IOWA HISTORY PROJECT

NORTHWESTERN

IOWA

ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION

VOLUME III

1804-1926

 

BIO'S MC

D. W. McAHREN

Dr. D. W. McAhren is president and general manager of the Purity Serum Company, which is engaged in teh manufacture and sale of hog cholera and animal vaccines.  Under his able direction the business has steadily grown until it is now one of the largest concerns of the kind in the United States.  The value of its products is recognized by all livestock dealers, and the enterprise is a substantial element in Sioux City's commercial development.  D. W. McAhren was born in Marshall county, Iowa, on the 15th of September, 1870, and is a son of Greenbury M. and Milissa (Shoemaker) McAhren, who were born and reared in Indiana, where they were married.  In 1854 they became pioneers of Marshall county, Iowa, where the father bought a tract of government land.  In 1870 he sold this property and drove an ox team to Crawford county, this state, where he bought a farm, four miles north of Denison.  He resided on and operated that farm until the fall of 1889, when he moved into the town of Denison and engaged in teh transfer and house-moving business.  He was successful and continued in that work until 1916, when he retired from active business and moved to Sioux City, where he now resides, in the enjoyment of good health, at the age of eighty-seven years.  The mother died in 1916, at the age of seventy-two years.

D. W. McAhren attended the public schools of Denison, remaining on the home farm until 1889, when he began working with his father in the transfer business, thus continuing until 1900, when he secured a clerkship in a clothing store in Denison, where he remained until 1908, when, having accumulated enough money to pay for a technical education, he entered the Kansas City Veterinary College and was graduated in  1911 with the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Surgery.  Immediately he went to work for the state in the manufacture of hog cholera serum at Des Moines, under the supervision of the state veterinarian.  In 1913 the state transferred the manufacture of serum to the supervision of the dean of the veterinary department of the Iowa State Agricultural College at Ames, and Dr. McAhren remained there one year.  In 1914 he came to Sioux City and engaged in the manufacture of hog cholera serum on his own account, under the name of the Standard Serum Company, but on February 1, 1915, organized the Purity Serum Company, of which W. J. Kennedy was made president, Dr. McAhren vice-president and chief veterinarian, and F. G. Whitmer secretary and treasurer.  In 1917 the name of the firm was changed to Purity Biological Laboratory, with the same officers, but in 1920 there occurred a change of officers and the name of Purity Serum Company was resumed, while Dr. McAhren was made president and general manager, J. E. Cathcart vice-president, with E. M. Cassaday, who came into the company in 1917, A. G. Sam, L. H. Henry, Dr. McAhren, F. L. Eaton and J. E. Cathcart as the board of directors.  Under the management of Dr. Mc Ahren the company's products have come to be recognized generally as of superior quality and are in great demand throughout the country.

In 1903 Dr. McAhren was married to Miss Maud Hunter, of Dunlap, Iowa, and to them have been born three children:  Virginia Grace, who died in infancy; Willard Calvin, who is attending high school; and Robert Hunter, who died at the age of five years.  Dr. McAhren is a member of Tyrian Lodge, No. 508, A. F. and A. M., and he also belongs to the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce.  He and his family are members of the First Congregational church.  Well educated, possessing scientific attainments, sound business ability and a splendid personality, he has won an enviable place in the ranks of the representative men of this community.

T. J. McCARTY

 

Rev. Thomas J. McCarty, at present rector of the Cathedral of The Epiphany, Sioux City, is a member of one of the pioneer families of the city, being brought here in infancy by his parents when they came in 1867 by stage, before the building of the first railroad into this section.  He attended the city schools, graduating from the high school, and for the next few years assisted in his father's business, and for a time worked as draftsman in the office of the city engineer.  Feeling a call to the work of the Catholic priesthood, he went in preparation for this first to Creighton College, Omaha, and later to St. Joseph's now Columbia College, Dubuque, and for his theological course to St. Frances' Seminary of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Hennessy, of Dubuque, April 5, 1892, and celebrated his first mass at St. Mary's, Sioux City, now the Cathedral, on the following Sunday.

