Emmet County, Iowa
Biographies
C - D

Unless otherwise noted, these biographies were taken from the History of Emmet County and Dickinson County Iowa: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, The Pioneer Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1917.  

C - D

Carpenter, Frank
Cavers, Adam
Cheever, Fred W.
Clark, Bert L.--(2)
Clark, Harvey E.
Coleman, Miss Vera M.
Conlin, Peter
Coon, Byron M.
Cratty, Robert Irvin
Crim, L. E.
Cronk, Henry
Clump, Daniel M.
Dobberstein, August
Dows, John and Anna
Dows, Hon. Stephen L.
Dundas, David
Dundas, John

Additional Emmet County Biographies: A-B,  E-F,  G-H,  I-J,  K-L,   M-N, O-P, Q-R, 
S, T, U, V,  W, X, Y, Z.  Return to Biography Index

CARPENTER, Frank

Frank Carpenter, who since 1888 has been connected with the Estherville Democrat and has been owner and editor of the paper since November, 1896, is now also filling the position of postmaster in Estherville. Iowa number him among her native sons, for his birth occurred in Webster City, November 5, 1870. His parents were Charles and Louise P. (Miller) Carpenter. In the schools of Webster City and of Estherville he pursued his education and his early life was devoted to agricultural pursuits, but later he took up the newspaper business, in which he has since been engaged, securing a position on the Estherville Democrat in 1888. Finding this pursuit congenial, he worked his way upward and in November, 1896, took over the paper by purchase and has since been its owner and publisher, making it one of the chief democratic organs and leading newspapers in the northwestern part of the state. He also has other business interests, being one of the stockholders and directors of the Iowa Savings Bank of Estherville.

Mr. Carpenter is identified with several fraternal organizations, having membership with the Elks, the Woodmen, the Homesteaders and the Moose. In politics he has always been an earnest democrat since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and from 1910 until 1914 he served as chairman of the democratic county central committee. In July, 1913, he was appointed by President Wilson to the position of postmaster of Estherville and has since served in that capacity. He has ever stood for progress and improvement in community affairs as well as for advancement in matters of national importance and he is recognized as a splendid type of American manhood and chivalry.

CC Note:  Frank Carpenter is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery.

Such was the experience in the life of the late Adam Cavers--was a very early arrival here as a penniless boy he works his way to fortune-circles the globe.

Brief mention was made in our last issue of the death in England of Mr. Adam Cavers, a former resident of the Village Creek valley in this county, and a man who had become widely known by reason of his extensive travels.

Mr. Cavers was a native of Scotland, being born at Roxburghshire December 23, 1830, and reached the age of 70 years, four months and nineteen days. Of humble parentage his means for securing an education were limited, but he was of a studious nature and in early youth most of his spare moments were spent in reading. In fact, all through his life he evinced a deep interest in books, current literature and the topics of the day, and the information thus gained, in addition to the broadening influence derived from years of travel and contact with the world in all its phases, gave to Mr. Cavers a resourceful mind and a cultured bearing that made him one of the most companionable of men.

A desire to see the world manifested itself in Mr. Cavers youth and in 1849 when only 18 years of age, he sailed for America, landing in Canada. The following year found him in Iowa, he having walked much of the distance as there were no railroads beyond Chicago. Lansing was his objective point then and when he stepped ashore from a river steamer he found it a settlement of a few log cabins. His first employment was the quarrying of rock for the first cellar in the place. In 1851 he went out to Waukon, and all in sight then of the present city was a lone log house. He found a tract of land in Union Prairie to his liking and made the requisite entry of it with the government. It was in later years what was known as the Patrick Norton farm northwest of Waukon. Mr. Cavers did not possess it long, however, and in recalling the sale of it afterwards, he stated that he disposed of it for $10.

Engaging with a government surveying party he went up into what was then the territory of Minnesota, but the Indians drove them out. A few months later at the age of 21 found him on the Isthmus of Panama, aiding in the construction of a railway. Yellow fever was rampant and laborers were dying by the score. The contractors sought by force to prevent any of their able bodied men from leaving camp, and young Cavers to escape the death hole, struck out boldly and alone through the tropical wilds with only his axe to defend him in case of danger. He reached the western coast in due time and boarded a ship for California. The trip was a frightful one for himself and passengers. The ship was storm tossed and blown far out of its course. For 160 days it drifted about the Pacific subjecting all on board to the horrors of starvation and many succumbed to death in consequence. San Francisco was finally reached and with his last $1.50 Mr. Cavers sought an eating resort and expended it for the first full meal he had had for weeks.

He spent some time in the gold diggings of California, and after a varied experience, he joined the rush in 1853 to the newly discovered gold fields in Australia. After remaining there for a year and a half he set sail for the home of his youth in Scotland where he arrived after a voyage of three months. His parents were greatly rejoiced upon his arrival, as they had long since lost trace of the young traveler and had supposed him dead. Shortly before sailing from Melbourne he picked up a paper and gleaned the particulars of the accidental death from a premature blast of an elder brother who was also in Australia but of whose presence there he had never known. On numerous occasions he had passed by the locality where the brother was employed.

In 1855 Mr. Cavers again returned to the United States and settled on a farm near Village Creek in this county. On May 5, 1857, he was wedded to Miss Caroline Ingmundson of that neighborhood, whose cherished and constant companionship he enjoyed to the day of his death. They remained on the farm until 1873, and then selling the property, the love of travel prompted Mr. Cavers and his wife to visit the Old World on a sight seeing trip. In this pleasant and profitable manner have they spent the years ever since.

