound to his own credit and to his individual
success, while they have been for the benefit of the community
as well.