JOHN SMITH DENNIS.
Many elements enter into the growth of a community, or into the development of a small community into a larger one. A city does not just happen; it exists because certain conditions have brought it into being. The majority of cities and towns are located largely according to the adaptation of natural resources and the population, an instance of this being found in the fact that many towns have grown up around a mill. Assuming this to be true, there are other causes for the growth of cities and towns, and these are found in the efficiency, enterprise and courage of its business men. For unless there are unusual and overwhelming natural advantages, no community will thrive, unless its business men are far-sighted, energetic and progressive. In Audubon, Iowa, there are a number of such men, none of whom is better known than John Smith Dennis, who was born on March 17, 1848 in Oberlin, Ohio. The life of Mr. Dennis has been more varied than that of the average man. He was a dutiful son, and for a time was a soldier, and later a railroad employee and, finally, a business man and member of various organizations, and worthy, therefore, of record in a volume such as the present one.
John Smith Dennis is the son of John and Lucy (Smith) Dennis. The paternal grandfather was John Dennis, the first member of this family to come to America from Ireland. He and his wife located on a farm in New Brunswick, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Their children were two in number: John, father of the subject of this biographical notice, and a daughter who died in a fire on board a Mississippi river packet boat. The son studied dentistry in Oberlin, Ohio, and practiced there until 1856, when he went to live in Muscotine, Iowa. After a residence of five years in Muscotine, he removed to Irontown, Missouri, where he remained for one year. Hearing of Cincinnati as a growing commercial center, he started there to seek a suitable location when he was stricken with ship fever, and died on the boat. He had been a Democrat, a member of the Odd Fellows lodge, and a Catholic. His wife was Lucy Smith, a daughter of Rev. Henry Smith of New York state, her father being a Presbyterian minister.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Dennis were nine in number. The eldest daughter, Tillie, is deceased. The first-born son, Henry Page, enlisted in the army in 1861, and served until 1865. He distinguished himself by being a member of Company A, Yates Sharp-shooters, later enlisting in another company. At the close of the war, he went to work on the Missouri Pacific railroad, first as conductor, and afterwards as yard-master at Kansas City. His death in 1870 was due to an accident. While an employe[e] of the railroad, he was caught in a "frog," and his foot so badly crushed that it resulted in his death. John was the third child born in this family. Then came Albert, now a farmer in Hutchinson, Kansas, and Bell, widow of Sidney Whittmore of Anamossa, Iowa. Bird, the next daughter, married Charles Damon of Mason City, Iowa. Lucy passed away in Chicago, and two sons died while young. The mother passed away in February, 1898, at the age of seventy-four.
Because of the death of his father, John had little opportunity for obtaining the education which he desired. After his father's death in 1859, when the boy was only eleven years old, he continued to live at home with his mother, until his enlistment on April 10, 1864. Although he was mustered in at Quincy, Illinois, he enlisted from La Salle county in Company K, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Regiment. The company were sent first to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and later to Springfield, Illinois, but they rebelled, and wanted to go to the front, but were sent to St. Louis barracks. However, they were sent out for a distance of about fifty miles on the Iron Mountain railroad to guard a bridge. When the company was mustered out later at Springfield, Illinois, John Dennis obtained employment as a brakeman on the Rock Island railroad, and later worked for the Missouri Pacific. He returned to the employ of the Rock Island railroad where he worked until 1869, when he went to Cheyenne, Wyoming, to work for the Union Pacific railroad. He remained with them only a short time, going back to his former employers of the Rock Island road, his headquarters then being Stuart, Iowa. In 1885, he took up residence in Audubon, Iowa, and was conductor between there and Atlantic, the same state. After serving in this capacity for three years, he bought out a dray line and an ice business, and since that time, has been engaged in these enterprises, together with his interests as owner of a confectionery and cigar store.
Mr. Dennis became the husband of Nettie J. Dunham, of Benton county, Iowa, on April 2, 1874. Mrs. Dennis, who was born on September 20, 1851, was the daughter of John Addison and Lucinda (Birdsell) Dunham, of New York state. Both were natives of that state, and came of Quaker stock, arriving in Benton county in the pioneer days of 1850. Besides owning and running a farm, Mr. Dunham kept a hotel in Iowa City, called the "half-way house." Later, they lived in Merango, and then made their home successfully in Grinnell, Newton, Desota, Casey, Avoca and Stuart. In these vicinities, they were the pioneer hotel people of those days. Their children were Ella, widow of John Ripp of Canyon City, Colorado, and Mrs. Dennis. Mr. Dunham died in 1898, in Canyon City, Colorado, his wife having died in 1873 while they lived in Stuart, Iowa.
Since 1913, Mr. Dennis has been engaged principally in looking after his confectionery and cigar store, in which he is ably assisted by his son Will, and daughter, Mattie, who is the youngest child born to Mr. and Mrs. Dennis.
The other children are: Charles H., of Carroll, Iowa, cashier for the Chicago & Northwestern railroad; Robert Page, a carpenter in Los Angeles, California; John, the husband of Abbie Prepley. and who was drowned July 5, 1913; Lucy, who died while single; George, agent for the Great Northern railroad at Sea Side, Oregon; Frank B. who lives at home, and who manages the transfer and ice business which his father started; Ella, now Mrs. George Cummings of Atlantic, Iowa.
Evidence of the trustworthiness of the subject of this sketch, as an employee, is shown by the fact that for twenty-five years, he has been on the pay-roll of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad in the express and mail department.
Mr. Dennis is a prominent member of the Grand Armv of the Republic at Audubon, Iowa; a Mason, blue lodge, chapter and commandery; a charter member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and a strong Republican. Mrs. Dennis is, like her husband, interested in patriotic societies, and has been for years an active worker in the Relief Corps No. 38.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Dennis are popular people, which accounts for their large circle of friends and acquaintances. Both are remarkably well preserved, this being due perhaps to the fact that their interests in life have been varied. They have been among those whose energy and activity along practical lines have helped materially to build up the substantial growth of the town in which thev have made their home.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 407-409.
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