They visited all the principal capitals of Europe, passed two winters in Rome, toured the Scandinavian countries, Holland, Belgium, German and France, viewing the sights of the three great Paris Expositions. They made a circuit of the globe by way of the Suez Canal, visiting the scenes of Mr. Cavers early life of the gold diggings of Australia. They also visited New Zealand points and returned by way of California. Their trips were always made without the least hurry and in ease and comfort, which added untold zest and delight to the enjoyment to be derived in tours of such extent and character. Four trips were made to Scotland, the inborn love of native land and the home of his youth always attracting Mr. Cavers to those scenes which of all were most dear to him.

Last winter Mr. and Mrs. Cavers repaired to Bournemouth, Hampshire, England, a city nestling among the pines on the seashore, to remain until the summer months when they planned to return to Washington, D.C., purchase a home and reside there in the future. In their travels they had passed several seasons in the national capital and had a fond liking for the city and its environments. Fate decided otherwise, however, and Mr. Cavers' health which until now had been excellent, began to give way, and as stated above he succumbed to the insatiable inroads of Bright's disease. His brother James of Village Creek, was keep informed almost daily of his condition and from the reports sent by his wife, the brother here soon realized that the end was approaching and that he would not be privileged to see him again.

Mr. Cavers passed peacefully and painlessly away, with his devoted and affectionate wife at his side, who in all their years of travel had been his constant companion. So inseparable has been their union that Mrs. Cavers in the letter to relatives here apprising them of the details of her husband's death, plaintively adds that she likens her condition at present "to a ship without a sail, a reed with a support." At the request of the deceased, his remains were conveyed to London and cremated. He died May 11, 1901.

His bereaved widow expects to embark for this country the latter part of this week. The other immediate relatives who share her sorrows are two sisters, Mrs. Richmond of Armstrong, Iowa and Mrs. Findlator [JMR: Janet Cavers Findlator] of Canada and an only brother Mr. James Cavers of Village Creek.

Away back in the 70's Mr. Cavers was a regular contributor to the columns of this paper, his sketches of travel in foreign lands proving most interesting reading and demonstrating the writer to be gifted with unusual ability in this line.

While absent from friends and kindred here most of the time for thirty years, yet this good and true man will be held in the kindliest remembrance by those honored with his acquaintance.

Contributed by: James Richmond. Source: The Mirror, Lansing, Iowa, September 1901

CC Note: The above biography mentions Mrs. Margaret Cavers Richmond, a resident of Armstrong, Iowa. Mrs. Richmond is a sister of Adam Cavers. For other Richmond biographies please see the Emmet County Q-R biographies page and for Richmond obituaries, including Margaret Cavers Richmond, please see the Emmet County Q-R obituaries page.

CHEEVER, Fred W.

Fred W. Cheever, who is devoting practically his entire time to the operation of his excellent farm on section 15, Iowa Lake township, is also interested financially in a number of local business enterprises. His birth occurred in Butler county, Iowa, in March, 1874, and he is a of Samuel W. and Helen (Tufts) Cheever, an account of whose appears in the sketch of John T. Cheever.

Fred W. Cheever remained at home until he was twenty-three years of age and after completing his education in the district schools assisted his father with the farm work for several years. For a time he had charge of the operation of the home place, but in 1898, at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, offered his services to the government. He enlisted in Company D, Fifty-second Iowa Volunteer Regiment, but was transferred to Company D, Forty-ninth Iowa Volunteers. He was taken ill while in camp and was in a hospital at Fort McPherson, Atlanta, Georgia, for twenty weeks. On the 24th of May, 1899, he returned home and in the following year arrived in Emmet county, Iowa, where he has since lived. He purchased one hundred and twenty acres on section 15, Iowa Lake township, and at once began the operation of his place. During the first winter, however, he also engaged in teaching school but is now concentrating his energies upon his farm work. He has added to his holdings eighty acres adjoining his original purchase and the entire tract of two hundred acres is in a high state of cultivation and produces excellent crops. He also raises some stock and his annual income ensures him of all the comforts of life. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company of Armstrong and also in the Armstrong cement factory, of which he is likewise vice president and a director.

Mr. Cheever was married on the 23d of December, 1901, to Miss Martha Hanson and they have become the parents of three children: Lester F., who was born December 9, 1908; Arnold N., born September 24, 1912; and Martha Fern, born in August, 1915.

Mr. Cheever is a strong republican in his political belief and is quite influential in public affairs. He is now town clerk, which office he has filled since 1905, and for many years has been secretary of the school board, his experience as a teacher qualifying him unusually well to have voice in the management of the local schools. He is characterized by those qualities which invariably win esteem and regard and his personal friends are many.

CLARK, Bert L.

Bert L. Clark, engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Dolliver, was born in Rock Falls, Wisconsin, April 29, 1882, and is a son of B. P. and Ella (Wallace) Clark, the former also a native of Wisconsin and the latter of Pennsylvania. The parents were married in Wisconsin where they continued to reside until 1889 and then came to Emmet county, Iowa, locating on a farm in Iowa Lake township which the father still owns. The mother passed away October 26, 1916, leaving two children, namely: Grace, now the wife of W. A. Richmond; and Bert L., of this review.

The latter was seven years of age on the removal of the family to Emmet county, where he passed the days of his boyhood and youth in much the usual manner of farmer boys. He attended the common schools and was graduated from the high school of Estherville in 1901. He also pursued a commercial course in a business college at Cedar Rapids and for one year was connected with the Iowa Savings Bank at Estherville, Iowa. In 1906 he was made cashier of the Citizens Bank of Dolliver and after its reorganization as the Farmers Savings Bank in 1912 continued in that position until January 1, 1917. He is now engaged in the real estate and insurance business. He owns a nice residence in the village and also one hundred and twenty acres of land and a half interest in an eighty-acre tract in Emmet county.