His first appointment was a temporary one to Marshalltown, Iowa, to take the place of the pastor, Rev. M. C. Lenehan (now bishop of Great Falls, Montana) during the latter's absence in Europe.  From here he was sent to his home parish, St. Mary's, in temporary charge during the absence of the pastor, Very Rev. T. Treacy.  In November, 1892, he was appointed pastor of Eagle Center, Black Hawk county, where he remained a year, being then advanced to the pastorate of Holy Cross, Dubuque county, a strong community of Catholic settlers and one of the oldest parishes of the diocese.  Here he labored for ten years, making extensive improvements in the parish equipment and striving for its spiritual upbuilding.  When the diocese of Dubuque, comprising the north half of Iowa, was divided and its western portion formed into the diocese of Sioux City, Father McCarty came to the new diocese, and was appointed by Bishop Garrigan to the post of chancellor and secretary in November, 1903.  He performed the duties of this office in 1912, when, owing to the effect of the confining work of the chancery on his health, he expressed a desire to return to parish work, and was appointed by Bishop Garrigan, in May of that year, pastor of St. Joseph's church at Carroll, Iowa, and dean of the Carroll Deanery, comprising Carroll, Green and Boone counties.  The work and environment of this position proved most congenial, and here he would have been content to remain.

Right Reverend Edmond Heelan, while auxiliary bishop in the last years of Bishop Garrigan, was rector of the CAthedral, and on becoming bishop of the diocese after Bishop Garrigan's death, appointed FAther McCarty to the rectorship of the Cathedral.  So he is for a third time placed in the parish of his early home and among friends and neighbors, many of whom have known him since boyhood.  While laboring for the spiritual interest of his flock and for the improvement of the Cathedral property, he continues his interest and pride in the institutions and growth of Sioux City, and bears a willing part in any move for the welfare of the whole community.

A. C. McGILL

The legal profession in Sioux City has an able and worthy representative in Arthur Cooper McGill, whose success since locating here has stamped him as a man of marked native ability, thorough professional training and sound judgment.  As a member of the law firm of Kindig, McGill, Stewart & Hatfield, he has been connected as counsel with much of the important litigation in the courts of this district and has proven himself worthy of any foreman's steel.  Mr. McGill was born in Montezuma, Iowa, on the 30th of July, 1885, and is the son of A. C. and Margaret E. (McCandless) McGill, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was born in Pennsylvania.  The father was a stock buyer in early manhood and came to Iowa in 1880.  A year later he returned east and was married in Oakdale, Pennsylvania, on May 21, 1881.  Directly thereafter he brought his bride to Iowa, settling in Montezuma, where he became interested in teh live stock business and also the abstract business, both of which he conducted until 1891, when he helped to organize the Montezuma Savings Bank.  He was made cashier of this institution, retaining that position up to the time of his death, in 1918.  He was a member of the Masonic order and took an active interest in the civic and educational interests of his community.  His wife passed away in 1921.

Arthur C. McGill attended the Montezuma public schools, and then entered Grinnell College, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1908.  Having determined to devote his life to the legal profession, he then entered the law school of the University of Chicago, where he was graduated in 1911, with the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence.  On August 4th of that year he came to Sioux City and engaged in the practice of his profession, being alone until 1917, when he formed a partnership with David W. Steward, and one year they became members of the firm of Kindig, McGill, Stewart & Hatfield, which is widely recognized as one of the strongest and most successful law firms in Sioux City, giving special attention to corporate and probate law.

On December 5, 1913, Mr. McGill was united in marriage to Miss Juanita Massie, of Logan, Iowa, and to them have been born two sons, John Thomas, and Wallace Cooper.  Mr. McGill is a member of Tyrian Lodge No. 508, A. F. & A. M.; Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, A. A. S. R., and Sioux City Lodge, No. 112, B. P. O. E.  He also belongs to the Delta Chi, a college fraternity, University of Chicago chapter; the City Boat Club and the Professional Men's Club.  He is a member of the board to trustees of the First Presbyterian church.  A man of well rounded character, sincere, devoted and loyal, he eminently deserves the popularity which he enjoys among all classes of people.  A keen and salacious lawyer, a public-spirited citizen, and a man of cordial and friendly manner, he has dignified his profession and honors the locality in which he lives.

E. B. McGLOTHLEN

In the list of Greene county's active, successful and well liked citizens, Ernest B. McGlothlen occupied a prominent place.  His record as a public official has been a most commendable one, being marked by strict fidelity to duty and notable ability in directing the affairs of the offices which he has filled.  Exactness and thoroughness have  characterized all his work and he has well merited the high place which he holds in public confidence and esteem.

