GEORGE W. LARIMER
Among
the men who have been active in inaugurating and shaping the
business development of Chariton is numbered George W.
Larimer, who has been connected with business interests in the
city since 1875, and who, steadily extending the field of his
connections, is today one of the substantial and
representative men of this community. He conducts an
important abstract business and is well known in financial
circles through his connection with the Chariton National
Bank, the Loan & Trust Bank and the State Savings Bank.
Mr.
Larimer was born in Noble county, Indiana, February 19, 1853,
a son of William McDowell and Christiana (Barkley) Larimer,
natives of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, the former born
April 19, 1824, and the latter in September 1825. They afterward
moved to Noble county, Indiana, where the father died in
September 1853, leaving two children: Mrs. Mary Elizabeth
Howard, who was born in September, 1851, and who died in 1897;
and George W., of this review.
Afterward the mother and her children moved to Chariton
township, this county, where Mrs. Larimer engaged in teaching,
being the first teacher in the famous Highland district. She afterward
married again, her second husband being Cyrus Larimer, by whom
she had four children: Mrs.
Nettie Mitchner, a resident of Des Moines, Iowa; Mrs. Emma
Gribben, who passed away in 1912; Clara, also deceased; and H.
H., who was born in 1862 and who now resides in Chariton. The two older
children were born in Noble county, Indiana, and the other two
in Lucas county, this state.
George
W. Larimer accompanied his mother and sister to Chariton
township in 1855 and grew to manhood amid pioneer conditions
in this locality. In
1864 he began his independent career, securing a position
south of Chariton as a sheep herder. He later learned the tinner’s trade and
received a remuneration of five dollars per week. He paid strict
attention to business and was gradually advanced, eventually
securing a comfortable competency. He began his mercantile career in
Chariton on the 1st of January, 1875, and he
continued in this line of business until 1892, each year
witnessing his increasing prosperity and prominence. In the latter year
he retired from active life but in 1897 became interested in
the Loan & Trust Bank, the State Savings Bank and the
National Bank, all of Chariton, and he still continues his
identification with these institutions. He also conducts an
abstract business and he has been very successful in this
line, his prosperity coming as the direct result of his
discriminating business judgment, his energy, enterprise and
progressive spirit.
In
1879 Mr. Larimer married Miss Emma Ward, who was born at
Winterset, Iowa, in October, 1855. She is a daughter of C. C. and Serena
(Miller) Ward, natives of Hendricks county, Indiana. The parents
afterward moved to Des Moines and then to Chariton, where the
father still resides and where the mother passed away. To their union were
born five children: Mrs.
Larimer, wife of the subject of this review; Mrs. Cora
Reeside, of Wichita, Kansas; William H., of Council Bluffs,
Iowa; Mrs. Molly Fuller, of Chariton; and Mrs. Mabel
McMichael, of Denver, Colorado.
Mr. and Mrs. Larimer have four children. Guy W. was born
September 24, 1880. After
graduating from the Chariton high school he entered the
Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, and after
completing his course there he entered the medical department
of the same university, from which he received the degree of
M. D. He
afterward acted as interne in the Cook County Hospital and is
now practicing his profession at Salida, Colorado. Mrs. Mary Pasco was
born in May, 1883, and acquired her education in the Chariton
high school and in Simpson College at Indianola. She now resides in
Carroll, Iowa. Mrs.
Edith Copeland was born in April, 1888, and after graduating
from the Chariton high school took a two years’ course in
Simpson College. She
makes her home in Chariton.
Robert E., who was born June 13, 1894, is at present a
student in the Iowa State University at Iowa City.
Mr. Larimer attends the Methodist Episcopal church at Chariton and is connected fraternally with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a republican in his political beliefs and served for six years as a member of the board of supervisors of Lucas county and has been a member of the city council of Chariton. He is numbered among the distinctly successful men of the city. Through legitimate channels of trade he has won prosperity in business and has secured a comfortable fortune which he has invested judiciously, evidencing his faith in the future of Lucas county by placing his money in local enterprises. A resident of this section since his childhood, he has witnessed practically its entire growth and development and in later years has been a prominent factor in its progress. He has made his name recognized and respected in business circles and his personal characteristics have gained him the warm regard and confidence of many friends.