Mr. Clark was married in 1911 to Miss Hazel Follett, a native of Emmet county and a daughter of E. A. and Katherine (Gardner) Follett. Her father was born in New York state and her mother in Vermont, but for many years they have made their home in Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Clark have been born three children; Faye C., who died March 15, 1916; Lorairine E.; and Mavis C. Mr. Clark affiliates with the republican party and is now serving on the town board. Fraternally, he is identified with Armstrong Lodge, No. 533, A. F. & A. M. He is one of the representative business men of the town and wherever known he is held in the highest esteem.

Contributed by: James M. Richmond . Source: A biographical review from an unknown original source, made available courtesy of his daughter, Lorraine [Clark] Lucas. [JMR: This review was probably written between 1 January 1917 and 5 April 1918]

CLARK, Bert L.

Bert L. Clark, son of B. P. and Ella [Wallace] Clark, history is on page 75 in 1917 Edition of Emmet and Dickinson County History.

To Mr. and Mrs. Bert Clark were born, Faye C. who died March 15, 1916; Lorraine E. and Mavis C and Bertram K. Mrs. Clark passed away in 1917. Mr. Clark was married in 1920 to Blanche L. Hoppus, daughter of Warner and Julia [Rogers] Hoppus. To them were born Muriel Lee, August 7, 1921, [presently Mrs. Paul C. Sprague] both of Estherville.

Mr. and Mrs. Clark moved in 1938 to Estherville, Iowa where he continued his real estate business. In 1942 the family moved to Santa Monica, California where Mr. Clark was employed at Douglas Aircraft until his death in June, 1945. Mrs. Clark returned to Estherville where she lived until her death in 1966. They are buried in the Armstrong Grove Cemetery.

Contributed by: James M. Richmond .  Source: "History of Emmet County, Iowa, VoL. III", Compiled by the Emmet County Historical Society as a Bicentennial Project., Inter-Collegiate Press, Inc., Shawnee Mission, Kansas, 1976, page 120.

CLARK, Harvey E.

Harvey E. Clark, a well known representative of farming interests in Center township, Emmet county, resides on section 5, where a well-improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres pays tribute to the care and labor which he bestows upon it. Indiana claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred in Putnam county, May 6, 1862, his parents being Alexander C. and Nancy (Bly) Clark, natives of the Hoosier state, who in 1864 removed to Dallas county, Iowa, where they settled upon a farm. Both are still living. To them were born fourteen children, eight of whom survive.

Harvey E. Clark was but two years of age at the time of the removal to Dallas county, so that the period of his youth was largely passed there and to the public school system he is indebted for his educational opportunities. His farm training was received under his father's direction and he continued to assist in the development of the old homestead until he reached the age of twenty-five years, when, desirous of engaging in farming on his own account, he bought land in Dallas county which he continued to cultivate until 1911, when he sold that property and invested in six hundred acres in Center township, Emmet county, constituting his present home property. This is well improved and his attention is systematically given to the work of the farm and results in the harvesting of good crops annually.

In 1887 occurred the marriage of Harvey E. Clark and Miss Deborah C. Mills, a native of Dallas county, Iowa, and a daughter of Jeremiah and Nancy (Etchison) Mills, both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have become the parents of six children, but lost their firstborn, Bertha. They are: Earl C., Ivol W., Esther P., now Mrs. T. O. Marriott; Everett A., and Dean A.

The parents are consistent members of the Christian church and Mr. Clark gives his political allegiance to the Democratic party. He is now serving as chairman of the board of trustees in his township and is ever loyal in his support of all plans and projects tending to promote the public welfare. His has been an active and well spent life and his labors have found their legitimate reward in substantial success.

COLEMAN, Miss Vera M.

Miss Vera M. Coleman, now serving as postmistress of Dolliver, is a native of Humboldt county, Iowa, and a daughter of Isaac and Nettie (Moulton) Coleman. Her father was born in Toronto, Canada, and when about sixteen years of age removed to New York state, where the following five years were passed. At the end of .that time he came to Iowa and spent three years at Lost Nation, Jackson county. Subsequently he made his way to Livermore, Humboldt County, Iowa; and in 1899 came to Emmet county. For four years he was engaged in the hardware business at Dolliver and then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, which he continued to follow throughout the remainder of his active life. Since 1914, however, he has made his home in Estherville and has lived retired. His wife was born in Maquoketa, her parents having become residents of Jackson county, Iowa, in 1844. They were from New York and were early settlers of Jackson county.

Miss Vera M. Coleman was given good educational advantages and is a graduate of Dolliver high school. She also spent one year at the Iowa State University. In 1914 she was appointed postmistress of Dolliver by President Wilson and has acceptably filled that position ever since. She is one of the most prominent ladies in the town and is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

CONLIN, Peter

Peter Conlin followed agricultural pursuits throughout his active life and his well directed labors yielded him a good financial return. His last days were spent in honorable retirement from business cares in Armstrong, where he passed away September 4, 1916. He was born in Massachusetts on the 20th of March, 1845, and is a son of James and Anna (Gallagher) Conlin, who emigrated to this country from Ireland in an early day and located in Massachusetts. The father farmed there until the removal of the family to Wisconsin, where he became a landowner. He passed away in 1886 at the advanced age of eighty-four years, and the mother died in 1858.

Peter Conlin spent his boyhood and youth in Wisconsin and received his education in the public schools of that state. When not quite seventeen years of age he was employed in hauling provisions for the Union army and was at the front for about three years. He was taken captive and because of the terrible conditions of prison life became so emaciated that he was little more than a skeleton when he returned to his home in Wisconsin. As soon as he had sufficiently recovered his strength he went to work as a farm hand and so continued until 1871, when he came to Emmet county, Iowa and took up a homestead in Armstrong Grove township. He brought that place to a high state of cultivation and made many improvements thereon. For thirty-three years his time and energy were taken up with the operation of his farm, and his good management and thrift enabled him to accumulate a competence. At length he retired and took up his residence in Armstrong, where he died September 4, 1916, at the age of seventy-one years and five months.