Mr. McGlothlen was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on the 10th of June, 1895, and is a son of Thomas Benton and Susan E. (West) McGlothlen, the father born near Ottumwa, Iowa, and the mother a native of Ohio.  In the paternal line, Mr. McGlothlen is descended from sterling old Scotch-Irish stock and has shown in his own career the sturdy qualities of that race.  His parents moved from Ohio to Des Moines, Iowa, where the father engaged in the grading contracting business, in which he was eminently successful, as at that time there was much road and railroad grading being done.  He gained a splendid reputation as a competent and reliable business man, performing his contracts to the satisfaction of all concerned.  He began his business in the days of the wheelbarrow, pick and shovel, but was good manager of men and was a popular employer.  He became the leading contractor in his line in Des Moines, operating independently under his own name, and followed that line of business during his entire active career.  His death occurred in 1918, when about seventy years of age, and he was survived a number of years by his widow, who passed away in 1926.

Ernest B. McGlothlen received his education in the Des Moines public schools, and it was the desire of his father that he should go to college.  However, the young man decided that he had sufficient education and applied to his father for a job, expecting to be made a foreman on the construction work.  Instead, he was put to work driving a team to a slip scraper, which work he followed about a year.  He then left his father's employ and took a position in the office of the Des Moines City Railway Company as a clerk.  Here he proved an efficient employe and was later transferred to the accounting department.  About this time he realized that his education was not as complete as it should have been and he attended night school at the West high school for some time, devoting himself closely to his studies, in which he made good progress.  Then, leaving the street railway company, he went into the policy department of the Bankers Life Insurance Company of Des Moines, remaining with that company three or four years, during which time he was advanced to the head of the abstract department, with supervision over fifteen clerks.  However, his health failed and, on the advice of his physician, he gave up office work and came to Jefferson, where he became associated with his father-in-law, R. B. Morden, in the title hauling contracting business.  Subsequently he sold his interest in that business and was appointed to an unexpired term as city clerk.  Some months later he was appointed superintendent of the city waterworks, filling the two offices for some six years, with eminent success.  His ability and faithfulness attracted public attention and on November, 9, 1924, he was elected to the office of county auditor, taking office on the 1st of the following January.  In this position he has abundantly vindicated the judgment of those who elected him, for he has shown himself a capable and efficient official, handling the affairs of his office in an entirely satisfactory manner.

In 1917 Mr. McGlothlen was united in marriage to Miss Leila V. Morden and to them have been born three children, Robert Benton, John Edwin and Shirley Ann.  Mr. McGlothlen is a member of Morning Star Lodge, No. 159, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Cornerstone Chapter, No. 64, Royal Arch Masons, of which he is high priest; and he and his wife are members of Evening Star Chapter, No. 107,  Order of the Eastern Star, of which he is worthy patron.  They are also members of the First Methodist Episcopal church.  Mr. McGlothlen is a man of sterling qualities, possesses a pleasing personality and is courteous and friendly in his social relations.  Because of his fine official record and his interest in the welfare of his community, he stands high in the respect and esteem of all.

E. S. McGREW

Among the progressive and enterprising business men of Spirit Lake is numbered Edwin S. McGrew, proprietor of one of the leading drug stores of this city.  Born in Steubenville, Jefferson county, Ohio, on the 1st of February, 1868, he is a son of Addison J. and Abbie (Armstrong) McGrew, both of whom were born and reared in that county, where the father followed farming.  In 1892 Addison McGrew came to Iowa, locating in Louisa county, where an older son lived, and there he made his home during the remainder of his life.

Edwin S. McGrew attended the public schools of Steubenville, after which he studied in Scio College, and then entered the Pittsburgh College of Pharmacy, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1895.  Immediately thereafter he came to Spirit Lake, Iowa, and took a position as pharmacist in the drug store of Dr. E. A. Brownell, with whom he remained about five years.  He then bought a half interest in the drug store of W. F. Dexheimer, to whom he sold back his interest two and a half years later.  He next bought the Brownell drug store, in which he had first worked, and has conducted the business continuously since.  He carries a full line of drugs and standard proprietary medicines, as well as a large and well selected stock of such sundries and auxiliary lines as are to be found in an up-to-date drug store.  By courtesy and prompt service he has built up a large and steadily increasing business and is now numbered among the leading druggists of Dickinson county.

