Harris C. Finch
Harris C. Finch, agent for the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa, is a man of determined purpose who readily recognizes the opportunities that the business world offers, and utilizes them to good advantage. Along legitimate lines he has built up a business of gratifying proportions and Northwood numbers him among its representative men.
He was born December 28,, 1873, in the city which is yet his place of residence, his parents being Ethan C. and Ida D. (Remore) Finch. The father was born at De Ruyter, New York, and the mother's birth occurred in Watertown, that state. The father pursued his education in the De Ruyter Academy and later came with his parents to Iowa, the family home being established in Northwood, where he took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in Worth and in Winnebago counties for a number of terms. He afterward purchased a farm near Northwood and continued its cultivation for several years. He also engaged in the livery business for a number of years at Northwood. He has reached the age of seventy-six years, while his wife died in De Ruyter, New York, at the age of forty-seven. She was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church and of the Master's good women one of the best.
Harris C. Finch spent his youthful days in Northwood and acquired his education in the public schools. In 1889 he accepted a position at West Superior, becoming a clerk in a grocery store and lumber camp. Before this time, however, at the early age of twelve years, he had already worked in the store of C. F. Littlefield, there receiving his earliest training along commercial lines. At a later period he taught in a district school at Northwood for eight terms. He next became agent for the Des Moines (Iowa) Life Insurance Company and on the 27th of July, 1896, he was appointed to the agency of the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa, in which capacity he is now serving. He has had many flattering offers from other insurance companies but preferring to remain in Northwood, he refuses to make a change of companies which most likely would take him to other localities. He writes a large amount of insurance annually and is familiar with every phase and department of the insurance business.
In 1894 Mr. Finch was united in marriage to Miss Addie E. Shaw, a daughter of Farner E. and Juliet Shaw. Mrs. Finch was born in Fremont county, Minnesota. Her parents were natives of New York and in early life her father removed to the west. He enlisted for service in the Union army from Hartland township, Worth county, Iowa, and was mustered in at Fort Snelling. He served for three and a half years under General Sherman and after the close of the war returned to Iowa, where be married and engaged in farming. He afterward sold his land and bought a farm on the state line between Iowa and Minnesota, north of Northwood, continuing the cultivation of that property until he retired from active business life. He is now living in Northwood at the age of seventy-two years, while his wife passed away in 1916, at the age of sixty. To Mr. and Mrs. Finch have been born four children: Clarence J.; Margaret, who died December 15, 1917, at the age of fourteen years; William J.; and Ida, whose death occurred at the age of two years.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Finch is a Mason and also a Knight of Pythias. He served as mayor of Northwood for six years, from 1907 until 1913, and his course was characterized by marked devotion to the public welfare. He gave to the city a businesslike administration, studied public needs and opportunities, and while avoiding useless expenditure, was careful to avoid that needless retrenchment which so often hampers progress in community affairs. He has served as chairman of the county central committee and as chairman of the Worth County Council of National Defense. His parents and his wife's parents located near Northwood at a very early period in the development of this section of the state, McGregor being their nearest market at that time. All work was done with ox teams and the farmers had to haul their products to market for long distances.
The families have since been closely connected with the up building of this section of the state, Mrs. Finch contributing to educational development by acting for several years as a teacher in this county, having graduated from the Northwood high school in 1890. The course of Mr. Finch is characterized by thoroughness in anything that he undertakes, and his reliability stands as an unquestioned fact in his career.
SOURCE: HISTORY OF MITCHELL AND WORTH COUNTIES, IOWA, 1918, VOL. II; Pages 44-46
Transcribed by Gordon Felland, January 5, 2006