On the 4th of December, 1869, Mr. Conlin was married to Miss Delia Harrity, a daughter of John and Bridget (Thornton) Harrity, who were natives of Ireland but emigrated to America, locating near Cleveland, Ohio. The father was for a time foreman on a large farm there, but later the family removed to Wisconsin and he purchased land, which he cultivated until his death. To Mr. and Mrs. Conlin were born five children: Anna, who died April 24, 1906; Mary and John, twins; James and Patrick, who is a resident of Emmetsburg.

Mr. Conlin was a Democrat in politics but was without ambition to hold office, being content to discharge his duties as a citizen in a private capacity. However, he was chosen by popular suffrage trustee of his township. In religious faith he was a Catholic. The patriotism which prompted him to give his services to the Union at the time of the Civil War characterized him throughout life and he always placed the general welfare above his personal interests.

COON, Byron M.

Byron M. Coon is engaged in the practice of law in Estherville, being a well known attorney of Emmet county. He was born in Washington, D. C., March 3, 1880, and is a son of Byron C. and Janet (McPherson) Coon, who were natives of New York and of Maryland respectively. The father is now a distinguished citizen of the nation's capital and at present is filling a position in the office of the second assistant postmaster general. He has been connected with the postoffice department there for forty-five years and no higher testimonial of fidelity and capability could be found than the statement of the fact of his long connection with the department and his steady advancement in the service.

Byron M. Coon, reared in his native city, attended the George Washington Law University, from which he was graduated on the completion of the regular course. He was then admitted to practice before the supreme court of the District of Columbia and in the United States courts in 1903. He spent six months in a law office, gaining practical experience, and on the expiration of that period removed westward to Estherville, Iowa, where he became associated in practice with George E. Patterson, opening an office in the old Coon block. This was before the fire of 1904. He continued his connection with Mr. Patterson for a year and later was associated in law practice with Judge N. J. Lee for a year subsequent to 1910 but between the years 1904 and 1910 was alone in practice. In April, 1916, he was joined by S. G. Bammer in a law partnership that is still maintained. His devoting his attention to general law practice and is a strong and able attorney, preparing his cases with great thoroughness and care. He is resourceful, being seldom surprised by the unexpected attack of an adversary, and at all times his deductions are sound, his reasonings logical and his arguments convincing. He first gleaned knowledge of Estherville through a visit with relatives, Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Doolittle, and becoming impressed with the city and its opportunities, he returned to enter the field of active practice here in 1903. In 1901 he had been connected with the agricultural branch of the twelfth federal census, editing the agricultural data, and this brought him much knowledge concerning the state, its conditions and its opportunities, leading to his later investigation, with the result that Iowa gained a substantial citizen and Mr. Coon found here a profitable field of labor.

In 1906 occurred the marriage of Mr. Coon and Miss Mary E. Lesher, a daughter of W. A. and Alvira Lesher, then of Estherville. The mother is now deceased, while the father at the present time resides in Le Mars, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Coon have become the parents of three children: Paul L., who was born April 12, 1907; Janet, April 4, 1909; and Mary Elizabeth, June 30, 1912.

The parents are members of the Presbyterian church and in the social life of the city they occupy an enviable position. Fraternally Mr. Coon is connected with the Elks, the Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Yeomen. For two years he was venerable consul of the Modern Woodmen camp at Estherville and was lecturing knight for the Elks for a year. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he has several times been called upon to fill positions of honor and trust. For four years he served as justice of the peace and his decisions in that office were strictly fair and impartial. For a similar period he filled the office of secretary of the independent school district of Estherville. In 1905 he was called to the position of city attorney, which office he occupied for four terms, resigning in 1913 to become county attorney, in which position he is now serving for the second term, making an excellent record by his devotion to duty, coupled with his comprehensive knowledge of the law and his ability to correctly apply its principles.

CRATTY, Robert Irvin

One of the most prominent and influential citizens of Armstrong Grove township, Emmet County, is Robert Irvin Cratty, the proprietor of The Maples, located on section 11. He was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania, February 5, 1853, and is a son of William C. and Martha (Hirsch) Cratty, who were also natives of the old Keystone state. The father followed farming in Pennsylvania until 1863, when he removed with his family to Illinois and continued to engage in the same occupation in that state untilhis death in 1875. The mother had passed away in 1865.

Robert Irvin Cratty began his education in the schools of Pennsylvania and later pursued his studies in the schools of Illinois. On leaving the latter state in 1877 he came to Iowa, where he engaged in teaching school for twenty-one years. He was principal of the schools of Estherville from 1879 to 1882. Prior to this, in 1878, he purchased his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres on Section 11, Armstrong Grove township, and began its improvement. He now has a very valuable tract on which are good and substantial buildings and the land is under excellent cultivation.

Mr. Cratty was married April 19, 1878, to Miss Lovina E. Canon, who died on the 22nd of December, 1896, leaving four children, namely: Mabel E.; Edna R.; Alta M.; and Ralph W. On March 4, 1910, Mr. Cratty was united in marriage to Mrs. Mollie E. Webster, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are active and consistent members of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Cratty holds the office of Elder. In politics he is a republican and at present is serving as township clerk, which position he has filled for many years. He has also been township trustee, and, in fact, has held either one or the other of the two offices for twenty years. He was also treasurer of the school board for twenty years and is a stockholder of the First National Bank of Armstrong. Botany has become his hobby and he has made a large collection of Iowa and Minnesota plants, having a herbarium of six thousand species. He has also written much on the flora of Iowa and has devoted much of his leisure time to that study. He is one of the leading citizens of his community and is a man who commands the respect and confidence of all with whom he is brought in contact in both business and social life.