In 1904 Mr. McGrew was married to Mrs. Catherine Hemingwolf, the daughter of P. S. Mott, who was one of the pioneer homesteaders of Dickinson county.  He served two terms as sheriff of the county and was prominent in local public affairs.  Mr. McGrew is a member of Twilight Lodge, No. 329, A. F. & A. M.; Spirit Lake Chapter, No. 132, R. A. M.; Esdraelon Commandery, No. 52, K. T.; and Abu-Bekr Temple of the Mystic Shrine.  He is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church and is a member of the board of trustees.  Candid and straightforward in all of his relations with the public and genial and friendly in his social contacts, he has a wide acquaintance throughout this section of the country and is held in high esteem.

J. E. McNAMARA

john Edmund McNamara, editor of the Costana Times and associate editor of the Mapleton Press, is one of the best known newspaper men of northwestern Iowa, as well as one of its renowned public speakers.  For many years a successful and popular minister of the Congregational church, he has been equally successful in the field of journalism, and today he is uniformly regarded as one of the representative men of his section of the state.  Mr. McNamara was born in Lambertsville, New Jersey, September 6, 1857, a son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Burns) MacNamara, both of whom also were natives of that state.  After the father's death, in 1859, the mother came to Sioux City, Iowa, where she resided until her demise, which occurred in 1888.

John E. McNamara attended the public schools of Lambertsville and an academy at Asbury, New Jersey.  He also studied theology four years under private  instructions.  His first active work was in the newspaper field at Racine, Wisconsin, where he remained about one and a half years, and then went to Garner, Iowa, where he worked on the Hancock Independent and the Hancock Signal about four years.  He next entered the ministry at Rock Rapids, Iowa, where he served as pastor of a church four years, at the end of which time he became editor of the Pioneer at Sanborn, Iowa.  Thence he went to Jerauld, South Dakota, as editor of the Jarauld County News, which later became the Wessington Springs Republican, remaining there three years, during which time he led the contest to have Templeton made the county seat.  Mr. McNamara then came to Sioux City and was ordained to the ministry as pastor of the Pilgrim Congregational church.  He later organized the Mayflower Congregational church there and served as its pastor five years, at the end of which time he went to Sloan, Iowa, where he was pastor five years, followed by a seven-year pastorate at Onawa.  On the expiration of the latter period Mr. McNamara re-entered the newspaper field at Soldier, where he remained a short time, and then went to Castana as editor of the Castana Times, which is now connected with the Mapleton Press, of which he is associate editor, retaining his relations with both papers.  He is a forceful writer, his special articles being read with great interest, while as a general newspaper editor he ranks high, the two papers with which he is identified being popular and largely circulated in their respective localities.

Mr. McNamara has been twice married, first in Rock Rapids, Iowa, to Miss Martha Thompson, the daughter of T. C. and Mary Thompson, of an old and well-known family of that section.  She died in 1888, leaving two children, Royal Thomas and Leo E., both of Buhl, Idaho.  On November 28, 1903, Mr. McNamara was married to Miss Edith B. Hathaway, daughter of Julius M. and Clara (Normand) Hathaway, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work.  Mrs. McNamara is county chairman of the Welfare Association and is a member of a number of prominent clubs.  To this union have been born two children:  Dorothy M., who is the wife of Owen Sammon, of Onawa; and Esther K., the wife of Wyman Forker, of Castana.

Politically, Mr. McNamara is a democrat, while fraternally he is a member of Castana Lodge, No. 648, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Sioux City Consistory, No. 5, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which he holds the office of orator; and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  He is a member of the Congregational church, in the various activities of which he is greatly interested.  He is also a member of the Iowa Editorial Association.  For many years he has displayed a keen interest in local public affairs, taking part in the campaigns of his party, and has served as mayor of Castana and as postmaster there nine years.  During the World war he was one of the most effective four-minute speakers in the county, taking an active part in the Liberty loan and Red Cross drives, and was the representative of the food administrator at Castana.  He is an orator of much more than ordinary ability, being sought for on all occasions of prominence, and he delivered the farewell address to the Monona county soldiers who went to the World war as well as the address on their return.  His reputation as an orator has spread far beyond the confines of his own county and he has been heard in many parts of the northwest at various public functions and conventions.  Though a man of unpretentious demeanor, he possesses to a marked degree that silent but powerful force that attracts men and throughout the range of his acquaintance he has a host of warm and loyal friends, who esteem him not only for his ability and attainments but also for his splendid character and fine personal qualities.

 


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