Submitted by: Ruth Hackett

CRIM, L. E.

Crim, L. E., postmaster at Wallingford, to which position he was appointed on the 12th of January, 1916, is a native son of Emmet county, his birth having occurred at Estherville, August 18, 1888. His parents were A. A. and Eva (Brown) Crim, the former a native of Boone county, Iowa, and the latter of Massachusetts. About forty years ago A. A. Crim took up his abode in Emmet county, where he and his wife are still living, being among the well known and worthy farming people of this section of the state. In their family were four children and family circle yet remains unbroken by the hand of death.

The usual experiences of the farm bred boy came to L. E. Crim in the period of his youth. He attended the district schools and through the summer months aided in the work of the fields, early becoming familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. In 1913 he engaged in the hardware and implement business at Wallingford and has since conducted his store in that city. He carries a carefully selected line, representing the leading manufacturers of the country, and from the beginning his trade has constantly grown. He is also filling the position of postmaster, as previously indicated, thus becoming one of the active officials of his city.

In 1911 Mr. Crim was married to Miss Gay Shaffer, a native of Grundy county, Iowa, and a daughter of W. A. and Lydia Shaffer, who are now residents of Waterloo, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Crim have become the parents of a son, Keith W., who was born on the 18th of June, 1912.

Mr. Crim has always been a democrat since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and gives stalwart support to the party, believing firmly in its principles. His entire life has been passed in Emmet county, where he has a very wide and favorable acquaintance, and he is now numbered among its enterprising and substantial young business men.

CRONK, Henry

A fine farm of one hundred acres of excellent land in Armstrong Grove township, Emmet county, is evidence of the industry and thrift of Henry Cronk, who died February 7, 1917. He was a progressive and successful farmer and stock raiser. He was born in Canada in September, 1840, a son of David and Nancy (Clark) Cronk, also natives of that country. The father engaged in farming there until his death in 1866 and nine years later the mother also passed away.

Henry Cronk remained at home until he became of age and obtained his education in the public schools of the Dominion. After beginning his independent career he farmed there for a time and also engaged in threshing during the summer seasons but in 1866 he came to Emmet county, Iowa, and bought a relinquishment on a claim of three hundred acres on section 13, Armstrong Grove township. He at one time owned three hundred and twenty acres but disposed of all save one hundred acres, which he continued to operate until his death. He raised grain but paid particular attention to the breeding of fine stock. He was the first man to bring a thoroughbred animal into Emmet county and for some time engaged extensively in raising shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs. Success attended his well directed labors and a substantial competence was his.

Mr. Cronk was married in February, 1867, to Miss Bessie Horswell, an account of whose parents appears in the sketch of Richard Horswell elsewhere in this work. To Mr. and Mrs. Cronk were born twelve children, namely: Byron, Amy, Charley, George, Richard, Olive, Earl, Bessie, Irwin and Jennie, all of whom survive; and Addie and Ross, both of whom died in infancy.

Mr. Cronk was a stanch republican in politics but never was an aspirant for official honors. He belonged to the Free Methodist church and in all his dealings conformed his conduct to high ethical standards.

CC NOTE:  Henry Cronk, died February 1917, burial in Armstrong Grove cemetery.

CLUMP, Daniel M.

Daniel M. Clump, who follows farming on section 22, Superior township, Dickinson county, and also devotes considerable attention to stock raising, was born in Lake county, Illinois, on June 15, 1860 , his parents being Frederick J. and Elmira (Mitchell) Clump, the father a native of Buffalo, New York, and the mother of Stephenson county, Illinois. They were married in Freeport, Illinois, and continued to reside in that state until 1884, when they came to Dickinson county, Iowa, and located on a farm on section 34, Richland township. They lived there until 1901, when Mr. Clump retired and located on a small farm of fifty-six acres within the town limits of Superior, where he has since resided.

Daniel M. Clump passed the days of his minority in Illinois and is indebted to its public schools for the education he acquired during that time. It was in 1881 that he came to Iowa and took charge of his fathers’ farm on section 34, Richland township, Dickinson county. At that time the land was all wild prairie and he erected the buildings and set out trees thereon. He has practically witnessed the entire development of this region and is thoroughly familiar with pioneer conditions. The trip from Illinois to Iowa was a hard one as the country was then snow bound, and he arrived in Spencer on the first freight train that had reached that place for three months. It had required a whole week to make the journey. On reaching Spencer he was only able to buy one loaf of bread and as his trunk did not arrive on the same train he made the trip to Spirit Lake in a pair of wooden shoes. An uncle had previously come to Dickinson county and he had built a shack upon the father’s farm which he stocked with provisions, but on the arrival of our subject he found that the neighbors had grown hungry and had taken all the meat left there. For some time he was obliged to live on graham mush and graham bread. So severe had been the winter that on the fourteenth day of April, 1881, he was able to cross Okoboji Lake on the ice with a load of oats. Mr. Clump continued to reside upon the old home farm until 1893 when he removed to Des Moines, where he was identified with the real estate business for four years.

While at that place he was married on November 25, 1895, to Miss Josephine Apple of Racine county, Wisconsin. In 1897 they removed to Estherville, Emmet county, and for the following two years Mr. Clump conducted a meat market at that place. At the end of that time he moved his market to Jackson county, Iowa, where he and his father purchased a section of timber land and for several years he cut cord wood and also engaged in the cattle business. In 1903 he returned to Estherville, where the following two years were passed, and since that time he has remained upon his present farm of two hundred and forty-three acres in Superior township, Dickinson county. As an agriculturist he has met with excellent success and for several years past has devoted considerable attention to the feeding of cattle for market, which branch of his business he has also found profitable.

Mr. and Mrs. Clump have two daughters of their own and also an adopted son, namely: Irene A., Ruth I. and Arthur Dale. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in both Emmet and Dickinson counties. In politics Mr. Clump is independent, preferring to support men and measures that he believes best calculated to promote the general interests of the community. He is one of the representative citizens of Dickinson county and his course in life has ever won for him the respect and esteem of those with whom he has been brought in contact.

Submitted by:  Justina Cook.  Justina's husband is the great-grandson of Daniel Clump.

DOBBERSTEIN, August

A large and well developed farm of two hundred and seventy-nine acres on section 18, Emmet township, pays tribute to the care and labor bestowed upon it by it's owner, August Dobberstein, whose life of well directed energy and thrift has brought him substantial measure of success. He was born in Germany, April 6, 1858, and is the son of Antone and Julia Dobberstein, both of whom were natives of Germany, where they spent their early lives, there rearing their family of six children, four of whom survive.

August Dobberstein acquired his education in the schools of his fatherland and remained a resident of that country until he reached the age of twenty five years, when he severed home ties and crossed the Atlantic in 1883, making his way first to Wisconsin. In 1884 he removed to Butler County, Iowa, where he resided for nineteen years, and in 1903 became a resident of Emmet County, Iowa, where he purchased the farm on section 18, Emmet Township, upon which he now makes his home. It is an excellent tract of land of two hundred and seventy nine acres, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation and to which he has added many modern and attractive improvements in the way of fine buildings, so that his farm constitutes one of the pleasing features of the land.

DOWS, John and Anna

[Click photo to enlarge]

John Dows and his wife Anna [Richmond] Dows, above, drew up the plat for the town of Gruver in Emmet County, Iowa in the summer of 1899, when the town was known as "Luzon". The plat was filed with the county recorder on September 20, 1899. This name was not popular with the local citizens, so only six months later it was changed. On April 2, 1900 a petition signed by two-thirds, of the voters in the village was presented to the board of supervisors asking that the name be changed to "Gruver."

John Dows built many of the bridges and culverts in northern Iowa and also laid a large amount of the track for the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern. Railroad. He was associated with his uncle, the Honorable Stephen Leland Dows of Cedar Rapids, with contracts for construction of all the culverts on the railroad line from Clarion to Estherville. John Dows was a civil engineer from New York and built, in 1901, the longest and highest double-track bridge in the world, at that time, near Moingona, Iowa, west and south of Boone, Iowa. [The bridge was renamed the Kate Shelly Bridge in 1981.] And he built bridges as far west as Colorado.

The Honorable Stephen Leland Dows, uncle of John Dows, purchased the Northwest ¼ of Section 14 of Township 99 North, Range 31 West of the Fifth Prime Meridian from William Potts on 12 April 1892. Potts had in 1883 purchased it from a homesteader named William K. Jordan. Dows and his wife then sold the property to the Northern Iowa Land and Town Lot Company, of which S. L. Dows was secretary. On July 2, 1892 that land was conveyed to the Town of Armstrong and filed in the courthouse on 7 July 1892. As a member of the Northern Iowa Land and Town Lot Company, John Dows had much to do with grading and naming the streets and is said to have platted the town of Armstrong in 1892. Much of the main street property and many of the choicest building lots in the future residential areas were acquired early in 1893 by the State Bank of Armstrong.

Dows arrived in this area with a surveying party in 1892 and remained to make it his permanent home. In 1895 John Dows purchased from William Stuart, Armstrong’s first financial institution, the Armstrong Bank. It was incorporated under the laws of Iowa in July of 1900 as The First National Bank of Armstrong, where Dows served as vice president and B.F. Robinson as president. In another banking venture, John Dows and George Stickney were two of the three partners in a newly established German American Bank in the town of Ceylon, in Martin County, Minnesota.

Dows was also involved with the Armstrong Brick and Tile Company, incorporated Feb 19, 1902; it manufactured bricks, tile and sewer pipe, and was located in the southeast corner of the city of Armstrong. B.F. Robinson was president, John Dows, vice president, William Stuart, secretary and G. W. Umphrey, treasurer. Dows was also a board member of the Opera House Company, which was incorporated May 6, 1903. In 1910 he owned with B.F. Robinson the Southeast ¼’s of sections 16 and 27 of Armstrong Grove Township. And he owned outright the north half of the Southwest ¼ of Section 14, immediately south of the town of Armstrong. He had other land holdings in Iowa Lake Township.

John Dows built his home at 908 Third Avenue in Armstrong, Iowa for $5000 in 1895. On 26 September of that year he married Anna Richmond, daughter of Matthew Richmond and Margaret [Cavers] Richmond.

John Dows was born in Balize Parish of Plaquemines county, Louisiana on 25 December 1852 as John Rogers. John’s father’s surname was Rodriques, but had it changed to Rogers, before he died, while John was a young boy. John Leland Dows, a friend of John’s father and a brother of the Honorable Stephen Leland Dows, adopted young John. John Leland Dows and his wife Mary L. [Kamlah] Dows brought young John Dows north to a small town known as Half Moon, now part of Clifton Park, near Troy, New York, where he was raised to manhood. Enroute John Dows and his adopted father watched from the banks of the Mississippi River the Siege of Vicksburg by Union General U.S. Grant and his Army during the Civil War. [John’s uncle, the Honorable S. L. Dows was a first lieutenant in Company I, Twentieth Iowa Infantry during the Civil War. Subsequently he was appointed acting brigade quartermaster of the First Brigade, Second Division, Army of the Frontier.]

The Dows ancestral line can be traced back through Charlestown, Massachusetts to the early 1500’s in England; the name was originally spelled Dowse.

Anna [Richmond] Dows was the second daughter of a family of six children born to Emmet county pioneers Matthew Richmond and Margaret [Cavers] Richmond on Christmas Day in 1861. She was born in Canada and made the trip across the prairies of northern Iowa with her parents via horse and wagon in October of 1868. The family settled in a two-room log cabin in the southeast corner of Armstrong Grove Township some thirty years before the town of Armstrong was established.

When Anna Richmond was young her uncle John Richmond, D. D., a noted Presbyterian minister from the Shadyside Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, PA. visited her father Matthew at the family farm in Armstrong Grove. He offered her father a "deal"; he would take one of Matthew's children back to Pittsburgh with him and give the child a decent education with one proviso: after receiving it's education the child had to return to Iowa as an educator. Matthew chose to send Anna, saying that Anna had the best head in the family, and besides, he needed the boys to help him on the farm.

After receiving her early education in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she continued on to college where she graduated from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. After graduation, she returned to Iowa and taught school in Emmet County. It is here, that she probably met John Dows, whom she subsequently married at the age of 33.

The couple had two daughters, Margaret Richmond Dows [Mrs. Guy Wesley Evans] and Helen Rogers Dows [Mrs. Donald Carmel Woods], and an infant daughter who died in infancy. John Dows died in 1930 and Anna died in 1947, in Hinsdale, Illinois. Both were buried in the Armstrong Grove Cemetery, Armstrong, Iowa.

Contributed by: James M. Richmond.

DOWS, Hon. Stephen L.

A broad-minded, generous-spirited man, capable and enterprising in business and yet never so engrossed in commercial and financial affairs as to exclude the other interests of life which come from a recognition of man's duty to his fellowman, to his community and his country, Hon. Stephen L. Dows ranked with the foremost men of Iowa and in Cedar Rapids, where he made his home, and indeed wherever he was known his memory is cherished and revered by those with whom he came in contact.

Mr. Dows was born in New York city, October 9,1832, a son of Adam and Maria (Lundy) Dows. The ancestral line is traced back to one of the old families of New England and the name was originally spelled Dowse... "Stephen L. Dows was a little lad of four years when his parents removed to Troy, New York. He attended the public schools there to the age of fourteen years, when he entered upon an apprenticeship to the machinist’s trade, mastering his duties with promptness and capability. The west, with its broader opportunities, however, attracted him and with the desire to try his fortune in the rapidly developing Mississippi valley, he made his way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1848. His cash capital it the time consisted of seventy cents. He was in a way a soldier of fortune, having no definite plans, but he recognized the fact that industry and determination will always win. The first year was spent in the lumber camp at Badenoquett, Michigan, where his salary was but twelve dollars per month. He then crossed the peninsula and Lake Superior, made his way through the untravelled wilderness and arrived in Marquette, Michigan, in 1849, being one of the first white men to spend the winter there. He found employment in the machine shops, ran the first engine and aided in building the first steamer launched on Lake Superior. After two years he returned to Badenoquett, where he was once more connected with the lumber business until 1853, when he secured the position of superintendent of a lumber mill at Muskegon. Two years later, or on the 12th of April, 1855, he arrived in Cedar Rapids and subsequently operated a sawmill and conducted a lumber business in both Linn and Jones counties. Each change that he made marked a forward step in his career. He afterward became superintendent for the Variety Manufacturing Company, but in 1860 he went to Colorado, attracted by the discovery of gold at Pikes Peak. A year convinced him that fortunes were not to be had for the asking there and he returned to Cedar Rapids. In August, 1862, prompted by a spirit of patriotism which at that time dominated every other interest of his life, Mr. Dows offered his services to the government, enlisting as a member of Company I, Twentieth Iowa Infantry, in which he was made first lieutenant. Subsequently e was appointed acting brigade quartermaster of the First Brigade, Second Division, Army of the Frontier, but exposure and overwork at length forced him to leave the service, his health having been undermined. Following his return from the war he began railroad building under contract and was not long in reaping the results of his former labor and experience. His efforts in that direction were of material benefit to the state, as well as the source of gratifying income for himself. Contract followed contract and he employed a large force of workmen and conducted a most extensive and profitable business, becoming one of the leaders in his line in the west. As his financial resources increased he made large investments in realty and many tracts which he owned were converted into town sites in Iowa, Minnesota and Dakota. His investments were wisely placed and his capable control of his business dealings gained for him the high regard and honor of all with whom he came in contact. Mr. Dows made extensive investment in Cedar Rapids real estate and in 1874 erected the Dows block, one of the finest office and business structures in the west at that time. A contemporary biographer has written: "Self-made in the strictest sense of the term, he educated himself, became a skillful machinist and later developed into one of the most farsighted business men Cedar Rapids has known. He was also largely interested in Cedar Rapids banks and served for many years as a director of various local financial institutions."

Mr. Dows was married October 31, 1855, to Miss Henrietta W. Safely, a daughter of Thomas Safely, of Waterford, New York. She was born in Scotland, November 12, 1834, and when tow years of age was brought by her parents to the new world, the family home being established at Waterford, where they remained until 1851, when removal was made to Sugar Grove, Linn county, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Dows began their domestic life in Mount Vernon, but after a year went to Cedar Rapids, where Mrs. Dows became a recognized leader in the social, religious and charitable circles of the city. She held membership in the First Methodist church, took a prominent part in all of its activities and gave most most generously toward its benevolence. The poor and needy ever found in her a friend and in all of her good work she was guided by tact, kindliness and ready sympathy. She passed away August 7, 1893, at the age of fifty-eight years, and no where was her loss so keenly felt as in her own home, for she was a devoted wife and mother, counting no personal sacrifice or effort too great if it would promoted the happiness and welfare of the members of the household.

Mr. and Mrs. Dows were the parents of six children: Minnie Marie, who died at the age of fifteen years: Elma, the wife of Benjamin Thane, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, the wife of Thompson McClintock, also of Pittsburgh; Henrietta, the wife of James E. Blake, of Chicago; Stephen Leland, who died July 5, 1899; and William G., of Cedar Rapids.

Following the death of his wife Mr. Dows gave to St. Luke's Hospital as a memorial to her its splendid operating room with its equipment, said to be one of the finest in the United States.

Mr. Dows gave unfaltering allegiance to the republican party from the time that age conferred upon him the right of franchise. In 1875 he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature and served in the sixteenth and seventeenth general assemblies. He was made a member of a number of important committees, including that of railroads, manufacture, appropriations and penitentiaries. He was connected with much constructive legislation and ever placed the public good before partisanship and the general welfare before personal agrandizement. A contemporary writer has paid a fitting tribute to his memory : "Like his wife, Mr. Dows was ever deeply interested in that which worked for the betterment and advancement of the community. He was naturally an enthusiast in the cause of education, serving for many years as a trustee of Coe College of this city and of Cornell College, at Mount Vernon. Fraternally be was a Knight Templar Mason and an Odd Fellow. He began with nothing, not once but several times, for he made and lost several fortunes before he gathered the last and largest one. He had worked and worked hard at anything that came to his hands, from primitive railroad building to digging gold. He traveled Illinois and Iowa on foot because he bad nothing with which to pay for conveyance; later he built railroads in every direction and did it at a time when the financing of such a project was a difficult problem. He frequently took what seemed like desperate chances, but his unusual business sagacity enabled him to be on the winning side. He served in the Civil war with distinction, for he was not too busy with private affairs to forget the duty which be owed to his country and to humanity. His life was typical of the great, growing west, to which growth be contributed so largely. He was a man of action rather than of theory and with determined purpose carried forward to successful completion whatever he undertook, and in his death Cedar Rapids lost one of the most rugged, honest, capable and honorable men that the city has ever known."

Contributed by: James M. Richmond. Source: "Iowa: Its History and Its Foremost Citizens", Volume III, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1915, page 1293-1296.

DUNDAS, David

David Dundas, who is farming on section 10, Armstrong Grove township, Emmet county, has been a witness of the development of the county since-an early period in its history and has done his part in bringing about its advancement along agricultural lines. He was born in Canada in 1849 and is a son of James and Anna (McFadden) Dundas, natives respectively of Scotland and Ireland, although the mother was also of Scotch descent. They emigrated to the Dominion in an early day and the father cultivated land there for many years. At length he went to DeKalb county, Illinois, whence in 1865 he removed with his family to Kossuth county, Iowa. After farming there for five years he came to Emmet county, Iowa, and bought land in Armstrong Grove township and also took up a homestead there. He operated his farm for a number of years and met with gratifying success. He died in Armstrong, February 9, 1891, and four days later his wife also passed away.

David Dundas received his education in the public schools and remained at home until he was twenty-three years of age, when he took up a homestead in Armstrong Grove township which he operated for thirty-one years, at the end of which time he traded that property for eighty acres on section 10, Armstrong Grove township, adjoining the town of Armstrong, where he has since resided. He has made a number of improvements upon the place and his well directed labors are rewarded by good crops.

Mr. Dundas was married in November, 1874, to Miss Hattie Churchill, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Smith) Churchill, who were born in New York. They were pioneers of this county, where the father homesteaded land, and he was identified with agricultural interests here until his death in 1886. The mother is still living. Seven children been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dundas, namely: Alfred; Ella, the wife of John Fox; Cora, who married Peter Richardson; Archie; Libbie, the wife of Lee Hoppus; Walter, who died when nine months old; and Leonard who died at the age of two years.

Mr. Dundas is a republican in his political belief and in religious faith is a Methodist and the fact that those who have known him intimately since boyhood are his staunchest friends is evidence of the uprightness and rectitude of his life.

DUNDAS, John

For many years John Dundas was actively identified with the agricultural interests of this section of the state but his last days were spent in retirement in Estherville, where he passed away on the 6^th of July, 1915, honored and respected by all who knew him.  He was born in Ireland, May 1, 1838, a son of James and Anne Dundas, who emigrated with their family to the new world when John was only four years of age.  They first located near Quebec, Canada, where the father engaged in farming for a few years, but in 1861 removed to De Kalb county, Illinois, living there for five years.  At the end of that time he came to Emmet county, Iowa, and took up a homestead in Armstrong Grove township, where he followed farming until his death.  The mother is also deceased and both were laid to rest in the Armstrong cemetery.

John Dundas accompanied his parents on their various removals until the family came to Emmet county, when he took up a homestead just over the line in Kossuth county.  There he successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1893, when he retired to Estherville and built a home on the west side.  He lived there until 1913, when he removed to another residence on the same side, it continuing to be the place of his abode until called from this life.

On the 7^th of April, 1868, Mr. Dundas was united in marriage to Miss Jane Gibbon, a daughter of William and Jane Gibbon, who were born in England and on crossing the Atlantic settled near Montreal, Canada, but later came to Iowa, the family becoming residents of Winneshiek county when Mrs. Dundas was quite small.  Mr. Gibbon took up a homestead in Kossuth county, ten miles from Armstrong, about the same the Dundas family located in that neighborhood.  Fifteen years later, however, Mr. and Mrs. Gibbon removed to Oregon, settling in the Williamette valley, near Salem, where both died and were buried.  All the brothers and sisters of Mrs. Dundas still live in that locality.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dundas, namely: Frank H., now a resident of Armstrong; Anna, the deceased wife of Arthur Lewis of Armstrong; Jane, now the widow of James Carroll of Kossuth county and a resident of Armstrong; Carrie, the wife of U. V. James of Estherville; William, who died in infancy; Mina, who died at the age of nine years; and Dora, now Mrs. William Hirth, living near Armstrong.

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